Anatomy of Crystal Lake: Episode 5: The New Blood

The early 1980's were a fascinating time in the horror genre, as the slasher boom dominated that part of the decade. Friday The 13th rose to prominence because of the isolated camp locations and creative death sequences. Those facts are what longtime and even newer fans want to see on the screen. It is time for fans to begin this experience again while also seeing it through the lense of the events that take place in the opening of Friday The 13th 1980!

SPOILERS...

 

Episode 5: The New Blood opens with Dorf detaining Ralph at his property after discovering the dead female hippie skinned and hanging in the shack. Dorf takes Ralph back to the police station; but he cannot convince Sheriff Brooks to arrest Ralph for the murder just yet as he believes they still need more evidence and investigation. This idea was very strange as Ralph should have been arrested for sure considering the body was found on his property and people think he is crazy. There is no legitimate reason why Brooks would think Ralph shouldn't be considered a suspect.

Camp is about to open for the summer at Crystal Lake and the Sheriff drives out to the property to inform the hippies their female friend Willow has been killed. The group is extremely concerned now as not only is their friend dead, but they have heard the stories of the dead bodies found at the bear cave and of Jason "drowning" last summer. They plan to leave as soon as they get their checks from Mr. Christie.

Pamela talks to the Sheriff while he is at the camp about why their relationship is strained, but he is not interested in Pamela at the moment while he investigates the bodies that are now piling up.

Still at camp, Grace befriends the hippies even more and they empathize with her for being alone. They all agree to take Grace with them when they leave the next day. When Pamela finds out she's leaving with the group, she becomes upset and this further strains the relationship between her and Pamela as the grieving mother does not want any harm to come to Grace.

The time has arrived as Camp has now opened and the kids have arrived for the summer. John Christy welcomes the children in a hilarious scene that ends with numerous warnings to the children. "The woods are off limits. The archery range is off limits. The boathouse is off limits. The lake is off limits, unless a counselor is present. In fact, assume everything is off limits". He then proceeds to tell them there was a body found in the woods, but it was nowhere near the camp, and they caught the guy who did it and there is nothing to worry about. This prompts one of the kids to ask "do what?"

As Pamela wraps up her shift for the camp that first night, she is walking to her jeep when she sees a kid sitting by himself, outside the cabin. She asks what is wrong and he said he woke up and counselor Barry was gone, was scared, and didn't want to wake up the other kids int he cabin. He then tells Pam that he is scared because of the legend of Jason drowning in the lake and now he haunts the woods. Pam assures him Jason would never hurt anyone and that he's gone now. The kid then tells Pam that he saw Jason during the day as his group walked in the woods, staring at him. This made Pam wonder if it was really her son.

The next day, Claudette finds out that Barry is sneaking around with one of the hippie girls, named Harmony (Mary Ann) and becomes upset, which leads her to confide in Pamela that Barry is cheating, she has been going to her pastor to confess all of her sins, and then actually tells Pam she was having sex with Barry when Jason disappeared! It is a startling revelation that rattles Pamela to the core. This news, along with Sheriff Brooks distancing himself, Pamela losing her relationship with Grace, and her growing sense that Jason might still be alive, starts in motion the completely unhinged state of mind that will lead Pam to madness and murder.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Brooks' sister Briana is still investigating the company that may have sent the men to abduct Pam. Her findings intensify and lead her to a Doctor Landau that once worked for Bellflower, the company that possibly sent the men to abduct Pamela. Doctor Landau warns Briana to stay away.

That same day, as night falls, the group of hippies prepare to leave, but before all of that happens, they all decide to trip on acid while Grace looks on. Barry then shows up at the group to have sex with Mary Ann again but leaves not too soon after as one of the guys in the group decides to join in (Barry wanted no part of that free love). While that is all happening, Grace feels unwanted and decides to trip on acid as well. Fried out of her mind, she wanders into the woods. While there she feels she is being watched and after looking intently through the darkness she sees Jason in the shadows. Jason stares at Grace hypnotically and whispers her name in an awesome sequence for the streaming series. Did Jason tell Grace to do something?

Then we have the setup for one of the most famous sequences in the entire franchise, which is the opening prologue of Friday The 13th 1980. We are treated to a number of shot for shot remakes of the original scenes from the 1980 film which first includes Barry and Claudette singing and staring at each other as the group sings "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore". As this takes place, Pam is moving through the kid's cabin. This emulates the scene of the POV shot of Pamela from the original film in the opening prologue. She is there to make sure that the child from the night before is safe and to talk to Barry about not being in the cabin for the kids previously. She realizes he is gone again and becomes increasingly irate.

Barry and Claudette depart the singing group to go into the loft to have sex, like in the original film. It is here that we get more shots and angles taken directly from Friday The 13th 1980 as Claudette asks Barry, "Does Mary Ann kiss as good as I do?" Barry replies "How should I know." As the audience watches this interaction and the couple's movement up to the loft, we see the same POV shots of the killer along with the Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma sound effect. As the killer walks upstairs to witness the couple making out, they notice her, and begin to pull themselves together. Barry famously says, "We weren't doing anything." And then the murders begin, this time also seeing how Claudette is actually attacked (No test image only this time). 

Once again, directors Celine Held and Logan George nail these scenes invoking tension, excitement and nostalgia. I was pleasantly impressed, but one thing may skew fan's enthusiasm of this scene, and it is that Pamela did not kill the doomed couple!

A huge twist occurs, as it is revealed that Grace is the killer! She is still tripping on acid and says she did it to save Jason. Did Jason whisper to her in the forest and coerce her into killing the counselors? This will be debated for some time.

 Pam finds them all in the loft and comforts Grace, seeing what she has done. In Pamela's own psychotic way, she leans over Claudette as she struggles to stay alive and utters the famous lines "So young, so pretty. Jason, he should have been watched every minute. He wasn't a very good swimmer". Pam then stabs Claudette in her side for her to bleed out and die.

This was a packed episode, featuring so many great moments, and many I imagine fans have been waiting for, but that twist ending will be a hot topic for fans for years to come.