Bates Motel Review (TV Series)

Would Alfred Hitcock have enjoyed this series?

I sat myself down to view the first episode of a TV series whose premise seemed very promising. Bates Motel can be seem as a prequel to one of the most memorable suspense films I have ever seen and staring Vera Farmiga as the lead actress. My attention was sparked and expectations set.

Norman Bates and his mother decide to pack up and leave home after the suspicious death of his father. Relocating far, far away after having purchased the Summerfield’s hotel along with the iconic house of the hill, they decide to settle in. Little did they know of the mysteries and secretes that lay dormant within this little town.

Could this pass as an Alfred Hitcock prequel to the suspenseful mater piece known as Psycho? The simple answer, unfortunately not. Be it that it is only the first episode of a series and character development needs to come into play I felt that most the dialogue and scenes of suspense felt forced and very much clichéd and stereotyped to the modern form of teen-films/series. 

Alfred Hitcock utilised cleverly orchestrated scores and smartly plotted out suspense points that seemed to glide into one another with ease as though these events seemed like mere misfortune.

The characters in “Bates Motel” seem stereotyped and moulded from your standard single layered character draft board. This contradicts the underlying mysteries of the characters developed by Alfred Hitchcock in Psycho.

This makes me think... The brave person who decided to take this project on, was he/she a true fan of the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho?

Will I be watching the second episode? 

I am tempted to find out if the character development becomes deeper and the elements of suspense become more sinister. I would like to know how Norman Bates became the notorious villain in Psycho. What made him eventually kill his mother and decide to dress as her in the nights.

Saying that, I am not convinced that “Bates Motel” will satisfy my curious questions with suspenseful satisfaction.