Psycho (1998): A Review (Review #1988)

PSYCHO (1998)

I start my review for the 1998 remake of 1960's Psycho by dispelling something that is usually reported when talking about this version. Psycho is not a shot-for-shot remake of the original film. It has moments that resemble it. It follows the basic plot of the original. It also is pretty much impossible to separate this version with what came before. Ignoring as much as one can the original version from this remake, I think Psycho would have failed on its own separate from any comparisons.

Marion Crane (Anne Heche) impulsively steals $400,000 from her employer in a wildly misguided effort to help her lover, Sam Loomis (Viggo Mortensen). Fleeing Phoenix, Marion drives to Sam, unaware of her actions. She exchanges cars and eventually lands at the Bates Motel. The hotel's proprietor, Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn) seems pleasant. However, he also spies on Marion, performing an auto-erotic exercise to her various stages of undress. Marion opts to take a shower, where a wigged-out woman slashes her to death.

With Marion disappeared and no one knowing where she is, her sister Lina (Julianne Moore) goes to Sam to see if he knows anything about Marion's disappearance. Also investigating the missing Marion is a private detective, Milton Arbogast (William H. Macy). Where is Marion? Does the mysterious old woman at the Bates Motel know anything about the disappearance? With Arbogast himself now missing, it is up to Lila and Sam to go to the Bates Motel and uncover a shocking secret.

It is pretty much impossible for people aware of the original film to separate themselves from this remake. As someone who has seen the original Psycho many times, I do not know if I can. Given how the 1998 version claimed or was advertised as a "shot-for-shot" remake, I do not know if director Gus Van Sant wants those of us who have seen the 1960 Psycho to not remember it while watching his version.

Let me see if I can try. At least I gave Psycho a fair chance. Unfortunately, this Psycho is not good separate from how well or poorly it compares to the original. 

I think most of the actors tried their best to give good performances. I would argue that none of them actually gave a good performance. Any judgment of how good or bad a particular actor in Psycho is has to be judged on a sliding scale. At the bottom of the list are Rita Wilson as Caroline, Marion's bitchy coworker. One can put aside how she was too old to play a blushing newlywed who needed tranquilizers for her recent wedding. Wilson's Caroline came across as more obnoxious if not downright cruel to Marion. I literally cringed in Wilson's only scene, watching her struggle to figure out what kind of person Caroline was meant to be. 

Future Oscar winner Julianne Moore was comical as this super-tough sister. I literally howled with laughter when she defiantly told the weak-willed Sam "Let me get my Walkman," as they went to the sheriff for help. Moore's efforts to be some sort of kick-ass character, down to literally taking Norman down, were far too forced to be believable. Long before "girl boss" became a thing, Psycho attempted to make Moore's Lila into some tough chick with hilarious results. Perhaps she was just angry that her agent got her into this project.

Not much better was Mortensen as Sam. He adopted this very strange vaguely Southern twang that I think was meant to showcase how dim Sam was. Just as Moore predated "girl boss", Mortensen was a himbo before the term existed. He was fine with Heche in their one scene together. Unfortunately, Mortensen was paired with Moore for the rest of the film, and that made for some bad viewing.

I do not know if Macy was directed to think of Arbogast as a slightly more comic character. His final scene, which does come close to matching the original, was ultimately hilarious. You would have to be laughing at how bad it looks. While it does as I stated come close to matching the original's version of Arbogast's fate, the odd clips of women in vaguely dominatrix clothes and cows seems out of some loony spoof. 

Heche, while not the best performance, I think made a sincere effort to make Marion sympathetic in her plight. She did seem ill at ease with Vaughn's Norman. As that was how the character probably would have been, at least initially, I cut her some slack. 

Vince Vaughn is in a class of his own as Norman Bates. I think he tried too hard to be that mix of innocent and menacing. His greatest difficulty is in having anyone think that someone so physically imposing (Vaugh is 6'5") could be intimidated or made to cower by the likes of the 5'9" Macy or 5'11" Mortensen. It is not completely impossible for a very tall man to be afraid of a much shorter man. It just seems a wild stretch that the 5'3" Moore could easily defeat a man over a foot taller, even if he was wearing a dress and hilariously ill-fitting wig.

Putting aside the height issue, Vaughn was trying to force us to believe that he was scary. He was not. He can be, but here he simply is more bumbling than dangerous. He does not come across as creepy or dangerous. Instead, his Norman Bates is inept. It does not help matter that you see and hear him get physically active at seen a naked woman, complete with the heavy breathing.

It is genuinely hard to know if Psycho was going for something serious or a spoof when we get to the shower scene. If the original had not existed, the shower scene would have had people laughing. There is no tension or suspense or shock when Marion gets iced. You see a very unconvincing drag queen (or at least someone with a terrible wig) take various slicing movements at a woman while we get random shots of clouds. There is nothing in this scene: no sense of tragedy, no sense of horror, no sense of terror. You maybe get a sense of humor. 

It is a bad sign when Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea gives a better performance as Sam's employee Bob than some legitimately great actors. 

About the only good things that I found in Psycho were Robert Forster in his brief role of a psychiatrist and some good shots. The opening scene where we go from a bird's eye view of Phoenix to the hotel room where Marion and Sam had finished their tryst was quite smooth. 

Psycho has no reason for being. It is not scary. It is not interesting. I do not know if it being funny was what anyone involved in it was going for. Some remakes manage to surpass the original. Some are forgotten. This remake does not surpass the original, but it will not be forgotten. I expect that it will be shown to future film school students in the "What Not to Do When Making a Remake" class. 

DECISION: D-

PSYCHO MOVIES AND TELEVISION

Psycho (1960)

Psycho II

Psycho III

Bates Motel (The Television Movie)

Psycho IV: The Beginning

Bates Motel (The Television Series)

Bates Motel: The Television Movie

BATES MOTEL (1987 Television Movie)

Anthony Perkins died in 1992. As such, he was very much alive when Bates Motel, a television movie that was also a pilot for a hoped-for television series, aired. I do not know what Perkins thought or might have thought at seeing others attempt to create a television series out of a post-Psycho universe. I can say that Bates Motel was not picked up for series. Having now seen it, I do not know how it would have. 

Norman Bates was sent away to the Dunsmoor Mental Hospital after his gruesome crimes are discovered. Here, he befriended Alex West, an abused child who murdered his father by putting him in a laundry machine. Twenty-seven years pass, and Alex (Bud Cord) stayed Norman's friend and de facto son figure. Now, Norman is dead, and Alex gets two surprises. The first is that he is to be released from Dunsmoor. The second is that Norman left the Bates Motel to Alex.

Alex goes to Fairville, a total innocent who cannot find anything or anyone to help him get to the Bates Motel. He is so unaware of the world that he struggles with the concept of a drive-thru window. However, he eventually finds Henry Watson (Moses Gunn), an itinerant handyman who knows the Bates Motel and its dark history. 

Alex decides to reopen the Bates Motel, which is surrounded now by luxury homes. He goes to banker Tom Fuller (Gregg Henry) for a loan. Fuller urges Alex to sell the property and make a nice profit off the land, but Alex wants to keep his word to Norman to reestablish the old place. Henry comes to the property after being driven off his own. Also helping is Willie (Lori Petty), a young girl who has been squatting at the Bates Motel and earning some money as a fast-food chicken mascot.

Together, the three of them work to get the Bates Motel up and running, but there are problems. First, rumors that the property is haunted scare off potential customers. The rediscovery of Mrs. Gloria Bates and her husband Jack's bodies at the Bates Motel grounds does not help. Second, the loan terms require a very quick repayment, which the naive Alex agreed to despite there being no customers. Fortunately, a last-minute arrival of a post-prom party might starve off a financial crisis. One guest who is not part of the group is Barbara Peters (Kerrie Keane). A woman with three failed marriages and no children, she is about to commit suicide when her room is accidentally crashed by young partygoer Sally (Khrystyne Haje). Will Barbara find romance with handsome young man Tony Scotti (Jason Bateman) or find that the partygoers literally know where Barbara will end up? What spectral figures go to the Bates Motel? Who is behind the other ghosts lurking about the place? 

In a strange twist, a Bates Motel television series would eventually come, though it was a prequel rather than the sequel this Bates Motel was intended to be. It is surprising that the people behind Bates Motel thought that this television movie would end up going to series. Richard Rothstein's screenplay essentially puts two stories together that do not fit with each other.

On one side, you have the main story of Alex West rebuilding the Bates Motel. On the other, you have this ghost story of lost kids. Exactly how or why the Bates Motel is or would become this center of supernatural activity one cannot guess at. Bates Motel, if one considers it a pilot for a Bates Motel television series, took a turn for the supernatural that does not seem relevant to Alex West's story. 

I also wonder exactly how the kids would pay for the bill given their supernatural circumstances. Granted, once we found out who was behind the spooky goings-on at the Bates Motel (one guess as to whom would benefit from such acts), the financial situation got better. Still, was the idea that strange situations would pop up every week?

As a side note, Bates Motel had this almost Scooby-Doo ending to solving the mystery of who was behind the efforts to shut them down. I wouldn't have been surprised if the villain had said that they would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for these meddlesome kids. 

Bates Motel has some good performances in it. Lori Petty has that quirky offbeat charm as Willie. She is able to bamboozle Alex at every turn with her rapid-fire delivery and ability to turn everything in her favor. Another standout is Jason Bateman, whom one would not expect to find in something like this. As the shy, sensitive and ultimately tragic Tony, he has some good dramatic scenes. Haje's Sally and Keane's Barbara worked well together as the mismatched women whose lives and afterlives intermingle.

Moses Gunn was also effective as Henry Watson, the sane and sensible figure. It is a bit of a shame that the character was underused. Gregg Henry was perfect as the sleazy banker whose outward charm masks a more duplicitous plan.

Bud Cort played the part well as Alex West. He was appropriately naive and unaware of things. It takes a lot to have someone come close to convincing people that he could be held prisoner by a big chicken. That being said, there is nothing particularly interesting about Alex West, the character. I think he was trying to be a little more nervous in the Norman Bates manner. However, that is one of the problems in Bates Motel: you cannot coast on name recognition alone. Norman Bates is not part of this series. Alex West is your protagonist. What is there in Alex West that would want us to follow him? 

Sadly, there is nothing. That is one of Bates Motel's issues. The otherworldly aspect that they rammed into what I presume was meant as a mystery/thriller is another. The Psycho franchise was about a serial killer. The ghosts were imagined or metaphorical. I do not think that they were meant to be literal. 

Bates Motel is an interesting attempt to expand on the Psycho franchise outside of its central character. It did not work, but at least they tried. The television movie's ending has Alex West looking directly at us, inviting us to come on by. Sorry, Alex, but no one will be checking out this Bates Motel.

4/10

PSYCHO FILMS AND TELEVISION

Psycho (1960)

Psycho II

Psycho III

Psycho IV: The Beginning

Psycho (1998)

Bates Motel (The Television Series)

Psycho IV: The Beginning. The Television Movie

PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING

One more round with our favorite serial killer Norman Bates in Psycho IV: The Beginning. I do not know if one needs to quibble how a Part IV (or 4 for those unfamiliar with Roman numerals) can be "the beginning". This is especially true since Psycho IV is both prequel and sequel to the original film. With some strong performances, Psycho IV serves as a good way to close out this epic series but a poor way to set up any new films.

Late night radio talk show hostess Fran Ambrose (CCH Pounder) is covering the subject of matricide on Talk of the Town (which is also called The Fran Ambrose Show). Among her guests is Dr. Leo Richmond (Warren Frost), who once examined a mother-killer named Norman Bates. Into this comes a caller calling himself "Ed", with his own tale of murdering his own mother.

That caller is in reality Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who recounts his story. As a young man (Henry Thomas), he was loved, smothered and abused by his mother Norma (Olivia Hussey). Sometimes she could be very tender and loving. Other times, she would put Norman in compromising positions, enraging her if he got aroused. She would even force him to wear women's clothes. Things are already unstable when Norma begins an affair with Chet Rudolph (Thomas Schuster). Chet is a bully, and he also threatens Norman's place in Norma's world. With that, he poisons them both.

This is already concerning to Fran and Dr. Richmond, who eventually realizes who "Ed" is. The true horror is that Norman, who has married his former psychiatrist Connie (Donna Mitchell), has informed him that she is pregnant. Norman was always dead set against having children, fearing that they would inherit his insanity. Connie, however, opted to get pregnant anyway. Now, on what is his birthday, he tells Fran and her listeners that he plans to kill her and her unborn child to stop the insanity. Will Norman be able to break free of the past once and for all, or will he kill one more time?

For better or worse, for good or ill, Anthony Perkins was so good as Norman Bates that he was never able to fully escape his shadow. Whatever feelings he might have had about his most famous role, Perkins brought a mix of menace and tragedy in Psycho IV. He was eerily calm as Norman, a man who could casually cook while telling strangers of his murderous plan. Joseph Stefano, who wrote the original Psycho script, came back and added as much to the character as Perkins' performance. We see how Norman Bates was shaped by his mother, a disturbed woman who could offer moments of genuine love and kindness between psychological torture.

Stefano's script also allows for some black humor, intentional or not, to emerge. When Connie calls Norman about the possibility of him making his own cake, he tells her, "I'm not good at icing". I do not know if it was meant straight or some kind of pun. I do know that I found it amusing.

As a side note, I cannot help but think that Norman using the name "Ed" was a nod to Ed Gein, the inspiration for Norman Bates. 

Psycho IV ignores the sequels that came before and takes a "back to basics" manner. We go back to Norman's origins to find at heart a good kid, a shy kid, who struggles with sexual desires. Director Mick Garris deserves much credit in how Psycho IV's shifts from past to present are not jarring or feel out of place. He does also attempt to keep tension building in the present-day sections. For instance, there is a strong debate between Fran, Dr. Richmond and Talk of the Town/Fran Ambrose Show's producer Mike (John Landis) about whether or not to contact the police about Norman/Ed's call. 

It is impossible to imagine anyone other than Anthony Perkins playing the part of Norman Bates. However, we found a worthy successor in Henry Thomas. Thomas has an almost innocent manner to his young Norman, making the moments when he is psychologically or physically tortured more difficult to see. He, however, is no wimp. He also shows a more calculated manner, capable of cruelty and violence. In Psycho IV, we see Norman killing more people. Here, we see Thomas able to make Norman both villain and victim.

The late Olivia Hussey was still quite beautiful in Psycho IV. She was able to show the shifts between the good mother and the bad mother quite well. One does wonder why the filmmakers opted to let her keep her British tones as that makes her sound curious in this American setting. Despite that, Hussey made Norma frightening and cruel without making her thoroughly inhuman. CCH Pounder is an underused talent, and here she managed to hold your attention as Fran Ambrose, the talk show hostess with a most eccentric caller. Warren Frost did well as the smug Dr. Richmond, though I wonder how he did not recognize "Ed" sooner given how he had examined him long ago.

Donna Mitchell was probably the weakest performance as Connie Bates, the original Harley Quinn. Once we got to the third act where Norman plans to ice his wife, the television film lost a bit of its footing. It would have been too much to see him go this far. It did not help that Mitchell looked a bit blank at times. 

On the whole, Psycho IV: The Beginning works well. It has strong performances from Anthony Perkins and Henry Thomas as Norman Bates as well as Olivia Hussey as Norma Bates, mother from hell. It has a good story that builds on the original without diminishing or trashing said original. Psycho IV: The Beginning is a good way to end the original franchise.

Little did anyone involve know that this would not be the end of Norman Bates.

7/10

PSYCHO FILMS AND TELEVISION

Psycho (1960)

Psycho II

Psycho III

Psycho (1998)

Bates Motel (Television Movie)

Bates Motel (Television Series)

Psycho III: A Review

PSYCHO III

Anthony Perkins not only acts but directs Psycho III, which tries to make our most genial nutcase more wholesome (or as wholesome as he's allowed to be).   At least until Psycho III decides it was going to be a genuine slasher film.  I admit to enjoying the film, finding the homages to other Hitchcock films and some subtext almost amusing.  However, it was a bit too gory then, and too 80s now, to be up to either the original Psycho or the sequel.

Picking up a month from the events in Psycho II (even if there are three years between the films), Psycho III involves Norman Bates (Perkins) still seeing and hearing his dead mother, though as to who is his actual mother is a subject of debate. He killed Emma Spool, who in the last film claimed to be his real mother.  Her disappearance is a catalyst for some of the story.

Into his life enter three people whose stories collide.  There's Maureen Coyle (Diana Scarwid), an ex-nun whose crisis of faith led to the accidental death of a nun. Already suffering emotionally, her guilt only compounds her emotional agony.  She hitchhikes with Duane Duke or just plain Duke (Jeff Fahey), a charmer who has dreams of making it big in rock n' roll.  Finally, there's Tracy Venable (Roberta Maxwell), a crusading journalist who wants to get the story about how Norman, a formerly criminally insane figure restored to sanity and society, sees the issue of allowing people like him out.

Norman, whose sanity is thinly disguised, is alarmed by the appearance of both Venable and Maureen.  Maureen has a similarity to one of his victims, Marion Crane, down to her initials. He struggles with Maureen's appearance at the Bates Motel, and is unaware that Duke, whom he hired as a part-time Assistant Manager, attempted to have his way with her.  Maureen, distraught and confused about things, attempts suicide by slashing her wrists in the bathtub.  In her haze and confusion, she sees, not Norman dressed up as his Mother, but the Virgin Mary, confusing Mother Bates' butcher knife for a crucifix.

Norman saves her life and rushes her to the hospital, and Venable's curiosity is aroused.  She suspects that Norman is behind Mrs. Spool's disappearance, and after Duke fails to pick her up, gets him to work as a spy. Duke did manage to pick someone up, but after their one-night stand unceremoniously kicks her out.  Poor choice, as she's killed: stabbed repeatedly in the phone booth.

By now Maureen and Norman have bonded, though both struggle with desires of the flesh.  The Bates Motel is inundated with guests for a Homecoming game, and a pretty guest is murdered there too.  By now, Venable is convinced Norman is up to his old tricks again, and pushes to investigate further, especially after finding the Bates Motel number in her apartment.  As there are no bodies to be found, the Sheriff (Hugh Gillin), can do nothing. The Sheriff is actually fond of Norman, thinking he is innocent but unfairly hounded.

As Norman continues to struggle with his mind, he pushes Maureen away.  He also finds that "Mother" is missing.  Duke has discovered Norman's biggest secret and puts the squeeze on Norman for a lot of money in exchange for his silence.  Norman, as Norman, kills Duke, but not without a fierce struggle.  Maureen returns to Norman, and is accidentally killed.  Norman, finding his last chance of love gone, rages against Mother, but now has devolved into her.

Venable, for her part, has been digging into the past and makes a shocking discovery about Norman and Mrs. Spool.  She rushes to the Bates Motel and makes another shocking discovery: Maureen dead.  Patsy makes yet another shocking discovery: Norman Bates in full drag, and he/she goes after her.  Patsy, too dumb to flee, screams out the truth: Mrs. Spool was Norman's aunt, not his real mother.  She had murdered Norman's father in a jealous rage, having been in love with him but he not returning the affections.  Emma had then abducted Norman and convinced herself he was her child.  It didn't take long to find them, and Emma Spool was institutionalized while Norman was returned to Norma.

Norman, now bonkers beyond hope, starts slashing Mrs. Spool's corpse.  He is taken away, declaring that he's 'finally free'.  Or is he, for while he's driven away to the institution, he cradle's Mrs. Spool's severed hand, smiling...

Perkins had studied films enough to give shout-outs or rip off other Hitchcock films, depending on your point of view.  The opening is a direct call-out to Vertigo with its bell tower and falling corpses, and Maureen's death is almost a shot-for-shot copy of another character's death in the original Psycho.

The killing of Red, Duke's one-night stand, is similarly deliberately reminiscent of Psycho, and while the shock of Marion's murder still takes audiences off guard, here, we kind of were waiting for it.  I think that even if you hadn't seen either Psycho or Psycho II you would think she wasn't long for this world. 

He also, thanks to Charles Edward Pogue's screenplay, has some fun with symbolism and a touch of humorous in the macabre.  For example, Maureen's death involves a literal Cupid's arrow: her love literally killing her.  Norman casually kills small birds by enticing them into his birdfeeder, then cheerfully stuffs them while munching on cookies, giving it a creepy, ghoulish overtone.  Perkins' line readings also deliberately lend themselves to an off-kilter interpretation,

When he hires Duke, he tells him that Duke will take the day shift.  "I prefer the nights", Norman tells him in a way that even the somewhat dimwitted Duke would take notice of.

In a certain way, Psycho III allows itself to have some fun with its premise, the dark humor coming from certain moments (such as when the Sheriff unwittingly takes some ice cubes with blood on them and sucks on them, Norman having stuffed a victim's body into the ice chest at the motel.

However, where Psycho III does get a little off is in the graphic nature of the violence.  Like a lot of actors-turned-directors, Perkins loves calling attention to how a film looks, and Psycho III does have some well-crafted visual moments.   However, when some people are killed, the graphic nature of the violence is surprisingly gruesome almost sadistic.  This is particularly true with both the girl killed on the toilet and Maureen's death. 

It seems to be more in line with the Friday the 13th/Nightmare on Elm Street type of teen-geared slasher films than a well-crafted Hitchcock film.  At times it almost plays like parody (not that the romp between Duke and Red didn't have its moments of unintentional humor).  At least when Duke is killed, the humor was intentional (as Norman picks up the guitar to smash his head in with it, Duke's final words are what he's said twice before, "Watch the guitar"). 

Some of the performances were good, some not.  The best was Maxwell as Venable, who minus her idiotic race up to the Bates house (or never using the tire iron she had for protection), came across as a determined figure.  Fahey was surprisingly good as the lecherous Duke, who uses his looks to his advantages but who is sleazy at heart.  Scarwid was a bit over-the-top at times (particularly when she was a novice nun), but at others she can be more grounded.  It's Perkins who at times is too obviously off, with his hesitancy and manner almost signaling "I'M NUTS!"

Psycho III is also humorously dated: Norman offers Duke the job for "$5 an hour", and the rate for a single room is $25.95, two things that would be laughable today.  Again, so 80s.

Psycho III is a bit too graphic, derivative of other slasher films of the time.  Still, it is an entertaining film for those who like Norman Bates and one last, somewhat morbid somewhat macabre somewhat humorous last turn to our favorite Mama's Boy.   

    
DECISION: C+

PSYCHO FILMS AND TELEVISION

Psycho (1960)

Psycho II

Bates Motel (Television Movie)

Psycho IV: The Beginning  

Psycho (1998)

Bates Motel (Television Series)

Psycho II: A Review

PSYCHO II

For better or worse, Anthony Perkins' greatest screen performance became a curse on him, condemning him to be seen as one type: the murderous lunatic.  For the longest time Perkins found work, but still found himself tied to his most famous character: Norman Bates from Psycho.  It's a reconciliation between Perkins and his character in Psycho II, a sequel that isn't up to the level of the original, but which is still a pretty good film in its own right.

Twenty-two years after the events of Psycho, Norman Bates (Perkins) is found to have been restored to sanity and released.  This infuriates Lila Loomis, formerly Lila Crane, sister to his victim Marion (Vera Miles, reprising her role from Psycho).  Despite Lila's loud objections, Norman's psychiatrist, Dr. Raymond (Robert Loggia) finds that Norman is able to function in society and gets him out.  He also gets him a job as a cook's assistant at a diner, and return of his property, including the Bates Motel.

Norman is displeased by hotel manager Toomey (Dennis Franz) who has made the place a den of drugs and illicit sex.  Using his property owner's rights, he fires Toomey, which infuriates the latter.  Norman also bonds with Mary Samuels (Meg Tilly) a waitress at the diner.

Norman, however, cannot escape the past, as he keeps finding notes and phone calls from "Mother", pushing him towards insanity again.  Mary is there to try to help him past his issues, but there is something amiss.  A boy is murdered by someone who looks like Norman's late mother in their basement, and Toomey disappears as well.  There is someone inside the Bates home, peering through a peephole and Norman is locked in the attic at one point, after having seen his mother's room exactly as it was when he left.

The hijinks and murders continue, pushing Norman closer to the idea that his Mother isn't really dead.  He soon agrees with one phone call regarding his mother, and he soon starts referring to the difference between "Mrs. Bates" and his real mother.

Has Norman Bates gone mad again?

We eventually learn that Mary is not an innocent bystander to all this, but part of an intricate plot to put Norman back into the institution.   She, however, has seen that Norman is a good man now and won't be a party to the scheme anymore. There is however, a third player in the machinations, someone no one is aware of who is playing her own game, inadvertently foiling the schemes of Mary and Lila, with her own agenda.

The bodies of Toomey and the boy are found, and suspicion builds around Norman, who appears to have gone mad again, talking to 'Mother'.  Mary, who has been unmasked by now, is desperate to help, but cannot.  In the chaos, she accidentally kills Dr. Raymond and is convinced Norman is now a threat to her.  When she and Norman accidentally discover the murdered Lila in the fruit cellar, that proves to Mary that Norman is indeed a killer, but fortune smiles on Bates and is saved at the last minute.

The 'real Mother' emerges from the shadows, but true to form, Norman murders her and puts her in 'Mother's' room, and opens the Bates Motel for business.

Psycho II (back when Roman numerals were still being used for sequels) builds its story pretty logically.  A second viewing shows that Tom Holland's script didn't cheat but that almost everything works towards its conclusions, that the twists within it do work.

I say almost because at times I thought the coincidences of things worked a little too well, as if having both Lila and "Mother" simultaneously work at Norman is a bit hard to believe.  There is also the matter of the boy who got killed in the fruit cellar after failing to escape with his girlfriend during a botched make-out session,

It does seem a rather extraordinary coincidence to have them go into the fruit cellar when Norman is locked up.  Granted, since Norman getting locked in the attic and the murder weren't connected it could be a wild coincidence, but it is a bit much.

Still, with regards to the plot Psycho II is a pretty well-constructed one.

Another highlight are the performances from the cast.  At the center of it is Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates.  He does wonders whenever we see his hesitancy, his fears about his condition.  By the end though, one isn't quite sure whether he has really gone mad or is just pretending in order to play with Mary (and by extension, his old foe Lila).

When he is on one phone call to 'Mother', Mary rushes to another phone pretending to be 'Mother' and ordering him to hang up.  There is a strange smile in Norman, as if he knows what is really going on but decided to have some fun with this, a way of teasing and taunting his tormentors.

At the end, when we see "Mother", even then we wonder whether Norman has really gone crazy again or is just now either evil or just more comfortable with how he'd like things to have been.  It's a standout performance.   

Miles, returning to the role of Lila, is all anger and righteous fury, but even if you hadn't seen the original you can see why she is so determined to see Norman locked up again.  It's not an unsympathetic performance, and her own demise is shocking and a little sad.

Tilly, despite her Oscar nomination for Agnes of God, I don't think has been given enough credit for being a good dramatic actress.  Here, her Mary was again sympathetic, the island of kindness that Norman clings to, making the revelation about her surprising.  Her evolution from secret antagonist to secret ally to ultimate victim is a strong performance, and it's a shame Tilly hasn't been more recognized for her abilities.

Jerry Goldsmith's score, again not close to Bernard Herrmann's iconic music for the original, manages to hold its own.

About the only real place where I would take Psycho II to task (and the reason I knocked it down a bit) is in the more graphic nature of the film.  First, there was more open nudity in Psycho II than I think was necessary (another shower scene that showed a bit too much), but second and more important, the more graphic nature of the violence. 

The final confrontation between Mary and Norman was almost a bit comical (the stabbings looking fake), but other parts were more graphic and gruesome (particularly Lila's murder, where she's stabbed in the mouth).  That and "Mother's" end didn't work for me, the latter both because of the graphic nature of it and for the obviousness of it.

When "Mother" meets her end it was obvious she was going to get whacked, and when Lila's body is discovered that too could I think been done better (perhaps not show us where she was hidden and had it revealed at the same time the characters found her).  Not only would this have shocked the audience, but confirmed that Norman was sane at the moment (when Lila's body is found, it looks like Norman is genuinely shocked by it, the pretense over).

Psycho II is a pretty strong film on its own and a good, though not necessary, sequel to the original.  It didn't need to have been made, but fans of the original I doubt would have much to complain about.  More graphic than necessary to me, Psycho II still has some strong performances and a logical script in its favor.

It even has a door ever so slightly open to a sequel.

DECISION: B-

PSYCHO FILMS AND TELEVISION

Psycho (1960)

Psycho III

Bates Motel (The Television Movie)

Psycho IV: The Beginning

Psycho (1998)

Bates Motel (The Television Series)

Bates Motel: The Final Thoughts

BATES MOTEL:

THE FINAL THOUGHTS

As I think back for the last time on Bates Motel, I think, 'what a good show it was'.   I also think, 'how disappointed I was at the end'.

I am not a type to throw out the baby with the bathwater, so I give credit where it is due.  It was an exceptionally well-acted show by the two leads.  Vera Farmiga was as of this writing the only cast member singled out for Emmy consideration for her performance as Norma Bates, and the lack of recognition for her and the show is still pretty surprising.

Well, not completely surprising, given how the Television Academy is hung up with sword and sorcery.

Farmiga and Bates Motel shifted the whole view of Norma Bates.  From the films, Norma Bates was always a horrible person: abusive, clinging, possessive, almost inhuman towards her much put-upon son.  Bates Motel changed that, and made Norma herself a victim of domestic violence, a woman who at heart was good, but who through a series of disastrous decisions and her own ego created a situation that led to Norman Bates becoming who he did.

Farmiga made Norma very real, even rational.  She was a bit clingy (nothing excuses her continuing to on occasion share a bed with her teenage son because she wanted company), but she also didn't want or think Norman should be perpetually by her side.  She certainly lived: having affairs with various men culminating in her marriage to Sheriff Alex Romero.

Here is where Norma went wrong.  Even if Norman was in a mental institution when she married, she should not have kept this news from him.  Again and again she delayed telling Norman about his new stepfather, and her choice damned them all to the ultimate fate they all met.

The show was brilliant about how it slowly, steadily built the world to where Norman's eventual fate was all but certain.

Freddie Highmore was also equally brilliant as Norman Bates. He had the added block of having to adopt an American accent to mask his British heritage, and not once did it ever sound forced or unnatural.  Highmore could play Norman for sympathy, but he could also, as the show progressed, show Norman's cruelty, his egoism and selfishness, his haughty manner, his arrogance.  Highmore made Norman both a figure of immense sympathy and immense loathing.

This is his final chance to get some recognition for his work on Bates Motel, but again, given he never had to fight dragons, it's doubtful.

Perhaps because so much focus was on Norman/Norma, a lot of times other good actors and characters kind of went by the wayside.  That to me was the case with Olivia Cooke's Emma Decody, who I felt was badly underused.  About one of the handful of sane people on the show, her character was smart and kind, but despite pining for Norman for a few seasons, it was with his half-brother/uncle Dylan that she ended up with. 

Part of me never bought Dylemma, and I think it was because it almost felt like they had to be put together to justify her staying on the show.  I think so much more could have been done with Emma and it felt like such a waste to see her sometimes relegated to almost a non-entity.

With regards to Max Thieriot's Dylan, I really struggled with him. The motorbike, the leather jacket, it all worked to make Dylan a very James Dean-type character, and I wasn't awed by it all.  Granted, I can't remember seeing Thieriot in anything else, but I almost always thought he wasn't a very good actor.  Handsome, yes, and from appearances a great guy to hang out with, go hunting or watch a ball game with.

However, Thieriot always seemed to have the same expression on his face: a mixture of surprise and sadness, as if he couldn't show any other expression.  There were moments when I thought both Dylan and Thieriot were actually relevant/good to the overall story, but for the most part I simply didn't care that much for either.

Finally, Nestor Carbonell rarely could do bad in my eyes as the morally flexible Romero.  He was an honest man and good officer, but he also could live with White Pine Bay being the Venezuela of marijuana trafficking, with this idyllic little community an underground hotbed of drugs that makes Ciudad Juarez look like Mayberry.

It wasn't until the final season when I lost interest in him, having him turn into this avenging angel/superhuman figure able to survive getting shot many times.

The final season was for me a terrible disappointment.  We knew that eventually we were going to have to hit the events of the film Psycho, down to the famous shower scene.  In their infinite wisdom, the Bates Motel producers opted to change a lot (Marion Crane, for example, while introduced, survives, and it's her lover Sam Loomis who gets knifed in the shower).  Adding to that, they decided to cater to current politically correct trends by not having Norman dress up as Norma for fear of offending transgender people.

Again and again I argue that Norman thinking he was Norma when he killed whoever in the shower had anything to do with transgenderism.  I don't think that even transgender Bates Motel fans would think him thinking he was his mother would be reflective of their community or suggest transgender people were murderers.  It was a silly reason to change what had come before.

While I might buy the idea that they didn't want to be a straight copy of Psycho (and had changed things already with having Sam Loomis married, which he wasn't in the movie), I still think they could have still kept things closer to how they were (such as seeing poor Marion bite it, though can one really kill off Ri-Ri). 

It would have prevented having seen Dylan kill his own brother, and for me one of the two worst moments on the series finale: see Norman have a happy-like ending (a reunion with his mother in some ethereal paradise).  Yes, he was not in his right state of mind, but something about him being given a happy-type ending, with a joyful reunion with his mother in the afterlife, just didn't sit right with me.

I see nothing wrong with seeing Norman Bates die in a hail of bullets from the police, a sad figure which he always was.  I see nothing wrong with Norman Bates being institutionalized, with at least a hope of him rehabilitated.  Instead, he gets sent to a form of Heaven, and I just don't buy it.

Not that I buy Romero's almost-superhuman ability to survive getting blown away.  Earlier in the season, he'd been shot in what would have killed any other man, but somehow he managed to survive hours with no medical attention and he managed to essentially self-medicate his own serious wounds.  After being nursed to health, and even after knowing Norman had been locked up for various murders, he still went after Norman in his poor condition.  Add to that, when Romero was distracted by Norma's corpse (since it never occurred to Romero to secure Norman even after giving him a fierce beating), he gets shot two or three more times...and can still leave taunting final words to Norman.

I think he got shot in the head, and still managed to have some final words.  Maybe he wasn't shot in the head (even if that is what I would have done), but there you go.

I'm glad the show ended when it did.  Sometimes, even shows that have a certain end time overstay their welcome.  Bates Motel didn't.  It ended when the story ended, even if to me the story didn't end well.  I wasn't overwhelmed by the ending, feeling a bit let down by it. 

I'm glad I watched Bates Motel (even once winning a Super-Fan contest).  It was on the whole a well-crafted, well-written, well-acted show.  Now that it's over, I'll have mostly good memories of it, though I doubt I would rewatch the series.  If I catch an episode I might stay to see it, but I wouldn't watch the entirety of it or own any of the seasons on DVD myself.

Overall, 8/10 for Bates Motel.   

Psycho (1960): A Review

PSYCHO (1960)

With Bates Motel over, I thought it would be nice to look over the history of the Psycho phenomenon, and what better way to begin than with the original.  Shocking when it was released, and still shocking today, it is interesting that while many people might think that Psycho began the glut of graphically violent films, the movie itself is actually quite restrained when it comes to what is actually there.

History has proven that Psycho was not a cheap slasher film (let alone the genesis of the genre), but among the best-crafted films of the 20th Century.

Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is a good and honest person, though her love life is a bit chaotic.  Her lover, Sam Loomis (John Gavin), has many debts and an ex-wife, which is why he won't marry her.  Marion wants to help Sam and find a way to be together, willing even to move from her home in Phoenix to his small hardware store in Fairvale, California.

Things take an unexpected turn when $40,000 almost literally falls in her lap, a cash payment by a wealthy real estate client.  Her boss is uncomfortable with so much cash at the office and asks Marion to deposit it in the bank.  Marion decides to make a run for it.

Her nerves get the better of her, as she finds herself quietly pursued by a police officer who finds her very suspicious, more so when she trades in her car for another.  Eventually, she drives to the Bates Motel, having accidentally gotten off the highway.  She seeks shelter from the storm, and the hotel owner, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) offers both shelter and a good ear.  He also has a mother, who constantly shouts at him but who is, in his own words, incapacitated.

Marion then decides to clean up her act, deciding in her own mind to go back and face the music.  She also decides to take a shower, and it's here where all hell breaks loose.

Marion Crane is stabbed to death in the shower.

Shortly afterwards, Marion's sister Lila (Vera Miles) goes to Sam's to find her, but Sam doesn't know anything.  Unbeknown to either, there's someone else looking for Marion: private detective Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam).  He wants to know what happened to Marion, and the $40,000.  His investigative work leads him to the Bates Motel, where he finds a very nervous Norman.  He also finds that Norman will not let him see Mrs. Bates.

When Arbogast doesn't contact Lila and Sam, they decide to investigate themselves.  This leads to the shocking discovery of the truth of Norman and Mrs. Bates, as well as a long explanation by a psychiatrist (Simon Oakland).  The truth about Marion's murder and Norman Bates leaves everyone in disbelief.

Psycho has become a byword for 'crazy', but the film is anything but.  It still is shocking in so many ways.  First, screenwriter Joseph Stefano (adapting Robert Bloch's novel) and Hitchcock give us a major twist in killing off what the audience believes to be the main character.  The film has you believe that this will be Marion's story, but about halfway through the film, we see her slashed to death.  Having our 'main' character killed off, particularly in that manner, upends audiences' expectations, leaving them off-kilter and unsure of what will happen.

It's not a spoiler to say that Marion Crane was murdered: the shower scene having become iconic.  Those who have not seen Psycho are aware of it: it's been reference and parodied countless times.  What might be surprising to people is that the shower scene is both very brief (probably under two minutes at the most) and surprisingly not violent.

The shower scene has been analyzed and studied and dissected in many film classes, and I don't think I need to go over every frame of it.  Instead, I can tell you what I saw, and this is something that has been commented on by others.  The shock and horror that comes from it is not directly related to what is actually shown (there was probably one very quick shot of the knife near the body, but from my perspective it didn't look like it had actually entered the body).

The shock and horror comes from the impressions it leaves.  Everything in the shower scene works to give an illusion of rapid, out-of-control, frenzied violence on an almost unimaginable scale.

Bernard Herrmann's score at this scene have a stabbing-like sound: the violin strings repeating the same note in short, rapid succession, with a controlled frenzy backing it up.
George Tomasini's quick cutting where things again show a frenzy and fury, the knife appearing to come almost closer and closer to us as it 'cuts' through the water.
Janet Leigh's screams of terror as she desperately fights off her attacker.
Hitchcock putting all this together seamlessly.

We even get a touch of pathos after her killing.  Accidentally or not, a couple of the shower water drops almost appear to form 'tears' from Marion's eyes, as if metaphorically she is crying that now she will never get a chance to redeem herself when she had made the decision to return to Phoenix and try to make right what she did wrong.

It adds a touch of sadness after the perceived violence, for if one looks at the shower scene, we see that the blood and gruesome nature of it comes from our imagination, not what is literally on screen.

Psycho's brilliance also comes from the non-verbal cues the film gives us.  Herrmann's score is among the greatest for film (shockingly overlooked come Oscar time, which didn't even bother nominating it), but the use of silences in Psycho is also quite incredible.  Hitchcock allows us to fill in information without having to tell us.  When Marion decides to run off with the money, we not only see how she's gone from light to dark (in her romp with Sam, she wears white underwear, when planning to leave, it becomes black), but see the camera shift from her, to the envelope with the money, to a suitcase.

In those three movements, we know all there is to know. 

Again and again Hitchcock shows us rather than tells us things to give us the subtext: the constant mentions of marriage to Marion (whose one desire is to marry Sam), the stuffed birds looking over Norman (a bird of prey seeking out its hunt), even the name Crane.  The subtlety of Psycho is something that perhaps should be more noted.

Even when dialogue is used, sometimes it can be to dark humor's use.  After Marion is killed, Lila comes to Sam's, wanting to help her sister before, in her words, "she gets in this too deeply," an unintentionally gruesome comment given how just earlier we saw Marion's body sink into a swamp when Norman pushed her car into it.

Janet Leigh was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and it was well-earned.  Her Marion was sympathetic, and often she had to act with voices going through her head.  Leigh had to express emotions with her eyes and face, and she did it beautifully.

In his short turn as the detective, Balsam is also extraordinary: sharp, shrewd, determined.

Anthony Perkins became forever typecast as a troubled, mentally unstable man after Psycho (so much so that despite working on other films, he found his best work recreating the character in three sequels).  Despite the trouble Psycho would bring to his career, Perkins' performance is iconic and brilliant.  His hesitancy, his nervousness coupled with what appears his sincerity and kindness makes Norman Bates a figure of sympathy and revulsion.

The great flaw in Psycho to many is the psychiatrist's long and ponderous wrapping up, as if the audience needed some rationalization for the insanity of the past two hours.  I never found it a dealbreaker but I can see why so many found it rather much, even in 1960.  A minor flaw might be in some shots that make it a bit dated, but the technology just wasn't there to make it as effective as it might have been today.  Still, minor points.

Psycho still, after a half-century plus, still can shock us again and again.  Exceptionally acted, extraordinarily directed, with an iconic musical score, the film remains a high mark in cinema history.

It's a tough act to follow, let alone duplicate.  However, that's for another time.

DECISION: A+

PSYCHO FILMS AND TELEVISION

Psycho II

Psycho III

Psycho IV: The Beginning

Bates Motel (Television Movie)

Psycho (1998)

Bates Motel (Television Series)

Bates Motel: The Complete Fifth and Final Season Overview

BATES MOTEL: THE COMPLETE 

FIFTH SEASON

A lot of television shows should take a page from Bates Motel: know when to quit.  Bates Motel: The Fifth Season actually went a bit past the events of Psycho (and even changed some of them), and had a definitive ending.  A good thing too, as I found this final season a bit weak, where things ended not with a bang, but with a whimper.

I don't think I've been as disappointed in a series finale as I have been with Bates Motel, at least not since the debacle known as Twin Peaks (though perhaps the revival will redeem it).  Looking over the reviews, I find that Seasons 1 to 4 averaged a very respectable 8/10, but Season 5 eked out a 7.8.  Yes, rounding up makes it another 8/10, but it also has six episodes that were 6 and lower (with The Cord being the lowest of them all at a 3/10).  The lowest-ranked Bates Motel episode for me was the series finale, and it wasn't because I was sad to see it go, but because I thought it gave people a false ending.

I found that this season, there were good things still rattling around (who would have thought Rihanna would turn out to be a respectable actress), but there were other things that I thought bordered on the ludicrous.

I was thrilled to see Chick killed as I loathed him pretty much from the get-go.  However, when he got killed, having him hit the typewriter with his head and ending it with the 'ding' was not funny.  It was stupid.  Seeing Romero turn into some sort of superman where he can survive getting shot repeatedly was also silly.

Perhaps worse, from my perspective, is seeing that in a sense, Norman Bates got a happy ending.  Psycho didn't give him a happy ending: he was locked up in an insane asylum, where he needed to be, and if not for the sequels he would have spent the rest of his life there, completely given over to 'Mother'.  Instead, Bates Motel opted for a metaphysical reunion, where Norman could spend time and all eternity happily with Norma.

This just didn't seem fair to me on many levels.  It didn't seem fair to the many people he killed, for they never got true justice.  It didn't seem fair to me as a viewer, who found the idea of a serial killer going to a form of Heaven almost blasphemous.  It just seemed a very easy way out for him: to have his psychologically tortured half-brother/uncle take care of things.

Even that seemed a bit unfair, to have Dylan be the instrument of retribution. He was the only person who genuinely cared for Norman, and perhaps the writers thought it would be great drama to have him be his executioner.  Still, something about that just didn't sit right with me.

We'll also never get a definitive answer to what ever happened to Dr. Edwards.  We get a great moment where Norman accidentally bumps into him (echoing a scene in Psycho, curiously enough), and Dr. Edwards gives a great insight to Norman about his true mental state.  We then get a great twist when we hear that Dr. Edwards has actually been missing for over a year, but we never learn what actually happened to him.

It's probable that Norman killed Dr. Edwards too, but how, and why?  Did Dr. Edwards find Norman in drag?  Did they perhaps meet at the gay bar Norman as 'Norma' went to (remember, Dr. Edwards was openly gay and it's doubtful he wouldn't have gone to the bar at least once)?  Did the good doctor take advantage of the situation, or was he an innocent bystander?  Did Norman break into Pineview to get at the doctor?  How and why Dr. Edwards may have been killed is something the show will never bother to explain.

Almost seems unfair to bring it up then, doesn't it, if you're not going to give an answer.  Why couldn't the sheriff have found Edwards' body too, giving us closure?

Let's also touch briefly on the change to the original story.  Part of me understands the rationale for not killing Marion off as she was in the film (they wanted to not be a carbon copy of Psycho).  Fine, I get that.  From me perspective though, it felt like a big tease or a bait-and-switch (or is it Bates-and-switch): bringing  her in just to say, 'nope, sorry, just kidding'.

Then again, you can't kill off Ri-Ri.

Instead, we get Sam Loomis killed off in the shower, with Norman not in drag as 'Norma', but as himself.  Part of me, again, understands what we've been told is the rationale behind it, but again, I just never felt it was a good idea.  Wouldn't Sam, a much stronger man than Norman, been better able to defend himself?  Yes, he was stabbed, but he still could have had enough strength to overpower the thin kid.

After all, Romero managed to survive multiple gunshots, and he was older than our adulterous Sammy.

A lot of Loomis' murder just felt off.  Worse though was the idea of Bates Motel producers who decided to have Norman do the killing because seeing him in drag killing people might be offensive to transgender people.

Whatever one might think of transgenderism, this politically correct motivation, while well-intentioned, is erroneous.  Norman never thought he should have been born a woman a la Laverne Cox or Caitlyn Jenner.  He was always conscious of being male, down to being horrified when he found he had inadvertently been having sex with other men.  He never saw himself as a woman, but as one particular woman (his mother, Norma) and those times he was in a blackout stage.  That is not a transgender person.

Norman was and has never been transgender, and I doubt the audience would ever mistake him for one.  To alter a major plot point to satisfy a sense of social justice is silly, especially given that by this point most if not all Bates Motel fans understand that Norman sees himself as Norma Bates, a specific person, not as a woman per se (and even then, only at certain times, not all the time as would an actual transgender individual).

Transgenderism would not have crossed my mind when and if the show had stuck to Psycho. I don't even think the concept of transgenderism existed in 1960 (note I said the concept, not actual transgender people.  There is a difference). Bates Motel, if they changed the killing to placate certain social views, is selling its audience very short.

I wasn't thrilled they made major changes to the Psycho story.  I wasn't overwhelmed with how the show ended.  I was highly impressed by Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates, who now took center stage after Vera Farmiga's Norma was killed off.  I even thought better of Max Thieriot as Dylan, someone who I constantly went back and forth on.

Still, Bates Motel Season Five was a disappointment to me.  I feel we could have had a stronger ending, and especially not a happy-type one for our deranged serial killer.

And that damn 'ding' when Chick was killed.

So close, and yet...

Bates Motel: The Final Thoughts

Bates Motel: The Cord Review

BATES MOTEL: THE CORD

...but the Mother and Child Reunion is only a murder away...

Somehow, I figure that would have been a better title for the series finale of Bates Motel, though The Cord does bring everything full circle from the premiere episode.  Here we had to wrap up everything, and somehow for me things did not end particularly well.  It felt a bit unfair, a bit underwhelming given everything that has come before.  For me, The Cord was probably the worst Bates Motel episode, and given that it's the last one, it ended on a weak note.

Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell) has forced his nemesis, Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) to take him to the body of his late wife, Norma.  Norman, still as sarcastic as ever (referring to his former stepfather as "Sheriff Lonelyhearts") does so.  A devastated Romero beats Norman within an inch of his life, then stops to cradle the body.  Bad move, as this distraction is enough for Norman to get a rock, beat Romero with it, then shoot him dead.

Despite having been shot multiple times, even in the head if memory serves right, Romero STILL lives (a latter-day Rasputin), telling Norman that he is a sick man for murdering his own mother.

Sheriff Jane Greene (Brooke Smith) doesn't care what happens to Norman, but she is extremely worried about what could happen to her deputy, Regina (who was also taken by Romero).  This lack of empathy angers and worries Norman's half-brother/uncle Dylan Massett (Max Thieriot), who is desperate to get Norman the help he so desperately needs. 

Unbeknown to anyone, Norman casually gets Norma's body and drives back to the hotel, where even more surprisingly he manages to get a guest and her two sons to check in.  More than likely this situation would have continued, perhaps completely unknown if not for the fact that Norman calls Dylan to invite him to dinner.  Dylan is shocked at all this, especially since he realizes that Norman is so far gone he thinks he's basically started over and that what has happened in the past five-odd years hasn't.

Dylan, against the advise of his wife Emma (Olivia Cooke) goes to the house and doesn't tell the police.  There, Dylan finds Norman completely divorced from reality, making dinner while their mother's corpse sits there, causing Dylan to vomit in horror.  Dylan really tries hard to tell Norman that Mother is dead, that none of this is real, and that he needs to get help; Norman won't hear this, and gets a knife.  Dylan has come with a gun courtesy of his old friend Remo, and is forced to shoot his brother.

Norman whispers a soft 'thank you' while Dylan tearfully cradles his brother in his arms.  We see Norman and Norma 'reunited' joyfully in some ethereal world, and Dylan, Emma, and their daughter are now happy in a sunny Seattle.

Somehow, a lot of The Cord rang false for me.  Of particular irritant was the idea that Norman and Norma would reunite happily in the afterlife.  Now, as someone who does believe in an afterlife, I don't object to that per se.  I object to the idea that Norman should get a happy ending.  Yes, he was disturbed, with serious mental issues.  He was also pretty cold-blooded, selfish, and unrepentant.  He wasn't under Norma's control when he killed Sam Loomis or Sheriff Romero.  That was all Norman. 

Why then am I supposed to accept that he can get a happy ending?  That just didn't sit right with me.

I also had a hard time believing that there would be no checking at the Bates Motel itself by the police, or that Norman could just waltz back to the hotel and open it up, or that some woman who happened to stumble into the hotel would believe some random person that knocked on her door and told her to get out because the nice young man that checked her in is really bonkers, or that a man who has been shot more than once could still find time for a final monologue.

That whole Romero business was something else that never sat well with me.  Why didn't Romero just shoot Norman, or at least tie him up or put him in the trunk of the car while he mourned?  And again, after getting shot again (having made a near-miraculous recovery from the last time he was shot), he still has enough within him to taunt Norman with his Joker-like look?

Why didn't Emma call the police if Dylan refused to?  Norman, even in a state of delusion, killed her mother, so it isn't as if she was going to be particularly sympathetic to him.

No, a lot of The Cord felt as if things just had to be wrapped up.  There were ten episodes to set up a good, proper ending.  Somehow, I felt it wasn't a good and proper ending (even with Norman finally dead and buried: 1995-2017). 

I can't say much in terms of performances except that Highmore and Thieriot were good: typical for the former, slightly atypical for the latter. 

Somehow, I was disappointed by The Cord.  It just didn't feel like an ending, but a finish, a way to just close out a series because you had to.  Good thing too, because if it hadn't been the final season, I probably would have stopped watching after this episode.

3/10

Bates Motel: The Complete Fifth & Final Season

Bates Motel: Visiting Hours Review

BATES MOTEL: VISITING HOURS

We are now coming to the end of our saga of Norman Bates, with Visiting Hours giving us our closing look at a saga that knows when to end.  Visiting Hours gives us a great moral crisis for one of its characters, resignation from another, and righteous fury from yet another.

Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) has been formally charged with three murders, but there is a chance that he could get away with it.  His lawyer suggests he plead not guilty by reason of insanity, but "Mother" (Vera Farmiga) pushes hard against it.  There certainly is a good case for it, as the police marvel at how Mother's room is almost museum-like (or perhaps mausoleum-like) in preserving a semblance of life.  Norman is essentially trapped in an unreal world.

Dylan Massett (Max Thieriot), Norman's half-brother/uncle who is perhaps the sanest member, is caught in a terrible bind.  He loves his tormented brother, but he also loves his wife, Emma (Olivia Cooke), whose mother was one of Norman's victims.  Emma understandably is angry about all this, despite being distant from her mother versus Norman's postmortem connection to his.

Emma sees to her mother's cremation, then sees Norman.  She sees a very polite but distant and creepy figure, and at one point Emma 'talks' to Norma.  Emma sees just how far gone Norman is, and leaves in great pain.

Lurking in the background is our dear Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell), still plotting revenge on Norman.  He finally discovers what has happened to Norman, but despite being arrested he won't let go of his mad plan for vengeance.  It appears to have given him more fuel, as he storms the jail, takes Norman hostage, and kidnaps them.  Romero, full of rage, stops short of strangling Norman right then and there, instead ordering Norman to take him to Norma's body.

Visiting Hours is a showcase for Thieriot, who has mastered the art of looking forever forlorn and sad.  His Dylan has that great crisis of conscience between loyalty to his brother and his love for his wife.  A lot of Visiting Hours was almost a domestic drama between Dylan and Emma, with the latter perhaps harder on the former than necessary.

As has been the case almost since the beginning, Bates Motel hasn't used Cooke as much as her talents would have warranted, and Thieriot has never been the most versatile actor on the show. However, he in this episode gives a very strong performance.  In fact, both did extremely well, especially Cooke, who communicated so much even when saying little, for example, when her mother is burned to ashes; the conflicting emotions of the whole situation play out in her face.

However, as has been the case this season, Visiting Hours is Freddie Highmore's show.  He is frightening when speaking to Emma: in turns calm yet creepy, intense and frightening, Highmore in a sane universe would almost be a shoe-in for at least an Emmy nomination.  However, he's on Bates Motel, not the perennially-nominated Game of Thrones, so he pretty much is out.  Much the pity, as Highmore's Norman Bates is the only one to challenge Anthony Perkins' iconic take on the character.

Then there's Carbonell's Romero.  I don't dislike him or his performance, but given how we're one episode away from the series finale, I really don't care for his revenge bit.  It might also be that overall, with the show winding down (as it should), things seem to be done just to wrap them up.  You have to have a character's arc end somehow.

Visiting Hours isn't my favorite, but it does its job.  With strong performances by Thieriot, Cooke, and especially Highmore, it is a well-acted story.  It's one I can't build great enthusiasm for, but it still works well. 

6/10

Next Episode: The Cord

Bates Motel: The Body Review

BATES MOTEL: THE BODY

We now have to come to the conclusion of all things Bates Motel.  The Body spends much time making us wonder whether our psychopathic Norman Bates will really get charged with murder or not.  A long tease to that conclusion, along with an almost superfluous appearance by our favorite shady Sheriff pushes The Body down.

However, Alex Romero did do one thing for which I will be forever grateful to him for.

Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore), fresh off attacking/defending his half-brother/uncle Dylan (Max Thieriot) has just confessed to murdering Sam Loomis.  Sheriff Jane Greene (Brooke Smith) is not really buying this story, convinced that Norman is spitting out wild charges as a way to get attention and break his loneliness.  However, she keeps him at the jail while things get sorted out.

"Mother" (Vera Farmiga) attempts to take control of things by coming up with a somewhat convincing story about Norman's issues.  However, the mention of dumping a body raising Greene's eyebrows (especially after finding two bodies in the lake).  Dylan goes to Julia Ramos (Natalia Cordova-Buckley), a lawyer from his past drug connections, for help.  Ramos does her best, but even she can't help Norman's contradictory stories and statements.

Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell) for his part is unaware of all this and goes to the Bates Motel to enact his revenge.  One person who is aware of all that's been going on (after a while) is Chick Hogan (Ryan Hurst), whom an astonished Romero finds in the Bates' basement, dressed almost like a wolf, happily typing away. 

It's Chick who informs Romero of all that's gone on, as well as clueing him on his plans to write a book about the wild goings-on (probably a fictionalized version).  Romero points a gun and tells him that if Chick knows anything about murders, he's an accessory after the fact.  Chick mocks him, pointing out that he's getting lessons in law from a disgraced cop on the lam.  After some more mocking by Chick, Romero finally shoots and kills the bastard...with Chick's head hitting the typewriter to end his life on a 'ding'.

As for Dylan, he's having a hard time with all this, especially when Sheriff Greene comes to tell him they've identified the other body in the lake as that of Emma's mother Audrey.  Greene attempts to gauge his reaction, but he won't give her anything.  He now has to let Emma (Olivia Cooke) know what's going on.  Norman, despite his efforts to bring 'Norma' into this, finds that his earlier talk of a well have ill-served him, as Sam's body has been found. 

Sheriff Greene now charges Norman Bates with three counts of murder: Jim Blackwell, Audrey Ellis, and Sam Loomis.

A minor digression: according to Bates Motel writer/producer Kerry Ehrin, the famous shower scene that Marion altered to have Sam Loomis, rather than Marion Crane, killed off by Norman not dressed as Norma was motivated in part by fears of 'transphobia'.  This seems irrational to me in that Norman didn't think he was born a woman but in a man's body.  He thought he was a specific woman: his mother. 

There is a difference between someone born male who thinks he's a female (a Caitlyn Jenner) and a man who thinks he is a particular woman (Norman Bates).  Someone like a Caitlyn Jenner (born Bruce) thinks that she was born into the wrong gender.  Norman Bates has never, either in any Psycho film or even Bates Motel, ever thought he wasn't a male when he wasn't in a blackout mode.  His issue is that he sometimes (note, sometimes) thought he was a specific female (his mother).  His alternate persona of 'Norma' wasn't really a response to a desire to be or think himself a female, but a desire to keep a specific woman he knew (in a way) to be dead alive. 

In short, if Bates Motel had kept to tradition and had 'Norma' kill Marion or Sam in the shower, it would not have been 'transphobic'.  They are free to alter it if for a story reason, but altering because of appearing transphobic is a very curious decision, to me at least.

As I said, there is one great thing in The Body, and that is that Chick is finally dead.  I never liked his character and am so glad to see him not just killed, but to see Romero do it.  What DID bother me about this scene (and it bothered me endlessly) was the 'ding' bit.  It's cliché, it's unfunny, it's almost insulting to the audience. 

The Body is a great showcase for Smith as Sheriff Greene, and she gives a standout performance.  In turns disbelieving, suspicious, curious, and downright hostile, Smith's performance is far above everyone else's.  More a credit to her than to the director: Freddie Highmore.  The Body did look beautiful, but sometimes it was genuinely hard for me to hear what Farmiga was saying, and at times the colors were too overwhelming.

And that damn 'ding'...

6/10

Next Episode: Visiting Hours