Norma (Vera Farmiga) is now dead but she is very much alive in Norman's (Freddie Highmore) mind. Meanwhile, Dylan (Max Thieriot) and Emma (Olivia Cooke) will be living a life of their own in season 5.
In season 4 of "Bates Motel," Norma died when Norman's murder-suicide attempt failed in the ninth episode titled, "Forever." Norman lit up the furnace of their house when Norma has fallen into a deep sleep and joined her thereafter. Romero (Nestor Carbonell) tried to save them by dragging them out of the room, but both he and Norman were too late to save Norma, who was already dead. This is where Norma begins to "live" in Norman's mind forever.
In a previous interview with TV Line, "Bates Motel" executive producers Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse shared what fans can expect in the fifth and final season of the "Psycho" adaptation series.
Norma may be physically dead, but she will live on through Norman. Ehrin explained that his "obsessive love of Norma" is what season 5 is going to be based on.
"She's existing now in Norman's brain," shared Cuse. "We re-imagined their relationship as this complex, intense, co-dependent love story. And that relationship continues very much in Season 5. It just has a different dimension, which is that she's dead. But it's not the end of the story."
Meanwhile, it seems that Dylan and Emma will finally have a life of their own away from the raucous White Pine Bay. Cuse said that they are cooking up a story for the couple in "Bates Motel" season 5. But he also shares that Dylan is not done with Norman just yet.
"What we can tell you is that we'll be spending some time with Dylan and Emma as they forge a new life. But, obviously and inevitably, he will cross back into Norman's orbit."
It is possible that Dylan will find out about Norman trying to hide Norma's death from him very soon, but what the former will decide to do after that is still unclear.
"Bates Motel" season 5 premieres in March 2017 on A&E.
