Past the Breakers | Watching Bates Motel | Jacob Clifton

Bates Motel is the most surprising, thrilling and subversive retelling of the mythic story of Oedipus since the original. Taking hints from noir, the classic films and novel, and other pulp writers and poets associated with the Hitchcock canon, A&E’s modern classic is a treasure trove of chills and—most surprisingly of all—the strongest and most compassionate exploration of the American family in the last decade.

A show so loving toward its characters, so richly detailed and so explosive in its energy, rage and kindness deserves appreciation no less dramatic. PAST THE BREAKERS is a humorous and personal account of that show’s first year, an indispensable guide to its larger themes and references, and above all a tribute to its smart, dark beauty.