by Cookie N Screen
I blame Hannibal. I really, deeply do. After all, the alarming trend of movies and horrors going to the small screen to drag out a premise over several episodes, seasons and more because a fan-base is already there to manipulate. As a fan of art, I don’t lament it too much; dependent on the mind behind it and the reasons for interpreting material, the product could be phenomenal. But for every Hannibal, there’s a Bates Motel. Because Bates Motel is a shoddy series intent of profiting off Psycho much like the sequels and will shove anything in there such as rape because the writing was so poor, dull and lifeless.
But yet again, it raps on my door like incessant house-keeping and as I caught the season three opener, I wondered if it had changed its tune. Perhaps they had developed
No. It’s still shit.
I blame Hannibal. I really, deeply do. After all, the alarming trend of movies and horrors going to the small screen to drag out a premise over several episodes, seasons and more because a fan-base is already there to manipulate. As a fan of art, I don’t lament it too much; dependent on the mind behind it and the reasons for interpreting material, the product could be phenomenal. But for every Hannibal, there’s a Bates Motel. Because Bates Motel is a shoddy series intent of profiting off Psycho much like the sequels and will shove anything in there such as rape because the writing was so poor, dull and lifeless.
But yet again, it raps on my door like incessant house-keeping and as I caught the season three opener, I wondered if it had changed its tune. Perhaps they had developed
No. It’s still shit.
Bates Motel follows off from the shocking season two finale where Norman transforms into his mother mentally to escape the murder of teacher Miss Watson (and yes, I went back to catch up). While the town is still in mourning, Norman makes the transition back to school only to find he has one vision of his victim and must be home schooled. Norma on the other hand hears word that her abusive mother has died which brings back resentment and a familiar face with something insanely disgusting to admit. Then a stripper appears at the Motel which sends Norman into a tizz again whilst he asks his ill-stricken friend Emma out...
This is not a Season Opener. It’s barely an episode. It’s just bits of plodding story line thrown into a television show. It’s not exciting or thrilling, mysterious or foul, it’s just there offering a tentatively weak episode to a very dull series. There is no real development of the previous season story, just a trippy opening scene that isn’t scary. Not to mention the superfluous plot point with older brother Dillion and his departure from the drug industry which is entirely unnecessary and distracts from the murder duo mother and son.
This is not a Season Opener. It’s barely an episode. It’s just bits of plodding story line thrown into a television show. It’s not exciting or thrilling, mysterious or foul, it’s just there offering a tentatively weak episode to a very dull series. There is no real development of the previous season story, just a trippy opening scene that isn’t scary. Not to mention the superfluous plot point with older brother Dillion and his departure from the drug industry which is entirely unnecessary and distracts from the murder duo mother and son.
What is more frustrating is its waste of talent. Freddie Highmore has all the creepy makings of Norman Bates, rightly shredding his cute childhood acting roles. But the writers are so afraid to make him sinister that he feels wasted in a role that is more 90210 than Hitchcock. Norman Bates is so heavily diluted here, without a clear type or the strong character that Anthony Perkins lifted into infamous glory. Highmore, as accomplished as he is, is abandoned by the script. Similarly, so is Vera Fermiga. She has all the power to be a mother slowly dissolving into the mythical woman we all feared. Her Norma, however, rolls between a sympathetic villain to an actual pathetic one.
The scariest part is their almost incestuous relationship where the audience is pondering if they have fucked or not. Honestly, even the showrunners flip-flop around the issue without making a solid decision that would ultimately give the series a better narrative purpose, a terrifying one that sets us on the murkier paths that made Psycho. Bates Motel is a pale imitation of a film that is still iconic to this day. And season three is going to be yarn filled, era confused mess that will pull out underdeveloped tripe in order to seem “shocking". When really, the only thing haunting the bathrooms of Bates Motel is the shoddy writing.
And yet again, I will not be continuing watching.
The scariest part is their almost incestuous relationship where the audience is pondering if they have fucked or not. Honestly, even the showrunners flip-flop around the issue without making a solid decision that would ultimately give the series a better narrative purpose, a terrifying one that sets us on the murkier paths that made Psycho. Bates Motel is a pale imitation of a film that is still iconic to this day. And season three is going to be yarn filled, era confused mess that will pull out underdeveloped tripe in order to seem “shocking". When really, the only thing haunting the bathrooms of Bates Motel is the shoddy writing.
And yet again, I will not be continuing watching.
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