Splashing Into Season 2

Season 2 of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is Released on Disney Plus

Photo from Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Long awaited by fans, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” made a tidal wave of a return on Wednesday, Dec. 10. The newly released second season is based on the second book of the series, “The Sea of Monsters.” Both the book and the show follow Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell), Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries) and new character Tyson (Daniel Diemer) as they traverse the Sea of Monsters to rescue their best friend Grover (Aryan Simhadri) and retrieve the Golden Fleece. With incredible acting, intriguing plot and beautiful set design, the second season amazed new and old fans alike.

Since Season 1, Scobell, Jeffries and Simhadri have grown with their characters, allowing for natural character development. Their friendship and understanding of their world has grown as well, and this reflects in their performances. Specifically, Percy’s loyalty to his friends comes across clearly in Scobell’s performance. From the beginning, fans can see his desperation to save Grover. This aspect of his character has grown since Season 1, where young Percy was too overwhelmed to trust anyone.

Inevitably, there were several differences between the book and the show including the addition of Clarisse La Rue (Dior Goodjohn)’s storyline. This was impossible to include in the books as they are exclusively from Percy’s point of view. Adding Clarisse’s side of the story allows the audience to choose who they want to root for whereas, in the book, Clarisse only comes across as an enemy because of Percy’s unreliable narration.

Veteran fans were shocked when Alison Simms (Beatrice Kitsos) entered the story within the first few minutes of Season 2 Episode 1. Alison, a member of Luke Castellan (Charlie Bushnell)’s rogue demigod army,  is a completely new addition that purist fans have found it difficult to grapple with. However, as author Rick Riordan argues, she was a necessary addition. Both her and Clarisse’s storylines added complexity and gave different points of view that were invisible in the book.

While there were positive changes, there were some unnecessary ones, as well, including Polyphemus’ increased intelligence, Circe’s shifted motivations and Thalia’s additional backstory. Though minor, these changes seemed unnecessary and resulted in subtle plot shifts. However, changes through adaptation are frustrating yet inevitable. In Percy Jackson, the core storyline and character personalities remain intact for the duration of the show, reflecting an overall successful adaptation. 

The set designers went to great lengths to ensure that the set looked as accurate as possible. Both the chariot races and cruise ship scenes were gorgeously put together with real sets utilizing little to no green screen. The chariot scene used a real track and horses; the cruise ship was built exclusively for the show. This allowed the actors to fully immerse themselves in their performances as they could see in the moment what their environment looked like. Hard work paid off and resulted in two beautiful sets that were very satisfying to book purists

Even though several changes were made from the book to the show, Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians delivers a beautifully developed world that’s both exhilarating for new fans and satisfying for old ones.

<Star Ratings>

Acting: ★★★★★

Plot: ★★★★★

Set design: ★★★★★

Overall: ★★★★★