‘Bates Motel’ EPs On Why Norman Had To [SPOILER] In The Series Finale

“Bates Motel” ended its five-season run last night with the death of Norman (Freddie Highmore), and according to executive producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin, that had always been the plan since they started developing the A&E series.

“Yes, literally at the very beginning,” Cuse told TVLine when asked if they always knew the show will end with the death of its male lead character. “This is the strangest television series I’ve been involved with in that so much of what we talked about early on actually held up. … We imagined it as a five-year journey ending with Norman’s death.”

“The mythology of ‘Psycho’ sort of locked us into Norman’s death,” explained Ehrin, referring to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film that inspired the series. “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.”

READ: Freddie Highmore reveals things he’ll miss after “Bates Motel” ends

In the series finale, Norman went home with Norma’s (Vera Farmiga) body after killing Romero (Nestor Carbonell) in the woods. And in the final act of the series ender, Norman threatened Dylan’s (Max Thieriot) life, forcing the latter to shoot him so he could finally reunite with his mother in the afterlife.

“Norman ultimately is grateful for it and is happily reunited with his mother,” Highmore told Entertainment Weekly of what seems to be a mercy killing. “So there is hope. There is happiness to it. But it felt like that’s how it had to end. It was ultimately this love story between Norman and Norma, and the only real end that it could have was that they’d be reunited and back together again.”

While killing off Norman in the finale had always been the plan, Ehrin admitted that Dylan wasn’t the only character they considered to end Norman’s life.

“We spun out different scenarios,” Ehrin told TV Insider. “There were indicators pointing to that, however, probably as early as the second season. It’s such a profound relationship that Dylan has with his mom and his brother that he should be the one who facilitates Norman’s being able to go out of the world felt right.”

What do you think of “Bates Motel’s” ending? Do you think Norman needed to die? Sound off in the comments section below!