Bates Motel/The Box

The Box
Season 2, Episode 9
Airdate	April 28, 2014
Written by	Carlton Cuse & Kerry Ehrin
Directed by	Tucker Gates
← 2x08 Meltdown	2x10 → The Immutable Truth
Bates Motel — Season Two

The Box is the ninth episode of the second season of Bates Motel, and the nineteenth episode overall.

Starring: Vera Farmiga (Norma Bates), Freddie Highmore (Norman Bates), Max Thieriot (Dylan Massett), Olivia Cooke (Emma Decody)

and Nestor Carbonell (Sheriff Alex Romero)

Guest Starring: Michael Eklund (Zane Morgan), Francis Xavier McCarthy (Declan Rogers), Michael O'Neill (Nick Ford), Kathleen Robertson (Jodi Wilson), Ian Tracey (Remo), Keegan Connor Tracy (Miss Watson), Michael Vartan (George Heldens)

Also Starring: Darren Moore (Iggy), Christian Bower (Sid), Nima Ghavami (Chuck), Aaron Pearl (Ben), Natalie Von Rotsburg (Legion Waitress)

Plot Overview

Nick Ford has Norman in his possession and uses it as leverage for Dylan to kill Zane. While Romero arranges for a polygraph test, Norman's time in isolation has his mind wonder.

Notes

Music

• Patsy Cline - "I Fall To Pieces"

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Nick Ford has Norman locked away in an outside box somewhere, using it as leverage to get Norma to see that Dylan kills Zane.

• Romero gets in contact with his father's ex-partner to run a polygraph test on Norman.

• One of Nick Ford's men find Blaire's pearls and the news clipping on her and brings this to Ford.

• Dylan finds where Zane is hiding, but is unable to take any action.

• Dylan kills Nick Ford.

Characters

• Feeling left out of everything going in the family, Emma gives her two weeks notice.

• As a coping mechanism, Norman sees his mother telling him that if he's ever worried about something, to just hear her voice saying it's going be okay.

• When George Heldens visits, Norma, stressed regarding the situation with Norman, chews him out for the like of he and his sister not being in the real world. She then screams at him to leave, which she regrets it, but it's too late.

• Norma learns Norman had sex with Blaire Watson when Romero explains the semen sample they found.

• While in the box, Norman recovers memories of him having sex with Mrs Watson and then killing her.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• The subplot with Blaire's pearls being found on Norman was given a conclusion in a scene in which Nick goes to Norman and demands answers. Despite the hostile situation, the two have a heartfelt interaction. Unfortunately, the scene, which ran for over three minutes, was cut.

Allusions and References

• While in the box, Norman quotes dialogue from the 1941 film Meet John Doe.

Goofs

• Despite the entire season taking place in the summer, many of the scenes make it clear that it was filmed in winter, including one scene where the actors' breaths are visible.