# Bates Motel



## Lenny (Apr 9, 2013)

_I know, I know - I'd kill for an apostrophe too, but the official title is sans apostrophe._

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*Bates Motel* is a new series airing on A&E in America developed by Carlton Cuse (who is best known as being EP for *Lost*, and a writer for some of the episodes), inspired by Robert Bloch's *Psycho*.

It follows Norman Bates and his mother, Norma, who buy a motel and move to the fictional White Pine Bay in Oregon, after the death of Norman's father, and will investigate the story leading up to Psycho. The cast is very strong, and includes Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, and Nestor Carbonell, with a guest (and probable recurring) appearance in the fourth episode by Ian Hart.

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Four episodes have aired so far (there are six left in the first series, and a second series of ten episodes has been commissioned), and I must say that I'm impressed with the quality. The score, too, is very good.

The show has a very *Twin Peaks*-y vibes about it -- whilst everything looks fine, the setting and a number of the characters aren't quite normal, and you get the feeling that something sinister lies beneath everything.

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Is anyone else watching it?


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## FireDragon-16 (Apr 24, 2013)

While we don't get the chance to watch it when it airs, we catch it a day or two later onDemand. 

We really like it. It's nice to hear that it's gotten a second season.


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## Lenny (Apr 30, 2013)

So we're seven out of ten episode in, now, and it still feels like it's setting things up, particularly in regards to Norman, who is showing more and more signs that something about him isn't quite right.

I'm glad to say that I'm still getting a *Twin Peaks* vibe from the show, which comes from the handful of faintly sinister stories bubbling underneath everything.

My only complaint is that nothing seems to be getting resolved. Whilst I'm enjoying the way the characters and the story are being built, I'm wondering how long it can be kept up before we're lost in a tangle of stories all vying for resolution. In a standard American series of twenty-odd episodes, this would be fine, but seeing as *Bates Motel* (still needs that apostrophe! Gah) has ten-episode series, I'm starting to worry. However, I'll keep watching. It's been written and produced well up to now, and I think it deserves the benefit of the doubt.


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