‘Bates Motel’ EP Carlton Cuse Teases ‘Original’ And ‘Satisfying’ Season 5 Finale

“Bates Motel” Season 5 finale won’t conclude the same way Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” ended.

In a recent interview with Yahoo TV, executive producer Carlton Cuse said that the ending of “Bates Motel” is “significantly different” from the conclusion of the 1960 film that inspired the A&E series.

“We never saw that as any kind of obligation,” Cuse said. “And in fact, we thought it would be incredibly disappointing to the audience to give them the ending of the [movie]. So really, where we’re going now is into the original and uncharted waters of our own ending of our narrative.”

READ: Freddie Highmore talks how enjoyable it was to play Mother on “Bates Motel”

Cuse acknowledged that there’s always been the issue of to what degree “Bates Motel” is following “Psycho,” but he said that they have never thought of the series that way.

“We borrowed elements from the mythology of the original movie, but in the same way that Christopher Nolan took elements of the ‘Batman’ franchise and told his own story, that’s what we feel we are doing here,” he explained.

“The litmus test of our show was never the movie,” Cuse said in a separate interview with TV Insider. “Our goal was not to answer unanswered questions of the movie or to come back to the movie. We took these characters from the movie, we redefined them and told our own story with them, so what you can expect with the end of ‘Bates’ is an original ending.”

And despite the dark tone of the series, Cuse said that fans can expect a “satisfying ending” for all the characters, including Norman (Freddie Highmore).

“From very early on, we had a plan for the end of the show,” he said. “It’s very satisfying as a writer to get to the end of your narrative. We got a chance to tell the story from beginning to end, and we’re really excited for the audience to see the last few episodes and see how it all comes to a close. And it does very definitively, in our minds, come to a close!”

While Season 5 finale is expected to break the hearts of the viewers, Highmore told Entertainment Weekly that episode 10 could also pass as the most hilarious hour of the series.

“The last episode could actually be my favorite episode that we’ve ever done,” Highmore said. “Everything seemed to click. And it made me laugh out loud. It could be the funniest episode that we’ve ever done at the same time as being the saddest.”

“Bates Motel” Season 5 finale, titled “The Cord,” airs on Monday, April 24 at 10 p.m. EDT on A&E.