Crystal Lake: 8-Part Horror Thriller Series Debuts With 1.3 Billion Minutes Viewed

A Franchise Returns To Peacock

Crystal Lake arrived October 15 as an eight-episode prequel to the Friday the 13th films. The franchise began in 1980, followed by 11 more movies, with the latest released in 2009.

Deadline reports that viewers watched 1.3 billion minutes of the series over 11 days. That makes it Peacock’s fourth-biggest original scripted series, behind The Best Man: The Final Chapters, All Her Fault and The Five Star Weekend.

Pamela Faces Grief And Danger

Linda Cardinelli plays Pamela Voorhees, a single mother whose son Jason drowns at Camp Crystal Lake. As grief overwhelms her, details from her past emerge and she faces a serious threat.

The cast also includes William Catlett, Gwendolyn Sundstrom, Cameron Scoggins, Devin Kessler, Callum Vinson, Nick Cordileone, Joy Suprano, Danielle Kotch and Phoenix Parnevik. Brad Caleb Kane created the series and serves as showrunner and executive producer.

Strong Scores And Viewership

The series has a 76% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an 88% audience score. Social media figures include 1.8 billion impressions on release day and more than 7.6 million views in total.

The wider franchise has earned $468 million at the box office and crossed over with A Nightmare on Elm Street in Freddy vs. Jason, released in 2003. Earlier films received critic scores between 8% and 49%, making Crystal Lake the franchise’s only project with a positive critical reception, according to the article.

Renewal Decision Still Pending

Kane has ideas for a possible second season, but Peacock has not announced a renewal. The article says executives may wait for more ratings information before deciding. All episodes of the first season are available on Peacock.