Bates Motel Pilot Review

When a show is based off of a classic movie (an Alfred Hitchcock movie in specific) it has some pretty high standards to live up to. Did Bates Motel do this in the pilot episode? Almost.

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Bates Motel stars Freddie Highmore (Norman Bates) and Vera Farmiga 

(Norma Louise Bates) and it is about: "After the death of her husband, Norma purchases a motel located in the coastal town of White Pine Bay so she and Norman can start a new life" (Wikipedia). 

Not going to lie, I had some pretty high expectations when watching this TV show, and although I did not find it particularly worthy of all the hype that it was getting, I still think that the show has potential of achieving what it hopes to be.

The acting in this TV show is not to be compared to the best. At times I was taken out of the world of Bates Motel and back to reality due to the ineffective execution of dialogue; though it was not something that happened often. That's not to say that the acting is terrible; even though the acting is not top of the line, it never got to the point that I was unable to take the show seriously. Highmore was able to deliver his lines the way they were intended (for better or worse) and Farmiga was the devilish, creepy mom that she should be.

Highmore was able to get me to relate with his character: a normal 17 year old boy who never really got the chance to settle down and make a life. And I think that's good; that I need to be able to relate with a character like this in order to be engulfed in the world of Bates Motel. I felt like I could empathize with him.

This is the pilot of a TV series; not everything in the story is going to be revealed in this first episode. So it would be wrong to completely judge the series story based on the very first episode where things are still developing. That being said; the story in this episode really doesn't get started until about a quarter of a way through (and even then there really isn't any "story" yet). This is the one thing that will keep me watching this show throughout the weeks: the story. I am interested in how everything will play out. Hopefully, the cast is able to produce a final product that is worthy of being a psycho prequel.

Right off the bat they do a good job of making the town of White Pine Bay feel uncomfortable and unwelcoming. As though everyone in the town is hiding something, something big. They did a good job with that, with making the Bates family feel so different and separate from the rest of White Pine Bay. The gritty, eerie feel of the town sets the mood of the show, and I always felt on-edge while watching. 

Overall, this TV show gets the feel that it wants with some creative and intriguing camera-work and angles, the acting is not the best but at times it shines, and the story is compelling and interesting. I give the show a B because even though at times the acting and execution seemed a bit cheesy, their ability to keep the show interesting and suspenseful reined supreme over all else. I look forward to watching future episodes.