BWW Recap: A Town's Secrets Exposed on BATES MOTEL

The dangerous secrets of White Pine Bay were finally brought to light on this week's episode of BATES MOTEL. While driving through town, Norma is nearly run off the road by a mysterious stranger. Norma gets out of her car to confront him, but is shocked to learn that he knows her name. The man prods Norma to contact the infamous Bob Paris as soon as possible, for she has "something of his".

The car debacle lands Norma in the hospital with a bloody nose. Dylan picks her up, and the two argue over whether to show the flash drive to Romero. Norma wins the battle, stating that Annika gave her the flash drive to help her somehow, and she needed to crack the code to reap its benefits.

Not all of Norma's world revolves around criminals- a new love interest is slowly creeping his way into her life. Norma's psychology professor takes her out for a casual dinner and admits that he is attracted to her. Norma appears flattered by his interest- does she have room for another man in her life besides her youngest son?

As his mother looked for distractions from the stress, Norman searched for an escape from reality of his own. Norman prowled through Norma's closet and retrieved one of his mother's dresses, and held it tightly to his chest, sniffing and caressing it until he was called to dinner. Norman hid the dress under his bed for safe-keeping.

Meanwhile, Officer Romero continues to hunt down Annika's killer. He meets with Bob Paris in a diner and questions his suspicious behavior. Instead of clearing his name, Paris threatens to replace Romero as sheriff if he does not retrieve his 'confidential' flash drive from Norma.

The flash drive's contents are finally discovered by one of Dylan's tech-savvy friends. The drive is a business report of the financial revenue of the drug trade, which would incriminate many of the wealthy people in town. Norma asks Romero to help her expose the criminals in town and bring justice to White Pine Pay once and for all.

The Bonnie and Clyde duo meets with Bob Paris to discuss the flash drive. Norma tries to make a deal in which she would turn over the flash drive in exchange for a new exit on the bypass connecting to her motel, along with a coinciding billboard. Surprisingly and suspiciously, Paris agrees to her terms. It's obvious Paris has something up his sleeve; after all, Norma cannot ask for any more favors.

Norma's streak of good luck ends when she arrives at home. The two Bates boys announce that Caleb is back in town and has been living in Dylan's cabin. Dylan gently asks Norma to talk to Caleb, because he is desperate to apologize for raping her when they were children. The request sends Norma on a rampage; she furiously packs her belongings and storms out of the house. She drives away as Norman, restrained by Dylan, screams after her.

It feels as though each episode this season is building to something greater, and I believe we are going to see a fully morphed "Norma" clone in Norman very soon. Norman's few moments clutching his mother's dress to his chest seemed to indicate that he wanted to feel closer to her, or maybe even be her. Norman acknowledged that he was growing up and can no longer be his mother's "little boy". Though he feels he is detaching from his mother, he is actually clinging to her without fully comprehending it. His blackouts are growing more frequent and his psyche appears more damaged with each step Norma takes away from him. With Norma's focus on Annika's murder and the flash drive, her son is becoming more deranged under her nose.

Norma's absence for the Bates house next week will undoubtedly spark mischief in Norman. After all, if Norma is gone, who will he talk to? Maybe he'll need to pretend to be his mother.

Keep tuning in to BATES MOTEL, Mondays at 9pm EST on A&E!

Photo Credit: Official Site

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