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‘Bates Motel’: EP Kerry Ehrin Says, ‘There Was No Other Option For Norman’ [Spoilers]

By Chrissie Williams
Published on: 04:43 PST, Apr 25, 2017

Warning: There are Bates Motel spoilers ahead!

In the Bates Motel series finale, Norman essentially took his own life with the help of the only one left who cared about him, Dylan, and was sent to be reunited with his mother in the afterlife. It was a fitting end that was satisfying for most of the fans after a five-season run.

Bates Motel showrunners Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse opened up about the series ending and closing the chapter on the Psycho prequel.

According to TV Line, Cuse and Ehrin both said they knew from the beginning of Bates Motel that the show would end with Norman’s death. They knew that the series was essentially a five-year story leading up to Norman being killed, in mercy, to be reunited with his mother.

“The mythology of Psycho sort of locked us into Norman’s death. If you’re telling, like, this dark, profound love story and one person dies, it’s very hard to even contemplate any other ending except that they would somehow be reunited, even if it’s next to each other in the ground. There really was no other option,” Ehrin explained.

Ehrin went on to say that Norman was just trying to recreate his mother, but when he was faced with the truth, he couldn’t deal with life without her. He couldn’t face that he killed her because she was the person he loved more than anything. He could be himself with her, and she loved him, despite his quirks and obvious mental health issues.

The one thing that many Bates Motel fans couldn’t understand is why Norman didn’t kill himself; instead, he lured his brother, Dylan, over to force him to do the job. Kerry reveals that Norman didn’t plan it out; he was figuring out as he went along.

“He was figuring it out [as he went] during that scene. I don’t think he knew exactly what he was doing when he picked up the knife. He gets a lot of information dumped on him by Dylan in that scene that’s really startling and traumatic, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it,” Ehrin said.

“I think as he walks across the room [towards Dylan] he’s figuring out what he’s doing. I think he just as easily, at that last minute, could’ve cut his own throat. It was one of those very emotionally messy scenes, and that’s ultimately was what came out of it.”

As for Alex’s endgame, he planned to die with Norman. Ehrin said that Romero’s plan was to bury his wife in her grave and kill himself on top of it. According to the Bates Motel showrunner, Alex had gone so far off the deep end in his revenge plan that he had no way of getting out of it.

Another juicy tidbit the Bates Motel showrunners revealed was Vera Farmiga played frozen, dead Norma at the dining room table.

“There’s no substitute for Vera.”

The last scene in the series was a flash to Norma and Norma’s grave. Norman’s grave just had his name with his date of birth and death. Kerry explains why Dylan didn’t include “loving son and brother” on his tombstone.

“Dylan is, I’m sure, the person who made the tombstone, and given that Norman was a serial killer I think it felt like the most respectful thing was to just put his name and [date of death] as opposed to, like, ‘Beloved son and brother.’ The real gift he gave him was putting him next to his mother.”

Cuse said the show is over and has no hope of returning. With Alex, Norma, and Norman dead, there is nothing really to work with for another season.

“Unless we do something with Dylan and Emma’s satanic child… I think this is the end,” Calton laughed.

Did you like the Bates Motel series finale last night?

Bates Motel aired the series finale April 24 on A&E.

[Featured Image by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images]

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