Recap/Review: "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" - Season 2, Episode 5 "We Check In to C.C.’s Spa and Resort"

Recap:

Percy (Walker Scobell) wakes up in a spa sauna room with distant memories of the battle aboard the iron clad. He’s alone, and just as he is about to open the door of the room, Annabeth (Leah Jeffries) stops him and tells him not to go outside. Percy listens and wonders where they are. Annabeth has no idea, and just as they are debating about what happened, Hylla (Jasmine Vega) opens the door and tells them she is their concierge and tells them she will be outside when they are ready. Wondering where the rest of the crew is, Hylla tells them that they were the only survivors found from the battle on the warship. 

Percy is upset. He promised his mom he would take care of Tyson (Daniel Diemer) but Percy is despondent over how much they lost. Annabeth tells him to stay in the room because she is going to scout ahead. Percy joins her in the hallway, and they are greeted by various guests of the spa, and Hylla tells them that they are in C.C.’s Spa and Resort, and that this is the only sanctuary in the Sea of Monsters. (I do love a good callback to the title of the book in the middle of the show.)

Together, Percy and Annabeth learn that the guests are all on quests, and they are about to watch a demigod attempt to escape the island and avoid the three Sirens luring anyone who escapes to their death. CC (Rosemarie DeWitt) joins them and tells them that after they get some rest, they should be able to help them. Watching a guest get lured into the Sirens song, Percy wants to know what the temptation sounds like. CC tells Percy that it takes bravery to look inward and confront yourself. CC tells Annabeth and Percy there are no shortcuts to avoid the Sirens. 

Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn) wakes up on a beach wondering where she is. In the distance she can see the Golden Fleece hanging from a tree but is quickly caught in a trap. Grover (Aryan Simhadri) is startled by the arrival of Polyphemus (Aleks Paunovic) who brings in the captured Clarisse. Grover is very happy to see Clarisse. Polyphemus has left to get seasoning to cook her, but the daughter of Ares is planning to ambush the monster before he gets back, and she tells Grover that she believes that Percy and Annabeth are dead. Grover refuses to believe this, they just aren’t on the island. Grover shows Clarisse the way out of the cave through the roof.

Back at the spa, Percy and Annabeth are dressed in some more ancient Greek appropriate clothing, which they both agree that no one at camp needs to be told about how they look in their new clothes. They are brought to CC’s office where she uses magic and Annabeth realizes that CC is Circe, a powerful sorceress that turned Odysseys’ men into pigs.

Circe wants them to look at their true self so that it will help them. Percy volunteers to go first. Staring at a magic mirror, he is forced to reflect on his past adventures, (clip show time). Circe identifies Percy’s fatal flaw which is to put his friends first. Storming out, Percy tells Annabeth that he’s worried his fatal flaw will cause the destruction of the world. 

Grover and Clarisse work together to climb out of the cave. Near the top, the rope breaks and Clarisse falls. Just then Polyphemus appears wondering where Clarisse is. Grover is not wearing his veil, and the monster realizes that he has been tricked. 

Percy returns to Circe’s office. He apologizes for running out earlier. Percy tells her how his mom told her story to him. He confronts Circe with the lie about how she desperately keeps everyone on the island so she is not alone. Percy promises not to tell her secret if she helps Annabeth get free. Circe accepts and blows a powder into his face which changes Percy into a guinea pig. The guinea pig Percy soon learns that the other animals are also demigods who have been tricked by the sorceress. 

Clarisse emerges and finds Grover hiding in a wardrobe. Polyphemus is searching for her, and they don’t have a lot of time to escape. Clarisse explains that the Oracle told her she would find her final resting place in a tomb of stone, and now she is trapped in a cave. Clarisse believes she has failed, and she wants forgiveness. 

When Grover says that she shouldn’t talk like that because her father is forgiving and cares about her, Clarisse knows something is wrong. She rips open the door to the wardrobe to see a bound and gagged Grover and turns around to see Polyphemus standing over her. He captures her and knocks her out. Grover learns that the cyclops beats may be half blind, but he knew all along that Grover was a satyr and that he is using them for bait to capture Percy. 

In Circe’s office, Annabeth arrives wondering if she knows where Percy is. Annabeth tells the sorceress that her fatal flaw is pride, she’s known about it since her first summer at Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth presents her plan to escape the island. She notices in the guinea pig cage the water bottle is a swirling vortex, just like what Percy does with his water powers and within the pen holder on Circe’s desk, is Percy’s sword in pen form, Riptide. Annabeth knows what happened to Percy but is trying to hide her knowledge from Circe. 

Turning her back to Circe, she throws the magic vitamins Hermes gave them into the guinea pig cage, and Percy and the others eat them right away. The spell is broken, and the humans who were captured are revealed. Percy and a lot of pirates are freed from the cage, and Percy steals Circe’s magical wax, which will allow Annabeth to escape the Sirens. 

From the harbor, Percy and Annabeth escape on a ship. They soon realize there is barely enough wax for one person, so Annabeth takes the wax and then Percy is tied to the mast of the ship. Just as she is about to use the wax, Circe steals it back. Annabeth is forced to confront the luring sounds of the Sirens alone. On the island, Annabeth walks to the sirens, but sees Grover, Percy, and Luke (Charlie Bushnell). They want some of Annabeth’s wisdom, and rather than falling for the trick, Annabeth successful stabs two of the sirens.

When the third siren is ready to attack, Annabeth is defenseless, only to be saved by her mother Athena (Andra Day). Athena is impressed by the fact that Annabeth set a trap for the sirens. No one had done that before. But this was another trap by the Sirens, and just as they are about to kill her, Percy saves her and they sail away from the island. Percy soon realizes that they have arrived at Polyphemus’ island. 

The Tridents Review:

I wish we had more time on the civil war ironclad. But alas that is not meant to be. However, it was time to meet Circe, as this is an incredibly important part of the story, and while we do get many call backs to the book, including Percy being turned into a guinea pig scene, episode 5 is a great set up for what is meant to come.

Polyphemus is finally unmasked and shown for his true shape and size, as well as intelligence, but what is the most important part of episode 5, and what is crucial to the strength of the series as it moves forward, is the formation of the relationship between Percy and Annabeth.

We get great scenes of emotional vulnerability between Scobell and Jeffries, as well as character depth that will further their bond through the series.

The episode was important for character development but needed a little more action. ‘We Check In to C.C.’s Spa and Resort’ gets a 2 ½ Tridents rating.