‘Bates Motel’ Season 2 Spoilers: What Happened In Episode 8? More Clues About Miss Watson’s Death [RECAP]

Is Norman responsible for Miss Watson’s death? That question was still lingering in the air when episode 8 of “Bates Motel” aired on April 21.

“Meltdown” kicked off with Norman giving his mother the cold shoulder, and Sheriff Romero contemplating what to do about the DNA results that link Norman to Miss Watson’s murder … and that was only the beginning.

After last week’s showdown between the two drug families, Nick Ford shows up at the motel to ask Norma to set him up with a meeting with Dylan. Seemingly out for revenge after the latest bloodshed, Nick surprises Norma by telling her that she should mend her relationship with her eldest son.

“I lost a daughter,” Nick reveals to Norma. “I was estranged from her when it happened … most horrible that ever happened to me.”

Norma agrees to talk to Dylan for him, but doesn’t know where to find him. And at the time, Dylan doesn’t even know where he is. As police show up at Nick Ford’s warehouse to check out the crime scene, Dylan wakes up and runs off. But others weren’t as lucky. The crime scene is full of dead bodies of Nick Ford’s lower level workers.

Sheriff Romero tells Deputy Lin to find Zane, but little does he know Dylan is already on it. Heading straight to Jody’s house, Dylan reveals everything that went down with Zane … and Jody is not happy.

Zane shows up at Jody’s house and doesn’t seem to understand the amount of trouble that he’s caused. Instead he has a plan – offer Nick Ford a buy out. Needless to say, Dylan and Jody agree it’s a terrible plan, and instead tell Zane to lay low for the time being.

As Dylan attempts to put operations back together, a surprise visitor interrupts him – Norma. The estranged mother and son share an awkward greeting before Norma gets down to business and tells Dylan that Nick Ford wants to meet with him. Shocked that Norma knows Nick Ford, Dylan warns her that Nick wants him dead and that she needs to stay away from him. In an attempt to protect both of them, Dylan warns Norma to tell Nick that she couldn’t find him.

But Dylan needs a lot more to protect himself. With Sheriff Romero out to catch Zane, he’s willing to take down anyone who gets in his way. Pulling Dylan over, Romero threatens to kill him if he finds out where Zane is and doesn’t come clean about it.

And that’s far from Sheriff Romero’s last Q&A for the evening. After Deputy Lin revealed that Norman’s semen was found in Miss Watson the day she died, Sheriff Romero’s been contemplating what to do. Instead of outright confronting him, Romero decides to sneakily ask him some questions.

Asking Norman for help in fixing the shower curtain, Romero begins to ask innocent questions … until coming right out and asking if Norman ever slept with her. Norman quickly denies having a sexual relationship with his teacher and walks off. But Romero calls after him that “this isn’t just going to go away.”

And Nick Ford isn’t just going to go away. Nick shows up at Norma’s house to find Norman. Norman allows him to wait in the house for Norma, and it’s there that Nick recognizes the teen from the graveyard. Norman simply explains that she overheard Miss Watson arguing with a man named Eric shortly before she died, and that he took the photos of Nick thinking he was Eric. But who was Eric? According to Nick, Eric was his business manager. He made Eric cut off her finances in an attempt to get her to come home. But as viewers know, Nick’s fan didn’t end up working.

Their conversation about Miss Watson is cut short when Norma returns home to find Nick. And after her meeting with Dylan, she’s absolutely terrified of the man. Initially trying to brush Nick off, Nick warns her that she owes him after he killed Lee Bergen and got Norma his seat on the city council.

Nick leaves without getting any closer to Dylan, but Dylan makes the surprising move of contacting Nick himself. As Dylan sets up a meeting with Nick in a public place, Norma heads to George’s house for her first date. Neither meeting goes well.

Nick Ford wants Dylan to kill Zane – and he’s not asking. He’s telling Dylan that Zane must die or the bloodshed will continue … into Dylan’s family. Dylan’s not one to be bullied though. Instead he fires back at Nick, telling him to stay away from Norma or he’ll kill him.

Norma on the other hand is in a beautiful home with a handsome and nice guy who is cooking her steak. But Norma’s lies catch up to her –leading her to come clean to George about her past. Embarrassed about her meltdown, Norma leaves before dinner and drives back home to speak with Norman.

But when Norman rips his mother apart, she decides to leave Norman … and head back to George’s house. Barely pausing a minute between grabbing George and kissing him, the pair eventually move their bizarre date to the bedroom.

As Norma’s in the arms of George, Dylan has Jody in his arms. And in a moment of weakness, the drug boss tells Dylan that “if you need to do something about Zane, you can do it.”

Episode 8, “Meltdown,” concluded with Romero learning that the jury convicted Kyle Miller for Miss Watson’s death. And despite Norman’s lies about the teacher, Romero still thinks (or perhaps hopes) that he’s innocent. After defending Norman to Deputy Lin, Romero makes one last attempt to get Norman to come clean. But Norman’s standing his ground. Denying any sexual relationship with Miss Watson, Norman runs off to his house. Heading to his room, Norman pulls out Miss Watson’s pearl necklace and newspaper clipping to study them. However Norman becomes interrupted by a noise downstairs, and when he scopes out the situation he gets knocked out by a mysterious man with a chloroform napkin.

What did you think of episode 8 of “Bates Motel”? Let us know in the comments section.