We have all heard of psycho. Similar to figures like ghost face and Freddy Krueger, the name Norman Bates is closely affiliated with the horror genre. The original movie based on the book written by Robert Bloch tells the tale of Norman Bates, a middle-aged bachelor who runs a motel with his domineering mother. What is doesn’t tell about this character is how he came to be so deeply troubled.

 

Inspired by Ed Gein, known as the Butcher of Plainfield, Norman Bates is an incredibly complex and well-developed character. The original movie and book take place once his delusions have fully manifested, Bates Motel goes back to his teen years and navigates the development of his mental disorder and his slow spiral into madness.

 

Throughout the course of the show, Norman’s mental state slowly deteriorates. It becomes difficult to establish what is reality and what is in his mind. While his relationship with his mom did originally seem odd, as the series progressed, she began to find a life outside of him while he grasped for control over their relationship and her life. He convinced himself that she would rather die than be without him and attempts to kill them both, which results in her death. He struggles to grapple with the news of her death, not fully understanding why he did not pass with her.

I have always been interested in the horror genre and psycho is one of my favorite movies. I was excited when they announced that Bates Motel was going to air, and I was even more eager to see it when Freddie Highmore was cast as Norman Bates. This show is not only well made, but the acting is superb. Freddie Highmore does an exceptional job of bringing Norman to life, I found myself empathizing with his situation. Vera Farmiga, who stars as Norma Bates, makes a great pairing with Freddie Highmore, together the two of them brought the dysfunctional relationship between the Bates to life even after Norma’s passing.

 

If you have seen Psycho and like it, I definitely recommend watching this show. If you have not, I believe that this show has more to offer than just the horror aspect. It does not have much gore and it delves deeply into how dysfunctional relationships affect us and those around us. This includes conversations about rape and the extent that we will go to help our family members. I think it starts an important conversation about the boundaries we need to set in our own relationships.

Since I spoke about The Walking Dead last week, I’d like to stay within that theme and continue by giving some of my opinions on its (less popular) spin off. Fear the Walking Dead is currently four seasons long, I haven’t seen the most recent season as they haven’t put it on Hulu yet (come on Hulu!). A majority of the people that I’ve spoken to haven’t really liked this show, they felt that it didn’t compare well to The Walking Dead. Honestly, I find this show terrifying. One of my biggest fears is being eaten alive and zombies (though rather unrealistic) are a pretty spot on actualization of that fear of mine. Something that made The Walking Dead less freaky to me is that it didn’t seem all too realistic, we never got to see how the apocalypse played out. This series starts at the beginning and even shows things like neighborhoods and schools overrun (these are the things of my nightmares).

 

As I previously stated, this series follows the beginnings of the apocalypse. In the opening moments of the first episode, Nick Clark (Frank Dillane) wakes from a night full of drugs to an eerie setting around him. The girl who was lying beside him passed in her sleep and turned into a zombie. She began to eat the others in the house and a terrified Nick escapes from the building in a hurry, runs into the road, and is hit by a car. He is admitted into the hospital where his mother Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) meets him and immediately starts inquiring about what drugs he’s on. This story arc intrigued me from the start. How ironic is it that nobody believes him the one time that he’s telling the truth? Nick’s stepfather, Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis), decides to see for himself what really happened that night, making a comment about how truly terrified Nick appears to be. Upon arriving at the building Nick describes all of this happening at, Travis and Madison see the bloody aftermath of the previous night. By the end of the episode, the zombie apocalypse is in full effect; Madison and her two children along with Travis and his ex-wife and son band together to try and survive. Throughout the series their group grows, and they lose some important characters, similar to The Walking Dead.

Something that intrigued me the most about this series was Nick’s storyline. A few episodes in The Walking Dead featured people covering themselves in zombie guts to get through herds. While this has been a tactic that works, it was sparingly used by the group in that show. Upon discovering that this is a tactic that will work to keep him safe and spare him from taking any lives, Nick often roams around with the zombies, covered in their blood. The idea of a zombie sympathizer is relatively new, but this show confronts it and even shows two communities that hold the same beliefs as Nick.

I can’t make any comments towards the fourth, or upcoming fifth, seasons but the first three are definitely worth the watch.