Forget ‘Crystal Lake,’ the Best Action Thriller in TV History Remains Unbeaten 29 Years Later

Pamela Voorhees' story has many revisiting the world of Friday the 13th

Crystal Lake has been dominating the streaming charts. Over the past week, the series became Peacock’s fourth most-watched scripted original. It inspired hundreds of online videos analyzing its twists and turns, and reminded the world of the everlasting magic of Linda Cardellini.

The series is a Friday the 13th prequel, centered on Pamela Voorhees, Jason’s murderous mom. Through its eight-episode run, the show explores Pamela’s character and asks why she began killing camp counselors in the first place — to mostly really fun results. By its latter half though, the series feels bogged down by its own lore, introducing one too many twists to explain Jason’s nature, and why he’s known as one of the most famous killing machines in slasher history. It’s a price that’s paid by its characters. And while Cardellini has many wonderful kills in the series, when it comes to the best action thrillers ever made, only one show comes to mind — and it also features a badass female lead.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered 29 years ago with a twist straight out of Friday the 13th’s playbook. The iconic slasher classic upended expectations by revealing to an ‘80s audience that the bloodthirsty killer was the sweet-looking mom. Then, in the late ‘90s, Buffy took the blonde girl who tends to die first and made her the thing monsters are afraid of.

Why Buffy is still the best action thriller around

Buffy might not have had the biggest budget (a moment of silence for a Buffy series with proper fighting choreography), but all of its action sequences were anchored on Buffy Summer’s main struggles. The season 2 fights between Buffy and Angel are filled with pain and longing, a reminder of the relationship they had and lost because of Angel’s missing soul. The same happens the following season to an even better degree. After introducing Faith as another Slayer, the series develops their friendship and contrasting personalities. When Faith completes her heel turn, their fights have the weight of their broken friendship — one that some might argue had its romantic undertones, but that’s for a separate essay.

Crystal Lake’s kills and fights look better; there’s no way around that. They’ve become one of the show’s most creative and fun flourishes, with Pamela memorably killing people at least once per episode, including a stabbing in the eye through a camera. It’s cool. Still, as the body count piles higher and higher, the killings become fodder. It’s one of the reasons why slasher and horror make for such complicated genres when adapted to TV.

Buffy knows that the best action sequences work because they have something specific to say. They’re all building towards a higher idea.

Crystal Lake gets lost in the lore

Both Buffy and Crystal Lake have a focus on conspiracies. Crystal Lake becomes overburdened by them as its first season draws to a close, introducing a subplot explaining Jason’s origins and supernatural powers. It works great for the overall franchise, teasing why Jason can survive drownings, Freddy Krueger face-offs, and a trip to space, but for Crystal Lake’s story, it does nothing. Wasn’t this show supposed to be about Pamela?

Buffy’s conspiracies can be great or middling depending on the season, but were, again, always centered on character. One of the series’ primary fixations was its distrust of institutions, whether it’s The Initiative in season 4 or Sunnydale’s evil mayor and the town’s complicity in season 3.

Through all of these stories, characters were at the forefront. Even in its weakest arc (Riley’s Initiative storyline), the foundation of the characters was enough to make the season shine. Sure, we were all desperate for Riley to leave, but the season still features episodes like “Hush” and “Restless,” which more than make up for its blips.

The lore that series creator Joss Whedon piled on could crowd Buffy’s world, but it never overtook it. Crystal Lake, bound to its larger franchise and universe, can’t say the same.

Most TV shows take seasons to find their footing. Even Buffy was one of these victims. Who’s to say Pamela Voorhees won’t find her groove in Crystal Lake season 2? In the meantime, if you want stabbings with higher stakes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is streaming on Hulu.