Crystal Lake’s Jason Voorhees Origin Twist To Leave Friday The 13th Fans Furious

This article contains major spoilers for Season 1 of “Crystal Lake.”

It’s been a long time but the Voorhees family is finally back. For the first time since 2009’s “Friday the 13th” remake took the box office by storm, we have a new entry in the beloved horror franchise. Season 1 of “Crystal Lake” dropped on Peacock, offering a much better understanding of Pamela Voorhees, the mother of Jason Voorhees, the boy who becomes the Machete Killer for most of the series. This series offers a new twist on Jason’s origin, one that will no doubt infuriate many fans.

“Crystal Lake” tells us the bloody origin story of Jason Voorhees that follows single mother Pam Voorhees (Linda Cardellini) who mourns the drowning of her young son Jason at Camp Crystal Lake. Strangers arrive at Pam’s door and delve into her past, setting off a disturbing chain of events. These disturbing events finally take us back to the late 1950s in episode 7 of the series, titled “Friday…” which finally explores not only Pam’s story, but Jason’s as well. This is where things get very weird.

For much of the series, there is a mysterious entity known as the Bell Flower that is part of Pam’s past. In episode 6, we meet Elias (Hamish Linklater), who we discover in “Friday…” is actually Jason’s father. After nearly having a miscarriage, Pam is taken into the care of Bell Flower and participates in an experimental treatment to ensure her baby’s survival.

He manages to survive, but not without complications. To help deal with these complications, Pam and Elias remain in Bell Flower’s care for years while Elias continues to be promoted within the company. All this gives rise to quite a revelation.

After an incident at Jason’s birthday party sees him lose his hair and bleed from his head, Pam begins to wonder what is being done to her son at Bell Flower. Elias is suspicious about all this. During a presentation to investors, we find out why. Due to fears surrounding nuclear war, Bell Flower experimented on Jason using cockroach DNA, transforming him into a human mutant capable of surviving nuclear war. Yes, really.

Essentially, “Crystal Lake” posits that Jason Voorhees is invincible because he is a bioengineered mutant who possesses cockroach-like abilities. Each version of Jason Voorhees without his mask reveals a terribly mutated, monster-like being. This cockroach thing sort of explains that. Whether the explanation makes sense or fits with the journey the show has taken viewers on in its first six episodes is another question entirely, but it’s a choice that will anger a lot of “Friday the 13th” fans.

To put my cards on the table, I am one of those disgruntled fans. Jason Voorhees is arguably the greatest horror movie slasher of them all, largely because there’s a lot of mystery surrounding his supernatural abilities. How did he survive his drowning at the lake? Why can’t he be killed permanently? It’s not that an explanation wasn’t warranted, but it’s a far-fetched way to go about it, to put it lightly.

It also doesn’t help that Season 1 of “Crystal Lake” takes itself quite seriously. It’s about as far from the camp of “Jason X” or the craziness of “Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood” as you can get.

For better or worse, this Jason/cockroach version changes everything we thought we knew about “Friday the 13th.” There has always been a lot of mystery left behind by the films themselves. Jason Voorhees never speaks in the “Friday the 13th” films. He’s a silent killer and everything we’ve learned about him has been through the lens of other characters.

In the series we see a young Jason, played by Callum Vinson, speaking. He behaves like a normal child. He just wants to be accepted. Pam took him and ran away to Crystal Lake to try to give him a normal life, cockroach DNA be damned. All of this goes a long way to humanizing Jason, perhaps even making him a sympathetic character. Do fans of this franchise want to sympathize with the invincible killing machine we’ve known since the 80s? This is something fans will reckon with following this show.

We have many more questions left. A new “Friday the 13th” movie is in the works and is currently in development by the folks behind Jason Universe. Will they have to adhere to this newly established canon? Will they try to ignore it? What if “Crystal Lake” Season 2 Happened? What more will we learn at this point that will recolor our understanding of these characters? Lots to consider. Lots to process.

What is clear is that this insane twist is something fans will debate for a long, long time.

“Crystal Lake” is now streaming on Peacock.