‘Bates Motel’ EPs Talk That Big Reveal About Norman’s Sexuality In Season 5, Episode 5

“Bates Motel” dropped a major revelation about Norman’s (Freddie Highmore) sexuality in last night’s Season 5, episode 5. In the episode, titled “Dreams Die First,” Norman found out that he, as Mother, has slept with a guy he met at White Horse Bar. This twist was a big departure from the show’s source material, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film “Psycho,” which didn’t explore Norman’s sexuality.

In an interview with TVLine, executive producers Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse shared how they came up with the decision to reveal this particular aspect of Norman’s sexuality.

“We’ve always been driven by character,” Ehrin said. “It really came from getting inside the head of Mother, who at the end of [Season 5, episode 4] was basically broken up with by her son. Norman says, ‘This isn’t really working for me’ in so many words. She’s devoted everything to this guy and she’s pissed. So she’s like, ‘I’m going to go out and throw back a few.’ And, you know, the guy [at the bar] was cute. She’s attracted to him, and they end up in a car.”

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“It came from a really human place,” explained Ehrin. “Clearly, Norman’s sexuality is all over the place. It’s not super defined. It made sense to us that this would’ve happened with him — many times, probably.”

When asked how long Norman has been sleeping with other men, Cuse said: “We don’t define it. But we suggest that this is kind of what’s been happening in the couple of years that have passed since Norma (Vera Farmiga) has died.”

But for series star Nestor Carbonell, who directed the episode, the big reveal was more about Norman realizing that Norma is gone for good.

“I saw it less about him … and more that he absolutely was culpable in his mother’s death and that he absolutely, fully, has now conceded her in his mind, and that there’s no equivocating,” Carbonell, who plays Alex on the series, told Yahoo TV. “This is absolutely what has happened. I think that the dawning of that is what’s so impactful to him at the very end… this realization that she’s gone forever, and that he had a part in doing that, both her dying as a human being and her soul evaporating from his mind.”

“I think it’s maybe the first time where there’s real, true culpability, complete culpability, and we’ll see how long that lasts,” Carbonell said. “Certainly at least in this contained episode, we feel his level of guilt and grief.”

An all-new episode of “Bates Motel” airs on Monday, March 27 at 10 p.m. EST on A&E.