Forget ‘Crystal Lake,’ the Best Action Thriller in TV History Remains Unbeaten 29 Years Later

Crystal Lake has been dominating streaming charts, becoming Peacock's fourth most-watched scripted original over the past week. The series, a Friday the 13th prequel focused on Pamela Voorhees, Jason's murderous mother, explores her character and the reasons behind her killing spree. However, the show's latter half is bogged down by its own lore, introducing too many twists to explain Jason's nature.

This price is paid by the characters, making their deaths less impactful. Despite the impressive kills and fights, Crystal Lake falls short of becoming one of the best action thrillers ever made. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, released 29 years ago, remains unbeaten in this category. The iconic slasher classic upended expectations by revealing the killer to be a sweet-looking mom, and later, made the blonde girl who tends to die first the thing monsters are afraid of.

Buffy's action sequences, anchored by Buffy's struggles, including painful yet longing fights with Angel, are filled with depth and meaning. Though Crystal Lake boasts more creative and fun kills, its lore can overwhelm the story, consuming the focus on Pamela. Buffy, with its conspiracies centered on character development and distrust of institutions, maintains a balance between action and story.

While Crystal Lake season 2 might find Pamela's groove, Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains the best action thriller in TV history, streaming on Hulu.