First Impressions: Bates Motel ‘First You Dream, Then You Die’ – You Look Like A Runner

Just in concept alone, turning Psycho into a compelling television series is a tall task, for two specific reasons: Norma and Norman Bates. First of all, Norma’s not even really a character in the film (instead, it’s Norman’s projection of her, which explains it all), and more importantly, Norman just isn’t that interesting as a character. It’s a credit to the film how tightly constructed the narrative is, defining its characters through shot composition and careful, sparse dialogue – in other words, everything we needed to learn about Norman we already learned.

After watching the pilot, I’m not sure Bates Motel will be able to solve both those problems. It definitely manages to make Norma Bates an interesting persona – in part because of Vera Farmiga’s pitch-perfect performance – which is arguably the hardest thing to do. But where the show struggles in the pilot – and from a structural perspective, will probably do so through most of the series – is making Norman interesting, beyond a case study in how something iconic came to me.

‘First You Dream, Then You Die’ certainly has moments I enjoyed – moments that work with or without the context of the premise, like their conversation on the raft, or the way Norma reacts when Sheriff Alex Romero points out the similarity between her and her son’s name. But there are often times where the pilot feels too wrapped up in referencing the film, defining every detail of the film in a similar fashion to a long-running sitcom doing an ‘origin story’ episode. From the rug beating on the porch to the knife and use in Norma’s murder of Keith, a crazy old drunk who used to live in the Bates mansion (“I know all of it’s dirty secrets” he says, in one of many ominous lines in the pilot), there are many shots and callbacks to the film that only cement my biggest worry about the series: everything leads to the film, and everything inspired by the film will be defined on the show.

I was hoping for something a little more original – and there are times in the first half where the pilot offered that, especially when it’s just Norma and Norman dealing with the shitty hand life gave them. But this show is trying to capture an audience, so there’s got to be some shock factor and cool-bro references to the film, and they work to the show’s detriment, especially in the post-rape scenes – which I have to add, was completely gratuitous  totally unnecessary, a desperate grasp at shock factor by employing the ever-popular Sexual Violence Against Women trope to justify his murder. Personally, if he was just kind of threatening and she brutally murdered him, it would make the situation a whole lot more interesting – and less disgusting to watch.

There are pockets of potential in Bates Motel – the pacing and cinematography both work to its advantage, lingering on moments like when Norman’s asking Norma to join the track team, and her reaction to class cutie Bradley showing up at his door for a ‘study date’. But there are also moments where it feels like unnecessary fan service mixed with needless shock factor, exploring the mind of a man and his mother that I don’t know if I’m necessarily interested in (certainly a pair of people I don’t want to root for, knowing how toxic their relationship will prove to be for each other). Bates Motel asks audiences if they’re interested in learning how a homicidal maniac is born thanks to a crazy obsessive mother – I’m just not sure what my answer to that question is just yet.

Grade: B-

 

Other thoughts/observations:

– all the hot girls like Norman…. for some apparent reason.

– I don’t understand what is supposed to be interesting about the hand-drawn manga Norman finds. It just looks like Japanese torture porn, it’s only importance being connected to the actions shown in the final shots of the episode.

– who will Norman have sex with first: Bradley, his language arts teacher, his mom, or the girl with CF? Stay tuned!!!

– I love how the opening scene silently lays out Norma murdering her husband. I sure hope we find out why, though: without knowing, her speech about everybody fucking them over in life kind feels a little thin.

– psychedelic party! weed! beer! underage drinking! edgy dramas, everyone!

– Emma’s disappointed Norman doesn’t have a chronic illness… everyone’s a little weird in this town.

– Keith’s presence is arguably the most important in the pilot (the catalyst for forging the eternal bond between Norma and Norman) – and it’s so contrived, it nearly undermines the whole damn thing.

– I’m interested to see where this series goes, so I’ll be covering it through the spring on Monday nights, Tuesday mornings on occasion.