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TV Media Weekly | March 7 - 13, 2015 simply, and I think that proves that with recognition of the fact that he can do bad things, going so far to say, 'I'll take myself out of this world' for the good of others, is the kind of ultimate selfless decision." The world of "Bates Motel" is moving from summer to fall. A season of decay and rot. The nights will get longer and rain turns colder as we trek up the blood-stained stone steps once again. You can check in Monday, March 9, on A&E, and hope the light stays on through the night. with "Collider." "He's such a well-known serial killer, and you know how he ends up in 'Psy- cho.' ... I think the joy of 'Bates Motel' is in the nuances and in the subtext, as opposed to overtly playing Norman being someone who's nasty or a serial killer in the traditional mold. And that extends as well to his relationship with his mother." That relationship is upended, as the executive producers have let on in a recent news release. Not only does Norma grow clos- er to Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell, "State of Affairs," "Ringer"), other men are also closing in. There is more to her feelings for her other son, Dylan (Max Thieriot, "House at the End of the Street," 2012), than meets the eye, and her brother Caleb (Kenny Johnson, "Chicago Fire," "Sons of Anarchy") returns to dredge up their sordid past. Norma Bates is no stranger to the troubles that suffocate her son. The series pays as much care to the crafting of the ivory tower that is Norman's mother with actress Vera Farmiga ("The Conjuring," 2013, "Touching Evil"), who earned a Saturn Award for Best Actress on Tele- vision in 2014 for the role. Farmiga expanded on some of what drives Norma in season 3 in an interview with IGN at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. "It's a sin- cere survival skill that she has honed her entire life coming from such trauma, such depravity and being so alone and being afraid to be alone and the way she has per- severed. I mean, look at the way she's dressed — like a perfect lit- tle doll. A construct. A facade from the exterior … it's masking such turmoil and death and fear within, and I think that's the way she has learned to persevere. Just pretend it didn't happen." And that is where we left Nor- man's dear mother, in stark deni- al, working to protect her son and claiming they were indeed one and the same. Executive pro- ducer Kerry Ehrin elaborated on how much fun it was to peel back more layers on the mother-son relationship. "That was a really fun area to explore because it's been bub- bling under the surface for so long," Ehrin told IGN. "One of the things about this show that is so enjoyable to create is that it's such rich terrain, and when you finally get to play out things, it's really exciting. The idea we could graduate to a world where Nor- man had a little more conscious- ness, on some level, of who he was and that we got to see the progression of the psychological relationship between him and his mother is so exciting." Psychological relationship, in- deed. Such subversive subtlety is at play, Oedipus himself would be taken aback. Not only does Norman idolize his mother, true to the original films, a large part of her resides in his psyche — be it delusional or not — that drives his violent behavior. "You see that sort of split per- sonality when he is taken into that different space at the end of the second season," High- more said to IGN. "It's that dif- ferent side to Norman, and the danger is when they start to be- come blurred. ... I guess there is this constant debate with Nor- man as to whether he is a good person or a bad person, to put it By Lydia Peever TV Media P erched above an infa- mous motor lodge, Bates mansion looms even larger in our minds than on screen. Weathered and im- posing, the house is an icon of toxic secrecy and insanity con- tained by wood and glass. It can unnerve us with a glance, as does young Norman, the meek epicenter of "Bates Motel." His gaze is about to take hold of us again in season 3, premiering Monday, March 9, on A&E. Last season wrapped up so tightly that viewers may wonder where the series will turn next. But then, many wondered where the story would wander, considering that the end game is mapped out over the last half- century. First portrayed in the 1960 film "Psycho," the Norman Bates we know has deviated from the overweight and lewd character fleshed out in Robert Bloch's 1958 novel of the same name. With the precise vision of direc- tor Sir Alfred Hitchcock ("Verti- go," 1958, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents") and the svelte look of Anthony Perkins ("Catch-22," 1970, "A Demon In My View," 1992), it caused massive lines at theaters waiting to glimpse the innovative film with an iconic shower scene and a twist. Iconic and twisted are words that work well to describe the series thus far. Enter Freddie Highmore ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," 2005, "The Spiderwick Chronicles," 2008) as a contemporary version of our young psychopath. "Bates Motel" lays out his childhood and relationship with his mother in a stark character study. Sure, he goes to school, works at the hotel and has the atten- tion of various female friends, such as the doting Emma De- cody, played by Olivia Cooke ("Blackout," "Ouija," 2014), and Nicola Peltz's ("Transform- ers: Age of Extinction," 2014) broken-arrow character Bradley Martin who is slated to return in the upcoming season. Alongside these relatable elements, he is living hand to mouth surround- ed by madness. "From the start, it's been nice to play against people's expec- tations of who Norman is," Highmore said in an interview Olivia Cooke as seen in "Bates Motel" Do not disturb Season 3 of 'Bates Motel' checks into A&E 2 | Cover story CHANNEL GUIDE Comcast Walton Cable- Vision Sammo ns of Indiana Tipton Cable TV Oak Hill Cable Swayzee AT&T U-Verse

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