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Rihanna’s 'Bates Motel' Shower Scene Had The Most Rihanna-Like Twist

Rewriting ‘Psycho’ history? NBD

[Warning: This post contains spoilers from Episode 6 of Bates Motel.]

Rihanna rarely plays by the rules when it comes to music, fashion, and life in general, so it shouldn’t come as a total shock that she completely upended tradition last night (March 27) on Bates Motel.

Last week saw Rih’s debut on the A&E thriller as a modern-day Marion Crane, the ill-fated guest in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho. Even if you’ve haven’t seen the movie in a while, you probably remember that Janet Leigh’s Marion checks into Bates Motel, hops in the shower, and gets brutally stabbed to death by Norman Bates.

That was presumably the same fate awaiting Rihanna’s Marion ... but the show presented the scene with a killer twist. Marion did strip down for a steamy shower, and the horror music got louder and louder as the camera zoomed in on the translucent curtain. But then Marion pulled it back to reveal ... absolutely nothing. “Screw this shit,” she said in true Rihanna fashion, before leaving the room totally unharmed.

Bates Motel cocreator Carlton Cuse told Vulture why they decided to rewrite Psycho history with Rihanna, saying, “Fundamentally, it was not going to be possible to make Marion Crane an empowered woman of 2017 if she just died in the shower. Rihanna really embraced our idea of redefining the character. That was the moment in which she said I’m all-in.”

The episode did end with a death, though — the victim at the other end of Norman’s blade turned out to be Marion’s cheater ex, Sam Loomis. As for our girl? She drove off into the dark and stormy night as a single woman with nothing but a suitcase full of money at her side. Hell yeah.

Oh, and the episode also gave us this instantly iconic moment. Use this GIF as needed.

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