Bates Motel is a prequel to one of the most iconic film genres ever made: psychosis by Alfred Hitchcock. With heavy shoes to fill, the show ran for five seasons (from 2013 to 2017) to transform the young and naive Norman Bates into the serial killer everyone has feared since the 1960s. While the TV show, created by Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin, had a somewhat strong fan base, so much so that it was able to finish the story it set out to tell, it remains one of the most underrated horror shows of all time. .
There are a few reasons why the show was and still is so underrated. It was never nominated for major awards and was mostly ignored. Being awarded and nominated doesn’t directly equate to greatness, but it does have a big impact on what people watch and the shows they become interested in.
Over the five seasons, Bates Motel becomes one of the most complex and well-executed horror TV shows of all time. This is why the show is so good and deserves more recognition than it has gotten so far.
Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore raise the tone of Bates Motel
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It needs to get credit where it should, and without the great Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore as the main duo, the series might not have worked as well as it did. They threw everything at each other: love, silence and anger bounced off the walls of the iconic Bates house. Along with other sensational actors such as Olivia Cooke, Max Thieriot and Nestor Carbonell, they helped create the small-town feel of Fairvale, which made all the difference in the show. There is a vulnerability in all the characters that makes it impossible not to root to be happy, even if the viewer knows from the start that they are doomed to fail.
The scripts of the show, especially the dialogues, were a real service to these great actors, giving them so much work to do that it felt like you were watching real people. The direction was able to convey the similar heavy and dark atmosphere that made psychosis so chill even if Bates Motel undoubtedly did each season in its own way. The difficult balance between horror and drama has also been taken care of down to the last detail: one is always enhanced by the other. It’s hard to make a good two-hour thriller; to make five seasons of several episodes and not lose the tension is extremely difficult.
As the stakes increase as the seasons progress, the characters’ mental health deteriorates. Not only do the scripts amplify this decline, but a new heaviness has been developed in the cinematography, production design, and directing choices. The show feels connected in every creative aspect, which is essentially what makes it such a powerful production.
Character development of the Bates family
NBCUniversal
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There is an inherent danger in choosing iconic source material like an Alfred Hitchcock film and expanding or creating it. Because of this, the production team could have decided not to innovate too much on the story and characters. That is not the case with the series at all. The characters from the original movie are explored in even more depth, and their future actions (because the series is a prequel) are explained on a new level. The show created a unique world to inhabit that is complex and crowded, and this is one of the main reasons the show works so well, even on its own.
The fact that audiences already know the ending doesn’t hinder the series: it’s fascinating to watch Norman Bates become the one we know in the Hitchcock movie. Also, the characters created for the show are compelling and have deep dramas of their own, not just focusing on the mother and son to generate drama and conflict. There are clear tributes and great respect for the film, which is always nice to see in a production that delves into the matter.
Bold decisions
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One of the main aspects of the show to be commended on is that they weren’t afraid to make bold and very creative decisions. Beyond the unbelievable Hannibal on NBC, another extremely bold variation on an iconic text, few shows have made such bold choices regarding plotlines, characters, and narrative as Bates Motel did.
It is necessary to emphasize that Bates Motel does not shy away from many deep and disturbing elements. It’s something that sets it apart from other horror TV series from the 2010s and even today. Explicit violence and human and drug trafficking are just a few of them, and Norman and Norma’s co-dependent and incestuous relationship packs a punch for the viewer, with a morbid tension that escalates with each passing episode.
There are also a number of surprises, including regarding the characters featured in psychosis, such as Marion Crane checking in at the motel. This was a moment fans had been waiting for, and yet the writers managed to surprise everyone with the character’s outcome.
Bates Motel is one of the best horror TV shows in recent memory and has the potential to become one of the biggest. Some productions don’t get the recognition they deserve until years after release, and (hopefully) that’s the case for this dark tale of murder and the meaning of family.