Monday, March 3, 2014

'Bates Motel' 2.01 "Gone But Not Forgotten" Review

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On a dark and stormy night in White Pine Bay, Oregon beloved local English teacher Blaire Watson was murdered. Her student, Norman Bates, was one of the last people to see her alive and could well even be her killer if he could only remember what happened when he blacked out. That's how season two of A&E's 'Bates Motel' begins as the action picks up exactly where it left off in last year's finale in order to set up less of a mystery and more of a character defining situation for Norman as he struggles to deal with his lack of mental clarity from that fateful night. 



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It's not surprising that he would become so consumed in his taxidermy hobby in the wake of such tragedy--it's very symbolic that Norman is obsessed with fixing dead things as well as preserving them forever. Despite the fact that his mother Norma disapproves of this activity it shares all of the values that she's put forth onto her precious Norman throughout his life. Bringing these creatures back from the brink at least externally is a perfect representation of the kind of veneer that the Bates family holds so dear to their day to day life. Everything is always okay and if it isn't then it damn well will be no matter what it takes to get there. This desperation to have a fully 'normal' existence puts strain on both Norman and his mother throughout " Gone But Not Forgotten ", as they struggle to deal with the changing world around them. 

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All Norma has ever wanted was to live in the same world as the black and white films she and her son enjoy viewing. Words such as 'idyllic' and 'quaint' give her comfort and this desire is what led her to this small town in the first place. There's a lovely moment where the motel is bustling with guests checking in as the sun shines down on gorgeous green foliage and bright flowers that felt almost as though we were seeing things things through Norma's rose-tinted perspective. As though everything has finally worked out for Norma Bates and then she wakes up from her dream. 

It's always amusing to see Norma try to get her way with nothing but a nice outfit and a
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smile which might well work anywhere else, but in the real world where the economic boost from building the new byroad will benefit the town as a whole. You almost have to admire her continued delusion that she's spent years building so carefully around her family. Especially with everything she went through last year only now to have her silver lining ripped away thanks to the kind of city works projects that truly do kill small towns and certainly small businesses. All of her eggs are in this one basket and she had to watch as the town council carefully plucked one up after another to crack them carelessly on the floor in front of her. 


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Norma should have known better especially when she called out the town on its illicit weed business which keeps the lights on in White Pine Bay. Any situation where money will come in for these people means that some crazy lady's dinky motel is a completely acceptable casualty. Until she changes her approach to match the underhandedness of the people that really run the town she won't find any success in her fight against this road being built. After all, adultery, drug cartels, and murder are standard here and just the sort of thing Norma alluded to in her epic rant to the White Pine Bay town council when she exclaimed that 'axe murderers and whores are real life and the kids of this town need to be educated about that.' This show likes to surprise with its subversions of the Psycho canon it originates from and at this point I see Norma committing a cold-blooded murder outside of any self-defense before Norman does. 

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Everything about how they showed Norman this episode felt like a classic red herring in the making. Especially the insistence of showing Norman with his supposed trophy--Blaire Watson's pearl necklace. Viewers expect this to be the beginnings of a serial killer and I still believe truly that time will come but the creators are enjoying building the world and doing things a little different. This town is so shady that I'm sure we'll soon have a laundry list of suspects in Ms Watson's case--the culprit will not however be Norman Bates. I feel like when his big moment actually occurs that the show will not be coy about showing it. It will be an event, the kind of scene people talk about for years to come. 

While the show was busy posing questions about Norman's mental state and role in Ms.
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Watson's death, they also subjected us to a continuing subplot from last year involving Bradley's father's death. The challenge with a show like this lies in creating characters outside of the iconic Bates home that will be interesting and can have worthwhile stories so that the series feels less like the countdown to Psycho. Norman's half-brother Dylan was a character that actually grew into the fabric of the show as did his friend and classmate Emma. Both featured very minimally tonight in favor of Bradley's storyline. 


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Where to truly begin with this character that the series insists on focusing except to say that the premiere would have been so much better without her in it. Bradley went along such a predictable path this episode that one could sit back and guess every move she would make. It's all in the service of dirtying her mental state up in a way that the idea of Norman and Bradley can be explored again despite the fact that they have absolutely zero chemistry. The character doesn't have much weight to the story as a whole. Had she actually drowned in the water at the beginning of the episode nothing would be different except Norman might have two graves to obsessively visit. Her half-assed femme fatale routine with her father's former associate was laughable at best and dull at worst--of course she would blow his brains out and then run to Norman who loves her especially when she fucks up. It's not affection as we saw that Dylan doesn't want anything to do with her or she would have just wound up in his room in the middle of the night. She's going to use Norman for emotional support and the last thing he needs right now is to be tangential to another murder with Sheriff Romero already suspicious of Norman's apparent guilt with the Ms. Watson case. 

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As an opening, the episode felt a bit lackluster for a season premiere. Bradley's story killed the dramatic tension several times. I hope this isn't a sign that she'll be featured this much all year because it'll be a real detriment to the show. Especially when the friction between Norma and Norman has reached interesting new levels. This is a more assertive Norman who isn't afraid to mock his mother openly and disobey her often. Not content to be his mother's good boy any longer, this Norman truly feels like the young man who will grow into the damaged but vivacious iconic character. Let's hope this season gives us more time to watch their relationship continue to grow and change while surrounded by a claustrophobic small town filled with secrets and danger--a town that will corrupt everyone in its path especially those who are already quite 'sensitive' already. 

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