Now that Norman Bates–played exquisitely by Freddy Highmore–is truly reaching his Psycho potential, it’s high time for the buzzy drama to start embracing its rich source material. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror classic has found its way into Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin’s prequel series in various forms: Highmore’s Norman has been fascinated with taxidermy for awhile now, and we’ve even seen his mother’s dark (yet still living) silhouette from afar in a window peering out of Bates Manor. Plus, at the very end of last season, Norman realized he could compartmentalize his multiple personalities: Norman and Norma can reason independently inside his mind. There’s no doubt we’re inching closer to the completely psychotic Norman Bates as seen in Hitchcock’s film.
Where does Norman go from here, then? To the peep-hole, of course! In this creep-tastic teaser for the upcoming third season of A&E’s Bates Motel, we spy on new motel tenant Annika Johnson (played by the beautiful Tracy Spiridakos from the recently cancelled NBC series Revolution) as she begins to undress. Cue heavy breathing as the camera pulls out of the hole to reveal Norman as our Peeping Tom. Chilling! As a massive fan of Psycho, watching this teaser is majorly satisfying.
Bates Motel checks in again this March.