How Is Emma Going To Cement Herself As 'Part Of The Family'?

There is but one more episode left in this season of Bates Motel, and this week's penultimate episode reminds us of several questions that it should at least try to answer. Let's run them down.

Why hasn't Dylan just left town yet?

And don't even with your "he's in love with Jodi!" BS, because he's not. I guess I can accept that he followed his mother and brother to White Pine Bay because he had nothing else going on, and because he hoped he might finally force Norma to notice and/or care about him. And then he fell into the weed business because it's by far the biggest employer in town. But at this point, he has nothing whatsoever to gain by sticking around. He's been zero help getting Norman out of the box, he's still by far the less favourite son (though at least he stayed long enough to find out why), and can he really love money so much that this job is worth all the hassle? Because I feel like we never see him spend or enjoy it. I realize that Dylan is supposed to be our hook into the weed plotline that makes us care about it, but it hasn't worked on me, and it's getting kind of unbelievable.

Is...Nick Ford dead?

I assume he isn't, since it's TV and that's the only reason that kind of thing is ever left ambiguous (not to mention all the times it hasn't seemed ambiguous and obviously dead characters have been revived anyway). But whatever the answer to this question, how does this help Norman? I guess Dylan had to fight his way out of what seemed to be an imminently fatal situation for himself and didn't really have much choice. But if this turns into a situation where toppling the head of a crime family means you inherit all his holdings or some shit, I don't know if I'll be able to handle a Season 3 where all the weed stuff is even more central to the plot than it already is (which is too much) (God, it's so boring).

How is Emma going to cement herself as "part of the family"?

I can appreciate that working for Norma must be incredibly frustrating, particularly if, like Emma, you are apparently the only full-time employee at this MOTEL (like who handles the desk when she's cleaning rooms? Or does she? What happens if someone wants to check in in the middle of the night? It's all very sketchy). But her getting so pissy about Norma not letting her in on family secrets kind of felt sudden to me. Why would it be so important to Emma to try to find shit out when she has a pretty good idea that she's better off not knowing? And has she forgotten that she has a father of her own to be in a family with? I actually think her confrontations with Norma are setting up a moment in the finale when Emma will have to kill someone to save Norma and/or Norman, and that will make her an honorary Bates, and if that doesn't happen, then I don't know what all this nonsense was about at all.

What exactly is the link between Norman and Norma?

Once again, we got a tease of what happens during Norman's blackouts, though exactly what we're seeing wasn't completely clear. When Norman attacked Caleb, it seemed like Norma had taken over Norman's body and was acting through him. But in the latest episode -- both when he imagined her appearing to him in the box, and when he flashed back to the night of Miss Watson's murder -- it's more like Norman is so attuned to her that his extreme empathy for her allows him to project her into events she's not actually present for. She lives in the world, and in his head? Or they're linked on a psychic level in some other way?

If Norma's not into George, shouldn't he hook up with Romero?

Just saying.

What about the bypass??????!!!!?!!?

WE HAVEN'T HEARD ABOUT IT IN WEEKS! DAMN ALL THIS KIDNAPPING AND MURDER!!!!!