Bates Motel: Freddie Highmore says finale is both the 'funniest' and 'saddest' episode they've done

Norman’s world is about to come crashing down… but will he be around to see it happen?

With only two episodes left of Bates Motel, everything is coming to a head. The last episode ended with the police arresting Norman for two additional murders, so at this point, the question fans are asking themselves is: Will Norman end the series in jail? Or more accurately, with Mother end the series in jail?

In episode 8, fans watched as Mother took over Norman… for good? “It will be interesting to see to what extent we’ll get to see Norman again — when or if we’ll get to see Norman again in the course of the last two episodes, now that Mother’s completely taken him over,” Freddie Highmore tells EW.

For at least the time being, it seems we’re stuck with Mother, who finds herself doing anything she can to get out of her current situation. “I love the self-confidence that Mother has,” Highmore says. “She knows how to manipulate people. She can trick them into believing her story. I found it very funny the idea that she is going as far as she can in terms of telling the story and trying to push people’s buttons and feeling like she’s on top of it and then ultimately the rug’s pulled from beneath her feet.”

But don’t expect Mother to stop fighting, ever. “She just keeps trying to box herself out of whatever corner she’s put in,” he adds. “She won’t go down without a good old fight.”

That fight will take viewers into episode 10, the series finale, which Highmore claims is both heartbreaking and hilarious. “The last episode could actually be my favorite episode that we’ve ever done,” he says. “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 airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on A&E.