Bates Motel Episode 1.08 A Boy and His Dog

Norman takes his ill-fated dog, Juno, to Emma's dad, Will, to have stuffed. Will takes a liking to Norman, and asks if he'd like to learn taxidermy. Norman agrees.

The next day, Emma stumbles into a school restroom with a terrible coughing fit. In the stall, she overhears Bradley's friends saying mean things about how pathetic Norman is. She leaps to his defense, revealing to them that Bradley and Norman slept together.

Later, a very upset Bradley asks Norman why he told Emma about them. He apologizes, even though he doesn't understand why it should be a secret. Norman tries to play it cool, but Miss Watson sees that he's upset. She follows Norman as he leaves the school and tries to stop him, but he yells at her, smacks her hand away, and storms off.

Norma goes to Abernathy's room to clean. When she sees that he's in, she offers to do it later, but he insists she clean the room with him there. As she cleans, he asks her about Deputy Shelby and Keith Summers. She denies knowing either of them well, but he doesn't believe her. She eventually excuses herself and gets out of the room.

Later, Norma stops by Sheriff Romero's office to ask him to sponsor her for an open seat on the City Planning Committee. She wants to fight the new bypass "from the inside" but Romero is confused as to why she thinks he would help her. When she insinuates that she knows things about him that he wouldn't want the public to hear, he threatens her right back. "We're not on the same playing field," he says. "Don't ever assume that we are." On the way out, Norma gets a call from Norman's principal.

Meanwhile, Norman goes to Emma's where he confronts her about telling people about him and Bradley. She apologizes, saying that it "just came up" before turning away. Norman goes to the studio to continue working on Juno.

Norma goes to school to meet with Miss Watson and Principal Hudgins. Norman has been suspended for leaving without permission, and Miss Watson is worried. She says that Norman is "emotionally unusual" and suggests that he see the school psychologist, but Norma says she'd prefer to take him to a private psychologist.

That night, Norma follows Abernathy to the docks where she watches him investigate a boat. Abernathy catches her in the act and reveals that he knows all about her and Shelby. He thinks that she has something of his and he wants it back. He makes it clear that he's not going to give up as Norma makes her escape.

Dylan and Remo hit the road to pick up some "trimmers" to help with the new pot crop. They stop for the night and hit a bar where they end up having a drunken fistfight. They stumble back to their rooms, and Remo reveals to Dylan that there's no quitting in their line of work. He also mentions that there's a "big boss" above Gil, but refuses to say any more. The next day, they pick up the trimmers. One of them turns out to be a real pain, so Dylan drops him off on the side of the highway, earning a bit of respect from Remo.

Norma and Norman meet with a psychologist, who is surprised when Norma answers for Norman throughout the session. He suggests that she might want to make her own appointment, and insinuates that she may have control issues stemming from feeling like she's out of control. Norma takes offense to that, and tells him that she doesn't feel powerless, ever.

As soon as they return to the motel, Norma spots Abernathy and kicks him out. He responds cooly, saying, "You want to play? We'll play." Soon after, he drives away.

Norman is back to working on Juno when Emma walks in and apologizes for revealing his and Bradley's secret. She wants to be sure that he knows she did it to protect him from being ridiculed, and not because of her own feelings for him. Norman understands, and apologizes for being angry. The two hug, and all is well.

Norma is cleaning the motel when Dylan pulls up with a van full of trimmers who need rooms. Norma is thrilled and offers to take Dylan out to dinner. He is shocked, but pleased. She goes into the house to change and finds an unwelcome sight. Somehow, the corpse of Zack Shelby has found its way into her bed.