Linda Cardellini stars in Peacock TV’s groovy new horror series.
Without uttering a word, Jason Voorhees stands tall among 80s horror movie fans.
Jason was the central figure of the Friday the 13th films, a towering, murderous figure who rivaled Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street films and Michael Myers in the Halloween films as everyone’s favorite (?!) serial killer.
— Spoilers if you have not seen Friday the 13th (1980) —
As everyone who has seen the first Friday the 13th (1980) knows, however, Jason does not appear until the very end of the movie, after his mother, Mrs. Voorhees, confesses to multiple murders in vengeance for her son Jason’s death by drowning. She herself is killed by the only surviving camp counselor, who then has a nightmare in which Jason rises from Crystal Lake and takes her under. Waking up, she is informed by authorities that they found no evidence of the missing boy, to which she replies: “Then he’s still there.”
— End spoilers —
The first film inspired 10 sequels, a crossover movie with Freddy Krueger, two television shows, and a wide array of novels, comic books, and merchandise. Though Mrs. Voorhees appeared in some of the films, it was primarily as a hallucination to Jason. In the comic book series Friday the 13th: Pamela’s Tale (2007), Pamela Voorhees talks about her early life, her marriage to Elias, his abuse of her while she was pregnant, and how she killed her abuser with an axe, dumping his body in Crystal Lake.
A new television series, Crystal Lake, developed by Brad Caleb Kane (It: Welcome to Derry), tells Pamela’s origin story in a distinctly different fashion.
Vengeance is mine, sayeth the mother.
Grounded by Linda Cardellini’s empathetic performance, Crystal Lake casts aside the expected burdens of the film series with wicked glee.
Opening with a shot of Cardellini staring into a bathroom mirror, her face and arms covered in blood, the first episode then rewinds to “nine months earlier.”
It is the 1970s, easily identified by the retro fashions. Pamela Voorhees (Cardellini) works at New Jersey’s Camp Crystal Lake in the kitchen, while her 11-year-old son Jason, distinguished by his disfigured head, spends his days with the other campers. The “town crazy,” Ralph, stalks around the woods, looking unkempt and speaking wildly; Pamela is kind to him, because she is a kind person.
One day, Jason and his fellow campers are left unattended by their camp counselor, who is (discreetly) fooling around with a fellow counselor in the boathouse. Jason drowns in Crystal Lake, even as Pamela desperately tries to save him. His body is never found.
Smash cut to the opening credits in the classic font, exploding through glass, accompanied by composer Harry Manfredini’s classic theme music.
Up to this point, about 15 minutes into the episode, it’s an effectively restaged sequence of what Pamela says in a flashback about Jason near the end of Friday the 13th (1980), with an adjustment in the timeline to the early 1970s. (The film begins in 1958 with the first two murders, then flash forwards to “the present”; the tragedy involving Jason was said to occur in 1957.)
From there, however, we’re into completely new territory, with periodic nods back to specific, memorable moments in the film series. After the credits roll, the first episode flash forwards to “nine months later,” and we’re back where the episode began, but obviously just before the events that left Pamela covered in blood.
Haunted by her son’s disappearance, kitchen cook Pamela spends her afternoons staring into the water at the closed Camp Crystal Lake. Some of her workmates and neighbors are sympathetic, but most just wish she would ‘get over it.’ Among the most sympathetic is Crystal Lake’s police chief, Lee Brooks (William Catlett), who treats her kindly and gently. He knows about grief, since he lost his own beloved wife just two years before.
Even so, Pamela is consumed by grief. We see further evidence of how much she loved her son when she lies down and remembers the day a big shipping box arrived, full of camping equipment, as well as a machete (?!). When Jason says “what’s this?” and pulls the machete out, waving it around, my eyebrows definitely lifted.
But then the memory ends. The slightest thing can trigger Pamela’s grievous memories of Jason drowning in the lake. And she still believes that Jason’s body will be found.
After a scene introducing the Sheriff’s younger sister Brianna (Devin Kessler) , a journalist who is looking for a meaningful story to investigate, the series pivots sharply — sharply, I said — into something that is new, fresh, and jaw-droppingly (?!) violent. The opening image of Pamela covered in blood only hints at the horrors to come.
As opposed to Mike Flannagan’s Carrie, which reboots Brian DePalma’s horror classic from the late 1970s into a modern-day horror series, incorporating the horrors of today, such as school shooting drills, Crystal Lake is resolutely focused on horrors from the early 1970s, although it also relates them to fears from years past as a way to motivate characters.
What the two series have in common are deeper dives into their lead characters. Sissy Spacek’s Carrie White was a tremulous, fearful character who stood in the shadow of her domineering mother, while Summer H. Howell’s Carrie White is an optimistic, cheerful character who has learned how to live with her mother but is ground down by the sheer force and ill will of opposing characters.
In the original Friday the 13th, Mrs. Voorhees clearly developed mental health issues and unchecked rage over a period of years, leading her to become a multiple murderer. In Crystal Lake, Pamela Voorhees is a wonderfully empathetic character, a fiercely protective mother who has trouble holding it together after her son’s apparent death by drowning, but there are more layers to be unveiled throughout the series.
Linda Cardellini inhabits Pamela Voorhees with absolute conviction. No matter what she does, she remains relatable and understandable, a kind person at heart. She has tremendous reserves of resentment and anger, for reasons that are revealed as the episodes progress, yet she holds the center with unshakable power.
The supporting performances are all strong, especially William Catlett as the chief of police, who has his own backstory to reveal, gradually. Even ‘town crazy’ Ralph gets a backstory, and much more screentime than anticipated.
As noted, the series was developed by Brad Caleb Kane, who wrote the first two episodes — with the first episode story co-credited to Bryan Fuller — which were directed by Michael Lennox. Episodes 4-6 were directed by Celine Held & Logan George, while the excellent Quyen Tran brings the show home with Episodes 7 and 8.
The writing staff includes: Episode 3 – Jen Silverman, story with Pia Wilson; Episode 4 – Evan Endicott & Josh Stoddard; Episode 5 – Karl Taro Greenfield; Episode 6 – Evan Endicott & Josh Stoddard and Brad Caleb Kane; Episode 7 – Laura Marks; Episode 8 – Brad Caleb Kane, story by Brad Caleb Kane and Arthur Imperatore.
Clearly, Crystal Lake is made by people who understand that the show works best when it combines action, blood, drama, blood, thrills, blood, a little comedy, and much more blood. (And trauma to body parts that should not receive such trauma.)
The show avoids any body exploitation of its female cast members, keeping sex scenes to a minimum and filming them in a discreet manner. As for the blood and trauma, it’s safe to say that no blood was spared for the sake of the children.
The series premieres in its entirety on Thursday, October 15, exclusively on Peacock TV. I’ve seen all eight episodes.
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