Crystal Lake review: Peacock's Friday the 13th prequel series is a must-watch this Halloween

Friday the 13th 's prequel series Crystal Lake has arrived on Peacock , with all eight episodes available to watch.

International viewers need to wait a little longer, though; check out our Crystal Lake release date schedule for more on that.

Across eight episodes, Crystal Lake explores the origins of Pamela Voorhees, Jason's mother and the original killer in the popular slasher franchise.

I've been excited about this for months, as we haven't really had a deep dive into who Pamela is across the original movie series.

Linda Cardellini stars in the leading role, bringing many layers to Pamela.

The catalyst for her behavior comes when her young son, Jason (Callum Vinson), drowns at Camp Crystal Lake, where she works as a cook.

Grief-stricken, Pamela struggles to cope, leading to increasing paranoia and an eventual spiral into the serial killer we know her as.

Pamela is shown through a very empathetic lens, as a lonely single mother who has lost her only child.

She has everything ripped away from her and even so, tries her best to keep it together.

But her descent into insanity is inevitable, and even in the first episode, the kills are brutal and shocking.

There's some mystery surrounding Pamela's past that's well worth sticking around for.

In Crystal Lake , Pamela feels really well-rounded, and as a huge fan of the original movies, I loved how much care the creators put into fleshing her out.

Crystal Lake was penned by Brad Caleb Kane, who recently worked on HBO Max 's excellent IT series Welcome to Derry .

I've really been enjoying his adaptations of classic horror media recently, and I hope it continues. (Image credit: Peacock) There's also a welcome expansion on another character.