the mother of horror....BATES MOTEL

At this point who hasn't seen the movie "Psycho" (1960)? A classic from the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. And for those who already forgot about it or happen that haven't seen it yet, it's a story based on a psychopath named Norman Bates, who runs a Motel and when a pretty girl checks in, can't control but to spy on her and if his mother comes around, she might end dead. As frightening as it was watching that iconic shower scene, the story left so much to explore, why is he so obsessed with his mom? Has he always been like that? How come he gets away with murder? And moving forward to this new golden era for tv, when fresh ideas start to running out when so many networks are working on demand for new options, comes to the point of translating popular movies into tv shows (things got inverse from what used to be when movies used to do the same with series). So now we get 5 seasons of one of the most intriguing yet damaged shows in tv now. It's a show that is so good that is scary. But what makes it that good? Well let's say that mostly because more than focusing on the murders and the suspense, its main focus it's on the relationship between the characters, specially Norman Bates and his mom Norma Bates, which will expose why he becomes the man that we knew at the movie, a psycho, and maybe we was always one or maybe his mother did it? Whatever the answer is, that bound of mother and son has a special yet fragile line that makes us the person we are when we grew up  .

 When we think about our moms, it all comes to love, tenderness, protection, but there is also a side that just a few times we realized: we have more of them in us that we possible imagine.  And for two simple reasons: genes and education. The first we can't do anything about it, it comes with our ADN, even it's mixed like a cocktail with our dads and the rest of the family, we have something from our moms in us. For some, they get all the nice things, sense of humor, intelligence, adventurous spirit, compassion, etc, but for others the not so good things, like addictions, bad temper, disorders, genetic diseases, insecurities. Or we get a mix of both. But the second comes as part of being raised by another human that has the better intentions to give us the best but as human as she is, will make mistakes and in that learning process will drop some baggage on us that will be our task to get over it. And we can see it or notice when it's our turn to become parents and we realize that we are doing the same exact things we used to hate from our parents, but at the end it's the only way we know so it's h back in our minds as the right to do even it's not as right as we thought. Or when getting old, our friends or partners tell us how alike we are to our parents.

This is exactly the plot of the show. We meet Norma and Norman bates just when her husband is laying on the floor, dead from what seems was an accident after the couple were fighting, pushing the two of them to move away and start a new life as she over protects her son: Norman. He seems like a nice teenager. Always willing to help his mom, whom by the day, it's a very insecure and unstable person. Coming from a poor abusive family, she has created this world for her and her son that if someone threats to destroy it or figure out the reality of it, she will run away or push them away. But her instability to keep it together and change of mood, will reflect soon in her son, while he tries to move along high school and issues teenagers go through at that age, unfortunately for him, things will go extreme once he starts getting images of his mom telling to do stuff that otherwise he wouldn't be able and soon he will be find himself in the middle of a lot of chaos and trouble. Lucky for him, his older brother, Dylan, will show up to save the day. We didn't know about his existence, but he is Norma's first son, and the fact that he comes from an act of violence is why she ran away from him too. But he had found her and asking for help until he realizes is better to stay away from her but before that ants to take his brother with him because know how bad influence is for him to stay closer to his mom and the damage she is causing to him.

But she has an excuse for that behavior, she is insecure and has suffered a lot, that's why she tries to protect her son, and also he's the only one she can actually trust not realizing that putting all her emotions on him, as if he was her partner or best friend is not the best way to be a parent or become a role model, specially when she notices that Norman has some psychological issues, but even she's aware of that, she's too afraid of losing him that won't expose him for treatment or help, making things just worse and worse. The mix of both personalities and characters leaves up to enough drama, suspense and chaos to become anyone crazy, but at the same time it becomes addictive to watch them go through all these craziness just making you root for them as if they could have a happy ending knowing there's not a chance for them after all this, because they seem like nice people, like any of your neighbors. They want to be happy, they are looking for love and acceptance, to fit in and make new friends, but at the same time they have a lot baggage and are damage already. What they need is help but every time someone offers them an option, ends bad or something goes south, pushing them to the dark side every single time they taste a bit of happiness, like if they were doomed already.

For that reason, this mother's day, it's the perfect day to start a new show that not only will make you cheer and cry but keep you on the edge of your seat realizing how tough and important being a parent is, specially a single one, and because mothers know their kids like no one else, you might realize you might also know her better when you notice how similar you can be. But also is important to use this excuse to point the fact that parenting is no experimenting. Whatever you choose to do to raise your child, will define the man or women they will become in the future and even we are all humans and mistakes are meant to be made and stuff will happen because no one was born knowing how to do this, is for your best and the best of your family to prepared yourself to the task. Accepting and acknowledging your flaws will make you stronger before you pass them to the kids. Being a mom is a natures gift but also a curse because you have someone's life and future in your hands and you are molding that person in one direction and it's your choice which one will be,, and as scary as to be chased by a psycho it can be having one at home making your life miserable without noticing it, all in the name of love. But in case you need a break of that you can always check in at the "BATES MOTEL" (2013-current).