The forthcoming Peacock streaming series Crystal Lake may restore something long-missing from the long-running Friday the 13th franchise. Plausibility.
While Jason Voorhees' brushing off the machete attack that didn't hit any vital spots in Friday the 13th Part 2 was slightly plausible, suggestions that the axe striking his hockey mask in the third outing only stunned him into a coma, letting him rise from the morgue in the faux titled Final Chapter strained credibility.
Since rebooting the series with a new Jason didn't work, despite the relentless and criminally underrated fifth outing, all that was required was a bolt of lightning in the sixth outing and - BOOM! - Jason Lives. Super-powered zombie-like Jason would continue his crusade of violence in future sequels, and a Carrie-inspired nemesis proved as effective as sending him into outer space.
That's not how things started at the highly troubled camp by a lake in an anonymous New Jersey town. The first entry served frightening violence realistically. Will the new series revisit a serious approach to Friday the 13th horrors?
Serious slashings
Few details are available about the series other than that Linda Cardellini will play Pamela Voorhees and the series will focus on the events preceding the first film. Does that mean the series will take place in the 1950s, detailing the events leading up to Jason's drowning? Or will the series occur after his passing and cover Pamela's mental breakdown? No details hint at where the story will go, but the main focus will be on Pamela, a decidedly human character.
A pointed question lingers: What about the boy? Jason? His character is decidedly not human. After all, he rose from a watery grave at the first film's end. Nothing in the first film hints at anything supernatural. The ending is somewhat hinted to be Alice’s delusion - spinning into supernatural reality in the sequel.
Will Crystal Lake attempt to explain why Jason became an unearthly terror? If the series tackles an explanation, modern audiences may not go for the wild, haphazard 1980s storylines. Will a logical explanation be presented for what becomes fantastical in the future?
We have to wait until summer camp season for the answers.