4. The Town
In producing a prequel (or whatever they want to call it) to
Psycho, it would be very easy to just make a by the numbers origin story for Norman Bates. But in a very smart move, show runners Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin have added a new element that was never present in any of the original films; that of a small town and its ugly secrets. Between the gigantic marijuana plantation owned by rich businessmen and the Asian sex trafficking ring, along with all the unnervingly creepy townsfolk, White Pine Bay begins to feel almost as dangerous and surreal as Twin Peaks. In fact, the influence of that earlier show is evident all over
Bates Motel, and it works brilliantly. Part of the strength of the setting is how perfectly the town mirrors Norman himself. Its an unassuming, quiet seeming place with a very dark, very ugly underbelly. The town manages to be both a powerful metaphor AND a compelling part of the overall story arc, ensuring that the subplots based around it never feel out of place or like a waste of time. Which leads me to