WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED BATES MOTEL YET. SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
Prequels are now common both in film and on television. Indeed, the idea to understand the trajectory of a beloved character is extremely attractive, especially to someone curious, like me, to know the life story of those characters. However, a prequel can also be cruel and frustrating, as you get involved with the story, root for the characters, but know that the story must end in a certain way.
Better Call Saul, for example, it is a case in which we can root for Jimmy, but we already know that he will become Breaking Bad’s Saul. Another example is the topic of this text: Bates Motel, which chronicles the events prior to Psycho, 1960. I watched the four seasons of the show recently and I’m already looking forward to the fifth and last season, to be released in 2017.
Before continuing, I warn that I will talk about Psycho and that it cannot be considered a spoiler, because the film has almost 60 years and has one of the most famous scenes of movie history… My suggestion is for you to watch the movie before watching the show.
As you remember, in Psycho, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is the Bates Motel manager and takes the personality of his mother (murdered by him ten years earlier due to his jealousy) to kill other people.
Therefore, at the beginning of Bates Motel we know how the story will have to finish so the film makes sense. Now, what matters is not knowing what will happen, but how and why. The series is set in the present day and we see the Norman’s (the great Freddie Highmore) relationship as a teenager with his mother Norma (Vera Farmiga, also spectacular). One can see quickly that both are very close and dependent on one another. Norma does not like Norman’s love interest and vice versa.
Throughout the first season we found out that Norman suffers “blackouts” during which adopts another personality and becomes extremely violent. For example, we learn that he was the one responsible for his father’s death, but he has no memory of what occurs during these “blackouts”. Norma knows the truth and tries to protect him at any cost. Actually, this is her motivation in all seasons: to protect Norman and, while doing so, she denies to herself that her child is mentally unstable and dangerous.
She denies so much that he is ill that it becomes annoying! She is warned by everyone: her other son Dylan (Max Thieriot), Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell) and even her brother Caleb (Kenny Johnson) – one of the dispensable characters in the series, in my opinion. Yet she continues to ignore the evidence (only in season 4 she becomes convinced that he really needs professional help).
Norma and Norman are fascinating characters. She had a horrible life since childhood, when she was raped by her brother, until adulthood, when suffered abuse from her second husband. No wonder she cries in almost every episode and her love for her son and her desire to avoid him to be caught are so genuine that it is impossible not to feel sorry for her and not to hope that she will be happy. However, as I mentioned earlier, we already know Norma’s destiny… Credit is due not only to the script, but also to Vera Farmiga, who manages to capture all the nuances and complexities of the character.
Him, on the other hand, transforms gradually into the character we know in the film and several scenes of the show even make direct reference to Psycho (the final scene of the second season is the clearest example and shows how Freddie Highmore is, indeed, an excellent actor and perfect for the role). The looks, the way of speaking, the intonation of the voice, all contribute to making us dislike the character and actually get angry with him.
There are, of course, other parallel stories to fill the episodes. One is on the marijuana trade involving Dylan that in no way triggered my interest. There are also romantic relationships, and my favorite couple is Norma Bates and Alex Romero (before cheering for them, remember what I explained about being frustrating to already know their fate).
I liked just about everything in the show and, in my view, the fact that there are only 10 episodes per season makes the story flow better. The cast is great, especially the protagonists, as mentioned before (I don’t understand how they haven’t won Emmys for their performances); the soundtrack is also perfect, leaving us increasingly tense with what is about to happen.
Finally, you can make several parallels with the play Oedipus Rex: murdering his father without knowing that he did it and the almost incestuous relationship with his mother are some examples (on the show there are only hints of it, but it is clear that Norman is sexually attracted by his mother).
In short, Bates Motel was a pleasant surprise and I regret not having started to watch it before. Now all it’s left for us to do is wait for the next season, which will be even more tense and full of Norman’s craziness, especially after the dark final scene of season 4..
