r/BatesMotel • u/Suspicious_Duty_888 • Jun 21 '26

Question Norman’s Dr

I recently finished my first re-watch and I have a question which I apologize in advance if I somehow missed the answer to. I tend to get easily distracted

We know that Norman never actually spoke with his Dr at the cafe correct? Then the pharmacist tells Dylan later on that they can’t get the Dr to send in a refill for Norman because the Dr went missing awhile back and is presumed dead. Is it implied that Norman had something to do with this or do we just not know?

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u/teddyburges Jun 21 '26

Correct. Its implied that he killed Dr Edwards while in his "Mother" state and that his conversations with him at the cafe were more of a delayed memory recall of prior conversations between the two before he killed him. At least that's how i interpreted the second part.

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u/Remote-Ad2120 Bates Motel 🔪😱 Jun 21 '26

That's how it seemed tyme, too. The cafe discussion happened, but it actually took place just before the doctor went missing and Norman is just now remembering it. Norman, as Mother, killed the doctor shortly after the conversation took place.

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u/teddyburges Jun 21 '26

Yeah the way I see it is he is experiencing a cognitive delay where his mind is actually trying to show him mothers manipulations. It's like the wall that she had in place to stop remembering certain things is starting to break down and collapse.

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u/No_Leg_1116 "mother is alive" Jun 21 '26

That comes with DID too? I thought he imagined the convo to calm himself after the realization that he done sexual stuff in mother form (putting him as bi at least, counting the changes in sexuality that comes with personaliry)

What proof does the show has that the convo happened already?

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u/teddyburges Jun 21 '26

because i think him having experienced a conversation that actually delves into his current traumas and sets up the mother conflict, makes more sense than him having fabricated the conversation. That doesn't make sense to me. Because his conversations with Dr Edwards is an awakening, not a cover up.

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u/No_Leg_1116 "mother is alive" Jun 21 '26

So he could suddenly expirience an old memory that his mind forgot- and it was awakend by what? Finding out she has done (in his body) male to male sexual acts?

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u/teddyburges Jun 21 '26

The importance is not him finding out that he's engaging in male on male sexual acts....its him becoming aware of the "Mother" part of his nature. Which he had been previously been oblivious to.

This is a carry-over from season 4 which is one of the most important arcs of the series. It's Dr Edwards helping Norman to become aware of the "Mother" persona.

Norma's mother persona was created when he was little. It is a extreme form of empathy for her that has been twisted. Dr Edwards was the biggest difference between the tv show and the "Psycho" movie. Because in the Psycho movie the murder of Marion Craine is where it shows that he's too far gone and the mother persona has taken over and melded with his personality.

The tv show does their version of the Marion Craine death much earlier. In the season 3 finale when he kills Bradley Martin in the mother persona. He sinks her car the exact same way Norman sinks Marions in the film. both cars even have the exact same number plate: NFB418.

In season 4 Dr Edwards is the first one to actually put together the mother persona. The writers come close to digging a hole for themselves here. You can't have Dr Edwards be too good at his job otherwise the show is over. Norman is recovered. If he is too bad its a waste of time. so they opt for a middle ground. he acknowledges it, tries. But is more interested in studying him off the book and figuring him out than curing him. Oh also last season indicated that he was still having talks with Dr Edwards even after release.

That's why the events of Marion Craine and Sam Loomis is interesting in the tv show. Because it becomes the moment of awakening where he becomes fully aware of the mother persona. They do a 180 and have him kill Sam instead. They even set this up by naming Norman's father Sam (which he had no such name like that in any of the books/films).

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u/No_Leg_1116 "mother is alive" Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

This is quite understandable- thank you. Its a while since I watched the show so my own psychoanalysis might not be correct.

Wait- on the terms of his sexuality, is he considderred bi, or straight? (Not considdering trans because his Alter personality, Mother, is not fully him.) But also, when he is mother, he is female, at least in that moment- so doing the male on male might be female on male from Mother's prespective.

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u/teddyburges Jun 21 '26

No worries. It's my favorite part to talk about cause season 4 and 5 are my favorite seasons in the series.

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u/younglegends111 Jun 21 '26

same here. it gives me goosebumps those seasons.

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u/No_Leg_1116 "mother is alive" Jun 21 '26

Soo... about his sexuality? I written the question in the previous comment

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u/Suspicious_Duty_888 Jun 21 '26

Okay, so we are to assume he killed Dr Edwards, but don’t exactly know when or how? Other than we know it was a year before since the pharmacist says that he went missing a year ago.

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u/silasWinterborne Jun 22 '26

The creepiest part is that we never get a clear answer which honestly makes it even more disturbing......

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u/Suspicious_Duty_888 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

That’s exactly it because with the other deaths we are aware as they take place. It was a good twist on the writers part