#fake crazy actors when real psycho actors come up to them

[endofbeginings]

Paul Newman participating in the 24-hour Le Mans car race in 1979.

[onisiondrama]

11/21/2019 Patreon Stream Hour 3 of 5

Notes

Greg decides to go through old footage live. He gets up to get a pile of hard-drives.

Greg asks if anyone seen the full candycorn video. He says apparently this person has a ruined career because of him. He asks imagine he if used that excuse, “it’s all everyone else’s fault.”

He tries to set up a hard drive and says there’s a video of him fucking somewhere so he has to be careful. He laughs and says he admits too much.

He says it sucks people don’t show the full context of the clip. He says he only saves videos that were hard to make. He says he deletes every Speaks video. He says these hard drives have everything he has ever done. 

He says one of the hard drives were extracted when it was a raid, so he’s not sure how to get files. He asks if anyone know how to repair raids. Someone suggests to bring it to best buy. Greg says it’s 16 tb of data. He says it would be nice to have the original banana song footage. His patreons give suggestions on how to extract data. Greg explains it’s a raid hard drive so it’s multiple hard drives interconnected and it chops up pieces of data among the different hard drives. A Patreon walks him through how to plug it in.

Greg walks away for a second and a patreon says he’s reading the stream chat and they’re all giving Greg shit. Greg comes back and says the stream chat is the most messed up thing ever. Someone says it’s worse on twitter and Greg says he doesn’t read twitter.

The patreon continues to walk him through how to access the hard drive. They can’t get it to work and Greg decides he’s going to take it to a professional. He says his entire career is on these hard drives and the unedited bloopers of footage people are releasing like it’s real.

Greg asks his patreons how they would feel if they acted as a character years ago and now people are acting like you’re the character. He goes through the story again and says he did it because he likes seeing people outraged, but now people are calling him a monster. He says he wishes he didn’t fuck up the hard drives because it would be nice to smear it in people’s faces.

Greg gives up and decides they are going to play League of Legends.

He corrects a Patreon that calls him Greg, says it’s James now. Greg jokes that the FBI is going to show up and ask him if he’s Greg Jackson and he’s going to say no and they’ll leave.

He goes on again about how upset he is that people are watching the candycorn clip out of context because now he could lose people that aren’t crazy obsessed. He says it won’t be relevant for long, but he likes everyone knowing the truth.

He says we’re talking about someone that admitted they faked a seizure on camera. A patreon asks “wait that wasn't real?” He says it wasn’t real. He says at the time she had weird episodes all the time so he thought it was normal. He says her uncle asked him if he really believe the age reverse shit and the rainbows. He said thought it was a split personality or her own personal issues she was dealing with so he recorded her to show her the footage later. He compares it to someone being drunk and being unaware of what they’re doing. He said he asked her multiple times if he could release the video as an educational video on mental health because he needed to release a video that day or if she wanted him to work all night. He says she told him to upload it. He says she later on said she was fucking with him. He said he was told there was a video on tumblr where she admitted that. (I have never seen or heard of a video like this and I’ve been blogging about him here on tumblr for 8 years.)

He says his advice to everyone is to not get to know anyone and you’ll be fine. Someone jokingly says “forever alone”. Greg says forever alone people don’t know how lucky they are, his Patreons laugh but he’s serious. He explains when you’re alone you don’t have to deal with people turning your reality upside down. He compares it to a cult or a religion.

Greg says to prove he’s not a cult leader, he asks his Patreons if he makes them feel like their special and loved by him and they say no. Someone says when he says something nice to them it makes them feel weird. Greg doesn’t acknowledge what his patreons say and says that’s how he felt in that relationship. He said cult leaders make you feel like you’re valuable and they are the only way and you put up with their crazy shit because you think they have the answers.

Greg says he wishes he was worse at acting (back on the candycorn video). His patreons laugh and someone says that’s a hard flex. Greg says no he’s so good at acting it’s stupid. He says some people can’t do this on command. He starts telling a specific patreon that they are worthless without him. He goes on and on but tbh he didn’t change his tone or expression from before he started showing off his acting skill so idk. Then he starts singing Feliz Navidad, I guess to show how fast he can switch his acting, but again he has the same expression and tone lmao. Now he’s going to do another one to show off how he’s such a good actor that he can act like a bad actor. He says the same thing to that patreon, but in a valley girl accent. Now he’s going to do it, but even worse acting. He says the same thing, but by saying the lines like a question, but choppy and loud. He asks his Patreon if that’s good acting and they say it was perfect sarcastically. Now he’s doing it “for real”, he’s acing mad. I’m so over this lmao.

Greg says if he wanted to be a psychopath, he’d be the best psychopath. I think he’s talking about acting. He says he’s so typecasted that he can only make one type of video, acting like a psycho.

Someone says they want more Emo Charlie, but Greg tells them Emo Charlie is dead, he shot him. His Patreons are upset and tell him to bring him back.

He says he made a video with Shiloh where he put on a head camera and walked in on her in the shower and she’s pissed. Greg says that was acting, but his Patreons already knew. He says they would make videos to create drama for the sake of drama and it sucks people now chose which drama was real. He says he did it to himself though, he shouldn’t have made these videos look real. He says he and Shiloh were both really good acting and they created real moments. Greg says she was actually nude when they made the video, but he censored it and deleted the footage.

A Patreon asked if Greg remembers the videos he made with Joe Nation where he punched Greg. Greg says he just showed up in the video, he had nothing to do with it. Greg says that video aged well and his Patreons should tweet Joe to tell him to re-upload the video he made with Onision. Someone says it’s still up, but Greg says he should re-upload it to get views and likes.

Greg asks his Patreons if they like his reenactment of the masturbation thing from last night. (The recent video he made of himself as Shiloh crying outside the door while he masturbates inside) One of his Patreons enthusiastically say she loved it. He thanked a patreon because she is the one that told him that was said about him. He says you can’t accuse people of stuff that sounds real and accuse them of masturbating in the other room while you’re crying because it throws everything off. You have to be believable. He asks if his Patreons ever met anyone that did that, he didn’t think it was a real thing. A patreon asks what and he says the implication was someone was crying and banging on a door and in response he dropped to his knees and masturbated to the sound (Shiloh didn’t say this) and they knew he was doing it because they could hear it through the door. He says that sounds aggressive.

He asks again if that’s a real thing people do and a patreon asks didn’t social repose like it when girls cried. Greg says he’s mean to people when they cry. He says hes not into it. Greg says he likes feeling desired so any negative response is a turn off. He says liking being unwanted seems rape-y.

A Patreon says they like when there’s initial rejection, like a challenge, but not in bed. Greg disagrees and says there needs to be a prior discussion that there is going to be back and forth. The patreon clarifies they mean when someone plays hard to get. Greg says he doesn’t know anything about that. Someone jokes “of course you don’t” and he says he really doesn’t know what they mean. Someone says “the chase” and he says he doesn’t know what that is. He says he guesses he had a chase with his ex wife because she didn’t like people talking to her when he first met her. He thought it was so cool that she was anti social. He said she wasn’t interested in him at first, but months later she hit him up on AOL instant messenger and she invited him to her house. He asks if that’s a chase and someone says “um. yeah.”  He pokes fun of himself and says he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

A Patreon says they like emotionally unavailable men that she has to chase. Greg says people would be running forever with him because he emotionally shut himself off from a lot of concepts. He says opening yourself up is consistent with being hurt and wearing your heart on your sleeve seems cute, but it’s actually the worst. He compares it to leaving cash out and someone stealing it.

They talk about League for a while. He brings up the candycorn video again. He says it’s weird hearing himself and being like oh shit I was way too good in that. He says and people say I’m a bad actor, but they think it’s reality.

A Patreon says they’re waiting for them to make a Netflix movie about him. Greg agrees and said he was talking to Kai and asked what are they going to do now? Everyone already said everything and he says oh Netflix special. Kai says they wouldn’t do a Netflix special because it doesn’t involve facts, only hearsay so they wouldn’t want to get sued. He says then they talked about R Kelly and Michael Jackson and Michael Jackson can’t sue because he’s dead so of course they’re going to do stuff on him and R Kelly can’t sue because he’s obviously guilty. He says there is a video and transcript of R Kelly with someone that is underage and that’s why corporations are willing to do stuff on him.

He says he doesn’t think anyone would pick up a hearsay situation, but if they did that would be interesting. A Patreon asks if he would watch it and Greg says he hasn’t watched anything so far besides the candycorn clip so he can’t say he would. He says you’re obligated to sue a major corporation that would take part in that just because it’s obviously hearsay and they can’t release statements like they’re legitimate when it’s hearsay. He says individuals aren’t worth suing because they don’t have money. He says if you wait for a Netflix to pick it up and make a massive lawsuit out of that, people will realize it’s all hearsay and you walk away a multi millionaire. He says if Netflix picks it up its good for him.

A patreon says now that everyone said something, things will probably die down. Greg says no, they’ll still make videos because he’ll continue to draw traffic. He says he causes people to be endlessly successful.

A Patreon says Greg should make a drama channel to comment on what drama channels say. Greg says it’s exhausting watching people say bad thing about you. He says if he was a sociopath that would work, but he actually has feelings.

[ijustwantdumpling]

Modaozushi Fanfic Recommendation.

Since I can’t get enough of this novel, might as well pampering/hurting my self more with an outstanding fanfic/canon divergence of this great book. Even the live action and the anime version still nor gonna stop me from these beautiful handmade story by all the fans of Modaozushi.

This recommendation will be focusing on our WangXian couple

 1.Cure by Yukirin_Snow 

Description : It was meant to be a consult, simple, quick, to tell the family and patient that there wasn’t much he could do. Even after all the other doctors, the tests, the treatments, and the huge stack of documentation on his desk that told him this poor patient could only remain comfortable until his final moments.

So how had it ended up like this?

(It was well written and you could see how well researched this fanfic is. I Spent my night in tears reading this beautiful fanfic. tips : prepare some tissue and we gonna go on emotional roller coaster.)

status : Multi-chaptered / Completed

2. SanRen by Kyogre

Description : Leaving YunmengJiang in an effort to curb the tensions in the Jiang family, Wei WuXian becomes a rogue cultivator.Even without the support of a sect, he is a rare genius whose name will become known across the cultivation world and whose techniques will influence the course of a war.However, what influences his own fate is a chance meeting that becomes the first step toward love.

(a canon divergence, but at least everyone alive here.)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

3. My Immortal by Jaywalker_Holmes

Description : Wei WuXian had thought his troubles had ended after the mess with Jin GuangYao was sorted out, and that he would spend the rest of his life happily with his beloved Lan Zhan, double cultivating and rebuilding his golden core. However, fate had other plans. Mo XuanYu's frail body could not contain his increasing power, and an inevitable cultivation accident occurs, sending Wei WuXian to his six-year old body, just before Jiang FengMian found him. Will the YiLing Patriarch have a happier life this time around?Inspired by Evanescence's song, which will be reflected in the chapter titles.

(A time travel series! there’s a heavenly beast and everyone is alive and thriving also what I really love the most is soft hearted madam Yu and a creepy/psycho wen ruohan who’s everyone number onecenemies but at least he didn’t die so we could actually know what was he’s motivation actually is or.. just him being psycho)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

4. Loneliness Knows My Name by  Jaywalker_Holmes , Treef

Description :  AU after the First Siege of Burial Mounds. Wei WuXian didn't die, instead he was saved by someone everyone thought was already dead - Wen Ruohan. However, no one knows this (since Wen Ruohan is apparently great at faking deaths), so the cultivation world rejoices even as Lan WangJi desperately searches for his Wei Ying and finds a little child instead. Wei WuXian, on the other hand... 

(well.. can you imagine Wen Ruohan became Wei Wuxian grandpa? this definitely change everything.)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

5. Night of Sixth Magnitude Stars by Leffy

Description : Lan WangJi gave him a disapproving look as they left the classroom. “You can’t be late every time.”Wei WuXian walked with light steps, seemingly in a happy mood. “They can’t fault me if I want to spend more time with the only student who really listens to me.”Lan WangJi followed reluctantly, because Wei WuXian always made him follow, even when he was driving him crazy.

( A modern AU! at first I was hesitated because I was to used with the time setting in the novel but my hesitation was just a complete stupid waste of time because this fanfic definitely GOLD)

status : Multi-Chaptered /Completed 

6. Blink  by Menuridae

Description : “So on Saturday night, while you are having the time of your life on a date with your hot, hunky, handsome soulmate, I have to go on a date with a rich young master who sounds like a literal stick in the mud whilst pretending to be you?"Mo Xuanyu's family has set him up on a blind date with a rich young master after learning he is gay. However, he already has plans for that night. Instead of going on the date himself, Mo Xuanyu enlists Wei Wuxian to go as a substitute. Wei Wuxian must act like his best friend for the night before kindly turning down Mo Xuanyu's date.Only, Wei Wuxian finds out that turning down Mo Xuanyu's date is possibly the hardest thing he has had to do in a long time.

(single parent LWJ and we should thanks Mo Xaunyu for he is actually our savior)

status :Multi-Chaptered /Completed

7. the nights are long (but the years are shorter) by hyunbyun

Description :  Wei Ying and Lan Zhan come to terms with the fact that A-Yuan really is grown up.

(WangXian became a soft parent and somehow I pictured my parent actually felt the same in each year I grew up.)

status : Oneshot 

8. Ten miles of Lotus Flowers by Yukirin_Snow

Description : He was a mischievous fox spirit, wreaking havoc where he went, about to depart on a journey that would span centuries.He was a heavenly prince, a proud dragon destined to ascend the throne to become emperor.Neither expected their paths to collide over the span of three lives.

(A/B/O Dynamic and Mpreg. very well written and my heart broke most of the time thankyou very much but it’s happy ending tho)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

9. Switched by Shorimochi 

Description : When an actor transmigrated into a fictional world, and a fictional character transmigrated into the real world.There are a lot of things Xiao Zhan could do - sing, dance, act, cook, draw - but not fighting cultivators, and definitely not summon an army of corpses! Most importantly, how can he handle being around Wang Yibo's fictional self when he knew the man had been fantasising about him since fifteen?Wei Wuxian swore just a few minutes ago he was still out there, destroying the Wens who had taken away his home, but when he opened his eyes he arrived at a dreamland where there are moving pictures, metal carriages, and people are so rich they poop in a beautiful white porcelain throne. Also, why does the Lan Zhan he saw smile so often and talk so much?

(LWJ reputation was definitely tainted! I laugh so much but this ff is actualy genius. let’s see how Xiao Zhan, a real life actor who played wei wuxian and who knew  better about how his character specially the story line trying to save that massive bundle of trouble)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

10. Don't You Like Me (MDZS Edition) by Shorimochi 

Description : Wei Wuxian was just an ordinary teenager at Gusu Academy. He hung out with friends, break the rules at least once a day, and banter with his roommate, Lan Wangji at every opportunity he had.Life had been normal, until his grandfather passed away and left him an ancient relic that gave him the Yin eyes, causing him to be able to see and communicate with ghosts. Wei Wuxian was horrified to discover that everywhere around him, there were ghosts invading his space, even watching him shower! He wasn't able to sleep, eat, or study properly - until one day he accidentally touched Lan Wangji skin-to-skin, and the ghosts simply disappeared. Hmm?Wei Wuxian discovered that a simple brush of hands closed his Yin eyes for five minutes. A hug, fifteen minutes. Exchanging saliva? (Don't ask how)... Two hours. And so he began sticking close to Lan Wangji for as much and as long as he could.Until he got kabedon'ed by his roommate.LWJ: You try to touch me at every opportunity you have. You like me, don't you? WWX: ... (Unable to answer because of the curse of the seal) LWJ: I like you too. WWX: ??!Based on a novel of the same title.

(A modern AU, a have good laugh also wei wuxian was very meanie to our soft hearted lwj.)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed 

11. no other cloud compares to you by ectocosme

Description :  Divine beasts sometimes fall in love with humans. Half-divine beast most often than not. Dragons always. Wei Wuxian visits Cloud Recesses when he receives the first 'hail' of who will become his mate. At least, he is determined for them to become mates. But life does not flow as the river, it is a meandering stream easily disturbed.

(Wei Wuxian as a dragon! also wangji are just so stupid smh..)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Ongoing

12. Sky, Cloud and Lotus by Xantya24

Description :  Wei WuXian is an unruly omega that is mated to one of the Twin Jades of GusuLan, Lan WangJi an alpha. Till one day, they find out that Wei WuXian is pregnant. How will the new mated couple react to the news? It will be one hell of a ride. Raising kids is definitely different from raising buns buns. From morning sickness to weird cravings to mood swings to labor to sleepless nights. To new relationships being build to finding about love. Lots of angst and fluff also. Prepare for the feels.

status : Multi-Chaptered / Ongoing 

13. ShuangXiu by panda_desu

Description : Lan XiChen knows he must sound so stupid right now. He clears his throat. "I am sure this is something to expect from a married couple, but Wangji, I have to ask, how?"Lan WangJi looks impassively at Lan XiChen.

(mpreg but not abo dynamic but somehow it’s make sense! well at least for mdzs universe. love how the author deliver it and makes the theory acceptable so it’s not like wei ying getting pregnant out of nowhere. loved it!)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed 

14. MDZS drabbles by Demon_neko97

Description :  This is just a collection of the prompt requests I receive on Tumblr. (The prompt request is already closed.)

(collection of drabbles, fluffy, funny, perfect for times when you just want to keep it light and better mood)

status : Drables / Ongoing 

15. The Light That Fails to Dim by glowingreverie

Description : Wei Ying lost his parents in a night hunt. Cold and alone, he wandered the streets of Yiling for nearly two years. However, one fateful night, a tall, scary man finds him and takes him back to a place he calls Qinghe. Later Wei Ying, now known as Wei Wuxian, discovers that that tall, scary man is not bad at all. And his cowardly brother makes an even better friend than he initially thought he would. With a content feeling in his chest every day, Wei Wuxian can only hope these peaceful, happy days with his new family will last until the end of time.Or, in which Jiang Fengmian is unaware of what happened to Wei Wuxian's parents and Nie Mingjue takes him in and the story continues from there...

(things really get different over there and I might say this is a great one. I just love nie huaisang so much fight me) 

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

16.Misunderstood by Silver_Flame_2724 

Description : There is something called a memory ball, or Jiyi Qiu, that shows the memories of a chosen person.In order to further incriminate the already dead Yiling Patriarch, the cultivation world decides to use this memory ball at the next Discussion Conference to show how evil the demonic cultivator can truly be.What appears, though, truly shocks them all.

(a cried a river. heartbreaking but satisfied just to imagine those guilty faces) 

status : Multi-Chaptered /Ongoing

17. Jiang Cheng and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Wedding by hyunbyun

Description :  An outside perspective on modern! Lan Zhan’s and Wei Ying’s wedding through the eyes of local poor soul Jiang Cheng.

(Heartwarming, it literally bring smile to my face and this is just so good. you have to read this one) 

status :  Oneshot

18. Family - Mating Season by Laxruar

Description :  Fairy isn't a good dog.

(Laugh my ass out, literally!) 

19. Instagram Husband by hasu, ofishenod

Description :  Wei WuXian was on a mission to become Instagram Famous, so he did what he did best: dragged Lan WangJi (and many unwilling others) into his misadventures. Or, 5 times Wei WuXian had Lan WangJi take photos of him and 1 time Wei WuXian took a photo with Lan WangJi.

(if I don’t get the lan wangji for my wei wuxian, then what’s the meaning of this life?!)

status : Oneshot.

20. The Tale of Snow Wei by scrayjes

Description :  

 Snow Wei is a powerful warlock; The mage is as strong-willed as can be; The prince should watch his anger; The donkey should roam free.

(wei wuxian as a snow white? yes. )

status : Oneshot 

21. Response by  Aki_no_hikari

Description : What if Wei Wuxian hadn't been silent to Lan Wangji's Inquiry? Part 2: Featuring A-Yuan

(a-yuan T.T loving it!) 

status : Multi-Chaptered 

22. Some of You by Tangerinechar

Description : It can’t be that bad, he thinks. There’s no way he would have done that. But the doubt still lingers, turning into full-blown anxiety as he scrolls down his twitter feed, finally arriving on his latest tweet.

Lan WangJi ✔ @lan_wangjiSome of you have never fallen in love with a boy only for him to go missing after his parents die and pine away for three years waiting for him to come back, then continue to pine when he’s back after you realize you’re too scared to confess, and it shows.23,043 retweets | 73,328 likesLan Zhan’s face pales and he buries his head in his hands, letting his phone drop on the table.

This is bad.This is very, very bad.-Or, Lan Wangji gets drunk and tweets a love confession, Wei Wuxian panics, and all of twitter decides to matchmake Lan Wangji and his mystery guy.

(wei wuxian is that dense! smh) 

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

23. asymptotic by chinxe

Description : The members of the Lan Clan have never been particularly well-known for their good judgement when it comes to matters of the heart.Which is why it should come as a surprise to no one when Lan Wangji falls in love with an actual ghost.

(”wei ying is wei ying” lwj just so hopeless when it’s about wwx)

status : Multi-Chaptered / Completed

if you already read all of those fanfics above then congratulation! you’ve already going through a high level of mood changing, tear jerking, blood pulsing, head aching, tooth aching fluff and thousands more feelings! what a ride!. 

[briangroth27]

Bates Motel Season 5 Review

Entering its fifth and final year, Bates Motel went all-in and delivered one of my favorite seasons of television of all time. I loved that they dove into the events of Psycho and beyond, touching on aspects of Norman (Freddie Highmore) and Mother’s (Vera Farmiga) relationship that I’d never considered. The series did unfortunately stumble in the last two episodes, but it was still an incredible work; Calrton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin should be proud of the show and the world they created. The attention to detail of the sets and costumes went a long way to recreating the iconic Bates Motel and home (and they didn’t even have a roof until late in the series!), and that was much appreciated. If seasons 1-4 can be seen as a fantastic modern-set prequel to Psycho (with a few minor details changed), season 5 is a great companion piece to Hitchcock’s classic.

I’m going to miss the consistently stellar acting Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga delivered for 50 episodes! They’re both long overdue for awards attention on this series and if they don’t get Emmys for their work this season, it'll be a crime. Farmiga portrayed amazing development of Norma’s character over the first four years, then got to play a crazy spin on her own creation of Mother. Highmore was always eerily similar to Anthony Perkins, but the writing allowed him to take his version of Norman places Perkins never did, and Highmore was excellent every step of the way. As the Bitter Script Reader pointed out on Twitter, Bates worked very well as a prequel by making all of Norman's development (the peep hole, etc.) his ideas rather than having some other character come in and basically instruct him to take on elements of his iconic self. It felt so much more organic and real this way. Highmore also consistently stunned by writing and directing a few episodes—Nestor Carbonell and Max Thieriot showed their prowess as directors too—and I can’t wait to see what all three of them do in the future.

Full Spoilers...

This season finally let Highmore and Farmiga take their mother/son/alternate personality relationship to its fullest extent. The dynamic between Norman and Mother was perfectly written and acted, making their scenes fascinating, frightening, and funny. I loved that Mother retained Norma’s snark with lines like “Well, it’s not like we haven’t done this before” in reference to covering up a body! Both leads seemed to be having a blast throughout the whole season, even when they were at each other’s throats. I’m going to miss their chemistry. I was surprised they went so far beyond the reach of Psycho, with Norman knowing Mother wasn’t real, and I’m glad they did; it made for some extremely interesting developments. I also didn’t expect things to spiral out of control for Norman so quickly with the cops breathing down his neck, even though I knew things had to be wrapped up in 10 episodes.

The writing around Mother—and the pretense that she was "faking" her death—was so good. So good. She might be the character I miss most now that the show is over. I liked that there was a little bit of Mother acting to save herself by convincing Norman to stay off his meds and not get himself killed; as much as she wanted her son to survive, it seems like she wanted to live just as much. It’s so great that they gave Farmiga the chance to play Norman’s imaginary protector instead of just relying on him reacting to an imaginary person we couldn’t see. And when Highmore did play Mother, it was great! The considerable time Norman spent as Mother could’ve come off as cheesy or as something less than totally serious and dangerous in the hands of a less-talented actor. The psuedo-cat and mouse game that developed between Norman, Mother, Norman-as-Mother, and Chick (Ryan Hurst) about who knows what and how was exciting to watch! At the same time, Norman slowly becoming aware of what Mother has been doing for him (and with his body) was intense and heartbreaking. I certainly didn't expect them to reveal Mother had been going out, getting drunk, and hooking up with random guys! It makes total sense, though, and I'm glad they weren't afraid to go there. I really felt sad for Norman when he realized he’d been giving himself over to Mother during his conversation with his (shockingly dead!) psychiatrist (Damon Gupton). Both that scene and his argument with Norma about it were probably his last desperate attempts to save himself, but he tragically didn’t even fully realize what he needed to escape from or how to begin doing it.

Once Norman forced Mother to let him know everything she’d been doing (yet another incredible scene between these actors) and he killed Sam (Austin Nichols), all bets were off and I had no idea how they’d resolve things. I thought Norman being a complicit killer might scare him back into needing Mother, but I’m glad that they didn’t go that route and even had Mother forcibly take over to try and get him out of trouble with the police when he refused to help himself. At the same time, Norman truly being afraid of Mother and telling Dylan (Max Thieriot) he missed their “real” mom was a surprising and truly affecting moment. I wish they’d spent more time exploring that idea and Norman’s attempts to fight back against Mother.

Instead, we got Norman rebooting himself to his "just moved to White Pine Bay" psyche after killing Romero (Nestor Carbonell) and being left by Mother. It was certainly an interesting development—as was Mother leaving him—but I feel like it came too late in the season and left him on autopilot for the whole final episode. Because he was in this messed up state trying to convince himself Norma was still alive the entire time (which we’d already moved past), he never got a chance to fight back. I guess that's what I was looking for: a showdown between Norman and Mother over his body/soul. Why did Mother just give up trying to get him off the charges? I'm not sure I buy her leaving him when they'd made a point to acknowledge her "life" was tied to his well-being. If nothing else, it felt anticlimactic and a little out of character that she'd just leave him behind, unprotected. Still, I liked the flashbacks to the pilot and how unnerving it was that Norman was reliving them with Norma's corpse. This also brought us a few more recreated scenes from the movie, so that was cool. And Norman just checking the guests in like nothing was wrong was creepy.

Regardless of my problems with Norman’s state of mind in the final episode and his actual death, I liked that Norman got to be reunited with the real Norma instead of Mother at the end. Their reunion was beautiful and the shot of him as a little boy, before he'd killed his father (and probably before the night Norma tried to run away with Norman), was a brilliant touch. Norman's half of the headstone having nothing on it was masterful symbolism for his relationship with Norma and Mother.

I was surprised so much time had gone by and Dylan and Emma (Olivia Cooke) had a baby already! They seemed so happy in Seattle and I was glad they’d escaped White Pine Bay and their toxic families. It was also smart to have both of them come clean relatively quickly about Caleb (Kenny Johnson) and Emma’s mom (Karina Logue); it showed their relationship was healthy. I’ve liked Dylan and Emma a lot since the beginning and I was really worried at least one of them—probably Dylan—wouldn’t make it through the season. Since last year, I’ve thought they would play the Sam and Lila roles from the movie, coming to town to look for Norma, and that they’d end up stopping Norman. Norma liked Emma, so I figured she was safe from Mother, but I was sure Dylan would die trying to save Norman from himself. When Norman switched to Mother in front of Dylan and attacked him, I thought that was it! Dylan’s shock was priceless, and I'm glad Dylan was still so dedicated to helping Norman for the rest of the season. He really might be the best person on the show.

However, I was disappointed Emma had so little to do this season. After being hampered by her CF for so much of the series (though to be fair, she awesomely never let it hold her back), locking her away in Seattle with nothing to do but worry about everyone seemed wrong, especially given Cooke’s considerable talent. If she was busy filming Ready Player One or something, I wish they’d used her time in different scenes; she was too big a character to spend most of the season on the sideline. Couldn’t she publish Chick's book, or at least find it to better understand what happened to her friend? I liked that she could immediately tell it wasn't Norman when she visited him in jail, but since we—and she—didn't really know her mom, I didn't feel much during those funeral scenes (despite good acting on Cooke’s part). I felt more when she visited Norma's grave (and that scene paid off their friendship perfectly).

It would’ve been a shame if Norman had split Emma and Dylan up, so I was relieved Dylan got to go home to Emma. She and his daughter are his family now, not the Bates, despite how much he still cared. Dylan going into the Bates house was one of the few times I've agreed with a character going in without the police—Sheriff Greene (Brooke Smith) clearly didn't care about Norman—and as stupid as it was, I probably wouldn't have called the cops either (though Emma should have). I thought it could be cool if Emma stopped Norman at one point, but if it had to be someone other than Norman himself, I’m glad it was Dylan. He'd spent so much time wanting to be part of the family but never quite belonging (or being let in)—a heartbreaking line Thieriot walked perfectly over the course of the series—that it felt right he'd be the one to step away and give them their happy afterlife together. My friend pointed out that Norman possibly wanted to die and just acted like he was going to kill Dylan, correctly believing that Dylan would kill him to save himself. I agree with that, but it’s so passive that I wasn’t satisfied. If Norman’s assisted suicide attempt came on the heels of an internal battle with Mother rather than just being unable to live without her, I think it would’ve wrapped up both his struggle and Dylan’s place in the family perfectly and much more satisfactorily.

At first, I thought that unless he was playing the Arbogast role, Romero would make it through the season. Even though he was (shockingly) straight-up sending people to kill Norman, I figured he’d redeem himself by catching Norman and saving someone. However, as the season went on, his vengeance quest felt more and more drawn out and less and less engaging. I felt his revenge could’ve been covered in two episodes instead of stretching across 10, and worse, that his competition with Norman over Norma’s love felt too petty (all the back and forth with the ring last year, and so on) to be what brought Norman down. Even with Chick selling Romero and Norman’s showdown as “epic,” I never felt the building anticipation to that confrontation. Honestly, it felt settled: Norman already "won" and "Norma" stayed with him; all Romero had to look forward to was revenge and Norman couldn't care less. While I bought Romero loving Norma and liked them together, I couldn't connect with Romero’s loss; maybe because Norma was still "around" and so solidly in Norman's corner. Maybe I was just over watching him take so long to get to Norman. Why not let Romero escape in the premiere, attack Norman in episode 2, die, and have his body be the one Norman has trouble making disappear instead of the random guy Romero sent? You could even play Sheriff Greene questioning Norman almost exactly the same way, since it was really about Romero anyway. They could've spent all that screentime of Romero escaping, recovering, and making his way back to White Pine Bay on the much more interesting Norman/Mother relationship instead. Norman vs. Mother was the epic showdown we should’ve gotten. Nestor Carbonell was great in the role, but his arc in this season was mishandled, IMO, ironically and unfortunately landing him once again in what has always been the series’ weak spot: crime subplots (though at least this one was directly related to Norman).

Chick was such a weird guy, but he never came off as quirky for the sake of being quirky. He’s always seemed like threat to everyone, really, but he never hurt Norma, Norman, or Dylan. More than that, I really liked that he was actually a good friend to Norman after all this time. I thought he’d die once he found out about Mother, but I wasn’t expecting him to go the pointless way he did (another reason I wanted Romero finished this year). I liked that he was writing the novel version of Psycho and believed that might save him (unfortunately not). What an unpredictable arc for such an out-there character, that still totally worked! Also, jeez, the funeral for Caleb was so unexpected and respectable! Chick could so easily have been a mismatch of quirky traits that amounted to a caricature, but he always surprised me and everything about him felt right. I felt bad for him when Norman kicked him out and I was shocked and wanted vengeance for him when Romero shot him. I thought for sure the cops would try to pin his death on Norman, but a friend of mine pointed out the timeline wouldn’t line up; I wish they’d pointed that out, because it felt like a potentially dangling thread (even if it wasn’t).

I enjoyed the addition of Marion Crane (Rihanna), Sam Loomis, and his wife Madeline (Isabelle McNally) to the series. I couldn't help but feel like the redone Marion scenes in her first episode were...not lacking, but not the most engaging. I think it's because they were so similar to what's already in Psycho that I just wanted to get her to the Motel to interact with Norman. I did enjoy Rihanna's performance a lot, though, and felt her Marion was more likable and sympathetic than Janet Leigh’s. Once she got to White Pine Bay, all her scenes were more interesting than stealing money for Sam. I really thought they were going to go the classic way with her and didn't think they'd let her live at all! “Screw this,” indeed! I really liked that change. I feel like we knew Rihanna’s Marion better and I felt sorry for what she’d done for love; I hope she evades the law. Her conversations with Norman were well worth the wait and Norman fighting Mother to save her life was another perfect change!

Sam had little personality beyond “the good guy” in Psycho from what I remember, so I didn’t mind the series making him a lecherous loser. The twist on his relationship with Marion—he was cheating on his wife with her—worked for the world of the show. I saw a few comments online saying they shouldn’t have made Sam so 100% irredeemable, so it’d be a tragedy when he died (like Marion in the movie), but I didn’t mind it: the real tragedy was that Norman killed him, not Mother. I also feel like Sam was such a heel to make it “OK” in the audience’s minds for Madeline to be attracted to/kiss Norman…even though her having a bit of moral gray to her would’ve been in line with everyone else on this show. Perhaps this was also a chance for the writers to makes us root for a killing by putting us in both Madeline and Marion’s corners, even though we’re definitely not supposed to. I didn’t pick up on the idea that Sam was the name of Norman’s father too until I saw it pointed out online; that’s a cool connection.

Madeline was an eerie dead ringer for Norma (and even sounded like her at points!), which played really well into Norman’s issues. She and Highmore had good chemistry and despite thinking she’d die early on, I was rooting for him to get a happy ending for the first time ever once they had their dinner “date.” With Bradley and Emma, I figured I knew things would end badly if they were with Norman so I didn’t want them together, but this far into the story I had the slightest glimmer of hope for him. I’m glad they didn’t drag out Madeline being in the dark about Sam’s affair with Marion and brought things to a head with both him and Norman quickly, but I was disappointed she all but disappeared in the final episodes. I was sure she’d at least briefly look guilty when Mother told Sheriff Greene to question her and I was surprised they didn’t go that route. Either way, I wanted more resolution from her relationship with Norman instead of the dangling confusion she was left with. For a character who’d been built up as a major presence over the course of the season, it felt slightly unfinished.

I knew Caleb was a goner from the beginning and I can’t say I was sorry to see him go, even if I do believe he cared about Dylan. Kenny Johnson gave a great performance over his time on the series, but I couldn’t ever find it in me to sympathize with him. I was relieved he didn’t screw up Dylan and Emma’s lives when he showed up at their house, and I guess “not destroying everyone’s lives” is the most charitable I could get towards him. And when he’d get self-righteous and “protective” over Chick calling him out on raping Norma, any chance of sympathy evaporated. I definitely didn’t expect him to die the way he did, and I liked that Mother was so down to kill him; that was a nice tie to the first time we saw Norman became Mother, way back in the beginning of the series. I enjoyed Sheriff Greene. We didn’t get to know her personally very much, but I certainly got a sense that she was an unstoppable force for justice, and that’s exactly what she needed to be. She definitely unraveled Norman’s lies a lot quicker than I was expecting. I also thought it was interesting that she was very clear about caring about the innocent people and her staff rather than bringing Norman in safely. I usually don’t see that kind of black-and-white hardness in female cops on shows or movies. They did a great job of making her stand out with limited screentime!

I loved that they took the whole season to play with Psycho’s events rather than cramming in the sequels (though the show had already played with Norman being “cured” like in those films in previous years). The nods to the original movie was great, like Norman eating candy corn while being interrogated by Sheriff Greene and seeing Dr. Edwards walking across the street in front of his car. I also really liked that we got a variation on the "Marion driving" music during her episodes; what better way to compliment the show's tactic of taking the familiar and twisting it? There are a few iconic lines and bits from the movie I’m shocked we never got, though. They didn’t include the shower scene music? No one ever said “a boy’s best friend is his mother?” That could’ve been reworked with some sarcasm after Norman learned exactly what Mother had been doing for him. I was sure we’d get “we all go a little mad sometimes;” Marion could’ve said she’d gone crazy on Sam’s car or called stealing the money insane, and Norman could’ve replied with that. Mother also had a perfect opportunity to say it while Norman was calling himself a mad person. It could’ve also fit into Norman’s prison interrogation. Either there or when Mother was talking to Emma, I thought they could use some variation of “he’s such a nice boy; he wouldn’t hurt a fly,” but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. I also thought they should’ve made either the guy Romero sent after Norman or Sheriff Greene the show’s Milton Arbogast, just to involve that prominent film character. Greene could’ve been named Mildred Arbogast or something, since she did most of his investigations anyway. Of course, they totally should’ve included a recreation of this Anthony Perkins photo!

Bates Motel was never perfect—too often, the town crime subplots would drag—but the relationships between Norman, Norma, Mother, and their family and friends always carried the show. In seasons four and five, things moved into high gear and the making of a serial killer next door came to a fascinating conclusion, even if I would’ve preferred a Norman/Mother fight leading up to Dylan killing Norman. Ultimately, I think Psycho’s ending was more satisfying, but Bates explored the characters so deeply that they’re my preferred versions. I can’t imagine another take on Psycho coming close to this, or the original movie, and I’m glad they were able to tell their whole story.