With “Unfaithful” not only being such a Norman centerpiece, but also a tremendous Norman and Norma episode, it’s fascinating to see how Highmore writes dialogue for the character, approaching Norman as a storyteller rather than an actor for the first time. Highmore’s performance has been off-the-rails great this season and this episode acts as yet another notch in the actor’s belt for how implicitly he’s understanding Norman. Highmore’s script lands most of the highs that it attempts with this script feeling just as rooted into the show as any other. It’s unbelievable that this is his first screenwriting credit, regardless of how much help the collective writers’ room might have given him.

This is after all an episode that already swiftly places a snuggling Norman within Norma’s bed before the cold open is over. If you had any delusions that Norman leaving Pineview and spending more time with his mother would be healthy for the boy, they’re very quickly laid to rest. In fact, the whole situation is so tense that Romero even chooses to leave Norma’s house during this transition period. It’s devastating to see the happy slice of life that Norma and Romero have somehow chiseled away for themselves begin to go rotten as they’re already jumping through so many hoops for Norman. Norma even has to hide in the bathroom to make phone calls to her husband, scared of what Norman’s reaction might be. And at this point, does it not feel like Norma is right back with her ex-husband and Norman’s father once more? It’s a terribly deep idea to place on top of everything else as the Norman and Norma dynamic finds a new way to pervert itself with each passing week.

For instance, one of the first places that Norman’s mind goes to with this whole Norma and Romero marriage arrangement is that Norma is in some sort of abuse scenario where she’s being forced into sex for Norman’s insurance money. Such a thing couldn’t be further from the truth—in fact Romero is likely the healthiest thing in Norma’s life at the moment—but to see everything come down to power dynamics and sexual politics once more for Norman is very telling. Something as horrid as this is easier for him to imagine than the simple prospect that maybe Norma actually loves Romero and married him because she wanted to. It’s not that long ago that Norman’s therapy sessions had him digging up the idea of his father and clearly that figure is still bouncing around in that damaged head to some extent.

At the same time, we should also probably talk about Rebecca and the figure of Bob Parris that still hangs over the series, since the show keeps devoting so much time to it every week. I think we can all agree that Rebecca’s probably going to bite it by the end of the season, right? She’s had a big target on her forehead for the past few episodes now and the fact that she seems inexorably tied to Parris’ blood money isn’t helping her case any. I’m actually a little surprised that that whole “sick mother in Indianapolis” thing was actually the truth because that alibi sounds mad suspicious. All signs would lead to Norman somehow crossing paths with her and taking her out in the finale—perhaps even as a vindictive Norma, no less—but there are still plenty directions this could end up going before the year is through. Also, how strange is it seeing an airport terminal on this show? It usually keeps its bubble so insular in this world. The idea of someone actually getting on a plane to fly away from all of this madness hardly even seems allowed.

It’s all too appropriate that “Unfaithful” has most of its drama coalesce at a twisted, classic family dinner scene, with Dylan and Emma included (I also kind of love that Dylan seems to just want to get the fuck away from Norman at this point). Everything that’s been bubbling up not just over the course of the episode, but the whole season, comes up here and it’s immensely satisfying. I was shocked earlier in the episode when Norman basically marches up to Romero and orders him to divorce his mother, but the breakdown over dinner is considerably more brutal. All year Norma has been in a tug of war between the men and her life and she’s basically pulled into the huge pile of mud here. Finally when she tries to assert herself and choose what would make her happy rather than the men in her life, it cuts through Norman harder than ever. The realization that Norma actually loves Romero is such a shock to Norman’s system it causes him to vomit (in fact, quite pointedly she only says that they like each other, making the moment hit even harder due to both Norma and Norman still deluding themselves to some degree). It’s a strong beat, and one of many small moments in Highmore’s script that he just nails.