Shows that feel likeBates Motel (2013–2017)
If you loved Bates Motel, the closest series we have are Scream: The TV Series (2015), Mare of Easttown (2021) and Ratched (2020). All three share Bates Motel's contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Alienist (2018).
If Bates Motel hit the spot, these will too
A horror-movie legacy reworked into serialized small-town murder
The difference: Teen slasher plotting — body count over psychology
A small town where family damage and crime feed each other
The difference: One tight, finished season — the detective's view, not the killer's
A screen villain given a lurid, stylish origin story
The difference: Ryan Murphy excess — style swallows the character work
Getting inside a killer's psychology, step by unsettling step
The difference: A period procedural — you hunt the monster, never live with him
Common ground: serial killer
A gruesome crime unraveling a community's sense of what's possible
The difference: Supernatural dread creeps in — and it's far slower and grimmer
A film premise given room to breathe as slow-burn television
The difference: High-concept dystopia — no intimate character study at its core
Sympathy for people sliding into crimes they can't take back
The difference: A breathless twist machine — soapy where Bates is patient
Broken people and crime handled with unexpected patience and care
The difference: A case-of-the-week procedural — the reset comes every episode
A murder's ripples through families traced with grim deliberation
The difference: Rain-soaked investigation only — the killer stays a question mark
Fascinated by what faces hide and how deception actually works
The difference: An upbeat network procedural — nothing curdles or festers
The same mix in both: stillness, then grit
In the mood for more contemplative?
all contemplative shows →The best-reviewed series that share Bates Motel’s defining feeling.
