Bates Motel |

Episode Guide

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• BONUS | 2:35

  

  Inside the Episode: Midnight

• BONUS | 2:28

  

  Inside the Episode: Underwater

• BONUS | 2:16

  

  Inside the Episode: A Boy and His Dog

• BONUS | 2:24

  

  Inside the Episode: The Man in Number 9

• BONUS | 2:12

  

  Inside the Episode: The Truth

• BONUS | 2:42

  

  Inside the Episode: Ocean View

• BONUS | 2:21

  

  Inside the Episode: Trust Me

• BONUS | 2:41

  

  Inside the Episode: What's Wrong with Norman?

• BONUS | 2:38

  

  Inside the Episode: Nice Town You Picked, Norma...

• BONUS | 3:18

  

  Inside the Episode: First You Dream, Then You Die

• TRAILER | 1:00

  

  You're New

First You Dream, Then You Die

Episode: 1 Premiere Date: March 18 2013

GO INSIDE THE EPISODE SEE PHOTOS TALK ABOUT IT

After finding his father dead, seemingly the victim of a freak accident, 17-year-old Norman Bates and his mother, Norma, move to the sleepy town of White Pine Bay to start over. Norma buys a motel, and they get ready to start their new life.

Norman meets his schoolmates, including White Pine Bay's "it girl" Bradley Martin, and the quirky Emma Decody, who has Cystic Fibrosis. One of Norman's teachers, the young and strikingly beautiful Miss Watson, takes an interest in him and encourages him to try out for the track team, which immediately puts her on Norma's bad side.

Keith Summers, former owner of the motel, first threatens, then brutally attacks Norma in her kitchen. Norman, having snuck out, somewhat unknowingly, to a party, returns nearly too late to save his mother. He knocks Summers unconscious, but the man comes to, insults Norma again, and ends up dead by her hand.

Norma, fearing that her actions have cursed the motel before it even opens, decides not to inform the police, despite her son's protestations. She and Norman begin feverishly ridding the motel of any trace of the murder. As they pull up carpet, Sheriff Romero and Deputy Shelby stop by to investigate the unusual late-night activity. Norma politely tries to turn them away, but Romero insists on taking a look around. After Romero takes the longest pee of Norma and Norman's lives (next to the bath tub containing Summers' body), the officers leave, and mother and son return to their grisly task. They row a boat out into the bay, and shove Summers' body into the water, assuming that will be the last they see of him.

Norman doesn't tell his mother about the book he found under the carpet in one of the rooms. It is filled with drawings, done by hand, and short sentences in what looks like Chinese. The images are disturbing, depicting a young woman tied up and abused. Norma interrupts his reading to show him the new sign. The old motel sign has been taken away, in its place is the brand new sign for the Bates Motel.

Guest Stars:

Earl Brown as Keith Summers

Richard Harmon as Richard Sylmore

David Cubitt as Sam Bates

Production Notes:

The moment when Norma takes out years of pent up rage on Keith Summers by stabbing him over and over is an intense one, and Vera Farmiga's performance is even more amazing when you hear what she was actually looking at during the scene! Bates Motel Property Master Terry Weaver explains how they got the shot.

Vera Farmiga prepares for the stabbing scene.

"The desired effect of blood spatter on Norma's face escalating with every stab at Keith was achieved by taking a bucket, stuffing in a sponge and filling it with our movie blood. Yes, there were about a dozen samples presented at our camera tests before shooting commenced on the series to see which movie blood looked the best on film."

A great deal of time was spent making sure that the body Norma and Norman have to move from their house to the motel, and ultimately into the bay, was realistic, without being impossible to carry. Weaver says:

"For the dumping of Keith Summers' body in the ocean, it was quite a production in and of itself to create a realistic, cinematic-friendly body. We had to design a prop body that had enough weight for the actors to handle, but not too much so they couldn't lift it. It had to sink in a believable fashion, and Carlton and Tucker wanted it to not sink immediately, but bob a little at the surface, then go down.

Fake Keith Summers.

"Ultimately we came up with a body made almost entirely of poultry fencing or 'chicken wire.' It worked as we had hoped, and it also had to be light enough to retrieve easily and drain quickly for resets. Anyway, the best part was doing our sink tests in the ocean. The first tests were done off a train trestle. The next ones were done off piers in public parks. Just picture two guys carrying a 'body' wrapped in blankets, duct tape and chains headed to the waterfront from the parking lot, then dumping it in the drink. Many onlookers were picking their jaws up off the ground. The best part was when we were on tech survey and a small fleet of kayakers gawked as we dumped poor Keith's body in, over and over."

You may be wondering what the orange stuff that Norman threw up in the cafeteria was made of. Was it mac and cheese? Some kind of pudding? Wonder on, dear viewers. According to Weaver, it's a "prop secret."

Production notes courtesy of Terry Weaver, Andrea Fraser-Winsby, Tony Ng'ung'ui Kung'u, and Carmen Siegers.

Featured Music:

• Rival by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club > Download on

• Beast of Burden by Rolling Stones > Download on

• The Tourist by Radiohead > Download on