‘Bates Motel’ episode 3 review: The truth about Deputy Shelby

As it turns out, the demons on A&E’s “Bates Motel” are not just limited to our leading man of Norman; instead, it’s starting to look more and more like White Pines as a whole is just one very messed up place. Three episodes into the season, we certainly did not expect there to be the sort of jaw-dropping reveal that we ended up seeing with Deputy Shelby at the end of this episode.

For much of the time since the storyline regarding the Chinese artwork was revealed, we presumed that the woman in them was probably dead. Quite possibly the last thing on our mind was the possibility of this same woman being locked up inside of the lawman’s basement. What sort of precedent does this set? It’s certainly not a very good one, and you have to imagine that a man like Shelby, who Norman originally intruded on just to find a belt, has been up to no good for quite some time in order to get to that point.

In finding out the truth about this woman so early, though, Norman’s bond with Emma may almost be prematurely broken. The two hada  pretty interesting sort of crime-solvers vibe going, but the truth is that it wasn’t ultimately going to last forever, anyway. Why? That should be obvious: Norman really doesn’t have any genuine interest in being close to anyone, or even doing the right thing so much as he just does fulfilling his own needs.

The only thing creepier than the reveal at the end of this episode was seeing the bizarre, winding path the show took in order to get there. There was some serious plodding going on at times, especially when it comes to the relationship between Norman and his mother. At some points, you think she is the protector, but at the same time, she feels like the catalyst for his myriad of problems.

What did you think about this “Bates Motel” episode? Be sure to share some more of your thoughts below, and you can read some more news when it comes to this series over here.

Photo: A&E