'Bates Motel' season 5 spoilers news 2016: Rihanna joins cast for iconic 'Psycho' role, series confirmed to end after season 5
"Bates Motel" adds Rihanna to its roster of talented cast members, but the show's return will be bittersweet for fans because season 5 has been confirmed to be its last.
During a Comic-Con panel, executive producers Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin confirmed that the upcoming season will mark the end of the series. "From the end of the first season, Carlton and I both had the exact same instinct of five seasons," Ehrin told Variety, stressing that they've long had plans about a possible ending. "Emotionally, yes, a very specific one. I will say it's beautiful."
Meanwhile, Rihanna will be joining the cast for the iconic role of Marion Crane. The ill-fated character was previously portrayed by Janet Leigh in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" which is also the suspense drama's source material. According to Cuse, Marion's arrival will be a "big moment" but it will not be a complete copy of the 1960s cult-classic. "We will be colliding with certain events in the narrative of the film," he explained (via TV Line), "but it would be boring to just recreate Psycho."
Last year, A&E greenlit a back-to-back season renewal for the critically-acclaimed program. Season 4 had an average of 1.5 million viewers and the story left off with the death of Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga) because of her son Norman (Freddie Highmore) — further fuelling speculations that a conclusion is already in sight. The next chapter will see Norma in a different light as she will continue to exist in Norman's mind. With the fifth season coming up, "Bates Motel" will become the network's long-running scripted show.
For the uninitiated, the A&E series serves as a contemporary prequel to the 1960 slasher/thriller film "Psycho" which follows Norman Bates during his teenage years.
"Bates Motel" season 5 is expected to air next year on A&E, but the network has yet to announce an official premiere date.
