Bypass this hotel This has landed on the BBC's digital service this year. The trailers looked quite good. And I'd seen the lead (Highmore) In another drama, so was looking forward to this.
Nothing really happens. Norman and Norma are the main characters, but they throw in a few side characters like Norman's step brother, his uncle, a sheriff, and a few other incidentals.
Norman starts of likeable, but his character and act gets tiresome. Most of the characters are pretty one dimensional, but for Norma, who grows on you. She's manipulative and protective, but not in the most overbearing way. It's implied, and some of the detail in the relationship between Mother and Son is the best part of the show.
However there isn't much to like here. The side stories are really bland. The writers have the device of a hotel, so could if they'd wanted to, ran with visitor stories and made good mini-episodes with the family as a backdrop.
It's an ambitious undertaking. And there are some nice little nods to the original, but I don't think it really adds anything. I found it pretty nauseating but oddly mundanely comforting in its brainlessness. It's pretty vacuous, vacant, and boring.
A series like Dexter presents a likeable serial killer, and you can swallow the bitter pill of it knowing that the victims are baddies - it also made me laugh. My personal brain wants to give Norman a get out of jail card - given justifiable circumstance or appropriate foes or nasties. This isn't a marathon murder fest with Norman at least, ironically more violence happens in the town on the periphery with ridiculous power corruption sub-plots.
Norman's taxidermy is underrated, I look more corpse than Norma most days. His hallucinations may have worked better had they been implied. Stylistically it has its moments. There's an attempt at retelling some of the first movie, and it only highlights how good the original was. Oregon as a backdrop looks nice - and that makes for some nice escapism. Norman might not be the best advert for their tourist industry.
You might be better watching the fifth season first and then starting afresh for the other four if you'd want to. The series adds little to the original, and in the end just drags. Highmore can't hold an entire series alone - the first episode of the fifth season is enough. Chick and Romero and other side characters could have been more arresting given their own dedicated good episodes. The writers do try this a little bit, but it's very watered down. And in the end the series doesn't have many stand out moments, or leave me with any want for replay. So for me sadly a missed opportunity and a miss unless you fall down with the flu.
Bradley Martin transfixed me, much like she put a spell on Norman. And I don't know why as her character and story was very thin! Cast did a good job with the source material, most of them were wasted here. Give it a miss.