Bates Motel - Series Finale - Review: Checking Out

And here we are dear Bates Motel fans, the end of the road. Bates Motel's final curtain fall and it was such a mixed bag of feelings for me. The episode Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse was directed by Tucker Gates.

Let's start with the BAD. The only poor thing that happened throughout this hour is the way Alex Romero's story ended. He deserved better. I'm not the type of person who says this usually but he did. He deserved so much better. His season 5 arc was poorly handled and I was waiting and waiting for the story to explode and give me chills and thrills but we never got there. Norman killing Alex with a simple trick as that felt just lazy and unworthy of the character I grew to love for 5 seasons. I did tear up while he was trying to uncover Norma's body.

The rest of the episode was weirdly constructed. As Norman killed Alex, "Norma" decided to leave him as he knows everything now. It seemed like Alex's words hit a nerve and destroyed the safe heaven Norman created for himself. Norman's mind continued to fight reality and tried to jump start itself by reseting the previous 5 years and start from the very beggining.

The flashes were really moving and gave me a nostalgic feel rememebering what a long path Norman went over these 50 episodes and how much suffering his mind had to go through. It was a very intersting choice from the writers to go with these flashes and while Bates Motel never really thrilling show with car chases and stuff I did expect them to shift into a higher gear. The flashes were a safer choice and did pay off in a way, still not really what I was expecting from the finale.

To praise Freddie Highmore's performance at this point seems a bit redundant but I have to safe he delivered another masterclass performance. It was a great effort from both Freddie and the director Tucker Gates to cut and execute the scenes were real time and the flashes interfeer. Once again Bates Motel didn't disappoint visually.

Now onto that final scene between Norman and Dylan. It was a heartbreaker and Max Theriot delivered his best performance yet. The love he feels for Norman is the purest thing he has besides Emma and Katie and realizing that Norman is way beyond breaking point was just unbearable to him. I'm a bit torn about Norman trying to kill Dylan but it seems like his despair and pain were to big to handle reality.

Norman reuniting with Norma was a exceptionally beautiful shot. It felt like their souls finally found piece as they left the burden of their secrets back in the world of the living.

Dylan surviving this finale and getting his happily ever after was probably the best part of the finale. Dylan deserved this happy ending. The phone call between Dylan and Emma got me worried to be honest. I thought the brothers would take out each other but luckily one of them survived this mess. Dylan throwing up after seeing Norma in the dining room was so me. I would've thrown up 10 times more. I love this detailing the writers always threated us with. It felt so organic and natural to happen. That Norma doll was creepy as hell.

And with this I'm putting an end to a beautifully told story. Season 5 had some exceptional moments but as in previous seasons the writers missed the mark with the final. Regardlessly I wanna say a big thank you to the creators of Bates Motel for 5 amazing and unforgettable seasons. As always feel free to share your thougths in the comment section own below.