Season 1 Discussion

[cleo]

I hope it's okay I started a thread. I've just started watching this show, I just finished 1.6 where the deputy gets killed. I'm completely hooked, and mostly as many people here have said, because of Norma.

 

I'm a bit spoiled I think, so no worries about that, I've read some of the season 3 thread.

 

I do find the sex slave storyline boring, the drug storyline slightly more interesting and mainly bc I like watching Norman's brother (I'm terrible with names).

 

I'm really glad when the girl that was held by the cop identified him, Norma believed her and accepted it, and her face just crumpling and reaction right up to the struggle in the car with Norman, was just incredible- like the emotions just seemed so genuine and with a lot of depth, and I think very real of someone who has been assaulted in the past.

 

I think it's a great show and I wish more people would watch it.

 

Freddie Highmore is also great, and I don't know how they get his eyes to be so dark and flat, but his whole demeanour when he shifts to that other state is incredible.

 

I was always planning on reading the old twop threads when I started watching it, but now they have even blocked it from the Internet archive (which seems just seems petty) so I missed out on all the discussion. Looking forward to getting caught up to later seasons and reading here!

 

Oh I also thought the dynamic between the cop and Norma was interesting, before they found out about the girl. I couldn't tell at times who was manipulating who.

 

[DittyDotDot]

Welcome to the bizarre, cleo! Here's a link to the Wayback Machine archive for the TWoP Bates Motel thread...enjoy! https://web.archive.org/web/20140329232317/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3217705-bates-motel-like-one-of-his-stuffed-birds/

[Mick Lady]

Welcome to the bizarre, cleo! Here's a link to the Wayback Machine archive for the TWoP Bates Motel thread...enjoy! https://web.archive.org/web/20140329232317/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3217705-bates-motel-like-one-of-his-stuffed-birds/

 

Thank you DittyDotDot!! How the hell do you get The Wayback Machine to work for you?! I swear to God I've tried and it acts like TWoP never even existed! Tell me your secret and I swear I'll build you a statue and dance around it at midnight! Naked even! Well... maybe not...!

Edited June 5, 2015 by Mick Lady

[DittyDotDot]

Well, don't be too impressed. Someone else gave me a link to something else--probably Supernatural related--and I saved it as a favorite because I didn't have time to read it that day. So, now I just go in from that link and navigate myself around from there. I've never tried to use The Way Back Machine properly or for any other site, so I can't really give many pointers.  I recommend saving this link as a favorite and it will give you a starting point: https://web.archive.org/web/20140531082536/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/ It looks like it's from the last day the forums were up at TWoP.

[Mick Lady]

Thanks Dot! I'm going to go play around the site now, I wasn't sure if that would work. Didn't try myself, being the idiot I am. Now I feel like a kid in a candy store!

 

See ya in Supernatural Dot!

[Fable]

On 5/11/2015 at 8:10 PM, DittyDotDot said:

 

Welcome to the bizarre, cleo! Here's a link to the Wayback Machine archive for the TWoP Bates Motel thread...enjoy! https://web.archive.org/web/20140329232317/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3217705-bates-motel-like-one-of-his-stuffed-birds/

 

I know this is old, but I just discovered it as I was feeling nostalgic and looking back (this being the last season and all), so thanks for the memories, and the link.  

[hoodooznoodooz]

What the what?!? The only reason I know about this series is because my son and I were watching The Spiderwick Chronicles, and we wanted to confirm that Freddie Highmore was also in Arthur and the Invisibles, which has a similar premise. And there on his imdb page, I see that he's the young Norman Bates.

Did A&E promote this at all? It's fantastic! Vera Farmiga is amazing. There was a NYTimes magazine article about her many years ago, predicting that she would be the next brilliant actress with whom directors would be begging to work. I had only seen her in a few projects since then. She is so talented. 

I am thrilled that I have so many seasons to watch. 

It's interesting that they chose to set it in the present day. Yet Norma wears some clothing that could be from long ago. 

I love the credits, with some letters appearing as neon signage. 

Edited October 18, 2017 by hoodooznoodooz

[Pink-n-Green]

On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2015 at 8:10 PM, DittyDotDot said:

Welcome to the bizarre, cleo! Here's a link to the Wayback Machine archive for the TWoP Bates Motel thread...enjoy! https://web.archive.org/web/20140329232317/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3217705-bates-motel-like-one-of-his-stuffed-birds/

Dittydotdot, THANK YOU!!!!!!!  Even though you posted this thread over two years ago, I'm a recent newbie viewer of Bates Motel and was mourning the fact that TWOP was gone with the wind.  I came to this thread hoping to find someone, anyone to interact with and it led me to your link.  I hope you still post on PTv because THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!

[Virtual]

On October 15, 2017 at 7:23 PM, hoodooznoodooz said:

What the what?!? The only reason I know about this series is because my son and I were watching The Spiderwick Chronicles, and we wanted to confirm that Freddie Highmore was also in Arthur and the Invisibles, which has a similar premise. And there on his imdb page, I see that he's the young Norman Bates.

Did A&E promote this at all? It's fantastic! Vera Farmiga is amazing. There was a NYTimes magazine article about her many years ago, predicting that she would be the next brilliant actress with whom directors would be begging to work. I had only seen her a few projects since then. She is so talented. 

I am thrilled that I have so many seasons to watch. 

It's interesting that they chose to set it in the present day. Yet Norma wears some clothing that could be from long ago. 

I love the credits, with some letters appearing as neon signage. 

It can be kind of hard to discover a hidden gem like this show without stumbling on it or hearing from someone else.  A&E did promote some before each season, but not much else other than that. I myself found out about this show from IMDb as well, when looking up something else completely.

[hoodooznoodooz]

Oh, my goodness. Episode 4, I think: That scene in the Jeep, during which Ethan lends Dylan $5000, so that he can rent an apartment with Norman. I thought it was so sweet and moving. They had really bonded. I rarely react audibly when I watch TV or movies alone, but I actually gasped, "Oh, no!" when the guy who owed Ethan money shot him. And I have no idea where Dylan stashed the money, per Ethan's instructions, when the guy who owed Ethan money first approached the Jeep, but I loved that Dylan was so focused on getting Ethan into the emergency room, he left the door of the Jeep open-- he wasn't thinking about the money. 

I like the actor who plays Dylan, but sometimes he reminds me of Ben Stiller, which is distracting.

[Pink-n-Green]

On ‎10‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 8:23 PM, hoodooznoodooz said:

What the what?!? The only reason I know about this series is because my son and I were watching The Spiderwick Chronicles, and we wanted to confirm that Freddie Highmore was also in Arthur and the Invisibles, which has a similar premise. And there on his imdb page, I see that he's the young Norman Bates.

Did A&E promote this at all? It's fantastic! Vera Farmiga is amazing. There was a NYTimes magazine article about her many years ago, predicting that she would be the next brilliant actress with whom directors would be begging to work. I had only seen her in a few projects since then. She is so talented. 

I am thrilled that I have so many seasons to watch. 

It's interesting that they chose to set it in the present day. Yet Norma wears some clothing that could be from long ago. 

I love the credits, with some letters appearing as neon signage. 

Did you know that Vera's younger sister Taissa Farmiga is also an actress?  She's been on a couple of "American Horror Story" seasons.  I think talent must run in that family!

I know what you mean about being thrilled to have so many seasons to watch!  I'm actually glad I didn't know about this show when it was on prime time because I'd have had to spread out my watching over a couple of years and that would be no fun for me!  My daughter and I tracked down Bates Hotel on Netflix because we both love The Good Doctor and, hey, Freddie was on another show, so let's check it out.  The hard thing is that she lives an hour and a half away and made me swear not to watch it without her so I have to wait until the weekends.  I am, however, remaining strong.  So far!

[hoodooznoodooz]

4 minutes ago, Pink-n-Green said:

Did you know that Vera's younger sister Taissa Farmiga is also an actress?  She's been on a couple of "American Horror Story" seasons.  I think talent must run in that family!

I know what you mean about being thrilled to have so many seasons to watch!  I'm actually glad I didn't know about this show when it was on prime time because I'd have had to spread out my watching over a couple of years and that would be no fun for me!  My daughter and I tracked down Bates Hotel on Netflix because we both love The Good Doctor and, hey, Freddie was on another show, so let's check it out.  The hard thing is that she lives an hour and a half away and made me swear not to watch it without her so I have to wait until the weekends.  I am, however, remaining strong.  So far!

You are a good parent, to wait to watch with your daughter!

Thanks for the tip; I am going to try to watch Taissa Farmiga on "American Horror Story."

[Pink-n-Green]

12 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

You are a good parent, to wait to watch with your daughter!

Thanks for the tip; I am going to try to watch Taissa Farmiga on "American Horror Story."

She is on the first season, "Murder House" and she's also in the "Coven" series.

[hoodooznoodooz]

On 10/19/2017 at 11:00 AM, Pink-n-Green said:

She is on the first season, "Murder House" and she's also in the "Coven" series.

Thank you very much!

Which episode are you on of Bates Motel? I am watching the episode in which Bradley discovers letters from someone to her dad. 

[Pink-n-Green]

19 hours ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

Thank you very much!

Which episode are you on of Bates Motel? I am watching the episode in which Bradley discovers letters from someone to her dad. 

I just finished, I believe, episode 6.  The one where the mysterious dude stays in Room 9.  Unfortunately, I have to wait until Friday to continue because my daughter went back to her apartment last night!  Hey, what do you think about Bradley?  She seems to get a lot of hate from posters on here but I don't think she's too bad.

[hoodooznoodooz]

13 hours ago, Pink-n-Green said:

I just finished, I believe, episode 6.  The one where the mysterious dude stays in Room 9.  Unfortunately, I have to wait until Friday to continue because my daughter went back to her apartment last night!  Hey, what do you think about Bradley?  She seems to get a lot of hate from posters on here but I don't think she's too bad.

Your daughter needs to extend her visits with you!

I thought Bradley was very sweet to Norman in the first few episodes. But I am annoyed by something she does in an episode that I don't think you have watched yet. 

[Virtual]

Usually in TV shows, I don't like characters like Bradley (her first impression to me was that she was just looking for a good time and we find out she had a boyfriend even though she was flirting with Norman), but something about her; probably having more depth than I originally predicted she would have, kind of endeared me to her a bit. 

It was definitely a shame to lose Ethan so early in the show.  I feel he and Dylan would have worked very well together. It took Dylan a while to mesh with Remo, but eventually they got to where they were working well together (I do apologize to those who haven't seen S2 yet, that's all I'm gonna say to avoid spoilers).

[hoodooznoodooz]

Bradley definitely had more depth than they usually allow the pretty, popular, wealthy high school student. 

I would have liked to know more about her relationship with her dad. I don't want to spoil anything for Pink-n-Green:

 

Spoiler

Were she and her father THAT close, that his death devastated her to the point that she became suicidal and then killed Gil? 

Also, how does Norman have so much cash hidden from Norma (the cash he gave to Bradley)?

[Virtual]

I myself wondered that when I first saw Season 1 about Bradley and her relationship with her dad, because she didn't seem to be close with her mom at all. Bradley shared a pop-up toy (whatever she wanted Dylan to get from her dad's old office) memory with her dad and we see a picture of Bradley as a little girl with her dad when Dylan is in the office. I think it's safe to assume that they were close.

But Bradley seemed fine and didn't want to take her own life, until she found out that he had an affair. I think she was devastated that her dad wasn't such the good guy she thought he was.

[hoodooznoodooz]

One thing that jumps out at me is, in the first episode, Norman calls out, "Mom! Mom!" many times when he is panicked about his dad, and then calls her "Mom" a few times. In episode two, I think he only calls her "Mom" once, and then from then on, it's "Mother" and only "Mother."

[Annber03]

*Pokes head in*

Hello, all! Been doing a rewatch of this series on DVD recently (I hadn't seen the first couple seasons of the show since they originally aired, so watching them again here was quite the refresher course for me), and wanted to come and read/add to the conversation about the show here. So I might be reaching back to a few old comments here along the way :p.

On 10/15/2017 at 7:23 PM, hoodooznoodooz said:

Did A&E promote this at all? It's fantastic! Vera Farmiga is amazing. There was a NYTimes magazine article about her many years ago, predicting that she would be the next brilliant actress with whom directors would be begging to work. I had only seen her in a few projects since then. She is so talented. 

 

I certainly remember a lot of promotion for the show back when it premiered. I'd just started getting into "Criminal Minds" back in 2013, and anytime I'd catch reruns of that show on A&E, I kept seeing lots and LOTS of promos for this show on there. That's how I first heard about the series at all, and the promotion is what made me decide to give it a look to begin with. Thank goodness I did. 

This show was the first time I'd ever seen Vera Farmiga, and she won me over right from the get-go. I loved how she played Norma, I loved how she could capture the complexity of the character, and how she could be sympathetic, manipulative, take charge, sexy, and so on, and often times all at the same time. I need to check out more of her work in general. 

(Also, I still keep thinking even now that Farmiga looks so much like she could be related to Felicity Huffman. The similarity also makes me feel like I totally could see Norma Bates and Huffman's character from "Desperate Housewives", Lynette Scavo, hanging out at a bar, sharing drinks and swapping war stories about how rough their lives are.)

Quote

I love the credits, with some letters appearing as neon signage. 

I always liked the opening credits, too. Simple and yet appropriately eerie. That's one thing I always appreciated about this show-their creepiness was generally more subtle in nature much of the time, so that when the dramatic, out there, occasionally bloody moments did come, the shock was well-earned and packed the right punch. 

Re: Bradley, I didn't mind her, myself. She seemed like your typical teenage girl, struggling to find her own place in the world, and I could feel for her with the stuff she went through. I liked the way she and Norman genuinely did manage to bond over the tragedy in their lives, and I liked how the show allowed us to sympathize with Norman over Bradley rejecting him...only to turn around and, when we saw hints of THAT Norman pop out when he would get angry with her, also then go, "...yeah, no, Bradley, you definitely made the right move distancing yourself from him." The show, and Highmore, did really well at balancing our sympathy for Norman with our understanding that something was definitely "off" about him, and that made it easier to sympathize with the characters who were both drawn to and wary of him as well. 

Other thoughts:

-It's kind of weirdly fun to see the first couple episodes again and realize just how quickly the five main characters we'd ultimately wind up following throughout the series all met each other. It's also bittersweet, too, though, because you're reminded what's coming for all of them, for better and worse, by the end of the series' run, and it's hard not to be all, "...aw..." as a result. 

-I liked the genuine friendship Emma and Norman built this season, and the interaction between Emma and Norma as well-they had some really interesting scenes and moments together. And Emma playing town sleuth is fun, too :D. 

-Norman telling Dylan about his mom being attacked in "Trust Me" was a genuinely heartbreaking scene. His deep protectiveness towards her is probably at its most sincere thus far here, I think. I also like seeing how Norman and Dylan walk that line of tension and brotherly bonding throughout the season. 

I do agree with the comments here about the drug and sex trade storylines on their own being kinda "eh", but I do like how they help add to the whole "this town is strange and creepy and so is everyone in it" feel of the series :p. 

So, yeah. There be my main thoughts on season 1. Will do season 2 sometime soon here. 

Edited April 9, 2018 by Annber03

[Fable]

I received the box set as a Christmas gift, and I have been slowly savoring it over again.  I love the other-worldly vibe early on, even though I agree the drug and sex trade stories weren’t all that interesting, and in the hands of lesser actors, it may have dragged things down a bit.  However, the cast was captivating and whatever was lacking story-wise was made up for by virtue of the characters bringing so much to the table.   

All seasons were enjoyable, and I won’t get too far ahead of myself since this is the S1 thread, but I felt by S3 the show was firing on all cylinders.  It is so rare to see a show that keeps on getting better and better with time, but for me, this one definitely did just that.  It is so fascinating to watch the progression of these characters throughout the seasons. 

[piequinn35]

On ‎2017‎-‎10‎-‎31 at 7:30 AM, hoodooznoodooz said:

Bradley definitely had more depth than they usually allow the pretty, popular, wealthy high school student. 

I would have liked to know more about her relationship with her dad. I don't want to spoil anything for Pink-n-Green:

 

  Hide contents

Were she and her father THAT close, that his death devastated her to the point that she became suicidal and then killed Gil? 

Also, how does Norman have so much cash hidden from Norma (the cash he gave to Bradley)?

 

I think he got it from Dylan's room, if Dylan knew I don't know?