The third season of Bates Motel consisted of 10 episodes and premiered on A&E on March 9, 2015. The season aired on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, and concluded on May 11, 2015. The series itself is described as a "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 filmPsycho, following the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in the Hitchcock film. The series takes place in the fictional town of White Pine Bay, Oregon. The season received positive reviews from television critics, and the premiere episode drew in a total of 2.14 million viewers. For their performances in this season, Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore were nominated for Critics' Choice Television Awards for Best Actress and Best Actor in a Drama Series, respectively. Season 3 ranked fourth on Nielsen's year-end list of top Live + 7 day programs, gaining an average of 201.8% viewers on DVR. The season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 13, 2015.
In July 2014, it was announced that Nicola Peltz would be returning to the series as Bradley Martin following an 8-episode absence in season 2. Kenny Johnson was upgraded to the main cast after recurring as Caleb Calhoun, Norma's brother, in the second season. On October 17, 2014, Ryan Hurst was cast in the recurring role of Chick Hogan, described as a character that will butt heads with Caleb throughout the season. Tracy Spiridakos was then confirmed to star in the recurring role of Annika Johnson, a guest at the motel. On October 22, 2014, Kevin Rahm joined the cast as Bob Paris, one of Romero's childhood friends whom he now has a strained relationship with. In November 2014, Joshua Leonard was cast in the recurring role of James Finnigan, a community college psychology professor who forms a connection with Norma.
Filming
The series is filmed on location in Aldergrove, British Columbia. At the beginning of the first season, a replica of the original Bates Motel set from the film Psycho was built on 272nd Street. Principal photography for season 3 began on October 20, 2014 in Vancouver and the surrounding areas, and was completed on March 1, 2015. During an interview in June 2015, Farmiga revealed that she was injured while filming the final scene of the season with Nicola Peltz and Freddie Highmore, resulting in her having to go to the emergency room.
Episodes
Reception
Critical response
The season has received positive reviews from television critics. It received 72 out of 100 from Metacritic, based on 5 television critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 11 out of 12 critical responses were positive, averaging a 92% rating. The site's consensus reads, "Bates Motel further blurs lines around TV's creepiest taboo mother/son relationship, uncomfortably darkening its already fascinating tone."
Ratings
Overall, the third season averaged 1.80 million viewers, with a 0.7 ratings share 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 third season, Bates Motel was nominated for 10 awards, winning one.
