Tucker Gates

“Underwater,” the penultimate episode in Bates Motel’s first season, may well be the most entertaining episode yet, by introducing some much needed dark humour to the series. Between Norma and Dylan’s reactions to Norman’s new pet Juno and Emma getting high; “Underwater” is terrifically funny in and throughout. Unlike last weeks episode, the wacky comic relief here is purely intentional.

In Bates Motel, the audience is led on a journey into the psychological abyss. Littered with Freudian symbolism, the series is both suffocating and schizophrenic – and it’s central character is tragically imprisoned by both his past and his mind. Bates Motel is a prolonged intrusion on the personal space of the Norman and the viewer.