We all have secrets. Pam Voorhees knows all too well the weight of secrets. Struggling single mom with a sweet, albeit deformed son, Jason, she takes a summer job as the cook for Camp Crystal Lake. All Jason ever wanted was to fit in, be a normal kid and have a normal summer. Then tragedy strikes. Unsupervised, Jason seemingly drowns, leaving Pam devastated and alone. Convinced her son isn’t gone and confronted by her past, can Pam ever move on from her endless grief or will will she succumb to it?…yet again, what if she was right and Jason isn’t truly gone?
For many, Jason and Friday the 13th are as iconic to horror as can be. We all know Jason Voorhees, the mute, gigantic, hockey mask clad killing machine who primarily haunts Crystal Lake when he’s not visiting Manhattan, fighting Freddy Krueger, or venturing through outer space as a nanite infused cyborg. I’m glad we got to a glimpse of the young, vibrant, loving kid before his fateful drowning as well as the downward spiral that turned Pam Voorhees into a brutal serial killer. Hands down, Linda Cardellini absolutely steals the show as Pam. She’s haunting as a grieving, heartbroken mother while managing to recapture the manic rage of Betsy Palmer. Also, the show makes Jason a very tragic character but still keeps him terrifying.
This show is a huge love letter to the entire series. I was impressed at the attention to detail when it came to the music, and scenery. Even the title sequence harkens back to the glory days of the original series. The characters were well done with even Crazy Ralph returning as a major part of the series. As for continuity, I think it does pretty well. We get a lot of answers with a frankly bonkers, batshit insane backstory for Pam and Jason that alters the story quite a bit but I argue that’s a good thing. It’s definitely a memorable and unique origin that helps explain a lot of the discrepancies between movies. And for me, Friday the 13th was always at it’s best when it was over the top so I liked it- I hated how the Friday The 13th (2009) remake tried grounding Jason in reality.
The only real issue I have with the series is the pacing. It’s 8 episodes but I feel it could’ve been 6 or 7. The 1st episode is really strong, then it drags a bit until the end of the 5th where we come to the opening of the original film, remaining strong all the way until the end after that. There is a change made to that particular scene that irked me but what followed was pretty awesome. Even if the pacing was off, the gore is nothing short of top notch when it comes.
In the end, Crystal Lake did a rare thing for me- it made appreciate the source material even more. As I said, it’s huge love letter to the legend of Jason and is full of the stuff I loved about the series as a whole. If not for anything, Linda Cardellini gives one hell of a performance that made watching Crystal Lake worth it. I’d say the show was well worth the watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
