Max Thieriot certainly knows how to make a big impression. Over the years, the actor has established himself as one of CBS’s brightest stars, first playing a supporting role to David Boreanaz on SEAL Team before headlining his own CBS series, Fire Country. Before venturing into action dramas, though, Thieriot had been exploring some darker material. Back in 2013, Thieriot was a relative newcomer in the TV industry who scored a major role in the A&E series Bates Motel. The horror drama is a modern-day prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho that looks into the complex relationship between serial killer Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother, Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga). On the show, Thieriot plays Dylan Massett, Norman’s half-brother who manages to live through the twisted tragedy that would eventually befall the Bates family.
‘Bates Motel’ Wasn’t Max Thieriot’s First Horror Outing
Bates Motel may have been introduced as a prequel to Psycho, but showrunners Kerry Ehrin, Anthony Cipriano, and Carlton Cuse took some creative liberties early on. For starters, they decided to give Norman a half-brother in the form of Thieriot’s Dylan. Dylan, in some ways, represents the audience because he doesn’t have the same relationship Norman has with their mother. As Ehrin told The Hollywood Reporter, “He gives us an opportunity to see this incredibly close bond that Norma and Norman have from the outside.” Interestingly, Thieriot had just worked on the Jennifer Lawrence-starring House at the End of The Street when he landed his Bates role. While the concept is similar, Thieriot plays a much different character in the series, and his arc plays out throughout the show’s entire five seasons.
In BatesMotel, Dylan is the older brother who returns to Norma and Norman’s lives just in time to see their worlds get turned upside down. Dylan may be a troubled soul himself, but unlike Norman, he is not on the path of destruction. Instead, Dylan is a man who, after everything he’s been through, seeks redemption just as Norman’s descent into madness takes hold of him. In some ways, Dylan is an idealist who believes that their family could be happy together despite everything. Tragically, however, Dylan eventually loses the only family that he has left.
In ‘Bates Motel,’ Max Thieriot’s Dylan Is the Voice of Reason and Sanity
Thieriot’s Dylan first shows up during the second episode of Season 1. He is a troubled soul with a lot of disdain towards his mother. The last thing Dylan wants is to reunite with Norma and Norman, but he’s been left with no choice. For Dylan, life has been a struggle, but he doesn’t want to admit outright that he needs help. So, he shows up at his mother and half-brother’s front door, essentially forcing them to take him in. Initially, however, Dylan is almost insufferable with his broodiness and obnoxious behavior. At this point of the story, Dylan could have easily gotten into several petty shouting matches with Norma for several episodes. But Thieriot doesn’t play him this way.
Instead, the actor makes a strong case for Dylan as a moral person. Dylan may be far from being the perfect son, but Thieriot gives audiences a reason to root for the character. Underneath his resentment towards Norma is a son who just wants the love and approval of his mother. This somewhat guides his actions throughout the show. For instance, Dylan defends his family when Norma’s cop lover tries to kill all of them in Season 1. Meanwhile, later on, Dylan also chooses to stick around even after discovering that his real father is Norma’s estranged brother, who sexually assaulted her several times when they were children. While it’s unclear if Norma truly learns to love her eldest son in the end, Dylan eventually wins her respect, so much so that Norma even listens to him when he calls her out for having unhealthy boundaries with Norman.
Dylan Looks Out for Norman Despite Knowing He’s a Killer
At the same time, there’s also a part of Dylan that takes being a big brother to Norman quite seriously. Even after discovering that Norman killed his own father, Dylan is determined to help his brother get better. At one point, he even tries to convince Norman to move out of the hotel and live with him instead. Dylan wants to protect his brother as Norman’s mental health is failing. He also recognizes early on that Norma and Norman are becoming toxic to one another and that some distance between them would be good. Dylan understands that there is a lot of dysfunction in his family, but it’s the only one he’s got, and he is willing to protect them as much as possible. He even gets a job guarding a marijuana field to help financially provide for his mother and half-brother. What’s truly tragic about Dylan is that he believes that his family could, one day, be happy together. Unfortunately, that could never happen.
That said, it’s Dylan’s quest for redemption and happiness that propels his arc forward. Sure, he commits his fair share of violence and killing on the show. But as the seasons go on, it becomes clear that Dylan is the character who grounds both Norma and Norman and keeps things from getting too out of hand. One can even argue that without Dylan, there would have been a lot more bodies on BatesMotel. Dylan is also proof that a person can truly change despite everything. In some ways, Dylan, through Thieriot’s layered performance, is a reminder that even in the darkest of storylines, it is always worth fighting to see the light again.
Dylan Eventually Ends the Madness in ‘Bates Motel’ by Shooting Norman
As Bates went on, its story continued to diverge from Psycho. Now, some may have expected Norman to live through everything that happens in the series. However, it seems like Ehrin, Cipriano, and Cuse weren’t interested in presenting how a boy evolved into a vicious serial killer. Instead, they further twisted Hitchcock’s Psycho world and presented a new reality where both Norma and Norman die and finally find peace while Dylan becomes the last one standing.
In the Bates Motel finale, Norman invites Dylan over for dinner and Dylan finally discovers that Norman has already killed their mother. True to his protective instincts, Dylan urgently wants to get Norman help. “I want you to be happy, and I want you to be well,” Dylan tells his brother through his tears. Dylan has already moved out of the motel and started a family of his own with Emma (Olivia Cooke), but he is still hopeful that Norma and Norman can be a part of that too. As for Norman, he tries to exert some control over his life, or at least, how it ends. He charges toward Dylan with a knife, forcing his older brother to shoot him in self-defense. The madness finally comes to an end.
Since wrapping up Bates Motel, Thieriot has established himself as a TV action star, joining the cast of SEAL Team before moving on to Fire Country. Following its premiere in 2022, Fire Country has already run for two successful seasons. It also scored a Season 3 renewal in March 2024. Season 3 of Fire Country is set to premiere on CBS on October 18 while Season 1 will become available on Netflix on August 1. Meanwhile, CBS has also greenlit a spinoff entitled Sheriff Country, which will be headlined by Morena Baccarin. The new series will join the network’s program lineup for the 2025 to 2026 season.
