Bates Motel: Series Premiere

You know a kid is going to be off when his tagline is “A boy’s best friend is his mother.”  Even if it is true you certainly never say the fact out loud.

However the bizarre and off-putting relationship between the mother and son duo Norma (Vera Farmiga) and Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) is the premise for A&E’s new horrific thriller Bates Motel. Yes, Norma named Norman after herself. Totally normal.  

A post-Psycho generation will watch the pilot and assume that Norman Bates would grow up to be a mentally unstable individual… and they would be right.  Bates Motel is actually a remake of the 1998 film Psycho, a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematic masterpiece of the same name. The series explores the early life of Norman Bates who went on to become an infamous crazed killer and, well, a psycho.

The series begins as Norman awakens in his bedroom and makes his way to the creepy hallway of family photos. The menacing music paired with Norman’s unsteady demeanor alludes to the terror he is about to discover. Norman focuses in on a photo of his parents and suddenly yells, “Mom” as if he knows she has done something. He continues on to the garage where he finds his father dead in a pool of blood. Norman calls out for his mother, who emerges in a seemingly sedated state to comfort her son, and you can’t help but feel like she was responsible for the whole scene.

In search of a new start Norma purchases a motel in the coastal town of White Pine Bay. Norman later tells a teacher that his mother has frequently uprooted their family, which leads us to believe that Norma is no stranger to trouble.

When a group of teenage girls show up at the Bates residence to invite Norman out with them, Norma is visibly perturbed. She has already denied Norman’s request to join the track team, explaining that it was his responsibility to be the man in her life. You can just feel his psychotic wheels turning. 

Frustrated with his mother’s overbearing ways, Norman sneaks out to a party with the girls. In his absence, Norma is brutally attacked by a hostile neighbor and Norman returns home to a horrific rape scene. Together they kill the intruder and spend the rest of the pilot scheming a cover-up.

At first, I assumed the show was set in the 1950’s due to the set design and ambiguous  wardrobe choices. It’s not until Norman first meets a group of local girls wearing current fashion trends and bearing iPhones did I realize this version of Bates Motel is set in today’s world. The somewhat old-fashioned manner in which Norma and her son live only continues to separate them from the reality of the rest of the world, a divide she seems to prefer anyhow.

I’ve never seen Vera Farmiga in such a sinister role, but I must admit she is extremely captivating. She seamlessly portrays this disturbed yet charismatic character, a departure from how we’re used to seeing her. Her intense eyes have always been one of her most beautiful traits, but in this role you can see how the sparkle may actually be a glimmer of evil.

Freddie Highmore absolutely nails the innocence that a young Norman Bates would most-likely have. His delicate features and manner contribute to his sweetness and you can feel his longing to please his mother. He may not be as mesmerizing as Norma, but we must remember that he hasn’t caught the crazies just yet.

To say that Norman Bates is a momma’s boy would be the understatement of the year.  After only one episode it’s safe to say that Norman never stood a chance.