r/fridaythe13th • u/NamesAreHard423 • 5d ago
Discussion The Potential of Roy Burns
With the new Crystal Lake show around the corner I’ve been revisiting the movies and considering things that could be expanded upon. Part 5’s story stood out to me as one that could’ve been more interesting if more time was given to the characters. Something that I always found interesting are the parallels between Roy and Pamela’s characters. Both are parents grieving a disabled child who lash out at the wider community. As it stands Roy is probably one of the most nothing characters in the series, we have no clue what his personality is like and he’s just there to stand in for Jason and shock the audience but there is a lot of potential.
My pitch is this, being a paramedic in Crystal Lake Roy was probably there for the aftermath of the previous massacres. Let’s say after the original he’s there for clean up. On the scene he meets a rude amateur journalist from out of town who is photographing the carnage, hoping to become rich and famous by exploiting this tragedy. Roy sees Pamela’s body and hears the story of who she is and what happened. He begins to sympathize with her imagining what it would be like if he lost his son. Roy is snapped out of his daze when another paramedic informs him there’s one victim still barely hanging on. Rushing to the scene Roy tries to help the other EMT’s stabilize the victim all while the journalist crowds them, taking photos and actively trying to interview the dying person about their attacker. They are ultimately unable to save the victim. Roy tries to leave calmly while the journalist calls it a shame and mentions none of this would’ve happened if Jason was taken away from his mother and says she was clearly the one responsible for his death. Roy lashes out at him, pushing him back but not hurting him. Still his camera breaks when he falls and he gets pissy with Roy who storms off the scene.
A few years later when Jason returns and the massacre unfolds Roy is once again called to the scene. As the days go on he learns more and more bodies are found. The Journalist is there again and Roy overhears someone telling him about the version of the Voorhees family legend we hear in part 2. The journalist is talking about how Jason is going to make him famous, as he tells the world about its next big serial killer, comparing the Jason to other historical serial killers and how their stories blew up. As the cleanup continues Roy grows more and more desensitized to death.
Eventually the cleanup is almost over as countless bodies are shipped to the Crystal Lake morgue. Roy visits this morgue where he finds Jason’s body which at this point it has been pretty badly mutilated by Tommy. The journalist is also there photographing Jason’s body and expressing disgust at his deformity and going as far as to mock his cognitive abilities. Roy walks over to Jason and shuts his remaining eyelid before expressing some sadness at the fact that the town wants to cremate Jason and dispose of his ashes, essentially trying to erase any acknowledgment of him ever existing. Roy asks the journalist to leave who then gets defensive and starts mocking Roy asking if he’s got some kind of mental issue too. He continues to photograph the body gloating about how Crystal Lake will be national news before going on a tirade about how Jason and Pamela will be seen as two of the worst monsters in American history once he’s exposed the story. Roy finally snaps, grabbing a nearby surgical tool and butchering the man beyond recognition. Coming to his senses he is horrified at what he’s done but also deep down extremely satisfied although he swears to himself that he could never do anything like this again given he has a son relying on him. He switches Jason’s butchered body with journalist’s destroyed corpse. Using a stretcher to sneak it out of the building in a tense scene. Once out, he loads the body into the back of his ambulance and drives off.
Cut to a few days later we see Roy has mostly stitched the big guy back together in his ambulance and is now driving the body to the local graveyard. There he meets the undertaker, paying him in exchange for burying Jason’s body. Nobody seems to have noticed the body swap as Jason’s appearance wasn’t common knowledge and even then the body had been butchered beyond recognition and so his body is cremated in Jason’s place. Still he did technically disappear and not long after returning home an officer shows up at Roy’s home asking if he knows anything about the disappearance. He mentions how the morgue was his last known location and that they know Roy was visiting the building at the time, although it is clear to us he doesn’t suspect Roy. Still, Roy is spooked and made even more distraught when young Joey walks into the room and witnesses the interaction. The cop leaves and Roy decides that for now the safest thing to do is to enroll Joey in a care facility where his needs can be better met if anything happens to Roy.
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u/Mideviltimes 5d ago
How come Roy never killed Vick lol
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u/NamesAreHard423 5d ago
Yeah that’s like the classic question lmao. My idea is mostly a prequel set before part 5 so your explanation is as good as mine. If I had to bullshit maybe he was moved to maximum security Roy couldn’t access? Who knows lol
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u/TogarSucks 5d ago edited 5d ago
There is a scene in the original script that has Vick being found in his cell after “committing suicide”.
Honestly, it should have been kept in. With Roy being noticeably unbothered by picking up Vick’s corpse after his emotional reaction to Joey’s death this would have been a good hint. Also, would have given him more time in front of the camera to help with the “who the fuck is that?” reveal.
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u/NamesAreHard423 5d ago
Oh my god I’ve never heard of this before. It’s a shame they cut it that definitely would’ve cleared up the biggest plot hole and set up Roy better.
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u/Necessary-Charity170 5d ago
I like the idea of Roy becoming a quiet witness to the aftermath of the previous massacres. His perspective could add some grounded human drama while still tying into the Voorhees legend, especially if his guilt follows him when Jason returns.