The next show I would like to avert your eyes to is A&E’s Bates Motel. Written as a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 genre-defying film, Psycho, Bates Motel follows the early life of Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother Norma (Vera Farmiga) as they attempt to start a new life in a small town after buying a motel.

The show is a contemporary prequel to the 1960 film, meaning that it is the same characters and story, but it’s set in our present day. The makers do a really good job of paying homage to the original time though, a lot of the cars and furniture look like they have been pulled straight from the 60’s, and the motel and house that overlooks it is just as creepy in the show as it was in the original film.

The cast to the show is superb, Highmore, who many of us would know as a child star from The Spiderwick Chronicles and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, plays the psychotic and creepy Norman with such talent. Highmore is easily my favorite part of the show, just simply because I have never seen a role on TV played so convincingly, and his time on screen aside Farmiga (The Departed) is jaw dropping. Other stars in the show include Nestor Carbonell (The Dark Knight Trilogy), Max Thieriot (House at the End of the Street), Olivia Cooke and Nicola Peltz, who is the new leading lady of the upcoming Transformers: Age of Extinction.

The writing to the show is so intriguing, you never know what is going to happen next, and when you think you do, you are often wrong. It is this exact reason that I watched the whole season one on Netflix back to back on one of my sick days, and the exact same reason I am waiting on season two to finish so I can also watch them back to back.

I highly recommend the show to fans of thrillers, horrors or anyone looking for a new mystery show. After Breaking Bad, I feel like it is one of the best dramas to air on TV. You can check out the whole first season on Netflix right now.