2.7 Presumed Innocent That examination, which appeared almost as a bottle episode set in the police station, was the ideal opportunity to develop these themes in a closed environment. Once again, the focus was on the characters, rather than on the specific details of Brennan’s fall. Freddie Highmore once again offered a performance as sensitively restrained as the script, brilliantly essaying Norman as a young man suffering from a trauma that he cannot even describe, let alone understand. It’s rather bold to present him so consistently as the victim of his circumstances, but it pays off well and the audience’s sympathies are well-earned. This is not simply good drama in the present moment, but it bodes very well for the future of the show. As Norman falls further and further into his murderous condition, these hard-won sympathies will provide incredible tension and suggest a conflict between protagonist and audience that will enrich the current vogue for placing anti-heroes in lead roles. Before we get there, we still have to face Norman as he currently is, which is a well-meaning kid subjected to forces beyond his control. His emotions this week were dynamic, moving from catatonic shock to tearful despair to outright anger at the hand he’s been dealt and at the way his mother attempts to help him. His moment with the Sheriff was performed with tender concern, reminding us that we’re dealing with a frightened minor and that Romero, for all his hidden activities, is pretty much a good guy at heart. Whether that will continue in the light of this episode’s final revelation about the discovery of Norman’s DNA at Blair Watson’s murder scene remains to be seen. That any doubt remains is testimony to the deep texture of the character, something that contrasts with, say, Zane, of whom more later. Less wonderful, I’m afraid to say, is the drug plotline which now feels entirely absent of character motivation and pales in comparison to the central arc. Zane is, and was, a villain by numbers, the sort of character that, whoever his blood relations are, would be kept very distant from such a careful operation. I understand that Dylan needs a means to express his estrangement from Norma and Norman (and Emma’s failed attempt to bring him round was the best element of his story this week), but it would help if it felt that this secondary plot was doing something more. It will doubtless collide with the main thread by the end of the season, but for now it feels tacked on in an effort to bring a little spice to the show. I have said before that expanding the show’s interest into White Pine Bay as a whole is a good thing, and it is, but it needs a little bit more than the escalating revenge cycle of an unhinged walking liability. The treatment of Norman shows that Bates Motel can deliver a careful portrayal of the path through difficult times, and it doesn’t need pyrotechnics to do it. Read Michael’s review of the previous episdode, Plunge, here.
