Bates Motel

"Bates Motel" is a contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film "Psycho," and gives a portrayal of how Norman Bates' (Freddie Highmore) psyche unravels through his teenage years. Fans discover the dark, twisted backstory of Norman Bates and how deeply intricate his relationship with his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), truly is.

- Written by A&E Television Networks

The show starts out as Norman Bates being portrayed as a regular young man. As the show goes on, Norma and Norman's relationship gives us insight to how Norman came to be the way he is. An intricate back story to Norma's life is revealed and Norman's pshyche slowly starts to unravel, long before the events way down in the fruit cellar. - IMDB

'Bates Motel' is a new US television series. The first season premiered on March 18th, 2013 and ran for ten hour-length episodes. The series stars Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates and Freddie Highmore as her son, Norman Bates.

While the set is a perfect match for the original from the movie 'Psycho', including the iconic house, the series is set in the present, making it more of a re-imagining than an actual prequel. The show wastes no time in raising the tension level of the story. Within the first episode the Bates are confronted by the former owner who is clearly upset over the loss of his family property. We also learn fairly quickly that White Pines Bay is not your typical small town, in that it has more than its fair share of strange goings on. 

The series has recieved a rating of 8.2 out of 10 from IMDB members with over 44,000 votes cast. I have currently watched both season one and two and have made a start to season three. The show is sickening at times but keeps you shocked and wanting more! It is a must watch if you are into dark dramas. 

The show can be found on Netflix, but if you prefer to own the DVD the full box-set can be bought via Amazon for around £12 -  You can get the Box-Set Here - However if you are sad and lack a social life like me you should be able to blast all the episodes in a few days so I would advise you just to use Netflix for the price of £6.99 a month - You can sign up here - or if you have never used Netflix before you can sign up for a free months trial!

The next program I will plan on discussing is "Suits" an American legal drama created and written by Aaron Korsh. The show airs on the USA Network from its debut on June 23, 2011, which originally aired a 90 minute pilot. The show tells the story of Mike Ross, who works as a law associate for Harvey Spencer despite never actually attending law school. The show focuses on Harvey and Mike managing to close cases whilst maintaining Mike's secret....

Any feedback on my blog would be great and would ideally add some form of extra credit or something along those lines to my university project. So feel free to leave a comment, positive or not any feedback will be taken on board :) thanks, Scott.