On Friday, December 11, in Phoenix, Arizona, Marion Crane is meeting her boyfriend, Sam Loomis, in a motel during her lunch hour. They have just finished having sex, and continue to flirt with one another as Marion gets dressed. Flirting, however, soon turns to lamenting their situation: the pair live in separate cities, and Sam is stuck paying off his debts. They grapple frustratedly with the situation, and with the idea of getting married on the little money that they have (“Lunch Hour”). Finally, just before Marion leaves, Sam declares that he loves her, and she returns his feelings.
Marion returns to the realtor’s office where she works as a secretary. Her boss, Lowry, has just finished making a big sale, and the older man who is his customer flirts with her shamelessly before turning over his payment - $40,000 - in cash. Marion’s boss orders her to place it in a safe-deposit box in the bank on her way home. Instead, however, she heads directly home. Turning the envelope of money over in her hands, she debates over whether to bring it to the bank or to steal it for herself and Sam so that they can get married (Debate Song). Finally, deciding that she and Sam deserve it, she begins to pack her bag to go and see him.
On Marion’s way out of town, she runs into Lowry crossing the street at a light she is stopped at. The two meet eyes briefly, and she begins to feel paranoid about her decision. She drives through the evening, finally pulling over to nap.
In the morning, she is awoken by a highway patrolman telling her to move on. Suddenly paranoid again, she reacts nervously and suspiciously, and attempts to continue on multiple times before he finally lets her go. The patrolman tails Marion to a used car dealership, where she hurriedly exchanges her car for another one. Meanwhile, the patrolman remains parked across the street, watching her overtly. Finally, she succeeds in exchanging her car, and speeds away in the new one.
As she drives, she begins to imagine the responses of the people reacting to her theft and disappearance: the patrolman questioning the used car salesman about her urgency, Lowry questioning her co-worker, Lowry calling up her sister to see if she’s seen her, and Cassidy ranting angrily about the loss of his money. It gets darker and darker out - she has driven through the day - and the oncoming car lights blur as rain begins to pour down. Finally, she sees a neon light in the distance, and exits off the highway to find the Bates Motel.
Pulling up to the motel, Marion notices the enormous house up the hill; in the window, she can see the silhouette of an old woman walking around. She honks her horn a few times, and a man runs out of the house and down to greet her. He leads her inside and checks her into a cabin. Marion learns that she is only 15 miles from Fairvale, the town where Sam lives. The motel’s proprietor introduces himself as Norman Bates, and invites her to eat with him.
As Norman prepares dinner, Marion takes the $40,000 out of its envelope and conceals it in her newspaper for safekeeping. Suddenly, the voice of an old woman rings out through the window, berating Norman for inviting strange young girls in for dinner. Marion listens as they argue; finally, Norman yells for his mother to shut up and storms from the house, back down to the motel. They sit down to dinner in the parlor behind Norman’s office, and make hesitant conversation about Norman’s life running the motel (Dinner Song). Norman explains that his mother is mentally unwell, and that he has come to hate her illness, but when Marion suggests that she be placed in an institution he suddenly becomes angry and defensive. Marion apologizes, the two reconcile, and Marion thanks Norman and returns to her room.
As Marion undresses, Norman watches her through a hole in the wall. Suddenly, he runs out and returns to his home. Meanwhile, in her room, Marion continues to grapple with whether or not she should take the stolen money to Sam or return it to Lowry (Debate Song Reprise/Norman Finds Marion). As she sings, she begins to shower. Just as she reaches the decision to return home, she is stabbed by a dark figure, possibly an old woman. She dies.
At that moment, Norman comes in to… check on her? apologize for his aggression? something. At that moment, Norman comes in and sees her body on the ground; he instantly realizes that she has been killed by his mother. He dutifully cleans up the mess, wraps up Marion’s body, places her in her car with her possessions, and drives the car into the swamp.
Three days later, Sam is working in the office of his hardware store. He writes to Marion, inviting her to come live with him in Fairvale. He is interrupted by the arrival of Lila, Marion’s sister, who has come to see if Marion is hiding with him. As she explains that Marion has been missing for a few days, a man enters the hardware store, wanting to talk about Marion, as well. His name is Arbogast, and he is a private detective hired to track down Marion and the money. After it has become clear that Marion is not hiding with Sam or Lila, Arbogast resolves to visit all of the motels in the area and see if any have seen Marion.
At the end of a long day, Arbogast finds the Bates Motel. He questions Norman, finally getting him to admit to having hosted Marion the weekend before. In his nervousness, however, Norman becomes increasingly nervous and defensive. He tells Arbogast as little as possible and refuses to let him question Norman’s mother, whose silhouette Arbogast had noticed in the window of the Bates house. Arbogast begins to suspect Norman, and after he leaves the office he sneaks into the Bates house to question Norman’s mother. As he is creeping up the stairs, a woman’s figure suddenly runs to the top of the stairs and attacks him, sending him flying down to the ground floor. She then stabs him to death.
Back at the hardware store, Sam and Lila have grown increasingly nervous about Arbogast’s lack of return. Sam resolves to go to the motel himself and see if he can find Marion or Arbogast. As he leaves, he, Lila, and Norman all sing together - he and Lila sing, separately, about their love for Marion and their hopes of finding her, and Norman sings to his mother about how much he cares for her (Love Song). Sam arrives, but can find neither Norman nor Arbogast. He leaves. Meanwhile, Norman (who had been hiding away from the motel entrance), decides to hide his mother for a few days. He carries her from her room to the cellar, ignoring her yells and protests.
Sam returns with no new information. He and Lila go to see Al Chambers, the deputy sheriff of Fairvale. Chambers is suspicious of Arbogast, thinking that he has found Marion and been paid off by her to drop the case, but Lila refuses to believe him. When Sam asks about Mrs. Bates, mentioning that he had seen her silhouette in the window, Chambers informs them that she is dead, having poisoned herself and her lover ten years earlier. Upset and confused, Sam and Lila resolve to visit the motel the next day, to see if they can talk to Norman and his mother themselves.
The next day, Sam and Lila visit the motel and check in as husband and wife. They speculate that Norman killed Marion so that he could take her money and start a better motel with it. After they have checked in, Sam distracts Norman while Lila runs up to the Bates house to talk to Mrs. Bates. As Lila searches the house, Sam questions Norman, trying to determine whether or not he really did kill Marion for her money (Love Song Reprise). Norman becomes suspicious, finally knocking out Sam and running back into the Bates house to see if Lila is exploring there. She, meanwhile, creeps down to the cellar. When she enters, she sees Mrs. Bates, sitting in a chair with her back to the door. Lila taps the chair, prompting it to swing around and reveal Mrs. Bates’ mummified corpse. As Lila screams, Norman runs in, wearing a wig and dress and brandishing a knife. Sam runs in moments later, knocking Norman unconscious.
In the next scene, Sam and Lila are at the police station. A psychiatrist explains Norman’s condition - dissociative identity disorder - to them and the police; we learn that Norman killed his mother and her lover and then assumed her identity without realizing it (Explanation Song). They are interrupted by a policeman asking if he can bring Norman - now completely controlled by Mrs. Bates - a blanket. When he brings it in, we hear Mrs. Bates’ final bitter thoughts, as well as her certainty that she is harmless. The story ends.
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