Crystal Lake is giving the mother behind Friday the 13th’s original nightmare room to become a person before she becomes a legend. In a new interview, showrunner Brad Caleb Kane explains why Linda Cardellini’s Pamela Voorhees, rather than Jason, anchors the prequel.
Kane says the idea of a Pamela-led series existed before he joined, but her relatively brief appearance in the first film left a large emotional history to explore. Television offered time to follow her transformation instead of simply constructing another feature-length sequence of inventive deaths.
His approach places the exhausting responsibilities of motherhood, guilt and the desire to protect a child inside the horror. That gives Cardellini a different task from merely recreating an established screen villain.
The eight-part A24 and Peacock series begins with Pam grieving Jason’s drowning, before two strangers arrive asking about her past. All episodes are available on Peacock in the United States; UK and Irish viewers can watch on Sky Atlantic and NOW from 19 October.
