A prequel to the Friday the 13th franchise, Crystal Lake follows single mother Pam Voorhees, who has been unable to shake her grief after her young, sickly son Jason tragically drowned in the town lake almost a year before.
I have long been a die-hard FRIDAY THE 13th fan. Growing up in Dublin, Ireland, I spent my childhood and teen years watching horror films on VHS. Ireland’s age-rating system meant that a movie rated R in the United States often received an 18 certificate, restricting cinema admission to viewers over 18. As a result, my first FRIDAY THE 13th cinema-going experience didn’t happen until 1986 with “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives,” which was a great time, I might add. So all of my previous FRIDAY-watching experiences were on VHS. I was never a big fan of the first movie, partly because Jason wasn’t the killer—his mother, Pamela Voorhees, was. The first film is also much more deliberate and slow-paced compared to some of the faster, high-kill-count sequels. Not that I mind slower-paced movies; I just missed Jason’s absence as the main killer.
Many fans have often considered Pamela Voorhees a one-dimensional character, her core motivation defined by a single concept—a scorned, vengeful mother—with no alternative goals, hobbies, or narrative layers beyond stopping the camp from reopening. I agree, and I am glad the producers of “Crystal Lake” didn’t make Jason the star, giving his mother the much-needed character development and personal history she deserves. And Linda Cardellini rises to the occasion with a fractured, deeply moving performance.
“Crystal Lake” takes place in 1972, exactly eight years before the events of the original 1980 “Friday the 13th” film. Pamela Voorhees (Linda Cardellini) works as a cook at Camp Crystal Lake. She has an 11-year-old son, Jason (Callum Vinson), who was born with severe facial disfigurements and hydrocephalus (an abnormally large head), giving him a lopsided, frightening appearance. While Pam tries to give Jason a normal life, other people, especially children, keep mocking and jeering him every chance they get. When several bullies throw a ball into the lake, Jason attempts to impress his friend Grace (Gwendolyn Sundstrom) by retrieving it. Although he cannot swim, he ventures into deep water. He soon panics and sinks beneath the surface. Grace starts screaming, and Pamela hears the commotion. By the time she reaches the lake and realizes what has happened, it is too late. Jason has drowned.
The camp remains closed for a year out of respect for the tragedy, but then reopens as the owners, the Christy family, need the money to keep it operating. Pam tries to move past the horror of that fateful day but finds it increasingly hard, as he was her only child. She becomes friends with Levon (William Catlett), the town’s sheriff, but things get awkward between them as she can’t shake her grief. When two men, claiming to be from the New Jersey State Police, turn up at her door unannounced, claiming that they found Jason’s body and start digging into her past, it sets into motion a disturbing chain of events that changes Pamela, forcing her to question everybody in her life, wondering if they are who they say they are, and if someone else will be coming for her.
The show delivers a backstory for Pamela and, by extension, Jason, that might divide fans. The series gives context for both characters while establishing details that pay off later in the film franchise.
The production also captures the 1970s remarkably well, with time-accurate clothes, music, and lingo. The show was also filmed in the real-life town of Blairstown, New Jersey (also the original filming location for the first “Friday the 13th” movie), using locations like Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, the real camp used to portray Camp Crystal Lake, giving the show a strong sense of continuity as it moves toward the events of the first film.
I don’t know if there will be a second season of “Crystal Lake,” but as it stands, when the show concludes, it leaves the possibility of more seasons open, but it also serves as a satisfying conclusion in its own right, having given Pamela and Jason the much-needed histories they deserved so that when you sit down to watch the film series, starting with part one, it gives you a whole new perspective.
Cardellini’s performance is the heart of the show. Her love for Jason is evident throughout, even after his passing, so much so that when you see her snap in the original “Friday the 13th,” her emotional collapse is far easier to understand. While adult Jason never speaks in the movies, Callum Vinson plays young Jason in the show, and he speaks like any normal kid. He has typical childhood fears of being mocked and jeered, and doesn’t want to go back to camp, but because Pamela is the camp’s cook, he has little choice. She watches him closely whenever she can, while Grace looks after him when Pamela is occupied, and is devastated by Jason’s death. Like Ripley and Newt in “Aliens,” Pam and Grace share a surrogate mother-daughter bond, mixed with a mutual survival partnership after Grace’s mother dies early on in the show. One of the series’ highlights is watching Pamela’s maternal instincts take over as she tries to protect her, particularly after a group of young hippies arrives at the camp.
Legendary original “Friday the 13th” composer Harry Manfredini returns to create brand-new original music for the opening title sequence. He wrote a new piece specifically for the series’ opening titles, paying tribute to the classic 1980 film’s sound and vibe. The first episode features the words “Crystal Lake” bursting through shattered glass in the iconic font. Manfredini’s famous vocal/synthesizer sound effect—“Ki Ki Ki, Ma Ma Ma”—appears throughout the eight-episode run, though it is used sparingly to preserve its impact.
The producers have made a show that fits the movie series’ overall aesthetic. It looks and feels like the franchise’s early films, particularly parts 1 and 2, and it doesn’t shy away from blood and gore. Some death scenes were so abrupt they caught me off guard. They feel like the kind of death scenes that are sprinkled throughout the franchise. If they made no more seasons, I would be okay with that, but I really hope they do, because watching Cardellini fully embrace Pamela’s vengeful descent is one of the show’s greatest pleasures—and something I would gladly return to Camp Crystal Lake to see again.
Streaming Exclusively on PEACOCK October 15th
