Bates Motel is freaking fantastic

Recently finished the series in 4 weekends of bingeing. Complex, extremly interesting characters. No good guys and bad guys here. The characters CONSTANTLY develop and devolve, go through moods, are unpredictable. I found myself numerous times very impressed with the strong sense of realism in the character writing, their depth, and their dialog itself. On point. Great great writing and perfectly cast and perfectly acted. New facet of characters' psyches or new facts about their past are revealed quite often. The debate over who they are and who they will be is enough on its own to keep you engaged.

But it all serves a purpose too. The mystery in the show isn't just there for mystery's sake. It comes into play and advances the plot. The plot that revolves around a bunch of murder, rape, abuse, incest, drug dealing, organized crime, and more. It moves along at a very steady clip. "Holy frick!" moments all the time. Bates Motel could squeeze 2 seasons worth of Walking Dead plot advancement into one episode. The show is only 5 seasons of 10 episodes each. Wasn't cancelled or stretched too thin, they told the exact story they wanted to tell. Zero filler episodes. Every episode tells its own cogent story and advances the main story. Loose ends were resolved in natural time, not left dangling nor hastily patched together in the final season.

Treats the source material appropriately. It is not just a spinoff drama set against a Psycho backdrop. It tells the same story in a different way. What it does is expound on the most intriguing themes and backstories from Psycho while still advancing the main story of the original, with details changed.

I recommend this one. Not just a very good show, but a very impressive show. One of the most well made shows I've seen