Recap and Review: "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" - Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2 

Episode 1 - I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals

The show opens with Grover (Aryan Simhadri) walking through a jungle on his quest for the great god Pan. Alone, he asks for guidance from the gods. As he explores the island, the remains of another searcher are found, and though Grover is excited by the find, he is careful as he proceeds to play the reed pipes of the deceased searcher.

When Grover encounters some former campers of Camp Half-Blood, they are upset and mention that Luke (Charlie Bushnell) will not be happy. Grover knows he is in danger and tries to escape the rogue campers but is dragged off the beach into the ocean by a kraken. 

Percy (Walker Scobell) wakes up falling out of bed, trying to make sense of where he is. Percy’s nightmares either have him being attacked or predict the future. In the kitchen, he talks to his mother Sally (Virginia Kull) and sits down for breakfast with Tyson (Daniel Diemer), who Sally met at a homeless shelter. 

Tyson is a cyclops. Percy and his mother can see his one eye, but the rest of the world can’t. While he admires his mother’s good heart, Percy is a little unhappy about being Tyson’s only friend. Percy tells his mom about his nightmare with Grover, and Sally tells her son that she had a nightmare about Kronos, and that maybe she should drive them both to camp tonight. 

Sally reminds her son that being a real hero means standing up for others. Walking to school, Percy and Tyson are met by the Gray Sisters cab, and Annabeth (Leah Jeffries) emerges from her invisible hat wondering if Percy is in trouble. She asks if he had a dream about camp. The Gray Sisters want extra pay, and when they get their drachma, the cab takes off for Camp Half-Blood with Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson. Percy gets hold of their one eye and holds it hostage until he gets information about Grover, which results in them getting what would appear to be geographic coordinates, even though Percy doesn’t know what they mean. 

On the outskirts of camp, the three are attacked and flee for the safety of Camp Half Blood. Just when Percy looks like he could be hurt, Tyson protects him. Kept from entering camp at the boundary, Percy wades back into battle to defend his friend. Annabeth gives Tyson permission to enter camp, and they make it safely inside the boundaries. 

Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn) and the Ares cabin come to their rescue. She is not pleased to see Percy and Annabeth. Despite Percy’s joke about her fixing her spear Clarisse has no time for Percy’s humor. The monsters that attacked them were Lystragonians. Annabeth theorizes that this attack was to draw attention away from the real target. When they run to Thalia’s tree they find Luke has stabbed the tree with a poison. This will ultimately destroy the magical boundaries that protect the camp and campers from monsters. 

Percy tries to engage him into fighting, but Luke tells his former friends that he will see them out there. Annabeth is in shock, Percy explains to Tyson about the heroic deed that Thalia sacrificed herself for the protection of her friends, like Luke and Annabeth.

Clarisse arrives ready to attack Tyson, but before the words can change to battle, Tantalus (Timothy Simons) arrives and introduces himself to Percy and Annabeth as the new Activities Director. He orders Clarisse to kill Tyson, and that is when Poseidon claims Tyson as his son. Percy has a brother. 

Back at the Big House, Dionysus (Jason Mantzoukas) cannot stop laughing about the fact that Tyson is Poseidon’s son. Dionysus tells Percy and Annabeth that Zeus set a decree that Chiron was booted out because he was a son of Kronos. (Jason Mantzoukas is hilarious. He is perfect in the role of the sarcastic and hysterical god of wine.)

Percy and Annabeth are amazed to hear Tantalus and Dionysus are talking about a chariot race, while they want a quest to cure Thalia’s tree. Percy is removed and confined to his cabin. 

As Percy walks to his cabin he is met with jeers and insults from his fellow campers. Inside their cabin, Percy wants to know if Tyson knew they were brothers all along. Tyson says he didn’t know, and Percy is struggling to reconcile with the fact that he has a cyclops for a brother. Annabeth arrives and wants to know if Percy wants to go for a walk. Percy wants to stay and talk to Tyson, and before she leaves, Annabeth and Percy realize they have some issues to work through after a long school year of little contact.

Tyson tells Percy that he should get some sleep and then proceeds to explain how difficult his life has been living on the street. He elaborates that a sphinx told him his mother was a naiad and his father was a god. Tyson tells Percy that sleep is good because it means you are safe. 

Back at Thalia’s tree, Annabeth talks to her entombed friend, wondering if Thalia can still hear her. She vows to the tree to fix what has happened, but Annabeth would like some guidance on how to fix what has happened.

In his dreams, Percy sees an island with a kraken lifting an unconscious Grover into a cave. Percy is conscious of what is happening, and thanks to his empathy link with Grover, the two friends are able to talk to each other.  This can only happen between best friends. Both boys are trying to figure out how their connection works, when the ground starts shaking, and the dream begins to collapse. 

Grover tells Percy that he is trapped in a cave by the cyclops Polyphemus. The monster has been using bait to attract victims. Grover tells Percy that the Golden Fleece is on the island and it has the power to heal anything, and that Luke is searching for it as well. Percy wants to know where the cave is, and then Grover tells him the same coordinates that the Gray Sisters told him earlier. Looking at a map in the cabin, he sees the coordinates take him to the Sea of Monsters. (Excellent way to introduce the title of the second book in the show.)

Percy finds Annabeth at the tree and tells her that he knows how to save camp.

Episode 2 - Demon Pigeons Attack

Percy and Annabeth are staring at the sky and wondering how long the Stymphalian birds will take before they get through the barrier. While Percy sits outside near the chariot arena Annabeth sneaks into Tantalus’ office to get clues about where Chiron (Glynn Turman) is. Searching the office, Annabeth finds a drachma and sends an Iris message to Chiron. He’s in Miami visiting relatives.

When Tantalus approaches Percy wondering why he is out of his cabin, Percy loudly tells him that he has a way to heal the Thalia tree. Annabeth pleads with Chiron to help her get a quest to save the camp, and Chiron tells her about the great prophecy. Annabeth needs to find a way to get a quest, but Percy must not go on the quest. Chiron further explains that Kronos is behind the poisoning of the tree and that he did this for a reason. 

Percy has managed to enter himself in the upcoming chariot race, and when Annabeth joins him, she tells him that she needs to win the race so she can get a reward for her success which leads to getting a quest. Annabeth tells him they need to split up to double their chances for success, and now Percy needs to find a partner for the chariot race. 

Tyson asks him when he can meet his father, and Percy explains that its not up to them, but it is up for the gods to decide. Percy is impressed by how Tyson has fixed the wheel, and when he offers Tyson the chance to leave the cabin, Tyson states it’s against the rules. With a smirk, Percy states he can fix that. (Walker Scobell has the arrogance and confidence of the written Percy perfectly.)

The chariot race is about to begin when Percy and Tyson arrive with their chariot, and the crowd is impressed by their work. While Percy tells Tyson not to target Annabeth, she tells her fellow rider that if Percy takes the lead, they should take them out. The race begins and the action commences right at the starting line. (Epically filmed and well adapted from the book.) Collisions abound, competitors go flying, and Clarisse attacks Percy.

The race is almost over, when the birds start to breach the barrier. Tyson saves Percy, but the campers are under attack. Using Chiron’s boombox, they play some high-pitched Mariah Carey and scare the winged devils away from the camp. 

Campers are injured but the camp has been saved for now. Dionysus addresses the campers that once the track is fixed the chariot races will be rescheduled. Tantalus tells the group that the barrier will fail in a week, but three campers must quest to save the camp to gain the Golden Fleece and restore the borders of the camp to full strength. Tantalus tells the group that while everyone gave up during the attack, Clarisse kept racing and passed his ‘test’. Clarisse vows to save the camp. 

Dionysus tells her to pick two to go with her, and Annabeth tells her that she will need her, to which Clarisse agrees. Percy tells Clarisse that it’s an ocean quest and they will need him. Clarisse is about to agree when Annabeth persuades her not to, and then she chooses Chris Rodrigues. 

Percy feels betrayed and before he leaves Tantalus tells them all that no one is allowed to leave except the questers. Percy talks with Tyson about how Annabeth whispered something to Clarisse, and then they didn’t pick him. Tyson then shares via his special talent of mimicking voices that Annabeth told Bronte, her race partner, to take out Percy if he was going to win the race.

Packing to leave Tyson pleads with his brother to stay, but Percy has a plan and he means to leave. In his dream, Percy awakens in his cabin with Grover and sees a wedding dress. Polyphemus thinks Grover is a lady, and that is what is keeping Grover alive. Percy wakes up and gets ready to leave camp. 

Making his way past the cabins, Percy heads to the beach to find a way out and meets a calm ocean. He talks to the ocean, and his dad, stating that he is not asking for help, nor permission, but Percy just wants to know that his dad won’t stop him from leaving. Percy knows that Poseidon could stop him, but his friend needs his help, and Percy will not let laws stop him from helping his friend. He asks for a sign that says he has Poseidon’s blessing to do what he needs to do. 

Hermes (Lin-Manuel Miranda) arrives stating he has a message from Poseidon that his quest is approved. (Nice to see Hermes meeting Percy on the beach was kept from the book.) Hermes offers Percy a ride to where he needs to go, and a bag with useful items for his journey. 

Annabeth knocks on Percy’s cabin, and when Tyson tells him that Percy is gone. She takes off in search of him.

Hermes explains the gifts in Percy’s bag. A thermos of gale force winds that will help him get wherever he needs to go. Chewable vitamins that will make him feel like himself again. Percy wants to know what Hermes wants, and while Percy is upset that everything he tries to do is right, and yet gets none of his father’s attention, he wants to know what Hermes wants. 

Hermes wants Luke to be saved. Percy states that he doesn’t think anything can save Luke. Appealing to his good nature, Hermes reminds Percy that you should never give up on your family no matter how tempting they make it. Percy doesn’t want to agree to saving Luke, but he begrudgingly accepts the god’s offer.

Annabeth approaches Percy at the shore begging him to stay. They talk about how she knows something that she’s not telling him, and then she tells Percy that all the things that he said she should try, Annabeth hated. Rollercoasters and middle school were not Annabeth’s cup of tea. (Percy asks if she watched Jaws and that is one of the funniest lines of the episode.)

Annabeth tells him that the difference between the two is that he can be a kid and a demigod, and she can only be a demigod. Trying to get Annabeth to tell her what she knows, Annabeth refuses, and then Tantalus arrives telling the kids that they have a moment for their last words, because he is going to kill them. 

Tyson stops Tantalus before he can shoot them, and the three escape into a boat to catch a ride to the Sea of Monsters. Annabeth realizes that they broke the law of camp and now they can’t return.

The Tridents Review

In the spirit of the symbol that represents Poseidon and Percy Jackson, I will review each episode with a ranking of Tridents. 1 equaling the value of a rough day at sea to 4 being the equivalent of the most perfect beach day.

Season 2’s of adaptations can always suffer from the freshman success of the show. I was very pleased with how quick the action moves in these opening episodes. We don’t need a look at life in school for Percy. That was great for The Sea of Monsters book, but the show doesn’t need it. Having Sally find Tyson and making that the angle to introduce him to the story elevates the narrative perfectly for television. Plus, this allows the audience a chance to see Virginia Kull, and she makes the mother of Percy such an important character.

Tyson is well treated in these opening episodes. They keep his innocence from the book, but Daniel Diemer is casting perfection. He brings the child like wonder that Tyson has, but the physical strength that is needed to balance the character. 

Scobell and Jeffries are lightning in a bottle in their roles. They have great chemistry, and they make their characters sparkle with a touch of magic. 

The title card showing The Sea of Monsters is artistic perfection, and to have Lin-Manuel Miranda in the second episode helps further the narrative of Hermes’ pain at losing Luke. 

Season 2 has started off with a bang, and a chariot race, and episode 1 and 2 get 4 Tridents for artistic creativity, brilliance in adaptation, and for giving viewers a greater look at the supporting characters as well.