Norma and Norman Bates are arguably the most complicated mother-son duo on television.
Theyve got enough secrets to last a lifetime.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.
Credit: A&E; Vivien Killilea/Getty Images
Lets talk about Norma Bates.
I think its somewhere around 12,000 to 15,000 times.
Norma, in my mind, was a fully living, breathing, red blooded woman.
Sergei Bachlakov/A&E
And then we had to kill her.
Theres a lot of hours logged into writing Norma 12 to 15 thousand times.
Ive travelled a lot of road with Norma.
Cate Cameron/A&E
And thats a lot of love.
I know many people who watch the show and love Norma are really hurting.
All I can say is so am I. I had the same fantasies of my mother when she was in the hospital and dying.
I just wanted to get her the hell out tof there.
But I couldnt do that either.
I dont think its a surprise thatBatescame into my life about a year after I lost my mother.
I thinkBatesis a love letter to my mother, and to mothers in general.
Mothers are that voice that cuts through all the craziness and tells us its all going to be okay.
They are all the softness and strength and beauty in the world.
I was grieving the loss of my mother whenBatescame my way.
And it became a sort of personal mission to write a mother in all her technicolor dimensions.
(I know, I am skilled at denial!
This is a nuanced family drama not a tale of horror.
I felt tears starting to roll out of my eyes.
It was really embarrassing because this was my job.
I was a writer, I needed to think about it.
Theres no tears in executive producing!
I can honestly say I have spent the last year dreading this.
Not like 24/7, but quietly, deeply, it has whispered to me for the last year.
And still I was not ready.
We set out to write a tragedy.
The tragedy was that we actually had to go through with it.
Norma Bates will continue to be the heart and center and engine of the show.
Norman and Alexs love for her will motivate them forever.
It will always be the emotional drive of the storytelling.
And the fabulous Vera Farmiga will unfold in fantastical new ways that will be breathtaking to watch.
I couldnt say goodbye to Norma Bates without spending some time loving on Vera Farmiga.
Talk about a fking muse.
Talk about an artist that breathed blood and soul into this character.
The load she has carried for the show and the craft she has put into this role are extraordinary.
It has no procedural element.
It is a structure scaffolded by writing and sculpted by performance.
And Vera has sculpted the fking Pieta for us.
So thank you from the bottom of my heart, Vera, for Norma Bates.
I cant say goodbye to her.
I love her too much.
So I will just have to jump on to Normans train of denial.
Its all going to be good, you know.
Because Norma told me it would be.
And I believe her.
