Written by Bryan Fuller And Brad Caleb Kane And Jen Silverman And Pia Wilson And Evan Endicott And Josh Stoddard And Karl Taro Greenfeld And Laura Marks And Arthur Imperatore
Directed by Michael Lennox And Celine Held And Logan George And Quyen Tran
Pamela (to Levon): "I don't want to heal. I just want to find my son."
It's certainly been a month for horror and we've still got a week and a half left before Halloween itself. When it comes to horror franchise, I'm not gonna lie - Friday The 13th can often be very hit and miss for me.
If you think of this eight part series from Peacock as an alternative prequel to the popular horror franchise, you may like it a lot more. Even if you don't, the question would be - is it any worse than the sequels we've had? I'd argue it's better than most of the sequels.
For instance, it's biggest strength would be Linda Cardellini. The decision to cast her as Pamela Voorhees by far was the best thing the show did. She's more perfect from start to finish. A woman with a shady past, all she wanted to do was to provide a loving environment for her son, Jason (Callum Vinson/Jonathan Tison). Taking him to Camp Crystal would end up being her biggest mistake.
The opening episode didn't waste time in killing Jason off due to hedonistic counsellors Barry (Phoenix Parnevik) and Claudette (Danielle Kotch) being more into each other than doing their jobs. Of course, there's a twist to Jason's origins and even his death and aftermath.
Jason had made a friend in a girl named Grace (Gwend Sundstrom) and she's a major player in the show. She came from a crappy home with an abusive mother named Valerie (Tonya Glanz), who'd get one gruesome death upon annoying Pamela. Anyways, Grace witnessed Barry and Claudette failing Jason and she's part of their big death scene in the fifth episode wheb it should've been Pamela's moment alone.
Then there's Jason's origins itself. Pamela being involved with Elias Wittering (Hamish Linklater) saw Jason being a product of a scientific experiment that was supposed to test human endurance. Bellflower are the villains of the season and it only took the finale for the family reunion from Hell.
Keeping in with Pamela's chaotic world, there was a slew of decent supporting characters. Pamela had allies with Chief Levon Brooks (William Catlett) and his reporter sister, Briana (Devin Kessler). Levon was also a love interest for Pamela while Rita (Joy Suprano) and Officer Dorf (Cameron Scoggins) had their moments as did the reclusive Ralph (Nick Cordileone).
Episode titles are Camp Crystal, Part 2, Part III, A New Beginning, The New Blood, Kill Them Mommy, Friday and The Final Chapter.
- I liked that the title sequence evoked many of the title sequences from the movie.
- Pamela wore her iconic blue sweater in the fifth and sixth episodes. Some of her lines were reworked a bit.
- The last scene with Steve Christy (Dan Thompson) talking to the campers about Jason as the latter watched them.
- Standout music: Harry Manfredini provided the theme but the composer for the series was Giosuè Greco.
- Chronology: 1971 in Crystal Lake. The seventh episode was set in Houston.
Crystal Lake isn't a perfect prequel to Friday The 13th but it's a damn sight better than expected, although it's more of an alternative version tbh. Linda Cardellini delivers one of the best performances on TV/streaming this year and there's some rather great kills.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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