First You Dream, Then You Die

Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" is on of the best films ever made in my opinion and I often believe that some things should just be left as they are (the remake was utterly pointless in my opinion). And so I was in two minds as to whether I should watch Bates Motel. I wrongly assumed that it would be set in the 1940's/50's to tie in with the original movie but to my surprise it is set firmly in the 21st Century, which is by no means a bad thing. Brit Freddie Highmore is really good as young Norman, though he looks older than the 17 year old that he's playing (he was 21), and Vera Fermiga makes for a very hot looking Mom. There are some nice retro touches, for example Mrs Bates drives a lovely looking classic Mercedes, bit of a nod to the original maybe. First time viewing for me, hopefully I will stick with the rest of series 1.

It was well written, tense, the foreshadowing was a little on the nose. The acting of our leads was great. There is one scene in the middle of the episode that went WAY farther than likely neccessary. But, I want to see where the show goes from here.

At first glance, I did not think Bates Motel sounded like a good idea. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is an amazing film, and all remakes or sequels/prequels of that film has failed because they could not stand up to the original. Plus there is that thing in today's world where it is considered cool to make new material based on pre-existing material often to mediocre results. Which is understandable why I and many others were hesitant when this show was announced. After this pilot episode, "First You Dream, Then You Die, " I came away rather impressed. Yes, the episode feels like a pilot, but there was enough material to keep me intrigued.

I loved the setting of the film. The showrunners moved the film to modern day but I love the use of outdated fashion, technology, etc. It gives the show more of a creepy vibe. Speaking of which, I liked how they kept the house and motel intact from the original film, although it became more clearer because you know, it is not 1960 anymore. The small-town feel is great and is important in a series like this.

I think the characters we are introduced to (or reintroduced) work well and the cast is great and well-rounded. Let's start with the characters and actors whose chemistry will make or break the show; Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates (also known to us as "Mother"). Highmore as Bates is a little dry in the pilot, but he gets way better. He has big shoes to fill, but he is just getting used to those shoes here. He has his tendency to look/act nervous very well and we see the buds being placed which of course would blossom into him being a full-fledged serial killer. Vera Farmiga impressed me. She gives Norma a complete range of emotion. She is a caring and loving mother to Norman, but she is also manipulative, demanding, and only wants Norman for herself. Other characters here: Max Theriot as Norman's brother, Dylan Massett. We only hear his voice here, but we will meet him next episode, Nestor Carbonell as the Sheriff Alex Romero. Carbonell is great in these kind of roles so it is a no-brainer he plays the town's sheriff, Nicola Peltz as Bradley Martin who is the typical teenage girl that gets around, but she welcomes Norman to her group, and Olivia Cooke as Emma Decody, who is also a teenaged girl that welcomes Norman and she suffers from a disease that can make her not breathe well. Other characters to take note are W. Earl Brown as Keith Summers, Keegan Connor Tracy as Miss Watson and Mike Vogel as Deputy Zach Shelby.

Let's discuss the story of this pilot, shall we. Six months after the untimely death of her husband, Norma Bates and her son Norman moves to White Pine Bay, Oregon. Norma purchased a motel from a foreclosure sale. She has plans to patch the place up and have it open for business. There are problems she must face including the constant threats from previous owner Keith Summers and the town's plan to build a bypass around the town thus taking business away from the hotel. Norman gets accepted at his new school, despite his mother not being pleased. When Norman escapes in the middle of the night to party with them, Keith Summers will show exactly why he does not like Norma.

Overall, this is a very intriguing start to this new series. There is much to take in and it gives me hope that this show will actually turn out well. The showrunners Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrlin seems to know what they are doing. They can tighten up the dialogue and maybe we could do without that vicious and rather degrading sexual assault scene, but this episode marks a good start to the series. I love the creepy, small-town atmosphere and I like how these characters are being developed.

My Grade: A-

The setup for this show is great and the dark, horrorific tone of this show has me excited for the episodes to come. The casting of Vera Farminga as Norma Bates was perfect. Can not wait to see where Bates Motel goes from here!

Bates Motel offers a good deal of things to be grumbled about: setting the backstory to Alfred Hitchcock's classic Psycho in contemporary surroundings would be one. Embroidering the 1960 film noir's rather complete story in the first place, apparently for no other purpose than NBCUniversal holding the rights for it, another. Those I could reconcile myself to, but the programme falling prey to one of the most prevalent faults in present-day television is what disappointed and irked me, considering that however hostile you may be to the whole idea of this production, the Psycho 'universe' holds a potential for engrossing television.

This metaphorical blow to the face of viewers asking for more than just diversion I'm referring to is, of course, Bates Motel passing up the prospect of a pilot that properly establishes characters and situations in favour of one that hurls action and violence and surprises at its audience, regardless of that being most incongruous at such an early stage, in a desperate attempt to secure financially adequate ratings. There is justification for the existence of a standard storytelling formula involving a gradual build-up to a climax and, whereas someone as Alfred Hitchcock can use a non- observance of that practice - murdering his film's presumed lead early on - for a virtuoso plot twist, a less Hitchcockian director such as Tucker Gates or three less Hitchcockian writers such as Anthony Cipriano, Carlton Cuse, and Kerry Ehrin might not be able to.

Why am I saying 'might not'? They were not. The rape/murder scene taking place at about the halfway point of "First You Dream, Then You Die" is unfitting and unnecessary on various levels and poorly executed to boot. It did commence appealingly, but as soon as Keith Summers, the former proprietor of what now trades under the name of Bates Motel, stops by for a late visit that turns out not be for coffee and cake, the entire sequence goes down the tube. Honestly, if the writers decided to equip this man with a moustache to bring out a resemblance between him and Hitler, it would be compatible with the rest of his character in every respect, since he is depicted as quite the incarnation of evil. - Isn't it peculiar that I've never come to meet such a person in real life, yet I stumble across them all the time when watching sub-par films or television?

Be that as it may, this amalgamation of Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, and Anders Behring Breivik then begins to abuse Norma, something that Gates and the writing squad were, for whatever reason, keen to show on screen, and the audience is put through to what feels as long as a minute of staged rape that is ultimately put an end to through a slightly tardy deus ex machina in the form of Norman. Adolf Bin Breivik is laid out, mother and son proceed to handcuff him (instead of using the manacles to bind him to the table, which would prevent any further bother), and Norma forgets to be angry at her son for having sneaked out of the house beforehand, even though he could have deus ex machinaed much more timely had he stayed. *mutters insults at the idiocy of everything that has occurred up until now*

As Norman simply leaves for a moment - making himself a sandwich or something, I have no clue Adolf Bin Breivik gets back up, which causes Norma to knife him to death, which in turn leaves the Bates family with two or three fairly urgent items on their to-do list. The approach that is arrived at is not to make the incident public (although Rape/Murder Motel would have been a more thrilling title for this programme, if you ask me) and the outcome is probably the first brick in Norman becoming a little mad sometimes later in his life.

There's more to "First You Dream, Then You Die" than this one sequence, but it clearly represents the general problems of Bates Motel. Intriguing moments – the foreshadowing in lines such as »As long as we're together, nothing bad can really happen.« for example, together with Norma and Norman's odd relationship or Norman's discovery and the final scene somehow related to it – can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and despite Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga acting very well, the pedestrian writing impedes the develop-meant of any connection to them.

Twelve cabins, nine notations: • Teenage girls, do not offer a boy you've only just met a ride, he could be a serial – oh, wait… • Selfies within the first ten minutes– Hitchcock would have been proud. • »I thought I was going to study, but they took me to a party.« – Extraterrestrials having abducted you would be a more credible excuse than that, Norman. Seriously, this young man needs to get his s h i t together. • Parents of adolescents ought to show their progeny this episode, as it teaches them a lesson on what will happen if they secretly leave their homes. Their mothers will be raped. • "The air in Arizona" – From now on, Deputy Zack Shelby will only be known as 'Bad Pun Cop' in my reviews. • Why are the policemen switching on the blue lights when driving away from the motel? And, perhaps more importantly, why did they even go there? If there were indications to the disappearance of Mr Summers, I assume they'd ask some questions. • Don't cadavers have a certain distinguishable odour to them? And wouldn't a Sheriff smell one that is lying right next to him? • It seemed to me as if Norman was not vomiting but spitting out a mouthful of orange juice. Well, that is the least of Bates Motel's flaws, I guess. • Is it normal for oxygen tanks to look like decorated metal umbrellas?