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Do not disturb: Season 3 of 'Bates Motel' checks into A&E

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Author: 
Lydia Peever / TV Media
Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore star in “Bates Motel”

Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore star in “Bates Motel”

Perched above an infamous motor lodge, Bates mansion looms even larger in our minds than on screen. Weathered and imposing, the house is an icon of toxic secrecy and insanity contained by wood and glass. It can unnerve us with a glance, as does young Norman, the meek epicenter of "Bates Motel." His gaze is about to take hold of us again in season 3, premiering Monday, March 9, on A&E.

Last season wrapped up so tightly that viewers may wonder where the series will turn next. But then, many wondered where the story would wander, considering that the end game is mapped out over the last half-century.

First portrayed in the 1960 film "Psycho," the Norman Bates we know has deviated from the overweight and lewd character fleshed out in Robert Bloch's 1958 novel of the same name. With the precise vision of director Sir Alfred Hitchcock ("Vertigo," 1958, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents") and the svelte look of Anthony Perkins ("Catch-22," 1970, "A Demon In My View," 1992), it caused massive lines at theaters waiting to glimpse the innovative film with an iconic shower scene and a twist.

Iconic and twisted are words that work well to describe the series thus far. Enter Freddie Highmore ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," 2005, "The Spiderwick Chronicles," 2008) as a contemporary version of our young psychopath. "Bates Motel" lays out his childhood and relationship with his mother in a stark character study.

Sure, he goes to school, works at the hotel and has the attention of various female friends, such as the doting Emma Decody, played by Olivia Cooke ("Blackout," "Ouija," 2014), and Nicola Peltz's ("Transformers: Age of Extinction," 2014) broken-arrow character Bradley Martin who is slated to return in the upcoming season. Alongside these relatable elements, he is living hand to mouth surrounded by madness.

"From the start, it's been nice to play against people's expectations of who Norman is," Highmore said in an interview with "Collider." "He's such a well-known serial killer, and you know how he ends up in 'Psycho.' ... I think the joy of 'Bates Motel' is in the nuances and in the subtext, as opposed to overtly playing Norman being someone who's nasty or a serial killer in the traditional mold. And that extends as well to his relationship with his mother."

That relationship is upended, as the executive producers have let on in a recent news release. Not only does Norma grow closer to Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell, "State of Affairs," "Ringer"), other men are also closing in. There is more to her feelings for her other son, Dylan (Max Thieriot, "House at the End of the Street," 2012), than meets the eye, and her brother Caleb (Kenny Johnson, "Chicago Fire," "Sons of Anarchy") returns to dredge up their sordid past.

Olivia Cooke as seen in “Bates Motel”

Olivia Cooke as seen in “Bates Motel”

Norma Bates is no stranger to the troubles that suffocate her son. The series pays as much care to the crafting of the ivory tower that is Norman's mother with actress Vera Farmiga ("The Conjuring," 2013, "Touching Evil"), who earned a Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television in 2014 for the role.

Farmiga expanded on some of what drives Norma in season 3 in an interview with IGN at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. "It's a sincere survival skill that she has honed her entire life coming from such trauma, such depravity and being so alone and being afraid to be alone and the way she has persevered. I mean, look at the way she's dressed -- like a perfect little doll. A construct. A facade from the exterior … it's masking such turmoil and death and fear within, and I think that's the way she has learned to persevere. Just pretend it didn't happen."

And that is where we left Norman's dear mother, in stark denial, working to protect her son and claiming they were indeed one and the same. Executive producer Kerry Ehrin elaborated on how much fun it was to peel back more layers on the mother-son relationship.

"That was a really fun area to explore because it's been bubbling under the surface for so long," Ehrin told IGN. "One of the things about this show that is so enjoyable to create is that it's such rich terrain, and when you finally get to play out things, it's really exciting. The idea we could graduate to a world where Norman had a little more consciousness, on some level, of who he was and that we got to see the progression of the psychological relationship between him and his mother is so exciting."

Psychological relationship, indeed. Such subversive subtlety is at play, Oedipus himself would be taken aback. Not only does Norman idolize his mother, true to the original films, a large part of her resides in his psyche -- be it delusional or not -- that drives his violent behavior.

"You see that sort of split personality when he is taken into that different space at the end of the second season," Highmore said to IGN. "It's that different side to Norman, and the danger is when they start to become blurred. ... I guess there is this constant debate with Norman as to whether he is a good person or a bad person, to put it simply, and I think that proves that with recognition of the fact that he can do bad things, going so far to say, 'I'll take myself out of this world' for the good of others, is the kind of ultimate selfless decision."

The world of "Bates Motel" is moving from summer to fall. A season of decay and rot. The nights will get longer and rain turns colder as we trek up the blood-stained stone steps once again. You can check in Monday, March 9, on A&E, and hope the light stays on through the night.