Crystal Lake - TV series

Brad Caleb Kane's brainchild is unrelated to 2023 film of same name, (which has fuck all to do with Friday the 13th btw).

Although very different, series does share similarities with two-piece comic miniseries Friday the 13th: Pamela's Tale (July-August 2007).

In September 1947, a pregnant Pamela is 'told' by the disembodied voice of her unborn child (which she's already named Jason) to murder her abusive husband Elias.  One evening, she heeds advice and axes bastard.

Not long after, she's rushed to hospital and gives birth, blind to Jason's grotesque facial deformities.

Jason 'dies' in June 1957 and Pamela kills Barry and Claudette a year later.  Pamela arrives back at Camp Crystal Lake on Friday, June 13th 1980.

Anyway, this exists independently, so shouldn't be considered a prequel to films.

Linda Cardellini - Pamela Voorhees

William Catlett - Chief Levon Brooks

Cameron Scoggins - Dorf

Devin Kessler - Briana Brooks

Nick Cordileone - Ralph

Gwendolyn Sundstrom - Grace

Hamish Linklater - Elias Wittering

Callum Vinson and Jonathan Tison - Jason Voorhees

Daniel Stewart Sherman - Enos

Danielle Kotch - Claudette

Phoenix Parnevik - Barry

Manon Gage - Harmony

Brian J. Carter - John Christy

Episodes

1. Camp Crystal

2. Part II

3. Part III

4. A New Beginning

5. The New Blood

6. Kill Them, Mommy

7. Friday...

8. The Final Chapter

Summary

In 1970, Jason Voorhees is bullied by other campers for having a deformed head and his only friend is a girl called Grace.  When horny counselors Barry and Claudette slope off to have sex, Jason tries to retrieve a ball in the lake and his mother Pam is powerless to prevent him from presumably drowning.

9 months later, Pam is horrified to learn that the Camp is reopening.  Two men posing as police detectives tell Pam that Jason's body has been found, then try and sedate her with a syringe.

She kills them both, one with a pair scissors, and the other with a machete.  Pam calls a woman called Nora warning they've been 'found'.  She coats their bodies with bait and drags them to a bear's den, where they're eaten. 

Meanwhile, tortured Vietnam veteran Ralph lives as a recluse in the woods and grows increasingly paranoid when he thinks someone or something is stalking him.  

Believing that Grace's mother Valerie is abusing her, Pamwhacks her with a meat tenderizer and watches her die when face is planted in a deep fryer.

Pam begins a sexual relationship with Chief Levon Brooks, but things get awkward.

Grace meets Harmony, the leader of a hippie group working at the camp.  Pam interrupts a séance where Harmony is seemingly possessed by Valerie, and Harmony flips out, labelling Pam a monster.

Levon's sister Briana works as a reporter and uncovers the dodgy dealings of Bellflower Chemical, whose negligence caused the deaths of two soldiers, but company was cleared in court.

One night, Grace, high on acid, sees 'Jason' in the woods.

Claudette (who earlier confessed to Pamela what she was doing when Jason drowned), reconciles with Barry and they get physical at the boathouse.  Grace attacks them and kills Barry, but Claudette is still alive.  Pam arrives and finishes Claudette off, assuring Grace "Momma's here."

Jason appears and tells Pam to "kill them all".

Trauma makes you stronger

Despite some impressive kills, with even better prosthetics, many episodes can be boring, focusing too much on annoying teenagers and human drama.

Did we really need the cliché of hippies in the 70s? No we didn't.

Cardellini is terrific throughout, and props also goes to Catlett and his goofy partner Scoggins.

Origin story really gets going in E6, which ends on Levon and Briana confronting Pam at her home, setting up flashback episode Friday...

New York City, 1959.

Pam Scott is a singer and while performing on TV, miscarriages on stage.

The father of her child Elias Wittering works for Bellflower and takes her to a facility in Houston.  When put through a clinical trial by Dr. Valentine, results confirm she's still pregnant.  Delighted by the news, Pam marries Elias.

When another trial participant delivers a stillborn baby and commits suicide in front of Pam, incident sends her into early labout and Jason is born premature, with head seriously deformed.

2 months later, Pam returns home and prepares a bath to stop Jason's excessive crying.  However, she falls asleep with the tap running and Jason inside.  Elias returns home and Jason revives, but Pam is placed on medication to stabilize her moods.

Jumping to 1963, Elias celebrates the success of  the Argonaut Project, which accelerates physical growth in humans and helps them resist nuclear radiation.

Pam enters a room full of dead babies and failed experiments, finding Jason (Subject J) on a table.  Dr. Valentine tries to stop her, but Pam kills him with a power drill.  Pam makes her escape and Nora lends a helping hand.

At the start of The Final Chapter (subtitle of fourth film), Levon gives Pam a Bellflower file from 1963:

Pamela Wittering, age 33, born May 23 1930

Jason Wittering, born May 13 1960

So because series takes place in the summer of 1971, Pam is 41 and Jason is 11.

Year is confirmed by Elias at the police station, saying Pam 'kidnapped their son eight years ago.'

Not that it really matters, but the only thing unexplained is why she changed surname to Voorhees.

Pam gets taken, but en route to Bellflower, Jason (wearing a burlap sack) forces car to swerve off the road.  After Jason kills some hapless goons, Elias confronts wee lad, who due to the effects of the Project, has bulked up and grown significantly in just a year.  He murders Elias by crushing his face, causing eyes to pop out.

Awesome.

Jason grabs Pam by the throat, but memories make him let go.

Ralph shoots Jason with a hunting rifle, but Jason magically disappears, leading Pam to laugh hysterically.

One year later, Steve finishes the story of Jason around a campfire, declaring all he knows is to kill.

Shit ends when 'Jason' approaches a girl from behind.