Episode 1

Our horror legends have been entering the TV landscape in more immediate fashion as of late. A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th both had television series a few decades back (though F13 was Jason-less), and with Chucky having three seasons of success that reinvented the killer a few times over, Pamela Voorhees is staking her claim on streaming, with this iteration featuring a bit more Jason this time.

Camp Crystal Lake’s summer has ended with tragedy. A young boy drowned in the lake. His mother, a camp cook, is completely distraught and unable to move forward. The town looks at her and her “different” boy with disdain, and now they don’t know how to handle the volatile and destroyed mother. When she learns that the camp is set to reopen the next summer, she cannot understand or handle the pain. After all, they never found Jason’s body, so he could still be out there, whether they believe it or not. When a past Pamela tries to forget shows back up, her violent tendencies kick in.

Linda Cardellini shows a lot of dedication as Pamela Voorhees. In just one episode, she’s had more screen time than any other actor as the killer-mommy-in-training. It’s weird to see her having scenes with little Jason because it just isn’t anything we’ve ever seen before, so it took me a few minutes to really lock into that distinction, but it worked better than I would’ve guessed. Her grief is just so palpable in the time since she lost him, and even knowing the direction she’s destined to go, I’m so excited to see how it all plays out and what the showrunner (Brad Caleb Kane, who also brought us It: Welcome to Derry) has planned for the remaining episodes of the season.

We get all the important pieces of lore here, with Pamela working as a cook, the counselors who sneak off to have sex, and the drowning, and it all happened really damn early. I figured the pilot episode would take more time, but it just gunned right on in, and all of a sudden, Jason is gone, months pass, and Pamela is a hollow shell. I’m not against it, I just assumed this would be one of those shows where we are waiting for this event all episode or perhaps all season, which has me excited for where they wish to take us. For sure, we’ve already seen flashbacks for Jason so he’s not entirely out of the story, and with his body missing, there’s potential to see which of the narrative decisions they plan to pull here, as Friday the 13th has always been a series of loose continuity, with films retroactively breaking one another in small ways for the passionate fan base to fight over, and make no mistake, a lot of fans will pretend that isn’t true when they eventually complain that this series has “ruined” Friday the 13th.

Newly created character Levon Brooks, who operates as the police chief, has an interesting introduction here, and I’m not sure of the plan, but I’ve enjoyed William Catlett in the little bit I’ve seen of his work, so I’m fascinated, especially in how the show is seemingly teeing him up for a romantic connection. He’s making cardinal mistakes, but his earnestness allows those mistakes to not feel misguided. He’s an interesting character and I’d like to see more.

The detective subplot is the riskiest invention, even knowing so little, and it gives Pamela a seemingly heroic moment, it also doesn’t answer any damn questions, so I could only speculate…and I will. Again, not much is given on these two characters with intention, but there have been rumors of an “origin” story for Pamela and Jason that seems rather wonky. I reserve judgment until we figure it all out, but I’m curious to see the full plan for these characters. For now, they certainly offered up some blood and viscera for these two characters that give a little dark comedy and at least open the doors to vengeance for Pamela, and seeing how she’ll have to cover this situation up and if she slipped makes for some exciting television.

I’m one of those people who definitely wondered if there was enough story to keep us interested for a season of television about Pamela Voorhees, but I like to keep my mind open to the experience, and more Friday the 13th is always welcome after a decade-long dry spell. Jason goes to sleep but he never goes away, after all. I’ll say this: the first episode was great, and I’m locked in to see the rest of the series. I’ll take what I can get, pray for another Friday the 13th film (seriously, how does F13 only have TWELVE movies?), and I hope that Brad Caleb Kane can land the ship for this series in the way he did for It: Welcome to Derry.

3½/5
-Kyle A. Goethe