Bates Motel Bosses Talk 'Same-Sex' Twist, confermare Rihanna Body Double 

was squarely focused on Rihanna’s much anticipated introduction as ill-fated

icon Marion Crane, but it was a shocking revelation about Norman — or should we say “Norma”? — that will likely set tongues wagging. (We suspect Marion’s big episode comes next week.)

Bates Motel Welcomes Rihanna as Marion Crane: The Unlikely Story Behind the Superstar’s Casting

Midway through Monday’s installment, it was revealed that Norman has been for years not only frequenting a local dive bar as Norma, but having sex with its male patrons. It represented a major departure from the series’

source material, which (not surprisingly given the era) sidestepped Norman’s sexuality.

Below, exec producers Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse reveal why they went all-in on Norman/Norma’s complicated libido. The pair also open up about the “pressure” they faced to “minimize” Rihanna’s arc as Marion, and how that strain led them to employ a body double in at least one scene (did you catch it?!).

TVLINE | How did you arrive at the decision to reveal this aspect of Norman’s sexuality? 

KERRY EHRIN | We’ve always been driven by character. It really came from getting inside the head of Mother, who at the end of [last week’s episode] was basically broken up with by her son. Norman says, “This isn’t really working for me” in so many words. She’s devoted everything to this guy and she’s pissed. So she’s like, “F–k this. I’m going to go out and throw back a few.” And, you know, the guy [at the bar] was cute. She’s attracted to him, and they end up in a car… It came from a really human place. Clearly, Norman’s sexuality is all over the place. It’s not super defined. It made sense to us that this would’ve happened with him — many times, probably.

CARLTON CUSE | We don’t define it. But we suggest that this is kind of what’s been happening in the couple of years that have passed since Norma has died.

EHRIN | It was very intentionally built to have an edgy vibe but not a

vibe. There’s a sense that everybody is pretty cool there and that anything goes and that people all kind of knew each other. There are probably all kinds of different things happening in that bar [

]. It an open minded bar, let’s put it that way.

TVLINE | Switching gears to the episode’s other big event, the arrival of Marion Crane. I’m curious, did you instruct Rihanna to watch

CUSE | We talked to her before she signed on about how we were going to make the character different than Janet Leigh’s [portrayal]. And she embraced that. And that’s part of the reason she signed on.

EHRIN | She was clearly a fan of the film, though. I’m sure she had watched it before we even spoke to her.

TVLINE | Did you use a body double in the scene where she throws the suitcase of money in the trunk of her car and then drives off? We never saw her face…

CUSE | Yes. We were very ambitious. Imagine Rihanna stepping out of her concert tour to come and shoot two episodes of our show. A lot of people put a lot of pressure on Kerry and me to minimize her story. But we decided that if she was going to be on the show we wanted to give her a real part. But we were fighting with how much work we could get done with her. And she showed up and she worked like a dog for a week.

CUSE | She was unbelievable and so committed. But there were certain shots and a couple of little pieces that we couldn’t physically schedule with her.

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It never occurred to me that Norman might be hitting gay bars dressed up as Norma, but damn, that was an intriguing plot twist. No way they could have shown that in 1960.

SAME here!! It was like a light switch went on! “Yes.. thats what he/she is doing”!!! Loved it!

I knew something like that was gonna happen since the last time ‘Norma’ was at a bar a couple episodes ago flirting with the bartender! I missed Vera though I wish we could’ve seen her (more than we did) while Norman was remembering.

that bit towards the end coming. Wow. Norman’s fear and freakout and general ‘WTF?” reaction was so palpable, and the sudden burst of anger and almost…betrayal…he felt towards “Mother” was…yeow.

Rihanna’s got an interesting modern/old-fashioned mix to her portrayal of Marion that I kinda like. She’s not bad. I’m looking forward to when she first meets Norman-watching Rihanna and Freddie Highmore play off each other should be quite interesting :D.

I almost wish Norman would kill Madeleine’s no-good husband. What a low-down POS.

Maybe that’ll happen in this version of the story :p

much clear idea concerning from this article.

I’d actually like to see Freddie Highmore play a queer character, he’s got a fluid quality to me, but I wasn’t satisfied enough by the recap to be compelled to watch the episode. Norma/Norman killing Bradley turned me off the show. It just felt wrong to me on a basic level.

The show improved so much after that finale. The last two seasons have been its best ones.

I really need to catch up with Bates Motel. This season seems really good so far.

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