Bates Motel is a prequel to one of the most iconic movie genres ever made: Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock. With heavy shoes to fill, the show had five seasons (from 2013 to 2017) to transform young and naive Norman Bates into the serial killer everyone loves to fear since the sixties. Even though the TV show created by Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin had a somewhat strong fanbase, so much so that it was able to finish the story it wanted to tell, it remains one of the most underrated horror shows of all time.

There are a few reasons why the show might have been so underrated and continues to be so. It was never nominated for major awards and was mostly ignored. Getting awarded and nominated doesn't directly correspond to greatness, but it does have a big impact on what people watch and the shows they get interested in.

Over the course of its five seasons, Bates Motel becomes one of the most complex and well-done horror television shows of all time. Here is why the show is so good and deserves more recognition than it has received so far.

Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore Elevate the Tone of Bates Motel

Bates Motel
NBCUniversal
A&E

It has to be given credit where it is due, and without the great Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore as the main duo, the series might not have worked as well as it did. They threw everything at one another: love, silence, and anger bounced off the walls of the iconic Bates house. They, alongside other sensational actor like Olivia Cooke, Max Thieriot, and Nestor Carbonell, helped create the feel of the small town of Fairvale, which made all the difference in the show. There is a vulnerability in all characters that makes it impossible not to root for them to be happy, even if the viewer knows that they are doomed from the start.

The scripts of the show, especially the dialogue, really serviced these amazing actors, giving them so much to work on that it felt like watching real people. The direction was able to convey the similar heavy and dark atmosphere that made Psycho so chilling, even if Bates Motel undoubtedly did it in its own way every season. Also, the difficult balance between horror and drama is done to almost perfection: one is always enhanced by the other. It is hard to make a good two-hour thriller movie; to make five seasons of multiple episodes and not lose the tension is extremely difficult.

Related: Bates Motel: Mental Health Themes the Series Explored

As the stakes get higher with the progression of the seasons, the mental health of the characters deteriorate. Not only do the scripts enhance this deterioration, but there is also a new heaviness developed in the cinematography, production design, and directorial choices. The show feels connected in every creative aspect, which is essentially what makes it such a powerful production.

Character Development of the Bates Family

Max Thieriot, Freddie Highmore, and Vera Farmiga in Bates Motel.

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A&E

There is an inherent danger in picking such iconic source material as an Alfred Hitchcock film and expanding or creating upon it. Because of this, the production team could have decided not to innovate too much on the story and its characters. That is not the case with the series at all. The characters that were taken from the original movie are explored with even more depth, and their future actions (as the series is a prequel) are explained at a new level. The show created a unique world to inhabit that is complex and full, and this is one of the main reasons why the show works so well, even on its own.

Related: The Best Episodes of Bates Motel, Ranked

The fact that the audience already knows the ending doesn't hinder the series: as it is fascinating to watch Norman Bates become the one we know in the Hitchcock movie. Also, the characters that were created for the show are compelling and have deep dramas of their own, not solely focusing on the mom and the son to generate drama and conflict. There are clear homages and a great level of respect for the film, which is always nice to see in a production that dives into its material.

Bold Decisions

Bates Motel TV shower scene
NBCUniversal
A&E

One of the main aspects of the show that should be praised is that they were not afraid to make bold and deeply creative decisions. Outside the incredible Hannibal on NBC, another extremely bold variation on an iconic text, there have been very few shows that have made such daring choices regarding plot lines, characters, and narrative as Bates Motel did.

It is necessary to highlight that Bates Motel doesn't shy away from many deep and disturbing elements. It is something that makes it stand out from other horror TV series of the 2010s and even the ones today. Explicit violence and human and drug trafficking are only a few of them, and Norman and Norma's co-dependent and incestuous relationship is a punch in the gut to the viewer, with a morbid tension escalating with each passing episode.

There are also a couple of surprises, including regarding the characters that appear in Psycho, such as Marion Crane's check-in in the motel. This was a moment that fans were waiting for, and still, the writers were able to surprise everyone with the outcome of the character.

Bates Motel is one of the best horror television shows in recent history and has the potential to become one of the greatest. Some productions only get the recognition they deserve years after being released, and (hopefully) this is the case for this dark tale about murder and the meaning of family.