The Peacock series “Crystal Lake” opens with a gesture of mercy toward an animal that the 1980 slasher “Friday the 13th” did not extend: a snake that lives. In the first episode, Pamela Voorhees, played by Linda Cardellini, finds a snake in the camp pantry and sets it free. Creator Brad Caleb Kane told Deadline the moment is “a direct nod” to a real snake killed during production of the original film.
That snake was a domesticated bull snake, killed on camera in a scene where final girl Alice, played by Adrienne King, finds it in her cabin and calls for help. Bill, played by Harry Crosby, rushes in with a machete and kills it, and the animal is shown writhing on the floor. Cast and crew have since confirmed the death was real. The snake’s handler, who did not know what the filmmakers intended, was left “inconsolable.”
Kane framed the choice as a statement about character as much as ethics. He said Pam is a different person in the first episode than the young counselors are in the movie. The show acknowledges the old scene, then steers away from it. Kane said the series does not kill a snake. He added a joke that people might get hurt on his show, but no animals.
The scene has trailed the franchise for decades. Fans have argued over it online, and viral clips on TikTok revived the debate. Makeup effects artist Tom Savini wrote on Twitter that he was not on set that day and did not kill the snake.
The nod is one of several in a series built on the franchise’s lore. “Crystal Lake” will pay tribute to multiple installments of the franchise. The show arrives 46 years after the first film reached theaters in May 1980. The franchise grew from Victor Miller’s original story into a long run of sequels, a reboot and a 1987 television series.
Peacock premieres the series Friday. Cardellini’s Pamela, the camp cook who becomes the original film’s killer, anchors a story that Kane has positioned as an origin tale. Whether viewers read the snake as a mercy, an apology or a sly wink, the creator has made clear which animal was on his mind when he wrote it.
