“Are you stalking me Annabeth?” Percy asks Annabeth as she stands in the doorway of the bathroom in the second episode of Percy Jackson and The Olympians.
“Yes,” she replies. She’s very stoic and very calm.
There is something about Annabeth that makes you realize how strong she is from the beginning of this episode. We finally get to meet the queen – Annabeth. And yes, she’s a queen! She stands there, self assured and strong. She looks like she takes no shit and I have to respect that.
It’s a different thing to see the characters of Percy Jackson on the screen in a way that they should have been all along. My forever fangirl heart has been waiting for this for years. Having it, well, it brings such joy to me.
Because so many times we’re getting these adaptations that make fandoms question what people were thinking. While it’s rare that an author has any say in the adaptation, you can tell from this adaptation that it’s needed more often. Riordan being involved was a tipping point that made this fandom get this in a way that they’ve wanted and deserved all along.
I know, I know… we’re only on episode two. To that I say, I have faith. I have faith because of how these two episodes have unfolded and the way that they stay loyal to the material. I have faith because Percy (Walker Scobell), Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries) and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri) were cast so perfectly. I have faith because I get the same excitement that I got when reading the books.
That doesn’t happen all the time.
This episode sets up Camp Half Blood and Percy being claimed by his Dad. But it also sets up the quest that he must go on. We get the game of Capture the Flag and the excitement of the game. We get to know Luke and Clarisse a bit and well, Clarisse is a bully.
We get to know Grover a bit more and well, you can’t help but love him. Aryan Simhadri, you’re perfect.
But somehow amongst all the great acting and the witty script, you’re also drawn into the setting and the costuming and you’re just in awe of the production design. You’re in awe of the CGI. You can’t walk away not believing that this show is just absolutely beautiful.
WELCOME TO CAMP HALF BLOOD
This isn’t summer camp. Even if you look at Camp Half Blood and it reminds you of summer camp, it’s not it. It’s home to demi-gods. Some of them kind, some not so kind. It’s a place where they are safe and they are taken care of.
But for Percy, it’s a reminder of his Mom dying. It’s a place where he has to be in order to be safe, but it’s also a reminder that his father has never been there for him.
Especially when Chiron shows him where the cabins are and tells him that the demi-gods that live there are all claimed by their parents. Well, except the Hermes cabin – that’s where they place the ones that aren’t claimed.
It’s kinda weird to have a different feeling about this from when I first read the books. Like when I read the books, I didn’t have the reaction of what a deadbeat Dad. But here, I screamed at the television and was like LOOK BITCH POSEIDON SHOW UP. Yes, I called him a bitch. I have no regrets.
The way that Walter Scobell plays Percy and confronts all of these parenting issues – dealing with what he thinks is his Moms death and his Dad being a deadbeat – actually adds another level to Percy.
When he’s taken out of the infirmary and Chiron shows him the cabins and places him in Hermes cabin, you can’t help but feel bad for Percy, but you also can’t help but know that he’s going to be okay.
Even though it feels like everyone has a plan for Percy…
Except Percy.
Camp Half Blood is a whole new experience for him, but even if you aren’t familiar with the books you can see that it’s going to be the place where he finds his way.
LUKE SEEMS OK…
Now, the hardest part here is that I want to say so many things that are in the books, but I also know that all of you have not read them, so I don’t want to spoil things.
But Luke… well, that’s not what I expected. However, I do absolutely love the way that Charlie Bushnell is bringing him to life. It’s as if you feel like you can trust him immediately and that does bring some sense of comfort. Now, knowing what most of us know about Luke, it’s kinda even better the way that he’s being played by Bushnell. Why? Because it will heighten all of the surprises that are yet to come from Luke.
The way that Luke takes Percy under his wing and shows him what Camp Half Blood is about is something that makes you trust him. You’re looking at this kid and thinking, what a good guy. But, there is also something about him that is too good to be true.
And I love that.
He protects Percy in his own way, telling him that glory is what people respect at the camp. However, it feels like a test. It also feels like high school where he’s finding a way to haze Percy. I just can’t wait to see the way that Luke evolves in the series.
I have a feeling it will be a fun thing to watch.
CLARISSE HAS ISSUES
Ok, Clarisse is a bully and has some anger issues that need addressed. Like it ain’t even cute. It’s annoying.
She seems to be threatened by what Percy killing the minotaur and wants to put him in his place. But just because you are a bully Clarisse, doesn’t mean that he needs to bow down to you.
When she and her minions try to put his head in a toilet, he’s able to control the water and instead soak them with the water that was in the toilet. She’s pissed and she’s going to do everything that she can to pay him back.
And that means that when Capture the Flag happens, she’s going to do everything she can to make sure he suffers.
CAPTURE THE FLAG
What I loved so much about this episode was Annabeth and the way she’s going to do everything that she can to make Percy bring the best of himself out. She’s testing him to see what she can expect from him and if he’s the person that she is going to be going on the quest with.
Annabeth wants so badly to go on a quest and she’s wondering if Percy is the person that will fulfill the prophecy of how she can go on one.
So as she’s leading a team for Capture the Flag, her and Luke have a plan. Percy doesn’t – he has no idea what he’s supposed to be doing. And as he’s doing nothing, because again, doesn’t know what he’s doing. Annabeth has disappeared due to a magical cap.
Luke is off leading his part of the team.
Percy is alone.
Well he’s alone until all of the sudden he’s surrounded. Clarisse and some of her cronies grab him and take him to kick his ass, but Percy is fighting back. And fighting back he does, to the point where he breaks her magical whatever. She’s pissed. She’s furious. But there isn’t anything that she can do.
Everyone is watching. But I assure you that a lot of them are thrilled that someone stood up to her. I was. I was so thankful that she got put in her place. I didn’t even care that she was pissed and screaming. I was a little mad at Annabeth when she reappeared and she’d been watching the entire time.
But hey, I was not opposed to her pushing him in the water to see if that gives them a clue as who his Dad is.
And it does.
He’s been claimed. Poseidon is the daddy.
But this does make things a little more complicated. See, with the lightening bolt been stolen and now, that’s a fight between Zeus and Poseidon. But now, with Poseidon having a son, he’s gonna look guilty AF.
And that means Percy is going to look guilty.
So there is a quest and Percy doesn’t really want to go on it. That is until Grover tells him that his Mama is still alive and Hades has her. I would have to agree with Percy – whose eyes say it all – that in that case there is nothing he’s not going to do to get his Mom back.
Quest – lets do this. Bring on the underworld!
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Who was the lady with Grover?
- Percy in the forest, with the sacrifice and talking to his Mom… yes, I cried.
- Mr. D is hilarious. I kinda love him.
- The way that these books fit a TV show is perfection and I hope that more people look at the possibility of adaptations as a TV show vs everything having to be a movie.
NO I WATCHED IT AND LIKED IT TOO LIKE IM GENUINELY SO EXCITED TO FOLLOW THE SHOW!!