‘Bates Motel’: A deeper look into Norman Bates and Norma’s relationship

Bates Motel

It’s no secret that Norman Bates and his mother Norman has a close relationship, but just how close are these two?  In the new A&E series “Bates Motel” they explore not only the inner workings of Norman Bates’ twisted mind and how he became the man he does, but it also gives us an up close and personal perspective on his relationship with his mother.  Norman and Norma don’t have a regular mother son relationship, that’s for sure, these two are more like lovers then family.  We are only two episodes in, but we have already seen Norman get jealous over his mother going out on a date with Shelby as well as Norma get jealous over the idea of Norman getting close to girls his own age.

Viewers have also witnessed Norman spying on his mother in various stages of undress, but what really threw us off was that Norma also has no problem undressing in front of her son – something that is pretty normal when your child is a little kid, but maybe not as normal when your son is a teenager going through puberty.  Norman tried to look away, but found himself taking peeks of his mother as she changed shirts in front of him. Is an intimate relationship with his mother something that we might see happen for Norman on “Bates Motel”? Executive producer Kerry Ehrin reveals to The Hollywood Reporter that Norman is disturbed by the fact that he’s looking at his mother in this way, but he still can’t look away.  Ehrin said:

“It’s odd until you have kids. You get so used to just doing everything with your kids when they’re little and growing up. Then they get to teens, and Norman is older, but I really do understand it’s comfort level that those two have with each other. They’ve been through so much together that we don’t know about yet in their old life. They have this weird closeness and familiarity, and she has not fully acknowledged that she probably shouldn’t be doing that in front of her son, although she does turn away from him, which is very cute. He does look away — and then he starts looking back. It’s awkward and disturbing to him, and at the same time he can’t help looking.”

Things are going to get really intense for Norman on the next episode of “Bates Motel” as Norma moves her romantic relationship with Shelby to the next level.  Want to know more?  Then be sure to check out our preview and tell us how you think Norman is going to react to Norma’s new man getting frisky with his mom.

Photo: A&E

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