By Meghan O’Connor
Staff Writer
I have been a fan of “Bates Motel” since the beginning of the show’s first season run. Being a huge film and television buff, it only makes sense that when A&E decided to combine the two I was completely on board. “Bates Motel” is a prequel to the legendary Alfred Hitchcock movie “Psycho.”
It tells the story of Norman and his life before the events of the movie, giving the audience the backstory of why Norman becomes what he does. Viewers who have seen the movie and now watch the television series know how the story is going to end and now, in its third season, Norman is spiraling down faster and faster into the dark, twisted version of himself that we all know from the movie.
Freddie Highmore has portrayed Norman Bates excellently throughout the show’s run and it’s been quite the thrill ride. When the show started out, you felt bad for Norman in some ways. He was just trying to fit in. Going to a new school and moving to a new town is hard on anyone. But as the seasons continued and his behavior continued to escalate, it was hard to continue feeling bad for Norman. He went from being a character you sympathized with to a character you were becoming more and more afraid of.
On top of that, we have Vera Farmiga playing Norma Bates, Norman’s mother, who we know is going to reach an untimely death due to her son. Farmiga does a fantastic job playing her character, especially since there was no source material for her like there was for Highmore.
Viewers feel for her as she goes back and forth, trying to get her son help but at the same time wanting to protect him from the outside world. Personally, I have had moments where I hate Norma for what she does and moments where I don’t ever want to see her go, though I know that’s how her story will end.
The writers have done an amazing job throwing in little gems about Norman’s behavior throughout the series in wcomparison to the movie. For example, in the earlier seasons it was introduced that Norman had developed a hobby of taxidermy, something that continues throughout the rest of the seasons and is shown in “Psycho” as a hobby of Norman’s.
Another way they do this is throwing in lines from the movie into the television show. In last week’s episode, Norma was trying to calm down Norman after an ordeal and she told him, “We all go a little mad sometimes,” one of the most famous lines from the movie.
However, the most important foreshadowing that viewers have seen so far would definitely be the one from two weeks ago, in the episode entitled “Norma Louise.” Norma had run out on her children, Dylan and Norman, leaving Norman in complete shock. While everyone is trying to take care of Norman, they decided to put him in bed and leave him there.
The next shot the audience sees is Dylan walking into the kitchen, only to find Norman fully awake in his mother’s bathrobe, making breakfast at night. He’s talking to Dylan about making breakfast, ordering Dylan to go back upstairs and wake up his brother; Norman has completely taken on the personality of his mother, though the next morning he doesn’t remember it at all.
With television shows with forgone endings, it’s easy to get stale during their run. I think the complete opposite is happening with “Bates Motel.” As the television show comes closer and closer to the events of the movie, I find it very hard to look away.
Yes, I know what’s going to happen. Yes, I have seen the movie several times, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see how the events are going to unfold. There are other plot lines going on, but they’re not memorable. If the show has a weakness, I would say it’s that.
“Bates Motel” has not yet been renewed for a fourth season, and I personally have to wonder if this season will be the last. As the end of the timeline rapidly approaches, I feel as if they might end it. The writers have gone back and forth in regards to if they’re actually going to re-film “Psycho” in the television series, or if they’re going to end it right before the events in the movie take place.
I personally feel as if they should end it right before the movie events take place, but alas, I am not one the writers of the show.
Week by week, I continue to get more glued to “Bates Motel.” I find myself not even checking my phone when I watch it, I’m that engrossed in the world and the story. While I know that it does have a limited run and the motel will eventually have to close its doors, I can’t help but feel bittersweet about it.
Though they can only tell so much story, I find that I will always want more when it comes to this world and the characters. As long as the vacancy light is on, I will always return to Hitchcock’s world and characters in “Psycho” and in “Bates Motel.”
