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Rihanna Meets Norman Bates As Marion Crane In Next Episode Of ‘Bates Motel’

By Cia Young
Published on: 18:11 PST, Mar 23, 2017

Last Monday night, Rihanna made her debut on Bates Motel as the iconic character Marion Crane, famously slaughtered in the classic horror film Psycho. Rihanna’s character arc continues on March 27 when she finally ends up meeting Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) after checking into his roadside establishment in an episode aptly entitled, “Marion.”

Rihanna as the iconic Psycho character Marion Crane on ‘Bates Motel’ [Image by A&E]

The A&E TV series Bates Motel, in its fifth and final season, is loosely based on the Alfred Hitchcock movie and so far, modern day Marion’s storyline closely follows that of the Psycho character. In the last episode of the show, “Dreams Die First,” we saw Rihanna as Marion hooking up with Sam Loomis (Austin Nichols), heading to work at a real estate firm, and encountering some misogynistic behavior from her boss and an ogling client, and deciding to abscond with a suitcase of the client’s cash to help out her love interest’s debt problem, which he claims is the reason they can’t marry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z2or0MqVh0

In reality, Sam’s character is not in debt but owns a hardware store not far from Bates Motel with his naïve wife Madeline Loomis (Isabelle McNally). Madeline, who believes Sam is only continually absent because he has business in Seattle, has no idea he’s having a torrid affair with Marion. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Madeline does, however, suspect there may be an issue with her marriage due to Sam’s aloofness and when she meets Norman, she finds him a comforting shoulder to cry on. That is until Norman, who is crushing on Madeline because she reminds him of his dead mother, Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga), reveals to Madeline that he met Sam some time ago when Sam checked into the motel for some afternoon delight with another woman.

Interestingly enough in Hitchcock’s Psycho, Sam, who was played by John Gavin, owns a hardware store and has a large amount of debt, which is why he doesn’t feel right about marrying Marion (Janet Leigh) and saddling her with his financial baggage. Unlike his 2017 counterpart, 1960s Sam is divorced and not cheating on an unsuspecting wife.

Rihanna as Marion Crane and Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates in ‘Bates Motel’ [Image by A&E]

In the opening scene of the movie Psycho, Marion and Sam are seen getting dressed in a motel room after a romantic interlude. Their dialogue is much like that of the modern day couple, as they discuss marriage and Sam’s debt. Marion heads off to work and just like her Bates Motel counterpart, she decides to help out her debt-ridden beau and take off with $40,000 of a client’s money. While on the run, she stops at Norman Bates’ (Anthony Perkins) motel and the rest is cinema history.

It should be noted that inflation and an increase in home prices played into the amount of cash stolen by Rihanna’s Marion, as in 2017 the take increased by a factor of 10 to $400,000.

As fans of Psycho know, Norman’s back story is that he suffered from Freud’s Oedipal complex and was desperately in love with his mother. He murdered her because he was jealous of her relationship with a boyfriend, but feels so much guilt over his deadly deed that he manifests her via a second personality, Mother. The Mother side of Norman, only reveals itself when Norman becomes sexually attracted to another female, causing Mother to become jealous and homicidal.

In the TV show, a prologue to Psycho that actually features Norman’s relationship with his mother, shows the sentiment he has for her is the same as in the film. Although it is not made clear if Norman began to take on Mother’s personality before her death in the movie, Mother is seen slowly creeping into Norman’s personality during blackouts in Bates Motel before her death. In Season 4, after finding Mother has married the local sheriff while Norman was away in a mental hospital, Norman returns home and attempts a murder-suicide by turning on a faulty gas heater and laying next to his sleeping mother, hoping they will spend eternity together. Norman survives, but Mother does not and her death is ruled a suicide.

Norman keeps his mother’s death from his estranged brother, Dylan (Max Thieriot), a character unique to the Bates Motel series.

Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates in ‘Bates Motel’ [Image by A&E]

So far, Rihanna’s version of Marion is staying true in many ways to the original character, so unless producers decide to throw a massive twist into the mix, it is expected the Bates Motel Marion will meet Mother next Monday night. The haunting Psycho shower scene is so iconic it would be tragic if Marion’s demise did not mirror that of the film.

According to a short A&E synopsis, the Bates Motel episode “Marion” is described with the following.

“Norman checks in a special guest at the motel. Dylan Grapples with devastating news, Sam and Madeline face a crossroads in their marriage.”

The second episode of Bates Motel featuring Rihanna, “Marion,” airs Monday, March 27 at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on A&E.

[Featured Image by A&E]

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