5 Moments of Goodness Bates Motel Season 1 Finale “Midnight” 

I don’t know about the rest of the viewers, but I am finding a good deal of the season finales this year to be pretty lame.  Most of the network’s finales aired last week, and so, by last Friday, I felt like I had gone through a cheese and cliché fest.  Fortunately, I am very happy to report that last night’s finale of Bates Motel didn’t keep this network pattern.  It was well-written, entertaining, and chock-full of OMG scenes and quotes, as always.

Here’s my top 5 moments of last night’s season one finale:

Norma’s Confession

At the beginning of the episode, Norma (Vera Farmiga) stops in to see her therapist, and one of the first questions he asks her is about her parents.  I swear she made them sound like Mr. And Mrs. Cleaver, with her father being the “kindest person you’ll ever know” and her mother working at a bakery.

I knew that was probably all bullsh*t, but not how badly until she broke down and told Norman (Freddie Highmore) the truth.  The reality is her own brother raped her for years, and she was too afraid to say anything because her father was a mean son of a bitch.  Lord, what a confession to unload on your son right before he goes on a date to the school dance!

Norma Learns to Shoot

With Norma having to meet Mr. Abernathy (Jere Burns) in less than 12 hours to give him $150,000 that she didn’t have, she decides it’s about time she learn how to handle a gun.  So, she turns to her son, Dylan (Max Thieriot), because carrying a gun seems to be in job description these days.  I absolutely love how close Norma and Dylan are becoming.  I know Dylan will never be her precious Norman, but at least she is now acknowledging him as her son, and vice versa.

     You called me ‘Mom’ – Norma to Dylan

     Well, you have a loaded gun in your hand, Norma – Dylan

Emma and Norman On a Date

Poor, poor Emma.  The girl has a lung disease, has never been to a school dance, and just wants to go one time.  And, with Norman being at least a half-decent guy, he agrees to be her date.

However, his decency ends as soon as they get there. Emma is so pretty in her new dress, but she doesn’t even get a second look from Norman because he’s too busy gawking at Bradley.   This gawking ultimately lands Norman a punch in the face by Bradley’s boyfriend and all alone at the dance, having to walk home by himself.  Serves you right, Norman.

Good Sheriff Romero

I don’t know about everyone else, but until last night, I haven’t been sure about this guy.  Sure, he’s the Sheriff of White Pine Bay, but Zack Shelby (Mike Vogel) was also the Deputy, and we know how that turned out.  But, when Sheriff Romero (Nester Carbonell) meets Abernathy in Norma’s place, we finally find out which side this guy is on.

Initially, he plays Abernathy, making him think he’s there to step up to replace Zack Shelby and Keith Summers.  Then, as soon as Abernathy gets comfortable, he unloads a barrel into his chest and dumps his body (along with all of the money) into the harbor.

      Not in my town, you piece of shit – Sheriff Romero

Very happy to see that we have at least one guy now playing for the good team in this crazy town.

The Shocking Death

We all knew that there was going to be at least one death in last night’s finale.  After all, it had been talked up on Twitter for days.  The only real question was who?  My money had actually been on Bradley.  She had infuriated Norman many, many times, and we know what happens when Norman gets pissed and pushed over the edge.

Of course, killing off Bradley would have been too obvious and so, someone else had to go.  Over the latter part of the season, we’ve watched Miss Watson take an interest in Norman, helping him with his writing and getting one of his pieces published.  But, the relationship seemed a bit off, almost like Miss Watson wanted to give Norman lessons on more things than just writing.

Last night, she goes a little too far by picking up Norman in the rain and taking him to her place.  With Norman sitting on the sofa and Miss Watson undressing in the bedroom, the image of Norma appears, tells Norman how very wrong this is, and then, orders Norman “to just do it”.  Apparently, “just do it” means Norman slitting Miss Watson’s throat because the next scene is Norman arriving back home into the arms of his mother.

All in all, I really enjoyed the finale and can’t wait for next season.  With the death of Jake Abernathy, the whole Asian sex slave arc is wrapped up nicely (or so we are led to believe), thus leaving Season 2 open to all new storylines.