‘Crystal Lake’ Pays Tribute To Snake Killed In Making Of ‘Friday the 13th’: “A Direct Nod”
Linda Cardellini's Pamela Voorhees finds a snake in the camp pantry and lets it go free, which is a direct nod to a snake that was killed during the making of the 1980 Friday the 13th. I find that oddly moving for a horror prequel. The original film has a complicated legacy, and this is a small way of saying the people making Crystal Lake know what happened and want to do better.
The gesture works because it's quiet. It doesn't turn the snake into a plot point or a jumpscare. It's just a character choosing mercy, and in a franchise built on brutal kills, that stands out. I'd want to know more about how the scene came together, whether the snake on set was treated well and whether this becomes a running theme in the series. But as a tribute, it feels sincere.
Maybe the wildest thing about a slasher story is a moment of kindness toward an animal that the original production treated as disposable. I hope the show keeps that spirit.