Article first published as BATES MOTEL Review Season 2 on Seat42F.
A&E’s BATES MOTEL has been “Gone But
Not Forgotten,” but now it’s back with a second season. After a brief,
dark opening, the show picks up four months after the events of last
year’s finale. Miss Watson’s (Keegan Connor Tracy) murder remains
unsolved, and Norma (Vera Farmiga) wonders why Norman (Freddie Highmore)
seems so obsessed with his former teacher. Meanwhile, Bradley (Nicola
Peltz) is being released from a mental hospital after trying to kill
herself (the aforementioned prologue), and now that she’s out, she isn’t
about to just return to the life she lived.
It’s kind of sad to see Bradley turn
into such a different person. Surely it’s fun for Peltz to play, and she
does just as convincing a job with bad Bradley as she did with good
Bradley. But the sweet, popular girl that everyone liked, even those
whose love interests looked at Bradley a little too long, has been
replaced by someone completely self-destructive. This means that one of
the two lights on the show has dimmed considerably, a regrettable thing
in a dreary drama.
That being said, the hallmark of a good
character is growth, and for Bradley, she’s going through quite a bit of
it. Realizing she didn’t really know her father and now won’t get the
chance to, she is determined to uncover his lies and get revenge for his
death. This is a stronger, more determined Bradley, and if she goes a
little off the rails, or even a lot, well, there’s plenty of time left
for redemption.
There is still some hope for Bradley. A
couple of times in “Gone But Not Forgotten,” we do see glimpses of the
old Bradley. So if she survives her coming ordeals, which are kicked up
quite a notch by the end of the hour, there is still some chance that
she can recover herself. But that’s a real ‘if’ in a show like this.
Norman does offer to help Bradley, but
is he in a position to do so? He’s got his own serious problems. We
don’t know for sure if he killed Miss Watson, having only seen him in
her house and then running through the rain while she lay dead. However,
it seems like a solid bet since Norman has a history of blocking out
the memories of killing people, such as his own father. “Gone But Not
Forgotten” doesn’t clear up the mystery. It seems destined to hang
around awhile, much like last season’s murder.
Norma seems relatively sure Norman did
the deed, and equally determined not to let her son find out. I know she
wants to be a good mother and protect Norman, but is covering up his
crimes the way to do it? Shouldn’t she be trying to get her boy help so
he can move past his homicidal tendencies? Or does she worry he’s a
psychopath and really just not know how to deal with that, and so buries
her head in the sand to get by?
Norma spends much of this premiere
fighting against the bypass, now starting construction, which will draw
business away from their motel, which seems to be doing OK for now. This
is an important cause to her livelihood, but I’ve got a feeling that
she pours herself into such things to avoid processing what Norman does.
She’s selfish at times, but knowing Norman has killed has to affect her
more than she lets on, and keeping active will prevent too much quiet
introspection.
We get less of Dylan (Max Thieriot) and
Emma (Olivia Decody) in the first episode back, but that makes sense,
since Bradley, Norma, and Norman have enough important story to fill the
installment. Dylan is still fighting his feelings for Bradley, out of
respect for Norman, while working the pot business and Emma is still
pining over Norman and being jealous of Bradley. So they’re status quo
for now.
BATES MOTEL does a nice job of setting
up suspense, then letting it play out in unexpected ways. Sherriff
Romero (Nestor Carbonell) is investigating what happened to Miss Watson
and he’ll probably eventually get to the truth. But there’s no rush,
other threads continue, and any breaks in the case will likely happen
when we least are looking for it. It’s not as high quality as some other
shows, as it does sort of stick to a formula, but the writers do know
what they’re doing and it’s quite enjoyable overall.
The only question I’m left with is, as
much as Norman seems to keep getting involved in shady stuff, how will
he eventually be the unassuming motel proprietor? Will everyone that has
reason to be suspicious of him eventually die, finally allowing him to
fade into the background of the town? He does seem to keep bringing more
trouble on himself, though, and as Norma won’t be around to deflect
attention forever, there has to be some good tie up that makes sense at
the end. Maybe, by the time Norma dies, the evidence will all point
towards her and, for some reason, Norman will accept that?
BATES MOTEL airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on A&E.
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