Crystal Lake has released its entire eight-episode first season, giving us a new origin story for both Pamela Voorhees (Linda Cardellini) and her son, the legendary slasher, Jason. There are twelve installments in the Friday the 13th franchise overall, not counting video games, comics, and novels. And Crystal Lake dropped several Easter eggs and callbacks to those films throughout the series. Here are ten that stood out to us the most.
The Episode Titles
Each of the eight episode titles from the series is the name of one of the various Friday the 13th sequels, or references to lines of dialogue in the film. The second episode is called “Part II,” and the third episode is “Part III,” just like the second and third films. Episode four takes its name after the fifth movie, “A New Beginning,” with the fifth chapter named after the seventh movie, “The New Blood.” Episode six is titled “Kill Them Mommy,” which is what Jason famously whispers to his mother. The writers titled episode seven “Friday…,” which is pretty self-explanatory. The final episode is named “The Final Chapter,” just like the fourth film, which was very much not the final chapter.
The Crystal Lake Opening Credits Mimic the Original Friday the 13th Credits and Title Card
The opening credits for Crystal Lake are a direct homage to the opening credits for the original Sean S. Cunningham Friday the 13th film, from the music cues to the logo lunging out and crashing through the glass. Even the very basic creits fonts are the same. Both have a very 1970s grindhouse, low-budget exploitation cinema look.
“Ki-Ki-Ki-Ma-Ma-Ma”
From the very first episode, we hear the signature “ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma” audio cue, which has been used to create a creepy, foreboding effect since the first film. This sound is more associated with the Friday the 13th series than even the score. Of course, the sound effect was an early clue to who the killer was, as its meant to evoke the words “Kill” and “Mom.”
Crystal Lake Used Many of the Same Shooting Locations as Friday the 13th
The creators of the original Friday the 13th filmed in and around Blairstown, New Jersey. This included Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in the same area. Crystal Lake returned to the Blairstown locations, recreating the location to look as it did in the early ‘70s. Sadly, Crystal Lake couldn’t use the same location as the 1980 film for the camp itself. So instead, they recreated the original sets at Camp Ocawasin, which is also located in New Jersey.
Pamela Voorhees ‘ Dream Sequence Pays Homage to the Original Friday the 13th Ending
The start of episode two begins much like the end of the first movie. After killing the men from Bellflower Industries sent to take her in, Pamela has a nightmare. In this dream, she’s in a canoe on the lake. Her “drowned” son Jason, encrusted in debris, pops out from the lake and grabs her in the boat. This is a callback to the final “jump scare” in the original film. This famous scene shows final girl Annie having a nightmare of Jason Voorhees jumping out of the lake where he awaits a victim.
The Snake Scene Rights a Wrong from the Original Film
In Crystal Lake, Pam finds a snake in the pantry and lets it go free. This scene rights a wrong from the original film, where a camp counselor kills a snake slithering in one of the cabins. This was confirmed by one of Crystal Lake’s creators, Brad Caleb Kane, in an interview. Luckily, in the 2026 version, the snake goes free, and the production didn’t ever harm a real animal. We cannot say the same for the poor serpent in the 1980 film. That snake died for real, making his handler inconsolable.
The Murders of the Camp Counselors Is a Recreation of the Original Film’s Opening Scene
When we get to episode five, we get a beat-for-beat recreation of the opening scene from the original film. This iconic opening shows a mysterious killer murdering two Camp Crystal Lake counselors, Barry Jackson and Claudette Hayes, in 1958. Of course, we know now the killer is Pamela Voorhees (or is it?) We see this iconic moment recreated for the series, right on down to the same actual dialogue repeated from the first film. The only big difference is that Crystal Lake has shifted the timeline from 1958 to 1972.
Jason’s Kill Shack in the Woods Is Just Like the One in Friday the 13th Part II
In the final episode, we find out that Jason Voorhees is now living in a dilapidated shack, somewhere in the woods. This is presumably the same shack we first see in Friday the 13th Part II, where he keeps the decapitated head of his mother Pamela in a twisted shrine. That same makeshift shack returns in Part III. Crystal Lake reveals he’s been living there since long before the events of the first movie.
Linda Cardellini’s Pamela Voorhees Wears a Similar Sweater to Her Movie Counterpart
In the original Friday the 13th, Pamela Voorhees wears a cozy sweater when she starts picking off the horny camp counselors one by one. Linda Cardellini’s version of Pam wears a similar sweater in the series, evoking Betsy Palmer’s iconic look.
Jason’s Sackcloth Mask Looks Just Like the One He Originally Wears in Friday the 13th Part II
Even though Jason famously wears a hockey mask as his signature disguise, he doesn’t actually get that until Friday the 13th Part III. In Part II, he wears a burlap sackcloth mask on his head with one eyehole, to hide his disfigured face. We first see him with the full sackcloth mask on in the last episode of the series, titled “The Final Chapter.”
All eight episodes of Crystal Lake are now streaming on Peacock.