In the fourth episode of Peacock and A24’s Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake, titled “A New Beginning,” the narrative advances Pam Voorhees’ fragile attempts at connection while introducing new figures at Camp Crystal Lake and deepening the mysteries surrounding recent deaths and disappearances. Directed by Celine Held and Logan George, the episode (running roughly 53 minutes) balances intimate character moments with rising tension, period atmosphere, and franchise callbacks, all anchored by Linda Cardellini’s layered performance as the grieving mother.
The episode opens with Pam (Cardellini) visiting Chief Levon Brooks (William Catlett) late at night. Their relationship takes a clear step forward as the two share a passionate encounter, reflecting Pam’s expressed desire to feel “alive” and “free” again after prolonged isolation following Jason’s drowning. The morning after brings immediate disruption: Levon is called to a fire that destroyed the Bronco Beef Pit, where the body of Valerie Snell—Grace’s alcoholic mother—is discovered. Authorities lean toward a grease fire, though nothing is ruled out. Grace is unharmed and will temporarily stay with the Christy family at the camp. Enos, injured during the previous day’s unauthorized bear hunt, recovers while describing a tall, twisted, man-like “demon” that watched him after he was shot—an account Levon treats skeptically but that lingers as unsettling.
Parallel to this, a group of nomadic hippies (including Harmony, Gabe, and others) arrive to help the Christys prepare the camp for reopening in exchange for food and gas money. Their friend Willow hitchhikes into town looking for them, stops at the local diner (where she encounters townsfolk including Ralph), and heads toward the camp through the woods. Her journey deliberately echoes the hitchhiking sequence involving Annie in the 1980 Friday the 13th film: she grows increasingly paranoid about being followed, hears noises and growls, and ends up trapped and attacked. Later developments confirm her fate as another victim in the woods, tied to the ongoing threat surrounding Jason.
Pam returns to Camp Crystal Lake seeking her old job as cook, explaining that being there makes her feel closer to Jason. The Christys rehire her amid the bustle of repairs. She reconnects with Grace, offering support after the loss of her mother, only for Harmony and the other hippies to draw the girl into painting, conversation, and their free-spirited circle. The hippies’ presence creates friction—John Christy notes the “Day-Glo freak parade,” while Pam grows protective of Grace. The group’s later gathering, involving music, casual talk of auras and mediumship, and a séance-like attempt by Harmony to contact the dead, escalates emotionally. Harmony channels something that appears to know intimate details about Pam and Valerie, leading to a tense confrontation that leaves Grace distressed and Pam defensive.
Meanwhile, Levon’s journalist sister Briana Brooks (Devin Kessler) digs into the unidentified bodies found in the woods and their possible ties to a company linked to Bellflower (and a related entity called Subsun). She identifies a potential whistleblower and presses Levon for more information, framing the local deaths as part of something larger. Levon and Officer Dorf also clash over suspects, with Ralph remaining under suspicion despite Levon’s doubts. The episode closes on a lighter note with a period camp song celebrating the upcoming season and “Miss Pam… in the kitchen,” undercutting the unease while signaling the camp’s impending reopening.
As a midpoint installment, “A New Beginning” effectively advances multiple threads: Pam’s tentative romance and maternal instincts toward Grace, the introduction of the hippie counselors who will factor into later violence, Briana’s investigation into the broader conspiracy, and the persistent danger in the woods. Cardellini continues to ground Pam as a woman of genuine passion, grief, and volatility rather than a one-note villain, while Catlett brings quiet strength and complexity to Levon. The period details, practical gore and tension in the woods sequence, and franchise Easter eggs (the Annie homage, the machete’s recurring presence, the camp’s atmosphere) satisfy longtime fans without fully dominating. Some subplots, particularly the hippies’ free-love energy and the séance, risk feeling slightly digressive amid the slower overall series pacing that critics have noted, yet they deepen the ensemble and the sense of outsiders disrupting a grieving community.
Overall, the episode maintains the series’ blend of psychological character study and grisly thriller elements. It does not deliver the season’s biggest set pieces or reveals, but it solidly builds dread and emotional stakes ahead of the camp’s reopening and the escalating body count. For viewers invested in Cardellini’s Pam and the expanded Friday the 13th mythology—including the mysteries around Project Argonaut and Jason’s survival—it remains a worthwhile chapter in a series that has drawn mixed but engaged responses for its ambition and performances.
All eight episodes of Crystal Lake are streaming on Peacock.
