Kerry Ehrin

“Underwater,” the penultimate episode in Bates Motel’s first season, may well be the most entertaining episode yet, by introducing some much needed dark humour to the series. Between Norma and Dylan’s reactions to Norman’s new pet Juno and Emma getting high; “Underwater” is terrifically funny in and throughout. Unlike last weeks episode, the wacky comic relief here is purely intentional.

Anyone who’s seen Psycho and watches Bates Motel brings his or her own insights, prejudices, fears, and collective memories into the interpretation, and that’s the biggest challenge the showrunners face. The greatest coup the writers of Bates Motel pull each and every week is that they constantly surprise us by having the characters do the unexpected.