Summary
Disney+‘sPercy Jackson and the Olympianshas generally been well-received, but the series can improve when it comes to the heroes encountering monsters and other villains. Season 1 sees Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell), Annabeth Chase (Leah Jeffries), and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri) crossing paths with manyiconic monsters from Greek mythology, including Medusa (Jessica Parker Kennedy), Echidna (Suzanne Cryer), and Cerberus. The series adapted the versions of these monsters fromThe Lightning Thiefby Rick Riordan.
With season 2 adapting the second novel,The Sea of Monsters, Percy and his friends will face a new host of new monstrous threats, ranging from a hydra to the giant cyclops Polyphemus. New monsters, new locations, and the introduction ofPercy’s cyclops half-brother, Tyson, (Daniel Diemer) makes season 2 exciting and further widens the series’ narrative scope. In order for season 2 to doThe Sea of Monstersjustice, the show does need to make some changes when it comes to the monster scenes.
Athena & Medusa’s Backstory In Percy Jackson Explained: The Truth Behind Her Gorgon Transformation
Percy Jackson & the Olympians introduces Medusa as a tragic figure, highlighting how her relationship with Athena led to her becoming a Gorgon.
Percy Jackson Season 2 Needs To Improve On The First Season’s Monster Encounters
Scenes With Medusa And Other Monsters Weren’t As Effective As They Could Have Been
One of the common criticisms onRedditaboutPercy Jackson and the Olympiansseason 1 is thatPercy, Annabeth, and Grover almost immediately detect the dangers posed by the monsters. This is different from the books, in which Percy and his friends are more easily tricked by the monsters and their deceptions. In the case of Medusa, Percy and his friends are initially tricked into believing she is a kindly lady named Aunty Em of Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium, and only later discover that she is actually Medusa.
In the Disney+ series, they immediately avert their eyes when first encountering her, and she even introduces herself as Medusa. This change robs the episode of tension, as the heroic trio already know who she is and how dangerous she can be. One of the best parts ofthePercy Jacksonbooksis trying to figure out who each new character is from Greek mythology and determining whether they will be a friend or foe to Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, an element of intrigue missing from the show’s Medusa scenes and with many of the other disguised monsters as well.
Why It Makes Sense For Percy & His Friends To Fall For The Villains' Tricks & Traps
They’re Still Kids Despite Being Demigods & Satyrs
While Percy and his friends falling for the monsters' deceptions might make them seem gullible, it makes sense because they are still children while also being demigods with training and good instincts. Both Percy and Annabeth are only 12 years old duringThe Lightning Thiefand in season 1, and while Grover is 24, he is still a child in terms of how satyrs age.It is realistic for children to be trickedby adults who are kind or who offer them what they want at the moment.
Satyrs age at half the rate of a human or demigod, making Grover essentially 12 even though he is technically 24.
Part ofPercy Jackson’s enduring appeal is how the characters in Riordan’s novels feel like actual children, even while they bravely face monsters during dangerous quests. By casting young actors close in age to their characters, the show has already committed to making its lead characters children instead of aging them up as the movies did. Having them act more like real kids when they encounter monsters in disguise is a way the show can further commit to this vital aspect of the source material.
Percy Jackson Season 2 Can Have Greater Stakes With More Book Accuracy
This Is Needed For Season 2’s C.C.’s Spa and Resort Scenes
Season 2 can address this issue by having Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and their young peers initially being more easily deceivedby certain monsters and other villains they encounter.The Sea of Monstersfeatures a particularly entertaining chapter at C.C.’s Spa and Resort that can only be adapted well if the show’s Percy and Annabeth do not immediately know who C.C. is and what she wants from them. The dramatic effect of this chapter and the episode that adapts it will be lost if C.C.’s identity is already known or revealed to the characters.
Making changes like this can help raise the dramatic stakes and overall tension in season 2, along with being more accurate to the source material. Many of thechanges from thePercy Jacksonbooksin season 1 worked well, given the differences between a modern television series and a book published nearly two decades ago. The cleverness of the monster encounters and the disguises the villains use is one element that should not be changed from the books inPercy Jackson and the Olympiansseason 2.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Cast
Percy Jackson and the Olympians follows the journey of Percy Jackson as he embarks on a perilous quest to return Zeus’s master bolt. Joined by friends Annabeth and Grover, Percy confronts mythical challenges, seeking to avert a divine war and discover his place in the world.
