Bates Motel: epidsode 6 "The Truth"

***SPOILERS***

The "Bates Motel" is certainly on of the best shows on right now and even though it was off to a somewhat slow start, it looks as if it's picked up for good.

In this episode Norma is faced with the reality that the girl Norman found is in fact a victim of her precious Deputy Shelby. She acts erratically and panics, jumping into her car to speed off and look for Shelby. But before she can do anything irreversible, Norman jumps into the moving car and luckily talks sense into his mother.

Norman and Norma are conflicted with their options. Clearly turning Deputy Shelby over to the police is the best and most logical option. But Shelby still has the belt that is evidence that Norma killed Keith Summers earlier this season. So turning Shelby in may only cause her own demise. That is until Dylan steps up and offers to help Norman find the belt, to rid them of any ties to the murder.

While on the way to Deputy Shelby's boat, Dylan tells Norman about his new place and how he wants Norman to live with him and get to have a normal life away from his mom and her smothering. Norman seems to accept.

Once they're on the boat, they instantly begin to search at a steady pace. 

Back at the house, Norma is waiting for her boys to get back and hoping they have good news about finding the belt. Instead, Deputy Shelby pulls up and starts talking sweet on Norman. This is a bad situation seeing as Norma has Shelby's kidnap victim only a few rooms down the lot.

Meanwhile, Dylan and Norman are chatting while searching the boat and Dylan has an idea it's in the pipe overhead. After unscrewing it we see he's right.

At the hotel, Norma isn't enjoying Shelby's love making too much. You can see she's got other things on her mind. But when Shelby pics up on it, she instantly cheers up and offers Shelby a second turn. That is until Shelby hears a noise from the house and realizes that someone is in the hotel with them, he can hear the water from someone taking a shower a few rooms down.

Back at the boat, Norman and Dylan get rid of the belt by throwing it into the lake. Absolving them of any future blackmail or guilt. Dylan tells Norman that Norma killed his father. Then they begin to head home.

At the hotel, Shelby walks by each one of the rooms to the hotel until he finds the one where the water is coming from. Then he knocks and demands the door be open. Norma instantly comes up with a paper thin lie saying that it is a painter she said could stay. Just as they begin to argue the door opens and Shelby sees his kidnap victim. She screams and runs off into the woods and he pursues.

Finally, Norman and Dylan show up and before Norma can tell them the chaos going on, Dylan tells her the belt is gone forever and that Norman's moving out. You see the light in her eyes dim and defeat her. She then tells them what's going on with Shelby and the kidnap girl, before Shelby comes back and holds them at gun point. He walks them up to the house where they can "figure this out".

At the house, Shelby babbles on and on. Blaming Norman for this all happening and then he begins to scream at and slap Norma. Meanwhile, you see Norman sort of spacing out and losing focus. He looks like a drone. Something tells you that he's about to make a move. After Shelby hits Norma so hard she falls out of her chair, Norman jumps up and grabs Shelby, knocking the gun out of his hand and Dylan is quick to retrieve it. Shelby knocks Norman out and then gets into a shootout with Dylan. Dylan takes a slug to the shoulder and Shelby takes on in the leg.

Amidst the gunfire, Norma brings Norman outside and gets him into the car after calling the police. 

Shelby is searching the house for Dylan, who's upstairs hiding while he reloads his empty gun. Dylan begins to ascend the stairs.

In the car, Norma realizes she forgot her keys in her bedroom, so she and Norman are stuck. All the while, Norman is in his dream state still and we hear 3 gunshots. Everything goes silent as we're awaiting to see who is the survivor between Deputy Shelby and Dylan. We see someone come out of the house and as they get closer we begin to realize who it is-Deputy Shelby. Only he's shot twice in the chest and stomach and once in the right eye. He aims his gun at Norma and Norman in the car but falls dead before he can do anything.

Soon after, Dylan comes from the house and greets his mother and tells her this time they're going to tell the truth to the police. No more games with lies and deceit. Only Norma tells him it's not that simple. Norma retells the beginning of the very first episode with Norman's father dying and explains how it didn't go down as we were lead to believe. It turns out Norman went into his dreamlike phase that he's currently in, and killed his father by hitting him upside the head with a blender as result of Norma being beat up by his father. Norma set it up to look like he fell in the garage and Norman doesn't remember anything other than waking up to finding his father dead. 

Dylan asks Norma what's wrong with Norman and she says she doesn't know, but he needs to be looked after. This leads us to believe that Norman won't be moving in with Dylan as we all already expected.

Solid episode of this show and probably the best one yet. Can't wait for next week. I really like how they're going into Norman's blackouts more and more, building to his inevitable breakdown. And I'm really curious as to what happens with the police and the Bates' after Shelby's death.