THE STORY – Season 2 of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” follows the titular son of Poseidon’s second summer at the demigod haven Camp Half Blood, where he joins forces with the daughter of Athena to quest for the mythical golden fleece of Greek legend. Adapted from Rick Riordan’s “Sea of Monsters” novel.
THE CAST – Walker Scobell, Leah Sava’ Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Daniel Diemer, Charlie Bushnell, Dior Goodjohn, Jason Mantzoukas, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adam Copeland, Timothy Simons & Beatrice Kitsos
THE TEAM – Rick Riordan (Author/Creator/Writer), Jonathan E. Steinberg (Creator/Showrunner) & Dan Shotz (Showrunner)
After the aborted attempt at establishing a film franchise in the early 2010s left “Percy Jackson” fans less than dazzled, Disney+’s long-awaited 2024 series, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” surpassed expectations, delivering the “Lightning Thief” adaptation readers had dreamed of, thanks in large part to its trio of young stars (Walter Scobell, Leah Sava’ Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri). With the might and wealth of Disney+ behind the series and author Rick Riordan at the helm, season two of “Percy Jackson” is an almost startlingly book-accurate adaptation that dials up the emotional complexity for its young protagonists as they embark on a dangerous seafaring quest.
In the wake of his tumultuous first summer at Camp Half Blood, Percy (Scobell) has spent the year counting the minutes until he can reunite with Annabeth (Jeffries) and learning to cohabitate with Tyson (Daniel Diemer), a sweet but hapless young man who Percy’s mother Sally (Virginia Kull) recognized as a cyclops and invited to live with them.
But by the time he returns to Camp Half Blood (with Tyson reluctantly in tow, much to Annabeth’s chagrin), Percy discovers his best friend Grover is missing, and activities director Chiron has been ousted, with the gods having installed the sadistic Tantalus (a scruffy, yellow-toothed Timothy Simons) as the new second-in-command to Mr. D (Jason Mantzoukas). According to Dionysus, someone has poisoned Thalia’s Tree (a magical beacon that protects Camp Half Blood), and as the son of the titan Kronos, the gods suspect Chiron may be the culprit.
Desperate to find Grover, save the camp from imminent destruction, and clear Chiron’s name, Percy demands to be sent on a quest to search for the golden fleece, an artifact from Greek myth that can cure any illness. But when Tantalus assigns the quest to camp bully Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn), Percy and Annabeth embark on a rogue mission to find the fleece first, racing against not only Clarisse, but Luke (Charlie Bushnell), the traitorous son of Hermes, who seeks to use the fleece to resurrect Kronos.
This isn’t the first time “Sea of Monsters” has been adapted for the small screen, and though the 2013 film did make a concerted effort to course-correct from the many inaccuracies of its predecessor, an hour and forty-five minutes just isn’t enough time to truthfully adapt a novel that sizably expanded Riordan’s already dense world of demigods and monsters. But thanks to the show’s one-book-per-season approach, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” explores Percy, Annabeth, and Grover with depth and emotional honesty that clearly evokes Riordan’s novels: the series is so faithful to its source material that episode titles match the book chapters.
But where season one laid the necessary groundwork for Percy’s new world and its rules, season two turns up the heat on Percy and his friends as they battle not only Luke and his potentially world-ending plans, but also as they navigate increasingly complex interpersonal relationships, keep secrets from each other, and juggle conflicting loyalties with pressure from their godly parents.
At the center of it all is Walker Scobell’s Percy (often at his comic best when opposite Simhadri’s Grover), whose self-deprecating humor and unflinching loyalty continue to make him a lovable, effortlessly charming hero even as he’s challenged in new ways: namely, being passed over for the quest in favor of Clarisse. In addition to being a welcome (arguably necessary) subversion of the “chosen one” trope that plagues the YA fantasy genre, exploring Percy’s indignance at being passed over for a mission to save camp allows Scobell to show off his range, delivering an increasingly ferocious performance that balances rightful indignance with Percy’s brash, youthful confidence.
But while Scobell may shine when riffing with Grover or clashing with Clarisse, he’s undoubtedly at his best when he’s sharing the screen with Leah Sava’ Jeffries’ Annabeth. Though she may insist to the Gray Sisters (Sandra Bernhard, Kristen Schaal, Margaret Cho) that he’s *not* her boyfriend, Scobell’s Percy is obviously and delightfully besotted with her. Percy’s early, unflinching dedication to Annabeth is not only an endearing showcase of Scobell’s capacity as an actor, but also a chance for Jeffries to explore Annabeth’s interiority and her reservations about opening up to him.
Scobell is certainly no slouch, but it’s Jeffries who truly shines in season two of “Percy Jackson,” as the series dives headfirst into unpacking Annabeth’s harsh childhood and her past on the run with Luke and Thalia (Tamara Smart). Annabeth is a demanding ask for a young actress – as the daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom, Annabeth has a dizzying intellect and an emotional maturity far beyond her years. Jeffries’ Annabeth is guarded but earnest, longing to open up to Percy but unable to reconcile her emotional impulses with the cold logic that fuels her duties as a demigod. Embuing Annabeth with a tense physicality representative of the emotional (and, if “Titan’s Curse” is adapted next season, physical) weight on her shoulders, Jeffries is often at her best when Annabeth is in moments of high emotion: recounting her past to Percy or squaring off with Luke, whose betrayal continues to haunt Annabeth well into the season.
Outside of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover (who is mostly sidelined by the narrative), Clarisse is season two’s emotional standout, as her race against Percy for the fleece becomes a personal quest to make her father, Ares (Adam Copeland, in another brief but memorable guest spot), proud and prove herself a worthy daughter of the god of war. In one of the few changes to (or more accurately, expansions of) the novel, season two departs from Percy’s first-person perspective to follow Clarisse on her parallel quest, lending much-needed emotional depth to an otherwise one-dimensional bully. More time with Clarisse also means more time aboard her warship, The CSS Birmingham, which doubles as the backdrop for one of the season’s most impressive action sequences.
That’s the other strength of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” season two: it *feels* like a Greek epic. Whether it’s Clarisse’s ironclad warship manned by a crew of ghosts, a Chariot race-turned-camp-siege involving a Mariah Carey song, or the cruise ship-esque opulence of Luke’s floating fortress, The Princess Andromeda, season two delivers the massive scope, scale, and depth that “Sea of Monsters” deserves. “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”’ second outing is a vast, globetrotting adventure, and one whose trio of leads grow suitably older and more emotionally mature to navigate.
THE GOOD – Rick Riordan’s beloved novel is faithfully and meticulously adapted, and what few changes are made are done so in service of a more layered, well-rounded story. Scobell and Jeffries shine, and between the costumes, sets, stunts, and that gorgeous end credits sequence, it’s clear this is a season crafted with love and an intent to honor the source material.
THE BAD – Questionable casting of the Olympic pantheon and other mythological figures scattered throughout the series (Simons’ Tantalus feels cartoonish and out of place among the otherwise humanized myths). Still, Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes is admittedly growing on me. Some of the young actors aren’t as consistent as others (Goodjohn struggles when not opposite Copeland), and the script is particularly clunky in its lore dumps and exposition.
THE EMMY PROSPECTS – None
THE FINAL SCORE – 8/10
