Norma and Caleb

Norma and Caleb
Intimacy Level:	Rape
First Met:	When Norma was born
Status:	Brother and sister

The relationship between Norma Bates and Caleb Calhoun

Background

Caleb was born in 1970 and Norma was born four years later. Growing up in an abusive household, they formed a close bond with one another which eventually led to an incestuous relationship, resulting in the birth of their son Dylan Massett in 1991 when Norma was 17 years old.  However, Caleb did not learn the truth until he visited White Pine Bay in 2014.

Overview

Season 1

Norma decided to see Dr. Kurata alone and when he questioned her about her childhood she told him that she was an only child. However, she later told Norman the truth: she grew up in Akron, OH and her older brother repeatedly raped her from when she was 13 until he moved out. Her mother was mentally ill, they were poor, and her father was so terrible she was worried that if she told him that he would kill her brother. One day, when he was raping her she heard her father come home and she jumped up so quickly that she hit an iron and it fell on her leg, which resulted in the scar. She said it didn't matter since it was a long time ago but she wanted someone to know it in case anything happened. (Midnight)

Season 2

A man entered a gas station and asked for directions to the Bates Motel, disclosing that he was Norma Bates' brother. (Shadow of a Doubt)

The man, whose name was revealed as Caleb, appeared at the motel and Dylan let him in, but when Norma arrived she kicked him out but didn't tell Dylan why she reacted so badly to seeing him. Caleb later saw Dylan and they decided to go out to dinner. Caleb talked about how his friends were going to sell him their hotel and mentioned that he wanted Norma to help him run it. He also claimed that he and Norma's father was abusive and that Caleb never stood up to him, which is why Norma hated him. Dylan later told Norma that Caleb was a nice person, prompting an argument between the two and a physical fight with Norman, which ended when Norma revealed that Caleb was Dylan's biological father. (Caleb)

In the aftermath of Norma's revelation, Dylan confronted Caleb who told him that "it wasn't like that" and returned the money that Dylan had earlier given him. After Norman overheard Norma crying about her experiences while talking to Dylan, he went to Caleb's motel alone. He confronted Caleb, swung a knife at him, and began to talk as if he was Norma, but Caleb pushed him into a chair and left the room. (Check-Out)

Season 3

While in town with Dylan, Caleb spotted Norma but got into the truck before she could see him.  Dylan later talked to him as he was building and rushed to his aid when he slipped from a high beam and fell to the ground, sustaining an injury to his hand.  Dylan wanted to bring him to the hospital, but Caleb told him there was a warrant out for his arrest.  While Dylan tended to Caleb's hand, Caleb opened up about his relationship with Norma, claiming it wasn't rape and admitted that Norma was the first to realize their relationship was wrong and he was unable to let go of her fully.  What started out as consensual turned to rape.  When they left the cabin, they came face-to-face with Norman (who followed Dylan there) and he told Dylan that he would inform Norma about Caleb being there. (Unbreak-Able)

Caleb lay in his van looking at a photo of him and Norma as children.  That evening, with Norman's support, Dylan came clean about Caleb staying with him at his cabin and a furious Norma packed her belongings, storming out of the house and telling Dylan to take care of Norman. (The Deal)

As Norma checked into a motel and lay on the bed, she had a recollection of hiding under the porch of the house as a child while her parents fought and Caleb comforted her. When Norma finally returned home, she finally decided to go and see Caleb. When he emerged from his van, she turned to walk away but he grabbed her arm and then fell to his knees crying, apologizing for how he had treated her. She hugged him back as Norman and Dylan looked on. (Norma Louise)

As Norma went outside to pick herbs for the dinner, she saw Caleb holding a bouquet of flowers, and decided to invite him inside where Dylan introduced him to Emma. Celeb noticed the piano and Norma treated them to a song. As everyone sat around the dinner table, Caleb toasted his sister. (The Last Supper)

As Caleb prepared to leave town, he decided to visit Norma and found her by the pit. He told her about the time that Norman found him at the motel and in Norma's persona, said that he had raped her. He told Norma that Norman was going to end up hurting someone and he didn't want it to be her. (Crazy)

Season 4

After being threatened by Chick, Norma attempts to contact Caleb, only to find that his number has been disconnected. Having asked Dylan if he's heard from him, Dylan tells her to leave him alone but Norma manages to contact him and says how upset Dylan was when he left town and that he should get in touch with him. He does so and tells Dylan that he will return to town whenever it's safe to do so. (The Vault)

Season 5

After Caleb learned of Norma's death, he found her tombstone inscribed with a love letter from Norman and a spot next to her already reserved for her son. That evening he returned to the house to extract revenge on Norman and went down to the basement where he came across Norma's dead body in the freezer. Before he had time to react, Norman, dressed as "Mother", knocked him out cold and told Chick, who had followed Caleb back there, "Well, now you know, Chick. I'm still alive". (The Convergence of the Twain)

As Caleb was kept prisoner down in the basement, he had a memory of the two of them hiding from their parents as kids and they said they loved each other. Caleb also thought he saw her alive but he was hugging her corpse and "she" said that Norman would have to kill him since "she" could not. (Bad Blood)

Trivia

• There is a four year age gap between them as confirmed by Norma in the episode The Vault.

Gallery

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