Batesi motell A Boy and His Dog (2013–2017) Online

Norman takes his dead dog to Emma's father, who happens to be a taxidermist. Norman is utterly fascinated by taxidermy and gets on well with her father, making Norma a tad uneasy. Emma overhears Bradley's friends trashing Norman for being weird in the girls bathroom and defends his honor by saying Bradley chose to sleep with Norman. This news spreads fast and Bradley admonishes Norman for it. Norman admonishes Emma and then Norman snaps on a concerned Miss Watson and leaves school grounds without permission and gets suspended for three days. Norma is called into the school and they suggest psychological help for Norman. Norma isn't very keen on this idea and it flops miserably when Norma is viewed as the catalyst for Norman's issues. If that's not enough, Norma gets accosted by Sheriff Romero when she gets angry that he won't do anything about the bypass to the Bates Motel. Norma demands that Jake Abernathy leave his hotel for good. Meanwhile, Dylan has a hostile relationship with his new partner Remo.

After so many episodes that are filled with twists and occurrences that are happening all the time, this one is much more subdued. I'm not gonna lie to you. I wasn't sure what i thought about it overall, being that I was so used to so much commencing in these episodes. The more I thought about it and let it sink in, the more I began to like it. I felt it was a good idea to cool things down for a bit. You don't wanna wear out people, or get people tired of all the twists and turns to the point where they expect it. They were getting close to doing that, so I felt it was a good idea. As you may or may not know, Norman's love for taxidermy is a consistent theme in the Psycho franchise. Die hard Psycho fans will most likely get a kick of finding out the catalyst for Norman's love for taxidermy. We are also given a huge hint about why Bradley is acting so aloof towards Norman. I'm guessing her role will decrease from this point forward, but that's merely a guess. Nicola Peltz has done a wonderful job with her portrayal of Bradley. Her character isn't very sympathetic, but Peltz deserves to be commended for doing a great job with the character. Norman & Emma develop some more in this one. Emma's attachment towards Norman is steadily growing, but she's honest with it. Despite her condition and hints of strangeness herself, Emma is a girl I would date. I suspect that is the route they may go with Norman & Emma, or perhaps that's just wishful thinking on my part. Emma's heartfelt speech towards Norman was adorable by the way. On the downside of things, I'm not sure I like where Dylan's storyline is heading. It seemed to lose some steam when they killed off Ethan and the conflict with him and Remo isn't gripping me like it should. I'll wait and see how it goes, but I'm not sure. Jake Abernathy's storyline was a bit better than last week's. More is explained about him, but they make sure to keep up his mystique. I hope it doesn't get too convoluted. You've already had the big twist with Zack Shelby, don't throw in too many things at once. Overall though, Abernathy's storyline is done better this week. Norman's descent into madness continues to evolve with each episode. Norma's cold demeanor never fails to shock me. Even the cliffhanger with the ending was well done. It makes you ponder what will happen next.

Final Thoughts: It is a great episode for the most part. Fans may be a little disappointed that this episode is subdued compared to others, but after thinking things over, I agree with the decision wholeheartedly. You don't wanna get too crazy with things to the point where it gets convoluted. Fans of this show should enjoy it regardless

8.2/10

As we move towards the finale (two episodes away), I was really surprised how subdued this episode was. The episode was designed for character-building and I'll take that any day of the week. Some fans were disappointed because there are really no big horror shocks or intense action scenes, although there is a satisfying cliffhanger. As I said, this episode is all about relationships. Norma vs. Norman, Norman vs. Emma, Norman vs. Emma's father, and Dylan vs. his new partner Remo. Each relationship I mentioned moves the story dynamic in one way or another. I really liked the Norman vs. Will Decody relationship. Last episode, Norman's dog was killed in an abrupt and manipulative way. So the taxidermy scenes should not have worked well as they did. But Norman has great chemistry with Will Decody, played by Ian Hart. Will teaches Norman the art of taxidermy while also giving him some insight on love. It was quite beautiful to see.

In "A Boy and a Dog," Norman beings a friendship with Will Decody who teaches him the trade of taxidermy. Meanwhile at school, Emma let slip to the school that Norman had sex with Bradley. The fallout had Norman screaming at his teacher Ms. Watson and running out of class. The school suspends Norman for 3 days and advises Norma to get him psychological help. Norma pleads with Sheriff Romero regarding the town's planned bypass which would keep customers away. She also begins to stalk Jake Abernathy, who apparently has something to do with the sex slave ring (they are really beating this story into the ground, huh?). Abernathy begins to slowly threaten her. Finally, Dylan and Remo are sent to California where they have to pick up drugs for their boss. However, they don't seem to like each other.

I enjoyed this episode for what it was. A subtle, more laidback episode. There were some great, hard-hitting moments. Some examples that come to mind are when Emma confesses her love for Norman thus strengthening their relationship. Honestly, I would have personally gone after Emma instead of Bradley, even if she has that disease. Come on, Norman! Also, I love when the school calls out Norma for being too controlling. We all know she is the way she is to protect Norman, but that doesn't stop her from being possessive, needy, and sometimes incompetent. This is an episode that explores relationships and the ending sets up the last two episodes in an effective manner.

My Grade: A-

Bates Motel: 'A Boy and His Dog' (2013)

Rating: B-

A&E's "Bates Motel" mini-series is basically going to be re-working PSYCHO IV. If you've seen that film then you know it shows what was going on with Mrs. Bates and Norman before the events in the original Alfred Hitchcock film. While that prequel wasn't perfect, it at least put a nice wrap-around story to the original film.

Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga) continues to try and uncover what her new hotel guest is trying to do to her while at the same time trying to handle Norman (Freddie Highmore) who is started to get in trouble at school after word gets out that he and Bradley slept together. While all of this is going on Dylan (Max Thieriot) goes on a road trip to get some drugs for his boss.

The eighth episode isn't quite as good as the previous one but it's still very much worth watching. I think this episode was the most laid back to date and it really does seem like the series has slowed down and I say this as a good thing. I thought some of the weaker episodes simply had too much happening and at too fast of a pace. This episode really doesn't have much going on but it introduces a few new aspects of the story, which might lead to interesting things going forward. This includes Norman's slow breakdown as he begins to crack at school and others start to see it. Another new thing here is the way that Norma gets called out for being too controlling. I think the best thing offered here is the mystery of what the hotel guest is hiding. As you'd expect by now, the performances by the three leads are terrific and I really like some of the comic tones that Farmiga is giving and especially during some of her line deliveries. Highmore also continues to impress as his character slowly becomes more deranged. Again, this episode doesn't feature anything fantastic but it's interesting enough and makes one want to see where it goes next.