The Details

• One of Bob’s men shoots Sheriff Romero.
• Norman goes into a trance, imagining all sorts of horrible things.
• Dylan asks Caleb to leave town. Caleb agrees to work for their crazy neighbor.
• Sparks fly between Dylan and Emma.
• Norma flees to Portland, flirts with a guy, then visits Professor Finnegan, all the while being trailed by one of Bob’s men. She tells Finnegan about Norman’s blackouts and murdering his father. Then sleeps with him.
• Marcus Young threatens Romero, saying that he can either work for him or die. Romero busts out of the hospital and kills him.
• Norman becomes Norma.
• Norma returns home, gets the boys, and goes to speak with Caleb. They hug it out, but Norman doesn’t seem thrilled about it.

The Big Q

Whose reality is real?

The Impact

This episode explored conflicting narratives. In the Norma-Caleb history, we see both parties mourning, one at the loss of innocence and the other at the lost possibility of reconciliation. Then we see Norman, who looks livid, likely because he’s taken on the angriest parts of Norma. In the Norma-Finnegan interpretation of her life, Norma believes there’s no hope, but Finnegan believes that therapy can help her make progress. Norman develops his own Norma persona in her absence, but Dylan knows it’s not Norma. Marcus tells Romero the only way for Romero to survive is if he works for Marcus, a reality that Romero wholeheartedly rejects.

Since each character has their own narrative that feels real to them, does that mean that there’s ultimately a multitude of realities? Can we accept Norman’s narrative to be as legitimate as our own?