Bates Motel
Norman may have dodged a bullet when it came to the death of Cody's father, but the teen is not in the clear. A&E

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that “Bates Motel” is a prequel to “Psycho.” But episode 7 of the hit A&E series had viewers on the edge of their seats as another murder struck the small town of White Pine Bay.

Episode 7, “Presumed Innocent,” found Norma getting ready to take on her new position on the town council. And while Norma believed that she got the position because she was qualified and impressed the mayor, others in the office – like Councilman Max Borowitz -- seem to know that she didn’t get her hands on the job fairly.

Fortunately for Norma, Sheriff Romero bailed her out of her awkward confrontation with her new colleagues. The bad news is that Romero had to tell Norma that her son killed Cody’s father in “self-defense.”

At the police station, Norman’s getting photographed and questioned about the events of the evening. And Norma is completely a wreck – partly because she doesn’t believe that Norman pushed Cody’s father in self-defense. Norma tells Norman to lie about arguing and not to mention the blackouts, but Norman makes it clear to his mother that he’s not hiding anything because it was an accident.

As Norma sits and worries about Norman’s possible arrest, she’s comforted by George, who found out about Norman’s situation through the grapevine. But when George has his back turned, Norma takes a minute to confront Cody in the bathroom. Instead of offering her condolences, Norma begs the teen to keep her mouth shut about Norman.

“Please, you can’t tell them about Norman’s blackouts,” Norma pleads to Cody.

But Cody doesn’t make any promises to Norma.

When Norman finally is able to leave the police station, the family relationship becomes strained when it becomes obvious that Norma no longer trusts her son. And to make matters worse, Cody swings by to talk with Norman one last time.

“It was his own fault,” Cody tells Norman of her father. “He chose to be like that … so don’t blame yourself.”

Before getting in her car to drive to her aunts, Cody leaves Norman with one piece of advice – ask his mom tell him about what happens to him when he has his blackouts.

Norma and Norman find out that Cody’s father’s death was officially ruled an accident, but Norman can’t celebrate with the thought of his blackouts looming over him. He asks his mother about what Cody said, and Norma surprises her son by telling him that they aren’t going to talk about his blackouts and that she doesn’t want him to ask her ever again.

Meanwhile, Dylan is trying to tackle the new role Jody gave him by following Zane. The only problem is that everyone knows that he hooked up with the boss, and Zane’s doing his best to keep his plans a secret. With a handful of new guys on the grounds to do a new “job,” Remo’s worried about Zane going rogue – and with good reason. Since the start of Season 1, Zane has killed multiple members of their opposing drug ring family and set Sheriff Romero’s house on fire. Dylan tries to uncover what Zane has up his sleeves, but instead of getting any information, Dylan gets confronted by him. It turns out that Zane is aware of his sister’s plan for Dylan to watch his back. And although Zane doesn’t appear to be angry, he warns Dylan that if he’s going to sleep with his sister he better “manage his expectations.”

In the end Zane decides to include Dylan and Remo on his latest project – and it’s definitely no good. Driving the pair to a warehouse, Zane reveals that he’s going to raid Nick Ford’s supply. Dylan begs him not to do it, but Zane doesn’t care. When Dylan tells him that he won’t participate, Zane knocks him unconscious – leaving him to be found by Nick Ford’s crew. With Remo on board with Zane’s plan (rather than getting killed), the crew bust into the warehouse with their guns blazing.

But he real shocker in episode 7 came at the very end, when Romero received a phone call from one of his deputies. After putting Norman’s samples into the computer, the deputy found a match … it turns out that Norman was the unidentified semen sample found inside Miss Watson.

What did you think of episode 7 of “Bates Motel”? Let us know your thoughts and theories on “Presumed Innocent” in the comments section or send a tweet to @AmandaTVScoop.

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