The Horror and Sci-Fi Universe

If Psycho, then Bates Motel

You ever watched the classic 1960 horror film, Psycho? Well, if you have, and if you liked it, then you would probably love Bates Motel. It revolves around the lives of Norman and Norma Bates, a bizarre mother-son duo that are lovable as well as creepy. It dives into what led Norman to become the killer he is in Psycho, as well as going past that to its own ending of the story. If you like psychological horror or thrillers, then this is for you.

It has:

Murders ✔

Mysteries✔

Romance ✔

Character-building ✔

World-building ✔

Unapologetic plot lines ✔

Gut-wrenching scenes ✔

What else could you need in a TV show? Norman may kill people on occasion, but he is not hard to root for either. By the end of the series, you want to see him succeed. You want to see him get better.

But that’s not always the case.

If Bates Motel, then Hannibal

Ah, yes, Hannibal. Another psychological horror based upon a movie(or book). It is fantastically horrific, and, despite how much horror I watch, it managed to shock even me at least once per episode. If you’ve seen the movies or read the books, it is quite similar to those, although not exactly the same. Hannibal Lecter is still the star of the show, continuing with his Hannibal-antics.

However, there is no Clarice. The main character of this series is Will Graham, a gifted criminal profiler in the FBI. He was a professor for the FBI, but gets pulled in by Jack Crawford, the head of their unit, to help solve cases. (And repulled in...several times.)

Will can make himself think like a serial killer. That’s what makes him so useful. Despite his abilities, he forms an unlikely partnership with serial killer Hannibal Lecter, who is his psychiatrist. Hannibal often assists the FBI in their cases as well.

The two of them work quite well together, despite Hannibal’s secret killing and cannibalism of people behind closed doors. They solve cases left and right, forming a bond with one another. However, the mental challenges of making one’s self think and feel like these prolific serial killers wears Will down over the series.

And Hannibal is always there to push him further.

If Stranger Things, then Westworld

I’m sure many of you have seen Stranger Things. And I’m also sure many of you loved it. For those who didn’t, I’m sorry for your loss. For those who did, I have a treat for you: Westworld. It is similar to Stranger Things in that it is a Sci-Fi show with strong characters, but it is very different as well. If you like shows that really make you think, then this is a good show for you.

Imagine that you have lived on a farm your entire life. You were born there, raised there, went to school there, met a partner there, and so on.

Then imagine that someone shows up, stabs your parents, and takes away your partner to torture, rape, or do whatever they please, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Yeah. Horrifying. That is the lives of many characters in Westworld. Westworld is a place in the TV show’s universe where people can come inside, do whatever they want to the people residing there, and they cannot be injured and won't face any repercussions. The ones who reside there are robots made to look, think, and feel just like people. They have backstories, memories, loved ones, and so on. They are simply living their lives until they get brutally murdered by a guest. That’s when they get taken into the real universe, where they are fixed and have their memories reset, so they remember nothing that happened to them. Then they go back into Westworld to do it all over again.

This is all okay, of course, because they’re not really humans. They were made. Programmed in a lab, not born from a woman’s belly. They have wiring on the inside, not organs.

In spite of that, these robots feel things. They experience emotions just like everyone else. With that comes the question of whether something that is made can be alive. They are technically robots...but aren’t they human, too?