Good catch about the "B," but I hope it *was* Norman.

This was my one reservation about us being shown the body: That there will be a twist and that Norman didn't do it. I hope the show doesn't do that.

Have we seen Norma's hair in a bun before? She definitely had her Psycho chignon in Norman's hallucination.

There was a moment where we *almost* got a reaction shot from Emma concerning Norman and Norma's hugging before he left for the dance—I do wonder what Emma makes of those two.

For sure. She was (also) sabotaging Norman's date. It helps explain why she was so nice to Emma even after finding out about the dance. She was biding her time.

"But then again, one could've also interpreted that scene as him
considering doing that, only to get freaked out by that vision and turn
around and get the hell out of there before he actually acted on it."

Opinions and all that, but Emma is so obviously the cuter and more interesting person.

The show can be a little clunky in its insistence on hammering on every possible incestuous/substitution vibe… Emma shows Norma the dress and makes her model it a little, and so we get a notion of Norman and *Norma* going to prom together.

The contrast between the way Norma spoke of her childhood first to the shrink and then to Norman was very illuminating and absolutely heartbreaking.

Vera Farmiga appreciation thread.

How awesome was Sheriff Batmanuel. I loved that. He even threw away the money!

There are shows where I tolerate them because I'm already invested (e.g., "The Sopranos," when Tony got shot), but they rarely *add* to the experience, for me. Even brief ones like the ones they occasionally used in "Damages" I found to be unnecessary.

I watched right up to the season three premiere, and I agree with the review's assessment of the show up to that point. Reading about all that came afterward, I'm dumbstruck about how anyone thought any of that was a good idea. Dream sequences, fake-outs—people know better! No one enjoys those; why do it? It boggles…

Am I correct in saying that this precise situation would arise any time a mother and a son marry, respectively, a pair of siblings?

Thanks so much for working all this out!

I thought the humor was that it was supposed to be inane—that the party sucked. (But I did find it interesting.)

This is very helpful; much obliged!

Do we know what was causing his present-day cough? Cigarettes? The drugs? Some psychosomatic thing tied to the flashback? I like the way the present-day coughing was used, as a connecting device, but I would also like to know what was happening in a more literal sense.

That scene with Gabe, Jonah, and Dan was very interesting—it was hard to tell who was getting the loser edit and who was getting the "nice zingers!" edit. It kept me on my toes.

What do we make of the fact that Ginsberg was finding sense in Don's (mostly) nonsense?