'Bates Motel' Season 1, Episode 2: 'Nice Town You Picked, Norma...' Recap

“Bates Motel”, season 1, episode 2, “Nice Town You Picked, Norma…”

Norman obsesses over the book he found containing women bound and gagged, and even a woman in a shower. The doorbell ringing shocks him out of his trance, and his mother hurries to the door. She opens it to find her other son, Dylan. She’s not very pleased to see him.

As Norma makes breakfast, Norman asks his mother how long Dylan is going to stay. Dylan walks in, and Norma and Norman are intimidated by him. Norma asks why he’s there, and he says he lost his job and has no money or place to stay.

Norman walks to his bus stop and runs into the group of popular girls. Bradley asks him why he ditched her at the party. As they talk, a car drives towards them, swerving wildly. Bradley realizes it’s her dad’s car. It crashes a few away, and she and the group rush to it. Norman pries the door open, and inside is Bradley’s dad, burned to a crisp, but still alive.

A while later, a tow truck arrives at the scene, as well as the police. Sheriff Romero tells Norma about Bradley’s dad, and says that someone set his warehouse on fire while he was still inside. The Sheriff is called away, and Dylan talks to his mother, saying what a wonderful town she picked to live in. She tells him to stop calling her Norma, and that if he hopes to stay, he needs to pitch in with the chores.

As Norma walks away, Sheriff Romero calls her to him. He brings her to a truck they found in a side street. It belonged to Keith Summers, the man that Norma murdered in the last episode. He tells her that Keith has been missing for days, and asks if she’s heard anything. She says no and walks away. The Sheriff eyes her wearily.

In class, Norman is assigned a partner assignment regarding the relevance of classical poetry. He looks around, but Emma approaches him and says she’s his partner, and that she’ll go to the hotel tomorrow around 11 to work on it.

In the hospital, Norman visits Bradley and her dad in the ICU with a plant in hand. She sees him, but Richard intercepts. He takes the plant from Norman and says he’ll give it to her. Norman shies away and leaves.

At a random strip club, a man is crying, and Dylan is very distracted by it. The man tells him that his boss got burned really bad at work, and is now in a coma, and not likely to make it. Dylan tries to sympathize with him. A waitress appears with some beers, and the man buys the drinks, flashing a large wad of cash. Dylan asks where he gets that kind of money in such a small town.

Returning home in the middle of the night, Norma isn’t too happy with him. She tells him she’s trying to build a life for her and Norman, and that she won’t let him ruin it for her. Dylan reveals his dislike of Norman, and that he’s only his half-brother. Norma cheated on his dad with Norman’s dad. Dylan points out that she’s a little too close to Norman, and then asks how she even got all the money for the hotel and a new car. She says it was from her husband’s insurance policy.

The next morning, Norma and Norman frantically deep clean the kitchen, in case the cops snoop around. The doorbell rings, and Dylan answers it. It’s Emma, and Dylan brings her in. She’s is introduced to the family, and Norma immediately begins questioning her, essentially asking her life story. Dylan and Norman try to distract her from the questioning, but she won’t stop.

Emma tells her that she has cystic fibrosis, and reveals that she’s awaiting a lung transplant, and likely to live only until she’s 27. Emma seems to have passed Norma’s test, and she lets Emma and Norma go up to his room and work on their homework. Dylan asks Norma if she thinks Emma will have to take out her oxygen tube when they make out. She rolls her eyes.

In his room, they look for a poem. Emma relates one of their poems with contemporary murderers. As she reads, she notices the book Norman keeps under his bed. She looks through it much to Norman’s disdain. She says the pictures are amazing, but she’s seen much steamier ones in her manga. She asks to borrow it.

As Norma gets ready for bed, there’s yet another doorbell ring. It’s Sheriff Romero and Deputy Shelby. They have questions for her regarding Keith Summers. Sheriff says that there was an eyewitness that saw Summers there talking to Norma and Norman, and it looked heated. She tries to cover up her story, but saying she never told them she’s never seen Summers before. She keeps giving Deputy Shelby some rather interesting looks, but the Sheriff doesn’t relent in his questions. He asks to take a look inside the house, but Norma says he’ll need a search warrant for it. He threatens her.

In town the next day, Norma sees Deputy Shelby. They talk, and he tells her not to take Sheriff Romero so personally, and he apologizes, and asks her out for coffee.

In the diner, Norma tells the Deputy how she came to the town. He tells her that Romero and Summers were friends since childhood, so the disappearance is very personal to the Sheriff. The Deputy asks her to meet her at the town festival that night, but that he can’t call it a date because of the Sheriff.

Norma prepares for her “date”. She asks Norman how she looks, and he asks what’s going on. She tells him about the cops at the door, and how she’s buttering up the Deputy as an act of goodwill. She isn’t satisfied with her top, so she undresses in front of Norman. He can’t help but stare. She calls him out on it, since he was embarrassed, and points out that she’s his mom, and that it’s not weird. Then he tells her he doesn’t want her to go, or that he would go with them. She promises that nothing will come of it between her and the Deputy.

In a boat warehouse, Dylan is introduced to a man named Gil by the crying man from the strip club, who asks if he knows how to use a gun.

Back at home, Norman reheats a meal his mom left when Dylan shows up. His phone rings, and Norman sees it’s a call from “The Whore”. When Dylan answers it, Norman is upset when he realizes that “The Whore” in Dylan’s phone is his mother. Norman lashes out at him, and tries to hurt him, but Dylan quickly pins him. He tells Norman that Norma has ruined him, and if he comes at him again, he’ll hurt him bad.

Norman festers in his rage, and sees a meat tenderizer lying by the sink. He grabs it and tries to hit Dylan in the head with it. Dylan dodges at the last minutes and knocks Norman to the floor. Dylan walks away, and Norman mutters that she’s not a whore.

At the fair, Norma and the Deputy talk about how strange the townsfolk are. They work in poor jobs, but live in million dollar homes. He says things aren’t always what they seem.

That night, Norma gets home and sees Norman bruised. He tells her about the fight. She says she’ll have to ask him to leave. Norman sees nothing wrong with that. When Norma walks away, Norman gets a text from Emma, asking to meet her at her shop.

Norman goes to the shop, enthralled by the taxidermy animals all around. He finds Emma hunched over her desk by her computer. He asks her about the stuffed animals, and she tells him that her dad is the best taxidermy artist in the states. But she has more important things to talk about. She translated the little book that Norman found. It’s about four girls from China who were sold into sex slavery. One woman died and was buried nearby, and Emma wants to find the grave to prove the story. She kisses Norman, and he gets flustered.

In the house, Dylan drinks and look at pictures of Norma and Norman. She tells him he needs to be gone by morning. He asks how Norman’s father died, and says that he had to ask the insurance agents how to find Norma. Then he asks how interesting it would be if he told them how their relationship really was. She walks away.

In the woods the next day, Emma and Norman track down the places mentioned in the book. They continue to look and happen upon a field of pot. Two men with guns spot them and chase them. They run and eventually find the shed from the pictures, but Norman says they can’t stop. They keep running and eventually escape back to Emma’s car.

On her drive through town, Norma sees the townsfolk gathering around a burning body that has been hung up in the town square. She looks on horrified.