Norma Bates was introduced as the owner of a motel in 2001 that Tabitha Lenox and her companion, Timmy, fled to in order to escape the backlash from the release of Hidden Passions, a collection of Tabitha's memories that Timmy had compiled into a novel.
Norma resurfaced five months later during the Harmony High School Class of 2001's senior trip to Warlock Island.