Bates Motel premiered last night (Mon. 18th) on A&E!

[Haunted hearse]

What exactly happened to the Chinese girl?   If she's dead, what was done to conceal the body?

Well if she was the victim of a cannibal, no doubt an hour later, the murderer would be hungry again.

[Monsters For Sale]

Well if she was the victim of a cannibal, no doubt an hour later, the murderer would be hungry again.

We have all those stupid emoticons - but no sound effects.  How do I insert a rim-shot here?

[charp13]

The dog scene was TOO far! It reminded me of that horrible Pet Semetary scene with the little boy! I freaked out- which was the most movement I've had since the show began!     What the heck is that guy in room 9 all about??? He's super creepy! Also, I was thinking- and this is just my personal opinion- Bate's Motel looks awful in 2013 standards....did Norma REALLY think that the lady in the restaurant was going to display pictures of her no-tell Motel-looking building? I mean- they probably have a Hilton Garden Inn or a Holiday Inn Express a few miles away! No one wants to check into a dingy motel- unless you're up to no good, or it's $10 a night!

[Monsters For Sale]

The dog scene was TOO far! It reminded me of that horrible Pet Semetary scene with the little boy! I freaked out- which was the most movement I've had since the show began!     What the heck is that guy in room 9 all about??? He's super creepy! Also, I was thinking- and this is just my personal opinion- Bate's Motel looks awful in 2013 standards....did Norma REALLY think that the lady in the restaurant was going to display pictures of her no-tell Motel-looking building? I mean- they probably have a Hilton Garden Inn or a Holiday Inn Express a few miles away! No one wants to check into a dingy motel- unless you're up to no good, or it's $10 a night!

The guy in room 9 is a guarantee that the sex trade subplot continues.  He is also the tie-in to the notebook that Norman found.

It was a little surprising to actually see the dog get run over.  That is usually handle with sound effects and close-ups of the horrified looks on witness' faces.

[charp13]

Ohhhh....I must not have caught on to that subplot. I heard him talk about blocking out the rooms and how he liked to have privacy and how that Sommers guy always let him do what he wanted. Now I see.
I think about what it would take for me to check into that motel, and I always think about a situation where you're super tired- you decide to take the backroads of America- you are low on gas & money...but even then, I am so snobby about gross looking motels! I think if the show took place in the 60s 70s or 80s, I could see the motel as looking run of the mill instead of shady. Knowing what we know in 2013- bedbugs, prostitution hotels, serial killers, and blaclight tests of the room- I guess the only clientele Norma should expect is werdos! hahaha!

[Anton Phibes]

The killing of the dog was just plain terrible.

[Count_Zirock]

I've had a couple of instances where I've had to stay in crappy motels like Seafarer/Bates Motel. Once was after two major hurricanes hit Florida, and most of the hotels and motels were filled with locals, insurance agents, and contractors. My aunt died right after the hurricanes hit the Ft. Pierce/Port St. Lucy area. We ended up having to stay in Kissimmee, which is quite a haul. The hotel we normally stayed at in Ft. Pierce no longer had a roof. The cemetery my aunt was buried at had no office building! All that was left was the concrete slab of the foundation. My mother and I went back a year later, and a lot of places were just starting to rebuild. The day we went to the cemetery to check on my aunt's grave, they were just pouring the new foundation for their offices.

Pretty much, you just don't leave anything valuable in your room, and push a dresser or something against the door at night.

[Gillfan]

While all those comments about the hotel are true...if Universal actually had an operating version of the hotel I would stay there in a heartbeat.

[FACTO2]

Pretty much, you just don't leave anything valuable in your room, and push a dresser or something against the door at night.[/font]

It's also a good idea to have a large plastic tarp to throw over the bed.  Keeps away the bedbugs and lice.  Just use duct tape to keep the tarp in place over the bed.  Also comes in handy for other things.   

What, I'm the only one who travels with a plastic tarp and duct tape?   

[MoreGore]

Excellent episode tonight! Some truly Hitchcock-like touches sprinkled throughout. Glad they wrapped up the other storyline and are concentrating on the family dynamics.

Im glad the brothers are starting to bond

[charp13]

Count Z- That's a situation I never thought about. My sister lives in St. Cloud and about 10 years ago, after a storm, they had to go to a hotel with her cat and her parrot. A lot of the hotels did not allow pets, so they were forced to stay at a sub-par motel- where shady people hung around outside. It was just for a couple of days, but they always guarded the room in shifts.
Gillfan- I would definitely stay at a theme park property Bates Motel!! That would be so cool! As long as the bedspreads & carpet were ugly because they planned them that way! Many years ago, I bought the white plastic shower curtain with Mother's silhouette on it,but I gave it to my son when he went to college. I bought it at the Alfred Hitchcock- The Art of Making Movies store at Universal. I assumed it would ALWAYS be there and I could go back and get another one- sad.
MoreGore- I am also glad the brothers are relating to each other- I was worried that the brother was gonna die early. I immediately labeled him as a Red Shirt! I was wrong.   

[aura of foreboding]

So I watched the last four episodes tonight.  This series of episodes was addicting.  It wasn't necessarily high quality, but addicting nonetheless. 

Random Notes: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

I just can't believe how quickly everything happened.  I feel like the first half of the season should have been the entire season, but I am glad they are changing the plot and getting more into the family dynamic. 

The creepy man in Room 9 is a lot of fun... definitely better than the drug nonsense.  It will be interesting to see where they take this. 

I, too, was a little taken aback by the dog, but it definitely added that grittiness that Psycho is known for.

These episodes, in particular, definitely show how isolating technology makes the world.  Norman's  constant ability to reach out, but never having a response is far more devastating that not being able to communicate at all.  So, I am glad that they have upped the tech angle.  Good job on the part of the writers. 

To answer an earlier question, I believe they said that the girl was killed in the woods by the deputy.  I didn't really catch it, but I think that is what happened.  Her death became part of the cover-up. 

Like I said, I am happy the old plots are gone and we can focus more on the characters now...  I hope. 

[FACTO2]

I just can't believe how quickly everything happened.  I feel like the first half of the season should have been the entire season, but I am glad they are changing the plot and getting more into the family dynamic.

I think this might have had a lot to do with if the series got picked up for a second season.  When it did they had to take it in a slightly different direction to keep the story line going.  Maybe that's why we saw such a dramatic twist between the last two episodes.  Considering the Sheriff's involvement in drugs and human trafficking his decisions in the last episode do make complete sense.

[scott_of_smeg]

Surprise! This show is meh. I do like the kid when he gets angry. Great job of casting. The dog was the most shocking part of the season so far. Poor thing!!! Hopefully Norman will start acting more and more crazy. Where are the zombies?

[mightyquinn]

I was glad they ended the romance story with deputy Shelby, instead of dragging it out.  In the begining, I thought Norma was more psychotic than Norman, but now, it's interesting to see that Norman has the "psycho" behavior.