#SDCC 2013: Bates Motel Creators and Cast Peel Back the Curtain on Season 2
Steve Barton
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If you’re not watching “Bates Motel,” you’re missing out big time, and we suggest you catch up quickly. For those of you who already appreciate it as much as we do, here are a few clues of what’s ahead in Season 2.
During the roundtable interviews held for the show during the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con, we spoke with series creators Carlton Cuse (“Lost”) and Kerry Ehrin (“Friday Night Lights”) as well as The Conjuring‘s Vera Farmiga (who just received an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Norma Bates), Freddie Highmore (Norman Bates), Max Thieriot (Dylan Bates), Olivia Cooke (Emma Decody), and Nestor Carbonell (Sheriff Alex Romero).
Make sure you read through to the end, where we have an awesome video that takes a hilarious look behind the scenes of “Bates Motel” and includes Freddie Highmore visiting the original Psycho house for the first time. We also have a peek at the postcard they were passing out at Comic-Con and a “Bates”-themed paper bag that contained some of the best brownies we ate all week! *wink, wink*
We began with Carbonell, who, when first approached about appearing on the show, felt they were “in dangerous territory [and] treading on a classic.” But the presence of Cuse and Ehrin sold him on it, particularly when they said that though his role would be sparse in the first season, Romero will become “more integral in Season 2 and beyond” and will be “integrated more in the storylines.” We’ll discover his motivations along with some back story.
Cuse and Ehrin echoed his sentiments about venturing into sacred territory with the project, and they dealt with the skepticism by taking iconic characters and sets and telling “a whole new story in a new world.” It’s still very much about a mother/son dynamic everyone can relate to, but “the cocktail [they] wanted to concoct of this town” was “high octane, pulpy, and intentionally larger than life” but still with “subtle, grounded character relationships.” Now by Season 2 people should have a growing comfort level with their storytelling mentality so they’ll be “pulling the curtain back a little.” There’ll be a new major conflict that will start with Romero, giving us a look behind the character. And along with Norma’s new love interest, George, and her estranged brother, Caleb, we heard about previously, there’s a blooming romance on the horizon for Norman as well.
When Season 2 begins, it’s summer in White Pine Bay so Norman’s not in school – it’s tourist time. Cuse said we’ll get a little Stand By Me vibe. They do have a long-term plan for their “novel for television,” and by the end of this upcoming season he and Ehrin will know how far to go until the series ends. We all know the story’s ending from Hitchcock’s original movie, but theirs does stand on its own; it’s “suggested” by the film.
Thieriot and Cooke joined us next, and what Max would most like to see for Dylan in the new year is for him to climb the ladder at work. After all, he’s still waiting to meet the big boss. Although, he said, we can never forget “eventually Dylan’s fate is fairly certain… You can’t get out of the business.” He’s also very much looking forward to meeting his uncle.
Olivia just hopes Emma meets someone who finally appreciates her. She does keep working at the motel in Season 2, getting closer to Norma, whom she feels is a “kindred spirit” to Emma.
Freddie Highmore had some pretty big shoes to fill when tackling the role of Norman Bates, but he told us he had “no time to be worried” about how people would react to his performance and “no time to doubt” – he just moved forward. Anthony Perkins was “a source of inspiration,” of course, “but not imitation.” One of the keys to his controlled performance is not to do too much too soon as it will be “more delicious to see things come out over time.”
For those wondering about a certain concerned teacher’s untimely demise at the end of Season 1, Highmore told us “Miss Watson’s death is present” at the start of Season 2 with implications from it impacting the characters. The dark humor that permeates the show will continue in the second season as well. As for young Norman’s journey to becoming the man and psycho we know him to be, he does become more self-aware in Season 2 while Highmore, the actor, continues his delicate balancing act of providing “a humanizing quality to a serial killer.” You feel for him, inevitably returning us to the eternal question of nature vs. nurture.
And that is also the quandary that drives Farmiga’s interpretation of Norma. She kept us riveted with her remarks about the research she’s done into the complexities of parenting a killer, including reading a book by Jeffrey Dahmer’s father, Lionel, and learning about increased cases of all forms of mental illness among children. And with The Conjuring sitting high at the box office in the #1 spot, she touched upon spirituality and the deep bond she’s formed with Lorraine Warren, whom she portrays in the film.
Norma couldn’t be more different from Lorraine, and it took Farmiga five to six episodes to really feel comfortable in the character’s skin. She sees “Bates” as a “really beautiful story about maternity” with Norma’s own “dark past projecting on Norman.”
As for how Cuse and Ehrin plan to top Season 1, Vera said she “can’t believe what they have [her] doing.” Things are going to “get loony.” Norma is “past the denial stage” with Norman and now “wants to fix him.” As a parent, she’ll “resort to anything to fix him.”
One thing that doesn’t need fixing is “Bates Motel.” It’ll be back in 2014, and as soon as we learn the premiere date, we’ll pass it on. For more info in the meantime, visit “Bates Motel” on AEtv.com and “like” “Bates Motel” on Facebook.
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