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"A Boy and His Dog" is the eighth episode of the first season of Bates Motel. It aired on May 6, 2013.

Synopsis[]

A mysterious stranger causes problems for Norma; Bradley is not happy when rumors spread at school; Dylan and Remo go on a fateful road trip; Norman takes up a grisly hobby.

Summary[]

Will teaches Norman taxidermy

Emma's father, Will, teaches Norman taxidermy after Norman takes his dead dog to him. Norman's school principal calls Norma about Norman's recent behavior. Norma agrees to have Norman meet with a psychologist, who suggests Norma herself may have control issues over her son.

Bradley is upset that Norman told Emma they had sex, calling it a mistake. Norman is angry that Emma told Bradley's friends he and Bradley had sex; Emma explains she was sticking up for Norman because Bradley's friends were saying Norman would never have a chance with Bradley.

Norma thanks Dylan for the new customers

Jake reveals to Norma that he knows the full story about Shelby and Keith Summers and she later kicks Jake out in retaliation. She meets the trimmers Dylan had picked up earlier and gives them all rooms at the motel. She decides to take Dylan out to dinner to thank him for bringing new customers, but is horrified to see the autopsied corpse of Zack Shelby on her bed.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Also Starring[]

Notes[]

  • This episode was watched by 2.71 million viewers.

Episode Guide[]

108 Episode Guide

Norman takes his ill-fated dog, Juno, to Emma's dad, Will, to have stuffed. Will takes a liking to Norman, and asks if he'd like to learn taxidermy. Norman agrees.

The next day, Emma stumbles into a school restroom with a terrible coughing fit. In the stall, she overhears Bradley's friends saying mean things about how pathetic Norman is. She leaps to his defense, revealing to them that Bradley and Norman slept together.

Later, a very upset Bradley asks Norman why he told Emma about them. He apologizes, even though he doesn't understand why it should be a secret. Norman tries to play it cool, but Miss Watson sees that he's upset. She follows Norman as he leaves the school and tries to stop him, but he yells at her, smacks her hand away, and storms off.

Norma goes to Abernathy's room to clean. When she sees that he's in, she offers to do it later, but he insists she clean the room with him there. As she cleans, he asks her about Deputy Shelby and Keith Summers. She denies knowing either of them well, but he doesn't believe her. She eventually excuses herself and gets out of the room.

Later, Norma stops by Sheriff Romero's office to ask him to sponsor her for an open seat on the City Planning Committee. She wants to fight the new bypass "from the inside" but Romero is confused as to why she thinks he would help her. When she insinuates that she knows things about him that he wouldn't want the public to hear, he threatens her right back. "We're not on the same playing field," he says. "Don't ever assume that we are." On the way out, Norma gets a call from Norman's principal.

Meanwhile, Norman goes to Emma's where he confronts her about telling people about him and Bradley. She apologizes, saying that it "just came up" before turning away. Norman goes to the studio to continue working on Juno.

Norma goes to school to meet with Miss Watson and Principal Hudgins. Norman has been suspended for leaving without permission, and Miss Watson is worried. She says that Norman is "emotionally unusual" and suggests that he see the school psychologist, but Norma says she'd prefer to take him to a private psychologist.

That night, Norma follows Abernathy to the docks where she watches him investigate a boat. Abernathy catches her in the act and reveals that he knows all about her and Shelby. He thinks that she has something of his and he wants it back. He makes it clear that he's not going to give up as Norma makes her escape.

Dylan and Remo hit the road to pick up some "trimmers" to help with the new pot crop. They stop for the night and hit a bar where they end up having a drunken fistfight. They stumble back to their rooms, and Remo reveals to Dylan that there's no quitting in their line of work. He also mentions that there's a "big boss" above Gil, but refuses to say any more. The next day, they pick up the trimmers. One of them turns out to be a real pain, so Dylan drops him off on the side of the highway, earning a bit of respect from Remo.

Norma and Norman meet with a psychologist, who is surprised when Norma answers for Norman throughout the session. He suggests that she might want to make her own appointment, and insinuates that she may have control issues stemming from feeling like she's out of control. Norma takes offense to that, and tells him that she doesn't feel powerless, ever.

As soon as they return to the motel, Norma spots Abernathy and kicks him out. He responds cooly, saying, "You want to play? We'll play." Soon after, he drives away.

Norman is back to working on Juno when Emma walks in and apologizes for revealing his and Bradley's secret. She wants to be sure that he knows she did it to protect him from being ridiculed, and not because of her own feelings for him. Norman understands, and apologizes for being angry. The two hug, and all is well.

Norma is cleaning the motel when Dylan pulls up with a van full of trimmers who need rooms. Norma is thrilled and offers to take Dylan out to dinner. He is shocked, but pleased. She goes into the house to change and finds an unwelcome sight. Somehow, the corpse of Zack Shelby has found its way into her bed.

Production Notes[]

Poor little Juno. All she wanted was a snack! And then the poor pup got run over. So how did they achieve that adorably horrible effect? Prop Master Terry Weaver has the scoop.

108 Production Notes (1)

See? Juno's as good as new.

"The idea of a taxidermy dog terrified me. It is the most important prop of the entire series, it had to be perfect... and they had to pick a dog. Not a raccoon, not a duck, not an opossum like I suggested, not any easily legally obtainable game animal but a frickin' dog. Where the hell was I supposed to get a dog to stuff?! At one point I literally called the SPCA to see how to do it. They hung up on me. I started to look at dogs while I was driving down the street thinking, 'If I accidentally hit one...' I came to my senses. The director and producers settled on 'Boomer,' a very experienced dog actor. I then got a measurement chart from Frank, the taxidermist, to measure Boomer exactly for the stuffed version. 'Juno' ultimately was created entirely synthetically. She was built by Frank in his shop. We also created 2 stand-in/stunt Junos to get run over. When we brought them to set and set one down in front of Boomer, he tried to hump it. True story. We in the prop department took that as a compliment."

Calling all eagle-eyed viewers: did you catch the hidden "LOST" reference during the bar brawl between Dylan and Remo? Give up? Weavers says, "Easter Egg alert! The beer bottles used in the fight were labelled 'DHARMA BEER' - Carlton Cuse's idea." Did you guess right?

108 Production Notes (2)

Refreshing Dharma beer! Reminds me of the beach. And the ocean. And the Others.

You may have been surprised by the return of Deputy Shelby. Norma was! Weaver says that his team played a special part in creating that moment in the show. "Props came up with the idea to pin his badge on his chest... icing on the cake."

108 Production Notes (3)

Wait a minute... that's not a cake!

Production notes courtesy of Terry Weaver, Andrea Fraser-Winsby, Tony Ng'ung'ui Kung'u, and Carmen Siegers.


Music[]

Song Title Performer(s)
Blind And Dumb Man Blues Smokey Smothers
Who Do You Love? George Thorogood & The Destroyers
San-Ho-Zay Freddie King

Videos[]

Gallery[]

Promotional Pictures[]

Episode Stills[]


Season 1
#101 "First You Dream, Then You Die" #106 "The Truth"
#102 "Nice Town You Picked, Norma..." #107 "The Man in Number 9"
#103 "What's Wrong With Norman" #108 "A Boy and His Dog"
#104 "Trust Me" #109 "Underwater"
#105 "Ocean View" #110 "Midnight"
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