Creator:
Robert Bloch
Cast: Freddie Highmore, Vera Farminga, Max Theiriot, Nicola Peltz, Olivia Cooke
The series, inspired by the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch and Alfred Hitchcock's film of the same name, depicts the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film. After the death of her husband, Norma purchases a motel located in the coastal town of White Pine Bay so she and Norman can start a new life.
From the start "Bates Motel" had a lot going against it, being a prequel to one of the greatest horror films of all-time, ditching the subtle horror aspects that made the original a classic for more modern day horror, and overall exploring a story that didn't really need to be told. Once the first trailer was released the creators quickly came out and said that the film was set in the universe of "Psycho" but not canon to the original film. That made the tv show feel to be just banking on the original show. The trailers looked to be interesting but as a whole I was not fully behind this film being turned into a tv series, but I decided to give it a watch as the original is such a renown classic and as I feared the "Bates Motel" show was not good as I hoped and really felt like their is no real plan for this show and just spinning its wheel to stretch a small premise.
The plot of "Bates Motel" is simple enough. It delves into the history of how and why Norman and Nora Bates bought the Bates Motel but one thing about that is that it is set in modern times. The original taking place 50+ years ago, it felt weird and a cheap way to resonate with teen audiences by placing it in modern times but in the process destroying the canon. The film also focuses a lot on and the awkwardness of Norman Bates teen years but the only problem with it is that this characters is completely unrelatable. No matter how well Freddie Highmore plays the role, the writing of the character is so uneven by having him be completely nerdy and awkward in some scenes but also having the head cheerleader, the outcast, and his language arts teacher all be head over heels for him which just feels really weird. The show also just lacks suspense, I honestly felt more horror in a Sci-Fi original. It really felt like the creators felt that they didn't have to put any real effort into the script to make it good. It could be that they are holding back right now to let it all go off near the end of the season but the whole reason for a pilot is to get you hooked for the upcoming season and overall the episode just lacked to do it. If you have never seen "Psycho" you probably want have as many problems with it as most people but I still feel you'll see the show as generic and just boring.
The directing of the show was just fine, nothing special. The original "Psycho" flourished off subtle horror and with that you can see Director Tucker Gates give some subtle shots such as the Bastes residence and some the scenes within the Bates Motel but overall it felt really generic in tone to me and sometimes I felt like that is why I felt so bored why watching the show. It looked as they were trying to create balance between subtle and new age horror. Overall I feel this is where the show really needs to improve because I honestly believe this can make or break the show.
The acting of the show is the thing that makes the show anything worth watching. Freddie Highmore was really good as Norman Bates. He definitely wasn't Anthony Perkins who portrayed him in the original "Psycho" but if you look at how uneven the writing was in the first episode, he did an admirable job portraying all the things Norman went through in the pilot. The rest of the cast was good as well with Vera Farminga portraying Norma Bates and really played creepy well and had good chemistry with Freddie Highmore in their many scenes together. Outside them two the rest of the cast felt like supporting characters but I'm intrigued in a few of them so expanding some of the supporting cast might help take all the pressure off the two leads to carry the show.
Overall, I never had too much faith in "Bates Motel", the show always had a lot going against it and sadly it couldn't deliver on anything. The acting of the show was good but everything that surrounded couldn't make the show worth watching. I might give the show a couple more chances but if you were on the fence on whether not to watch the show or not I think you can skip this show and you'll be fine.
The plot of "Bates Motel" is simple enough. It delves into the history of how and why Norman and Nora Bates bought the Bates Motel but one thing about that is that it is set in modern times. The original taking place 50+ years ago, it felt weird and a cheap way to resonate with teen audiences by placing it in modern times but in the process destroying the canon. The film also focuses a lot on and the awkwardness of Norman Bates teen years but the only problem with it is that this characters is completely unrelatable. No matter how well Freddie Highmore plays the role, the writing of the character is so uneven by having him be completely nerdy and awkward in some scenes but also having the head cheerleader, the outcast, and his language arts teacher all be head over heels for him which just feels really weird. The show also just lacks suspense, I honestly felt more horror in a Sci-Fi original. It really felt like the creators felt that they didn't have to put any real effort into the script to make it good. It could be that they are holding back right now to let it all go off near the end of the season but the whole reason for a pilot is to get you hooked for the upcoming season and overall the episode just lacked to do it. If you have never seen "Psycho" you probably want have as many problems with it as most people but I still feel you'll see the show as generic and just boring.
The directing of the show was just fine, nothing special. The original "Psycho" flourished off subtle horror and with that you can see Director Tucker Gates give some subtle shots such as the Bastes residence and some the scenes within the Bates Motel but overall it felt really generic in tone to me and sometimes I felt like that is why I felt so bored why watching the show. It looked as they were trying to create balance between subtle and new age horror. Overall I feel this is where the show really needs to improve because I honestly believe this can make or break the show.
The acting of the show is the thing that makes the show anything worth watching. Freddie Highmore was really good as Norman Bates. He definitely wasn't Anthony Perkins who portrayed him in the original "Psycho" but if you look at how uneven the writing was in the first episode, he did an admirable job portraying all the things Norman went through in the pilot. The rest of the cast was good as well with Vera Farminga portraying Norma Bates and really played creepy well and had good chemistry with Freddie Highmore in their many scenes together. Outside them two the rest of the cast felt like supporting characters but I'm intrigued in a few of them so expanding some of the supporting cast might help take all the pressure off the two leads to carry the show.
Overall, I never had too much faith in "Bates Motel", the show always had a lot going against it and sadly it couldn't deliver on anything. The acting of the show was good but everything that surrounded couldn't make the show worth watching. I might give the show a couple more chances but if you were on the fence on whether not to watch the show or not I think you can skip this show and you'll be fine.
Final Grade: C-
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