When the first season of Percy Jackson & the Olympians premiered in 2023, reviews were a mixed bag. Fans were excited about finally having a book-accurate adaptation after the infamous movies had disappointed. Critics, however, noted the series’ struggles with pacing and its overall youthful tone, which held it back from being top-tier television. Now in season two, which adapts the second novel in the series, “The Sea of Monsters,” Percy Jackson is finding its voice.
One of the biggest improvements in season two is the maturity of talent in the teenage cast. Both Aryan Simhadri, who plays Grover Underwood, and Leah Sava’ Jeffries, who plays Annabeth Chase, have developed an on-screen presence in their performances. While they both had shining moments in the first season, this sophomore outing fully realizes their characters. As the two most important secondary characters, they’ve developed comedic timing and depth, making each moment they are on screen compelling.
Season two expands Percy’s group of friends with Tyson, a cyclops and Percy’s half-brother. Tyson, played by Daniel Diemer, demonstrates how the show has attempted to age itself along with its cast and viewership. While portrayed much younger in the book, Diemer’s Tyson maintains the character’s sensitive heart through his physicality and facial expressions. Despite this, he plays a slightly more haunted version of the character, which aids in skewing the show’s tone older than the previous season and the book.
The standout of the entire cast, though, remains Walker Scobell as the titular Percy Jackson. Outside of his blonde hair, Scobell embodies Percy so wholly that it feels as though he has sprung from the page and onto our TVs. As this season shifts to focus on the inescapable prophecy that dictates his life, Scobell thrives with the show’s new depth. He explores Percy’s fatal flaw of loyalty by becoming a raw, almost primal version of the character when his friends find themselves in peril. Despite only a year of diegetic time passing, season two’s Percy feels significantly grown up, and Scobell expertly portrays the new weight that has been added to his shoulders.
Beyond the cast’s improved performances, the writing in the second season took more risks for a high-reward outcome. Making changes when adapting from book to screen is inevitable but tricky, especially when a fanbase has been wronged before. Despite this, the writing team behind Percy Jackson understands the novels, characters, and themes so intimately that changes are made without sacrificing fan-favorite moments or altering the story to be unrecognizable.
In many cases, these changes better serve the medium of television, none more so than those made in episode three, “We Board the Princess Andromeda.” Much of the episode is dedicated to expanding the perspective of Clarisse’s (Dior Goodjohn) quest and Luke’s (Charlie Bushnell) team of defecting demigods. Since the books are written from Percy’s perspective, television affords the viewer the role of omniscient narrator, taking in simultaneous events that happened in the background of the novel. This makes the mythical world feel larger in a way the original books couldn’t explore due to their limited narration.
The filmmaking team’s confidence also shines this season in the production’s technical areas. The cinematography, specifically during the finale’s Half-Blood Hill battle sequence, felt inspired, elevating the conflict from a few dozen kids with fake swords to a remarkably visual spectacle. It followed through with the themes connecting Percy and Thalia (Tamara Smart) as potential subjects of the Great Prophecy, as well as Percy and Luke as opposing leaders of the coming war. Visual effects, although used surprisingly sparingly for a series about Greek Mythology, felt realistic, fully selling the threat of this season’s monstrous villain, Polyphemus (Aleks Paunovic).
There are still issues the series needs to figure out. I, for one, am irritated every time the show cuts to black, as if for a commercial, despite being a streaming original. While ads are a reality in our streaming world, I shouldn’t be reminded of them if I am paying a premium to avoid them. It adds a choppiness to the show that, if removed, would allow for more creative editing decisions.
Some of the book-to-screen changes may also be more of a hindrance to the already announced season three. The original characters introduced in season two, like Allison Simms (Beatrice Kitsos), may distract not only from the main characters we have already come to love but also from those with high plot impact we’ve yet to meet. Additionally, certain plot changes, specifically those regarding Thalia’s fate, may make future plot beats less impactful or be written out of the story too quickly. However, executive producer Craig Silverstein insists these changes are consistent with the book’s characterization of the relationship between the gods and their children. Ultimately, Percy Jackson’s potential weaknesses may only need more seasons to become future strengths.
If season two of Percy Jackson & the Olympians has proved anything, it’s that its cast and crew will make every effort to improve between seasons, allowing for changes that make the story stronger without disappointing the fans who have made the series so successful.
Review Courtesy of Sasha Raquel
Feature Image Credit to Walt Disney Pictures