The fourth season of '' Bates Motel'' aired from March 7 to May 16, 2016. The season consisted of 10 episodes and aired on A&E. The series itself is described as a "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film '' Psycho'', following the life of

Norman Bates Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch as the main protagonist in his 1959 horror novel '' Psycho''. He has an alter, Mother, who takes the form of his abusive mother, and later victim, Norma, who in hi ...

and his mother

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...

prior to the events portrayed in the

Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

film. The series takes place in the fictional town of White Pine Bay,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. The season received critical acclaim from television critics, and was nominated for two

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

. It also won three

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the fans and general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls un ...

for Cable TV Drama, Cable TV Actress (Farmiga), and Cable TV Actor (Highmore). ''Bates Motel'' fourth season maintained consistent ratings throughout its airing, with the season premiere drawing in 1.55 million viewers and the finale totalling 1.50 million. The season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 18, 2016.

Cast and characters

Main

Vera Farmiga Vera Ann Farmiga ( ; born August 6, 1973) is an American actress. Farmiga began her professional acting career on stage in the original Broadway production of '' Taking Sides'' (1996). After expanding to television and film, her breakthrough ...

as Norma Louise Bates *

Freddie Highmore Alfred Thomas Highmore (born 14 February 1992) is an English actor. He is known for his starring roles beginning as a child, in the films '' Finding Neverland'' (2004), '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005), '' Arthur and the Invisibles ...

Max Thieriot Maximillion Drake Thieriot (; born October 14, 1988) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in the 2004 adventure comedy film '' Catch That Kid''. Thieriot has since appeared in the action comedy '' The Pacifier'' (2005), the mystery com ...

as Dylan Massett *

Olivia Cooke Olivia Kate Cooke (born 27 December 1993) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Alicent Hightower in the fantasy drama television series '' House of the Dragon'' (2022–present). In television, she has starred as Emma Deco ...

as Emma Decody *

Nestor Carbonell Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, L ...

as Sheriff Alex Romero

Recurring

Damon Gupton Damon Jamal Gupton (born January 4, 1973) is an American actor and orchestral conductor, best known for his series regular roles as Charles Foster on '' Deadline'', Evrard Velerio on ''Prime Suspect'', Adam Page on '' The Divide'', Detective Cal ...

as Dr. Gregg Edwards *

Jaime Ray Newman Jaime Ray Newman (born ) is an American actress, producer and singer. She is known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in the soap opera ''General Hospital'', Mindy O'Dell in the drama series ''Veronica Mars'', Kat Gardener in the fantasy series ...

as Rebecca Hamilton *

Andrew Howard Andrew Howard (born 12 June 1969) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor. Training Howard trained at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter in the late 1980s, touring in productions of ''A Christmas Carol'', ''Twelfth Night'', '' Beggar's Oper ...

as Will Decody * Terence Kelly as Dickie Bolton *

Ryan Hurst Ryan Douglas Hurst (born June 19, 1976), also known as Gobind Seva Singh, is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Gerry Bertier in ''Remember the Titans'' (2000) and Opie Winston in the FX drama series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008 ...

as Chick Hogan *

Marshall Allman Marshall Scot Allman (born April 5, 1984) is an American actor. He is known to television audiences for his role as L. J. Burrows on the Fox television series ''Prison Break''. He is also known for playing Tommy Mickens on ''True Blood''. Earl ...

as Julian Howe * Kelly-Ruth Mercier as Nurse Penny *

Aliyah O'Brien Aliyah O'Brien (born May 7, 1981) is a Canadian actress, best known for her television roles in the TV series ''Rookie Blue'' and '' Bates Motel'' and in the film '' Maximum Conviction''. Biography Aliyah O'Brien was born in Victoria, British Co ...

as Regina * Karina Logue as Audrey Ellis * Fiona Vroom as Vicki Monroe * Craig Erickson as Howard Collins *

Anika Noni Rose Anika Noni Rose (born September 6, 1972) is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Tiana (The Princess and the Frog), Tiana in ''The Princess and the Frog'' (2009). She was named a Disney Legends, Disney Legend in 2011. Rose starred ...

as Liz Babbitt *

Louis Ferreira Louis Ferreira (born Luís Henrique da Rocha Ferreira; born 20 February 1966) is a Canadian actor. Ferreira is known for his roles in ''Stargate Universe'' as Colonel Everett Young, serial killer Ray Prager in the first season of ''Durham County ...

as Doctor Guynan *

David Cubitt David Cubitt (born 18 March 1965) is an English-born Canadian television actor. Born in England in 1965 to a Dutch mother, Jette, and an English father, David, he moved with his parents to Vancouver, British Columbia when he was six months ...

as Sam Bates * Luke Roessler as Young Norman

Guest

Kevin Rahm Kevin Rahm (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Kyle McCarty on ''Judging Amy'', Lee McDermott on ''Desperate Housewives'', and Ted Chaough on ''Mad Men''. Early life and education Rahm was b ...

as Bob Paris * Keenan Tracey as Gunner *

Alexia Fast Alexia Fast (born 12 September 1992) is a Canadian actress who began her career at the age of seven when she wrote, directed and starred in the short film ''The Red Bridge,'' which premiered at the 2002 Atlantic and Reel to Reel Film Festivals ...

as Athena *

Alessandro Juliani Alessandro Juliani (born 6 July 1975) is a Canadian actor and singer. He is notable for playing the roles of Tactical Officer Lieutenant Felix Gaeta on the Syfy, Sci-Fi Channel television program ''Battlestar Galactica (re-imagining), Battlestar G ...

as Interviewer *

Lindsey Ginter Lindsey Lee Ginter (December 13, 1950 – September 1, 2024) was an American actor. Ginter is known as Men in Black (The X-Files)#The Cleaner/Crew Cut Man, Crew Cut Man, a government assassin, in the television series ''The X-Files'' and as Sam ...

as Mac Dixon *

Kenny Johnson Kenny Johnson (born July 13, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Detective Curtis Lemansky in ''The Shield'', Butch "Burner" Barnes in '' Pensacola: Wings of Gold'', Detective Ham Dewey in '' Saving Grace'', Herman Kozik i ...

as Caleb Calhoun *

Gina Chiarelli Gina Chiarelli is a Canadian actress."Setting high standards for Vancouver stage acting: In separate performances, Seana McKenna and Gina Chiarelli show how it's done". ''Vancouver Sun'', January 17, 2001. Most associated with stage roles in Vancou ...

as O'Sullivan *

Carmen Moore Carmen Moore (born 24 December 1972) is a Canadian actress known for her work in television. She is known for her role as Loreen Cassway on ''Arctic Air'' (for which she was nominated for a Leo Award in 2012) and the lead role of Leona Stoney, ...

as Grace Wei *

Jay Brazeau Jay Brazeau is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Sam Fisher in '' Cold Squad'', Harlan in ''Stargate SG-1'' (1998, 2001), and for voicing Uncle Quigley in '' Sabrina: The Animated Series''. He is also known for his role as Bobby in ''D ...

as Justin Willcock *

Molly Price Molly Price is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Faith Yokas in the NBC drama series ''Third Watch'' (1999–2005). Price has also appeared in recurring and guest-starring roles in many other television dramas and co-starred ...

as Detective Chambers

Production

Casting

returned to the series as Chick Hogan, a recurring character throughout the third season.

was cast in the recurring role of Gregg Edwards, a doctor at Pineview Mental Institution.

played a major recurring role throughout the season as Rebecca Hamilton, a former girlfriend of Romero.

Filming

The series was filmed on location in

Aldergrove, British Columbia Aldergrove is a community in the Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Township of Langley within British Columbia, Canada, approximately east of Vancouver. The community is urban in nature and, although not List of towns in British ...

. At the beginning of the first season, a replica of the original Bates Motel set from the film ''Psycho'' was built on 272nd Street.

directed one episode of the fourth season.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

for season 4 began on November 30, 2015 in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and surrounding areas, and concluded on April 6, 2016. Highmore wrote the eighth episode of the season.

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

The fourth season of ''Bates Motel'' has been met with critical acclaim. The season holds a 100% positive rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on 17 responses from television critics.

Ratings

Overall, the fourth season of ''Bates Motel'' averaged 1.45 million viewers, with a 0.6 rating in the 18–49 demographic. * A Cable Live +3 data is used here as Live +7 was not made available.

Awards and nominations

In its fourth season, ''Bates Motel'' was nominated for 17 awards, winning three.

References

External links

* * {{Bates Motel 2016 American television seasons

Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...