Bates Motel: Season 2/ Episode 9 “The Box” – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Overview

With one episode left, honestly “The Box” doesn’t make for an exciting episode to hype us for the finale.

Review (with Spoilers)

Though I’m not sure what the ratings are, I do feel Bates Motel does have a sort of sophomore slump going on. If just because, despite the finale being next week, I just don’t feel all that excited. Be it because the Cody saga seemed to be the high point; the Ford vs. Morgan drug war being rather boring, especially when you compare it to other storylines on the show; or just me really wanting some of the jaw dropping moments we saw in the first season, overall I just feel like the season finale really needs to be a knockout punch.

Topic 1: My Surrogate Family – Emma

To start off, Emma has seemingly reverted back to a background character who doesn’t seem to even have Gunner to help liven her story. And with this issue, she says a line which almost feels like it was made to remind fans she matters, and that line was that she isn’t invisible. Much less, that she can be trusted. I mean, take into consideration how close she has tried to get to Norman, Norma, and even Dylan to a point, and yet they keep her at arm’s length. Making it seem this surrogate family, at least in her head, utterly rejects her. And considering how we have not seen her dad once this season, it seems she maybe more close to the Bates than her own biological family, and never mind she sees Norma as a surrogate mom since her’s is not around.

But, despite all Emma has done, when she speaks about giving her two weeks’ notice because she is tired of being kept out the loop, Norma coldly accepts. Making an already distraught Emma cry. Fear not though, for when Norma ruins her relationship with George, Emma is there to console her. So while this season may have left Emma in the cold a bit, with the fall likely being the time period of next season, and Norman assumingly in school, maybe Emma won’t get lost in the mix of the new characters the show will likely introduce.

Topic 2: A Major Casualty – Dylan

When Nick Ford reveals himself to be Norman’s captor, this causes major issues. For one, Norma ends up freaking out, and two: this means Dylan can’t just be passive about the situation. For as much as he may not really like Norma, his feelings toward Norman aren’t the most negative. After all, being that Norman has been under Norma’s thumb so long, it is hard to really consider him more than a puppet finally cutting off his strings.

Still though, with his little brother’s life threatened, Dylan decides to ask Jodie where Zane is, and upon getting to Zane’s location, he realizes there is no way in hell he could just kill Zane and walk out alive. He relays this to Nick Ford, who is a bit distraught over his associate bringing to him the necklace Norman had, and with Dylan being unable to help him, it seems he is ready to wipe out Dylan, Norman, and likely Norma too. Luckily though, while Nick can fight, Dylan gets one good hit on him and somehow escapes after killing the head of the Ford family. Something which I found odd since Nick looks like The Undertaker’s brother and I’m sure those two fighting would have been heard by someone. But hey, if it pushes the story forward, whatever.

Topic 3: The Murder of Blair Watson – Norman

Leaving us with poor Norman who is trapped as collateral in some small box in the middle of nowhere, which looks like a hot box a slave would be punished in. That thought aside, during his time in seclusion he begins to hallucinate and remember all that happened the night Blair Watson died. Something which Romero is quite interested in, to the point he looks up his father’s ex-partner. You see, Norman’s semen in Blair, as well as thinking he got the wrong guy, is eating away at Romero. So, all he wants is a simple polygraph test. Norma, however, being that Nick warns her not to get Romero involved, tries her best to delay him seeing Norman. But, being that Romero isn’t that patient, upon his second visit up to the house he busts in looking for Norman, without a warrant. Leading Norma to reveal Nick took him.

Considering the night of Blair’s death though, Nick choosing Norman would make so much sense retrospectively. After all, Blair did in fact seduce Norman, as Norma said, and as we saw in the first season, Norma’s voice acts as Norman’s conscience, and while most people’s conscience try to keep them from doing something bad, not the voice of Norma. For, you see, as Ms. Watson was having Norman grab her and they were having sex, Norma let Norman know he had to do it, and the “it” was him taking a knife and slashing her throat. Making this former buried memory now in the forefront of Norman’s mind. But, with Nick having one piece of the evidence, a necklace Norman took from the scene of the crime, and the only evidence being left is the semen sample, the question becomes: Has Norman’s luck run out?