Bates Motel premiered last night (Mon. 18th) on A&E!

[charp13]

I agree - scott & quinn. I feel like there's enough content to keep me watching and I'm glad I did.  Also, I watch so few tv shows (mostly Sunday night programs), that I have plenty of room in my life for Bates Motel I do enjoy seeing the changes in Norman's face (good acting) when he gets riled up.  And I am SOOO glad that Norma is not going in the direction I thought she was headed in. I felt that Shelby was a weak character. It would seem to me that if he had all that unspeakable stuff going on in his house, that he wouldn't be out wooing the new middle aged woman in town (Even though she is very lovely). I REALLY like watching the manipulative interaction between Norma & Norman. She really has control issues when it comes to that boy- that's awesome!

[Count_Zirock]

Where are the zombies?

Keith Summers, Zach Shelby, Jiao, and Junk the Dog will rise from the dead and descend upon the motel.

[aura of foreboding]

Keith Summers, Zach Shelby, Jiao, and Junk the Dog will rise from the dead and descend upon the motel.

That is about as plausible as everything else that has happened.  I'm all for that!

[Mord]

I guess if I wanted plausibility or reality, I'd be watching some documentary on advances in science or something. I watch shows like this to escape the predictability of real life. I'm waiting for it to get all Twin Peaks on us.

[aura of foreboding]

I guess if I wanted plausibility or reality, I'd be watching some documentary on advances in science or something. I watch shows like this to escape the predictability of real life. I'm waiting for it to get all Twin Peaks on us.

Mord, you have to admit that what has happened in the course of seven episodes is a bit... extreme.   

[Scatter]

Mord, you have to admit that what has happened in the course of seven episodes is a bit... extreme.   

You're comparing it to YOUR life, or MY life. But compared to MORD'S life, it's a week of Brady Bunch re-runs.

[Monsters For Sale]

Mord, you have to admit that what has happened in the course of seven episodes is a bit... extreme.   

And SO unnecessary.  There is plenty small town intrigue and skullduggery.  No need for drug cartels and international sex slave trade.

It would make the nutsy Bates family business seem even nuttier and more realistic if it were played out against the backdrop of a more normal world.

I want to learn more about the Bates family dynamics and a lot less about all the extraneous, over-the-top subplots.  (They cease being subplots when they overshadow the main story.)

Just my opinion. 

[yendor1152]

Spoilers ahead!

Just got caught up on Bates Motel, and while I really wanted to like this, I just don't. There are so many things wrong with it, not merely from the displaced feeling I get whenever I see that old house and the ratty motel. Here are just a few:

(1) Hardly anybody acts and/or reacts in a normal fashion. Norman kills his father in a totally understandable scenario. Instead of calling the police, as Norma should've done--and any rational person certainly would've done--she creates a completely unbelievable scenario about his having a shelf fall on him. And the police or the coroner never question the method of death? He undoubtedly had a dent in his head that wouldn't be caused by falling to a concrete basement floor. Right away, during this flashback, I realized the writers were playing fast and loose with a lot of things, number one being our credulity.

(2) The dog sequences. Many people have written here that it "disturbed" them to see the dog being hit by the car. Actually, the dog isn't shown being hit. You see it in front of the car, then what appears to be the dog rolling in back of the car. It's obviously a dummy. You don't hear it shriek or cry out, so why is that so disturbing? And again, Norma's reaction to the entire event is so unrealistic, it's ridiculous. She asks Norman, "what's WRONG with you?" when he shows distress about the dog being mowed down. No mention of getting the dog to a vet, no discussion with the person who actually killed the dog (he's apparently conveniently forgotten, unless he shows up somewhere else). Just dumb. Also, in all the other dog sequences, it was so obvious the growls and whimperings were dubbed in.

(3) Norma. I have an intense dislike for the actress playing this part. And I really don't like how she's constantly shrieking and freaking out one minute, then telling her kids, "I want this motel to work, let's put on a sunny attitude and forget the past." Five minutes later, she's shrieking like a banshee again. Perfect example: when Chris tells her he's moving out anyway, even though he's been shot. She's smiling, then freaks. I'm sure that's all intentional, but I feel very little sympathy for the character. In fact, I can't wait until she gets rubbed out and stuffed.

(4)  The plot. Since we all pretty much know how all of this is going to turn out, it's all about "getting there." And frankly, I thing a lot of the "getting there is useless filler.  Killings that don't need to happen, subplots that exist to "flesh out" the story, but in reality just string it out longer than necessary. And I gotta wonder. When Norman eventually dons mom's clothing, does he wear a blonde wig and run around in slacks?

I'll continue to watch because I want to see how everything is tied up in the inevitable conclusion. My feeling is that they're going to stretch out that part as much as possible--so we should expect more needless subplots, more shrieking from Norma, more irrational behavior from all the characters, and more poor writing.

Rod

[Monsters For Sale]

Spoilers ahead!

Just got caught up on Bates Motel, and while I really wanted to like this, I just don't. There are so many things wrong with it, not merely from the displaced feeling I get whenever I see that old house and the ratty motel. Here are just a few:

(1) Hardly anybody acts and/or reacts in a normal fashion. Norman kills his father in a totally understandable scenario. Instead of calling the police, as Norma should've done--and any rational person certainly would've done--she creates a completely unbelievable scenario about his having a shelf fall on him. And the police or the coroner never question the method of death? He undoubtedly had a dent in his head that wouldn't be caused by falling to a concrete basement floor. Right away, during this flashback, I realized the writers were playing fast and loose with a lot of things, number one being our credulity....

Norma admitted she lied to Norman about what happened.  I just assumed she is also lying to his brother to shut him up.  All we have is her word to go on.

We'll probably never know what really happened.

[aura of foreboding]

Spoilers ahead!

Just got caught up on Bates Motel, and while I really wanted to like this, I just don't. There are so many things wrong with it, not merely from the displaced feeling I get whenever I see that old house and the ratty motel. Here are just a few:

Hardly anybody acts and/or reacts in a normal fashion.

I really don't like how [Norma's] constantly shrieking and freaking out one minute, then telling her kids, "I want this motel to work, let's put on a sunny attitude and forget the past." Five minutes later, she's shrieking like a banshee again.

You're right that it's sloppy storytelling, but I want to say that these two things are actually what make this show interesting.  Because everyone is so irrational and they always do the stupidest thing possible in any given situation, it's fun to see how the writers will work their way of it.    I mean that is why it was so addicting in those last few episodes.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing... 

[aura of foreboding]

You're comparing it to YOUR life, or MY life. But compared to MORD'S life, it's a week of Brady Bunch re-runs.

Hey, for me, Brady Bunch re-runs are still pretty cutting edge.   

[zombiehorror]

Just got caught up on Bates Motel, and while I really wanted to like this, I just don't. There are so many things wrong with it, not merely from the displaced feeling I get whenever I see that old house and the ratty motel. Here are just a few:

Rod

My only thought to some of your comments is that Norma isn't supposed to be normal or rational!!

[aura of foreboding]

My only thought to some of your comments is that Norma isn't supposed to be normal or rational!!

I agree.  I expect her to be off-the-wall.  However, through it all, she is still grounded because of her two staunch desires: she wants her business to succeed and to protect/control Norman. 

[Haunted hearse]

Spoilers ahead.  Annoyed fan.
If you enjoy the series, just ignore my post.


From what I'm reading, I'm glad I don't watch the series.  If they had Norman killing his father, we'll it is a real deviation from the series I enjoyed that starred Tony Perkins.  The father dying was what led to an unhelathy relationship between Norman and Norma, and it was that closeness, that led Norman act out being his mother.   I am enjoying this thread.  By listening to people describing what's going on, I'm not wasting an hour of my time, that I could spend elsewhere, doing something I consider more productive.

[Monsters For Sale]

Spoilers ahead.  Annoyed fan.
If you enjoy the series, just ignore my post.


From what I'm reading, I'm glad I don't watch the series.  If they had Norman killing his father, we'll it is a real deviation from the series I enjoyed that starred Tony Perkins.  The father dying was what led to an unhelathy relationship between Norman and Norma, and it was that closeness, that led Norman act out being his mother.   I am enjoying this thread.  By listening to people describing what's going on, I'm not wasting an hour of my time, that I could spend elsewhere, doing something I consider more productive.

I'm not convinced Norman did kill his father.  That version of the story was told by Norma, and only came out when the 2nd son (who isn't all that fond of Mommy) threatened to let the whole truth come out about what was going on.

Norman's brother wants to protect him almost as much as Norma says she wants to.

The truth remains to be seen.