Bates Motel Remembers It's A Prequel To Psycho

"Classic Serial-Killer Movie Prequel Adaptation" is not a huge genre in the annals of television, but between Bates Motel and Hannibal, we seem to be living in its golden age. And while the fun of producing such a show probably lies, at least in part, in the liberties one can take with a well-known story, and the nuance one can give to characters who, in the compressed time frame of a feature film, may come across as somewhat less than three-dimensional. I mean, Silence Of The Lambs showed us what Hannibal Lecter was like in, and eventually out, of a hospital for the criminally insane -- creepy and murderous -- but what about when he was free and working on himself with his own therapist? (...Oh, still creepy and murderous? Cool.) But even though the medium of television allows for more expansive storylines that producers can make their own, it would be pointless to make over a well-known character without the occasional nod at the property that first introduced him to his audience: witness the "census taker" reference on Hannibal a couple of weeks back. The latest Bates Motel, however, one-ups that moment pretty impressively.

I have been frustrated (bored to tears) by how much of the second season has focused on the vicissitudes of White Pine Bay's weed industry. (Now Nick Ford wants Dylan to kill Zane? OH zzzzzzzzzzz.) But now that the season's winding down, I feel like producers realized they had to throw us a bone with some pretty direct allusions to Psycho. How direct?

Norman's sharing his taxidermy with Norma, putting some of his sawdust-stuffed creatures out around the house! She thinks it might be an act of hostility -- that he's getting revenge for her refusal to tell him what she knows about his blackouts by filling the common areas of their home with dead animals -- but he protests that this has nothing to do with his being mad at her: "I love my work, and I'm sharing it with you because I love you!" WELL MIGHT HE.

Oh hey, the shower curtain rod broke in Sheriff Romero's room at the motel! It's just an obvious pretext for Romero to get Norman into a confined space and start peppering him with questions about his relationship with poor dead Miss Watson, but at least now we see that there was a time when Norman could be helpful near a shower.

Bets on whether these dorky Dockers are covering up a pair of Norma's Spanx?