I watched the first episode of the long-gestating and finally-released show, "Crystal Lake," on Peacock. All eight episodes actually dropped at once, but I've only had the chance to stream the debut. To say what I think 1/8 of the way through without spoilers...I really liked it! Linda Cardellini is fantastic as Pamela Voorhees, and Callum Vinson is superb as a young Jason (with lots of prosthetics). Also, compliments to Will Catlett as Sheriff Levon Brooks. I remembered his fantastic work as Lala on, "Black Lightning," where he was equally nefarious, scary, and sometimes comedic relief as his character kept dying and coming back in a self-aware meta twist. For, "Crystal Lake," he's gone from a gangster to a 1970s police officer and is fantastically endearing and caring in this role--the man has range! This is a prequel-of-sorts that clearly changes a lot of the actual, "Friday the 13th," continuity while still paying plenty of homage to it as well, and this first episode perfectly balances tension, gory thrills, and a surprising amount of heart.
Much of this episode is about how much Pamela cares about Jason. He is the most important thing in the Universe to him; she would do anything to keep him safe in a World that isn't always kind to someone different from the, "Norm." In the first 15 minutes there is a scene where she is comforting Jason after he expresses a desire to not go to the camp where she works (and keeps an eye on him due to his medical needs) and he asks why he has to be different from other kids. I don't know why, but the scene made me start bawling. This is quite interesting, as it is often weirdly hard for me to cry. I'll get extremely sad, but legitimately crying is just difficult. That moment, however, just hit me like a punch straight to the gut. As a parent to two children who are, "Different," I felt that scene. I worry a lot about Clarkson's safety due to his tendency to elope, not understand danger, and so forth. In the first episode, Jason appears to, "Die," via drowning, although I doubt that will stick, considering in the movies he has died and come back countless times (and even gone to outer space). That said, for now he is dead, and it is clearly due to neglectful camp staff and management for the camp, who won't even take a year off before opening it up, whilst Pamela mourns the death of her son, whose body hasn't even been located.
By the end of the first episode, the killing starts. The first two people Pamela kills are undoubtedly in self-defense, but it's clear others who are responsible for Jason's death are going to be at the receiving end of her rage as well. In the first movie, Pamela was killing people who had nothing to do with Jason's actual death, and that's wrong. Same thing with later flicks where Jason is killing innocents. For, "Crystal Lake," however, I can see why Pamela might be ready to go on a rampage, even if that's unquestionably a bad way to handle her grief. Still, if anything ever happened to one of my children and the people responsible faced zero consequences? Well, I'd be pissed. Hence, with this first episode, as we witness Pamela getting ready to morph into a force of vengeance, I would quote Doctor Manhattan from the comic, "Watchmen," when he learns of a twisted plan to force World peace through a fake extraterrestrial threat that kills a lot of people. He states, "...yes, I understand, without condoning or condemning." I read some reviews of, "Crytal Lake," before it was released that were a bit critical of how the show humanizes a character who is basically a serial killer and gets the audience to empathize with her. I'd counter that the scariest monsters are those who have a piece of humanity we can relate to. The most terrifying monsters are the ones that hold a mirror up to society and ourselves. When a viewer sees Pamela cuddling Jason, stating how she would never let anything happen to him--and we know she can't keep that promise but wants to so badly, we understand...without condoning or condemning.
The movies hint that there was a point where Pamela went beyond being sympathetic in her rage to a bogeyman/woman. "Crystal Lake," looks set to chronicle that journey, with some hints of some other weirdness too (a strange lab with a secret project?) that I read might alienate some fans, but acting like the, "Friday the 13th," brand has ever had a particularly ironclad continuity is absurd. Again, this is a franchise that starts relatively grounded metaphorically and literally before going into actual outer space. The first episode made me recoil at the gore, gave me some laughs at the jokes, and even made me cry. If the remaining episodes can do the same, this is going to be a show I quite enjoy!
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