Nearly a year after Pamela Voorhees’ son Jason drowns at summer camp, bodies begin turning up, and conspiracies close in on the quiet, wooded New Jersey town of Crystal Lake. Who are we kidding here? Who doesn’t know the story of the hockey-masked, unstoppable killing machine, Jason Voorhees?
In sequel after sequel of Friday the 13th, we witnessed Jason become a monument to the absurdity of slasher horror: resurrection through lightning, like Frankenstein’s monster; Jason battling telekinetic teenagers—a nod to Carrie; stowing away on a cruise ship from Crystal Lake to Manhattan; transforming into a parasitic, body-hopping demonic worm trying to escape Hell; upgraded by nanobots in the year 2455, becoming “Uber Jason.” He even battles the top demon of nightmares, Freddy Krueger. I thought we were all in on the joke.
Apparently, not all, and I hate when this happens. There’s deep division over Pam and Jason’s backstories on Peacock and A24’s Crystal Lake series. When someone watches a series or movie for fun, they’re seeking entertainment. But as a critic, you have to put aside what you personally don’t like and judge it fairly. You have to look at how well it was made, what it means to our culture, and what the creators aimed to accomplish, so you can give an informed review that people can trust. Given Jason Voorhees’s history of absurdity, Crystal Lake scores well—3 out of 5 stars.
A brief note to readers: the following paragraph discusses crucial plot developments, including the penultimate episode’s big reveal.
The “indestructibility factor” in cockroach DNA, which enables it to withstand even radioactive fallout? That’s what got some of you critics upset? Jason Voorhees, of the world’s most intentionally bad continuity, physics-defying, catch-you-without-running slasher films—on purpose? I’m a native New Yorker; I’ve had apartments with roaches I believe held the key to Jason’s invincibility in their DNA. Cut on the light at 3 a.m., and whole families scatter, the mom looking like Pam, and little innocent Jason scuttling to cling under her, looking like they do on this Crystal Lake poster—right before they meet the bottom of my moccasin slipper. Ch-ch-ch, ah-ah-ah.
All Types of Cool Sh*t: The Iconic Voice Actually Whispers, “Ki-ki-ki, ma-ma-ma.”
But in all seriousness, I thought we established that these types of over-the-top plot liberties were warranted—expected, even. The late Victor Miller did not even want to create the adult, hockey-mask-wearing slasher icon we know today. Everything about Jason has always been an improvisational “science project” since the beginning. While Sean S. Cunningham wanted to replicate the success and structure of John Carpenter’s Halloween franchise, Miller’s inspiration was Hitchcock’s Psycho—but inverted. Instead of the “psycho” killer hearing his dead mother, the mother hears her dead son.
The “ch-ch-ch, ah-ah-ah” sound effect from the Friday the 13th movies (signaling Jason is near)? Composer Harry Manfredini revealed that the voice is actually whispering “ki-ki-ki, ma-ma-ma.” It’s the voice Pamela Voorhees hears in her head—a young Jason telling her to “kill, kill, kill.” Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane is simply giving almost 50 years and 12 Friday the 13th films of this kind of evolving lore a prequel. He was the co-showrunner for It: Welcome to Derry.
A Face That Only a Mother Could Love
Jason really does look like a roach: innocent, but elicits visceral hostility—so ugly and creepy you don’t put him in a glass like a spider and let him crawl away to safety. It’s more like, eww, just let him die already. Look at your face! Go away and die, bro! So that you don’t feel bad about feeling this way, it’s in the script, as a Crystal Lake local says it at a dinner: “Poor Pam. Nice lady. Sweet boy. Poor Pam. Hard to look at, but… sweet.” It’s a brilliant setup when you think about it: he drowns while horny counselors Barry and Claudette (played by Phoenix Parnevik and Danielle Kotch) sneak off to have sex.
His character design pushes the boundaries of grotesque pathos, grounding us in an empathy so deeply uncomfortable that his inevitable demise begins to feel less like a horror trope and more like a necessary act of narrative mercy—humanizing Pam and Jason.
Crystal Lake reimagines the iconic slasher lore as a rich, character-driven psychological conspiracy thriller. This first season is about Pam as a single mother struggling with intense grief. But soon, mysterious murders terrorize the quiet community. This tragedy forces local law enforcement to investigate.
The prequel introduces fresh faces like Police Chief Levon Brooks and journalist Briana (William Catlett and Devin Kessler). These new characters are crucial: they ground the narrative, offering rational outside perspectives on the town’s rising local hysteria. Officer Dorf (Cameron Scoggins) represents an evolving local, who’d rather do police work than be part of a lynch mob like his dad.
Furthermore, the series justifies its existence by introducing this absurdly bold scientific backstory. New Jersey is notorious for real-world corporate negligence and environmental disasters—especially in the 1980s: Toxic Avenger, Mr. Robot? Crystal Lake replaces vague supernatural elements with a Cold War conspiracy that really isn’t too far-fetched (Stranger Things Broadway Show? The Montauk Project? Project MKUltra? Camp Hero?). A secretive corporation conducted genetic experiments to resist nuclear radiation. Jason was a subject, leaving him with severe physical deformities, explaining his superhuman durability.
The Verdict
Crystal Lake is a mixed burlap sack that keeps you wondering what’s staring out of that one eyehole at you. Linda Cardellini delivers a haunting, transformative performance of Betsy Palmer’s grieving Pam Voorhees, masterfully anchoring the series’ psychological tension. She racks up some pretty gruesome on-screen kills, too, making it somewhat of a slasher horror. William Catlett is equally compelling as Chief Levon Brooks, giving the small-town mystery a steady, grounded pulse.
Even the episodic side quests and characters genuinely shine, diving deep into the expanding townsfolk and fleshing out the franchise lore in unexpected ways. Like Rita, played by Joy Suprano. Or Jason’s only friend before he died, Grace Snell (Gwendolyn Sundstrom). Still though, it doesn’t consistently quite capture the pure slasher terror of the movies, leaning instead into a paranoid ’70s drama.
The dark science clarifies exactly why Jason survives extreme physical trauma. It provides a logical foundation for his legendary, unstoppable resilience. Ultimately, this conspiracy transforms a simple camp accident into an expansive mystery. The timeline jump isn’t a big deal—we’re talking about a guy whose mother brought him back with Evil Dead’s Necronomicon and the Kandarian dagger.
The grounded absurdity of Crystal Lake perfectly sets the stage for a classic horror legend. Still, with a massive finale shaking up what we know about Jason, the rich world-building leaves you genuinely looking forward to what over-the-top antics a second season could bring.
