How Close To ‘Psycho’ Is Norman Bates?
The third season of Bates Motel is full of interesting changes in all the characters. We are getting to see a lot of secrets unfold before us and one of the reasons is that the producers are planning to keep the show short and enticing instead of turning it into a ten-season long tedious drama. Seems like a good idea considering that we know exactly where it will lead and going round and round over the same stuff might not keep the interest alive for the viewers. In an interview with HitFix, Kerry Ehrin, the EP of the show, mentioned about this season, “I would say it’s more of an undercurrent. The storytelling we do is pretty nuanced and it’s definitely present.”
Norma Bates, one of the lead characters on the show, is going thrown a whirl of actions going on in her life. Her son, Norman is going through more delusions than ever, her brother, whose a nightmare from her past, is back in her life and he’s not going away anytime soon, there are men following her around and attempting to finish her off for good and last but not the least, she has two very attractive men in her life as potential love interests. Since the story mainly revolves around Norman, let’s talk about him first. He is plain scary at this point on the show. About how his mother feels about his scary new avatar, Ehrin states, “I think she is primarily a mother and I think she is mostly afraid of what will happen to Norman. I think she mostly has that like deep, deep maternal instinct that you would jump in front of a truck to save your kid. 
But I think that is starting to become clouded with being afraid of what he is capable of doing, even though she does not want to believe it. She does not want to think it’s possible, but it’s present and she can’t shove it away. And then lastly I think fear for herself, because she’s a mother and it takes a lot to transform you being afraid of your kid.”
Norma’s other son, Dylan seems to have undergone the least changes on the show. He is someone Norma doesn’t hesitate to rely on and kind of is replacing Norman in her life. Ehrin says, “Dylan, we love Dylan because he is savable. Dylan has always served the function in the show of being the eyes and the voice of every man. 
He’s not one of these incredibly bent people in this uber-codependent relationship that can’t escape from it. He’s so relatable because he’s just this kid that has never had a real family and has had such a longing for it and basically has such good character. You really want Dylan to make it. You really want him to survive and that is a really wonderful thing in a show like this.”
Norman has this crazy side that we all see on the show. We know he goes over to a place where he becomes a monster who kills these women whom he is actually sexually attracted towards and vice versa. However, Norman being an awkward, weird, unsocial little boy, most of us fail to see what the women find so attractive in him. 
About this Ehrin states, “Well, to me it’s never been a sex machine thing. I feel like damaged people can sort of psychically feel it in each other. And I feel like women who are troubled or broken or lost are drawn to him because there’s something broken in him as well. And I feel that he’s also incredibly sweet and compassionate in a way that most guys are not open to being. So I feel like it’s less about, “Hey I want to jump Norman Bates; get him in bed.” I think it’s more about a connection that they feel with him and ironically a safety, an emotional safety, that they feel with him and that’s why they open up. And also he has such an incredibly sweet demeanor. He does not seem like a person who could be a predator. And I think when you’re a woman you’re wary of predators.”