Crystal Lake: What is Argonaut?

Peacock 's Crystal Lake conjures up a bloody backstory for Pamela Voorhees (Linda Cardellini), mother to horror icon Jason Voorhees and the killer behind the carnage of Friday the 13th .

SEE ALSO: 2026 fall TV preview: Every show you should know about The prequel series also dives deeper into Jason's past, long before he drowned in Crystal Lake.

At the heart of his and Pam's origin story is a mysterious program known as Argonaut, teased briefly in flashbacks towards the end of Crystal Lake 's first episode.

So, what is Argonaut, and how does it shape Jason's journey to slasher fame? Let's dive into the muddy waters of Crystal Lake to find out, but beware: Spoilers lurk beyond this point.

What is Argonaut? After six episodes of buildup, Crystal Lake 's seventh episode, titled "Friday...," reveals everything audiences need to know about Argonaut.

Argonaut is a secret project carried out by Bellflower Chemical in the late 1950s and early 1960s. (While Jason originally drowns in 1957 in the film franchise, Crystal Lake pushes up the timeline so he drowns in 1971, meaning he isn't even born until 1959.) The project is named after the Argonauts, a group of heroes from Greek mythology who sailed on the Argo on the quest to find the Golden Fleece.

Their leader was the hero Jason, giving extra meaning to Jason Voorhees' name.

SEE ALSO: 'Avatar: Seven Havens' review: The Avatar apocalypse is a bold, brilliant addition to the franchise However, Bellflower's Argonaut has a much less shiny goal in mind than the Golden Fleece.

Borne from Cold War anxiety, its goal is to prepare humans for inevitable nuclear war between the Americans and the Soviets.

To do this, Bellflower's scientists turn towards the cockroach, claiming it's the "one creature on Earth who can survive an atomic blast." (An assertion that is a myth .) They work to mimic cockroaches' resistance to radiation and nuclear fallout in a human subject.

That subject is none other than Jason Voorhees, once known as Jason Whittering.

How does Jason become a part of Argonaut? At the start of "Friday...," Pam is living the dream: Her singing career is on the rise, she appears to be in a fulfilling relationship with Bellflower employee Elias Whittering (Hamish Linklater), and she's pregnant with her first child.

However, after she experiences a miscarriage during a TV performance, Elias whisks her away to Bellflower's state-of-the-art medical facility in Houston, where the company has hired the best obstetricians.

There, Dr.