Bates Motel - Visiting Hours - Review: Seeing the finish line

And while I'm not sure if I liked or really liked Visiting Hours, I have to say that I liked some resolution the show gave us within this hour. The episode was written by Scott Kosar and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi.

I loved Natalia Cordova in this one. Her character Julia Ramos was so strong, confident and had that touch of humanity when you thought she would be stone cold. Her character is pushy and maybe even annoying at times, but she knew her work and is truly committed to her client. She could've given up on Norman when she so how easily Dylan gave up on him but no she knew she was the last chance of this mentally ill boy and she had to do everything in her power to "save" him.

Norman meanwhile was still under Mother's control and I completely adored the transitions between Freddie and Vera, so convincing, so simple, but such an effective storytelling tool. The preliminary hearing was very difficult to handle for Dylan and Madeline that lead to a powerful confrontation between them making the guilt within Dylan reach new levels.

Otherwise, it was a pretty quick hearing with only Sheriff Greene's testimony. Still, I loved that hint of teary eyes in Vera while everything was going down and after the moment Dylan left. The willingness to pay so much detail to any scene they are doing makes me enjoy the show so much. I'm quite sad we won't see more of the actual trial, it would be really intriguing to investigate more of Norman's and Mother's mental state and in which correlation the two of them are.

Elsewhere, Emma arrived to town and stirred up more emotional trouble for Dylan. Emma was in ultra (let's say) aggressive mode and her high-pitched broken voice was quite irritating. But Emma was hurt and the confirmation that Norman killed her mother was pulling her down. Dylan was her punching back and was absorbing all her hate and sadness. I enjoyed her scene at the graveyard, it was a sweet homage to the bond Emma and Norma shared.
Emma's confrontation with Norman was an extraordinary state. It was so intense and emotionally gripping to see a broken Emma confront stone cold Mother. Emma loves Norman, despite everything his alter ego has done she does love him. She considers him family, he was always nice to him no matter of her disease. It really affected her seeing him like this. I assume this is the end of Emma's story and it was a nice closure to her. I would appreciate having seen more of her and Dylan this season but I understand the writers desire to climax the story.

Romero going completely bonkers and dropping into the police station and kidnapping Norman and Regina was something I didn't expect. I did expect him to do some crazy shit and get to Norman in a crazy way but the stuff at the police station was a pleasant surprise. Nestor Carbonell is such a terrific actor, I've mentioned it before and I will again his face is telling so many stories his big puppy eyes, that broken face symmetric just gets to me and makes me believe him anything. I'm really excited to see how his story will end.

And here we are. 1 episode away from closing the Bates Motel, but before you do that share your thoughts on the show's penultimate episode. The comment section is open for your comments and thoughts, I look forward to reading them.