YMMV / Friday the 13th Part 2

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • In a way to make the new killer match up with the previous film's, maybe Jason didn't actually die but Pamela just believed he did. She was clearly insane enough to murder innocent people who had nothing to do with Jason, so maybe she just chose to believe he was dead for whatever reason.
  • Terry's attitude to Scott, especially when he gets caught hanging upside down. She warns him to "cut the crap out" in exchange for cutting him down, so is she also low-key threatening him that she'll report him if he tries anything again?
• Ass Pull: The kid that died 20 years ago — and the reason why Mrs. Voorhees was killing in the first place — is alive after all, has been living near Camp Crystal Lake this whole time, and shares his mother's penchant for killing horny teenagers. Why his mother never found him, despite stalking the camp for years, and why Jason never attempted to contact her is never explained.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: While this film suffers from Early-Installment Weirdness and isn't generally considered the most iconic entry in the franchise, it's pretty well-known for being the first installment to feature explicit nudity (which would go on to become one of the series' trademarks). The scene where Terry goes swimming naked and gets her clothes stolen by Scott is one of its best-known scenes.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Many fans tend to bring up Mark very amicably, due to him being one of the nicest characters in the series, and his infamous death scene.
  • Terry has her share of popularity in the fandom, in large part due to her being an early Ms. Fanservice of the franchise, with her nice butt in short shorts being shown in closeup as well as the series’ first real nudity when she goes Skinny Dipping.
• Even Better Sequel: The first movie is seen as a great cult classic and plenty of fans do love it, though for many, Part 2 is their preferred entry in the series. Not just for the introduction of Jason Voorhees as the main killer, but for ramping up the creative kills, having great, likable characters, the introduction of Ginny Field, and a much faster pace compared to the first movie.
• Fan Nickname: Part 2 Jason is sometimes called "Sackhead Jason" to differentiate him from the later versions that wear the hockey mask.
• Fan-Preferred Cut Content: Well, an early idea more than anything else. But there were plans for Alice to become a recurring character in the franchise like Dr Loomis in Halloween. As the only character who believes Jason is actually alive at the camp, it could have made for an interesting series of plots to try and convince people not to re-open it or help fight Jason herself. Unfortunately, Adrienne King was taking a break from the spotlight after some bad experiences with a stalker, and wanted her role to be small (although other sources say her agent was asking for a salary the production couldn't afford).
• Fanon: Since it’s never explained in universe whether or not it was Ginny or the rat that peed under the bed (and considering it was an unrealistic amount of pee for a small rat), many interpret Ginny was the one who peed, as for many it made the scene creepier that she uncontrollably relieved herself out of fear and clued Jason into where she was. Word of God denies this, however.
• He's Just Hiding:
  • Some fans think Alice might have survived and gone into hiding, given people have survived injuries like an ice pick to the temple (a scene in Scream 4 was inspired by a real-life incident where a man was stabbed in the head and drove himself to the hospital), and she's later stated to only have disappeared in the film. However, a body all but stated to be hers is seen in Jason's hut, meaning Jason took her body with him, which is why her death went officially unconfirmed.
  • Many people are convinced that Paul survived his final battle with Jason since the film's ending never reveals his fate. It also helps that the opening of Part 3 omits Jason's surprise attack on Ginny and Paul and adds Jason crawling away at the shrine, suggesting that said final attack was All Just a Dream.
  • Terry is attacked off-screen and seemingly doesn't have any serious injuries when Jason lays her body at his mother's shrine, leading some fans to believe that she is just unconscious.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Terry in the film wears a Disney Mickey Mouse T-shirt, then in 2009, Disney starlet Danielle Panabaker would be cast in Friday the 13th (2009).
• Moe: Vickie as a perky Genki Girl is quite cute. Even her flirting with Mark is more adorable than sexy.
• More Popular Replacement: Ginny is the second Final Girl in the franchise, after Alice gets killed off in the opening. While Alice is liked, Ginny is far more popular. Amy Steel's acting likewise gets more praise than Adrienne King's.
• Narm: Vickie swapping out her black colored panties for poopy brown colored panties.
• Narm Charm: Mark’s death. He gets a machete to the face and goes down the porch steps. All the while still in his wheelchair. It’s completely nonsensical and altogether pretty silly that his body would remain perfectly center in the wheelchair as he’s riding all the way down, yet between his echoed screams and the fact that Jason just killed a paraplegic man who had no chance of escaping or fighting back, it turns right back around to being creepy and disturbing.
• Older Than They Think:
  • Someone impaling two people having sex with a spear appears in the Bible. Notwithstanding the biblical Ur-Example, the scene is a more-or-less direct recreation of a scene from A Bay of Blood. Ditto the wheelchair death sequence, featuring a sharp implement being embedded deep in a victim's face through blunt force before the respective victim even knows what hits them.
  • Also, Jason's flour-sack mask, plaid shirt and denim overalls ensemble in this film is directly inspired◊ by that of the Phantom Killer in The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
• One-Scene Wonder: Betsy Palmer returns to play Jason's illusion of Pamela Voorhees when Ginny is pretending to be her. She's wonderfully creepy, especially with her delivery of "Jason, mother is talking to you!"
• Padding: The opening has about five minutes of Alice thrashing around in her sleep remembering scenes from the first film.
• Sacred Cow:
  • Ginny is highly regarded as a standout Final Girl not just in the Friday the 13th series, but in slasher films in general as argued by 1000 Misspent Hours. Criticizing her is generally considered a bad idea as a result.
  • The film overall has been held considerably high amongst the fanbase, often seen as the golden standard of the franchise that only few have come so close to ranking on par.
• Signature Scene:
  • Ginny pretending to be Jason's mother so that she can attack him.
  • Jason, unmasked, making his one last attack.
  • Jason impaling Jeff and Sandra with a spear.
• Tough Act to Follow: Ginny is regarded as the best Final Girl in the franchise, and the third film was even going to bring her back. None of the others in the series have come close to her popularity.
• Values Dissonance:
  • Scott's chasing after Terry and stealing her clothes when she skinny dips is treated as mostly an annoyance - rather than workplace sexual harassment.
  • When attempting to empathise with Jason's plight, Ginny uses the word 'retard', which became recognised as a slur in the 2010s. Especially glaring since she's studying to be a child psychologist.
• Values Resonance: For an early-80's slasher film, the movie is pretty progressive by having a disabled counselor (Mark) who uses a wheelchair, as well as having one of the girls (Vickie) coming on to him and wanting to sleep with him, treating him as just another guy working there that she finds attractive.
• The Woobie: Terry can be viewed as one by some viewers. She doesn’t engage in typical bad behavior for teenagers in this franchise (apart from wearing immodest clothing), making her death feel more tragic than deserved. She also is often on the receiving end of multiple pranks from Scott, which at least border on being sexual harassment.

---