Bates Motel
Season 5 Episode 10: “The Cord” (Series Finale)
Directed by Tucker Gates
Written by Kerry Ehrin
Created by Anthony Cipriano, Carlton Cuse, Kerry Ehrin
Starring Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Nestor Carbonell, Olivia Cooke, Isabelle McNally
A&E
Air Date: Monday, April 24th, 2017, 10pm

Many of my favorite shows have sputtered to the finish making their final episodes something of a mercy kill. But not Bates Motel. Sometimes TV series hit the climax early and the final season just doesn’t have that special magic it once had. Not Bates Motel. No, Bates Motel is that rare exception: a series that like a fine wine got better with age. That makes tonight’s series finale even more upsetting. Over its five seasons the creators of the show somehow did something unthinkable: they took an untouchable classic (Psycho), by one of the legendary filmmakers of all time, and made it new, fresh, and dare I say”¦ at times, better. At the forefront of the success are the duo of Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore as Norma and Norman Bates. Farmiga was perfectly overbearing and overprotective as “Mother”; neurotic to a fault and yet through it all, a loving and devoted matriarch. Highmore is a revelation. This season he has co-written episodes, directed, and delivered an unnerving and consistently moving performance, one that deserves to be recognized with an Emmy nomination. He stepped into perhaps the most iconic role in horror history and created a new and altogether different Norman than Anthony Perkins did for Alfred Hitchcock back in 1960. Tonight, Norma and Norman have a final ride as the Bates Motel shuts down for good.

Bates Motel
Season 5 Episode 9: “Visiting Hours”
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
Written by Scott Kosar
Created by Anthony Cipriano, Carlton Cuse, Kerry Ehrin
Starring Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Nestor Carbonell, Olivia Cooke, Ryan Hurst, Isabelle McNally
A&E
Air Date: Monday, April 17th, 2017, 10pm

We arrive at the penultimate episode of A&E’s Bates Motel, what has become one of my favorite shows on television. As excited as Bates fans are for the conclusion to Norman’s saga, one can’t escape this bittersweet feeling.

Warning! Spoilers below for Bates Motel!

Bates Motel
Season 5 Episode 7: “Inseparable”
Directed by Steph Green
Written by Freddie Highmore
Created by Anthony Cipriano, Carlton Cuse, Kerry Ehrin
Starring Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Nestor Carbonell, Olivia Cooke, Ryan Hurst, Rihanna, Austin Nichols, Isabelle McNally
A&E
Air Date: Monday, April 4th, 2017, 10pm

Warning! Spoilers below for Bates Motel!

Last week was the episode we’ve been waiting for since the beginning of Bates Motel. We finally got THE SHOWER SCENE! Except in a unique twist it’s not Marion Crane (Rihanna) who takes the wrath of Norman Bates, but rather Sam Loomis (Austin Nichols). Loomis had been the bane of Norman’s existence this season, cheating on lonely hardware store-owning wife Madeleine (Isabelle McNally) and using the motel for his lusty affairs with Marion, who innocently believed him to be planning a life with her. Freddie Highmore continues to be Emmy bait this season, his scenes with Rihanna in Room 1 are frantic and unnerving. We are watching his Norman Bates fully unravel and as he loses his grip, Norma (Vera Farmiga) tightens hers. Now accepting his mother dead, Norman is forced to accept he needs Norma with him, to help him do the things he can’t or won’t. But for now, they need to dispose of a body”¦

Bates Motel
Season 5 Episode 6: “Marion”
Directed by Philo Abraham
Written by Carlton Cuse & Kerry Ehrin
Created by Anthony Cipriano, Carlton Cuse, Kerry Ehrin
Starring Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Nestor Carbonell, Olivia Cooke, Ryan Hurst, Rihanna, Austin Nichols, Isabelle McNally
A&E
Air Date: Monday, March 27th, 2017, 10pm

Warning! Spoilers below for the last 2 episodes of Bates Motel!

Approaching the series finale of A&E’s Bates Motel, we finally caught up to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic last week with the official introduction of Marion Crane (Rihanna). Unlike the original film, Sam Loomis (Austin Nichols) is already married and Marion is the unknowing other woman. Annoyed by a crap job with few prospects, she absconds with $400,000 and heads out from Seattle to White Pine Bay to be with her man. Except when Sam can’t sneak away from his actual wife Madeleine (Isabelle McNally), Marion is forced to take to refuge at… well, you guessed it. Norman (Freddie Highmore) is dealing with the possibilities of Romero (Nestor Carbonell) showing up at any second after escaping prison, and more importantly, he is struggling with the reality that Norma(n) has been taking over his body for longer periods of time. It’s the beginning of the end…

Spoilers below for this week’s Bates Motel: