This 5-Part Psychological Thriller Pulled Off What Most Horror Prequels Couldn’t

Image Via A&E Published Oct 2, 2026, 4:07 PM EDT Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd | Metacritic Carolyn Jenkins is a voracious consumer of film and television. She graduated from Long Island University with an MFA in Screenwriting and Producing where she learned the art of character, plot, and structure. The best teacher is absorbing media and she spends her time reading about different worlds from teen angst to the universe of Stephen King. Sign in to your Collider account In the wild, wild west that was once network television, one series outshone all other prequels. On A&E, co-creator of Lost, Carlton Cuse, brought his expertise to the world of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. In 2013, Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore starred in the wonderfully weird series, Bates Motel. For five seasons, the horror-thriller show walked the audience through the early years of the infamous Norman Bates as he lives with his erratic mother in the titular motel they run together. Part teen drama and part crime series, Bates Motel doesn't disappoint as Norman approaches adolescence amid chaos. After the untimely death of his father, he and his mother Norma flee to the Pacific Northwest to open a motel. Trouble naturally follows the Bates family, and it isn’t just because of Norman’s questionable mental stability. As the teenager experiences love and loss, he comes to understand that his mother may be just as disturbed as he is. Bates Motel stands on its own as a valid crime story that requires no prior knowledge to impress audiences. ‘Bates Motel’ Throws Continuity Out the Window Bates Motel is a rarity in the common trend of prequel series that try to capitalize on original IP. From House of the Dragon to NCIS, shows have shown many narratives that use the popularity of certain characters to draw in new viewers. These series typically have to bend over backwards to ensure the continuity stays intact, but Bates Motel doesn’t have that problem. Though Psycho premiered in 1960, the prequel series makes no effort to make a period-accurate representation of Norman Bates. Norman’s youth takes place in contemporary times where he has access to technologies like smartphones and online booking. Bates Motel is more of a reimagining of Norman’s life than anything else, which makes it all the more brilliant. The crime series invents unique lore that is alternative to the suspenseful thriller that is Psycho. This allows it to stand apart from Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece. Bates Motel isn’t constrained by continuity; it is liberated by it. It adds heavy winks at the audience but is different enough to create legitimate plot twists that are hard to forget. Instead of trying to catch the series making a canonical mistake, viewers are just excited to see what happens next. House of the Dragon may be one of the best fantasy shows of the 2020s, but it is held to an impossible standard. It has to measure up to Game of Thrones, as well as the book it's based on. Conversely, Bates Motel has fun with the differences in this continuity. It doesn’t just hint at the incestuous relationship between Nora and her son – it shouts it from the rooftops. Its place on A&E gave the series immense leeway to get away with such disturbing plot points, and it never let audiences down. Bates Motel catches up to the timeline of Psycho and still doesn’t feel ruled by it. It goes off the beaten path to deliver an ending that is heart-wrenching as well as inevitable. This network television series was one in a million and certainly wouldn’t come about in the time of streaming. Release Date 2013 - 2017-00-00 Showrunner Carlton Cuse Directors Carlton Cuse