Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 is a definite step forward for a show that has now clearly cemented itself as the YA fantasy adaptation. It’s wider in scope, raises the stakes, and allows the characters the jump in maturity the time jump requires, without compromising what we already knew about these people and this world.
In a way, there’s nothing harder than following up a very good first season. Even for a large IP like Percy Jackson, the first season came with much lower expectations. Now, however, after the success of Season 1, the show has to contend with not just living up to what people want the show to deliver, but to make it interesting for those who know the story—all while cementing these actors in the roles of Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and so many others.
When it comes to that, Percy Jackson Season 2 is a home run. Percy feels very much like the Percy we got to know through internal monologues, yet Walker Scobell manages to also add the necessary charisma and impulsiveness to make the character real. Then there’s Leah Jeffries’ Annabeth, who is still the smartest person around, but is now softened by both the fact that we already know and love her, and the fact that Jeffries is playing her as someone who has learned to care.
The two of them and their dynamic carry the weight of the early episodes of the show, even as Aryan Simhadri’s Grover remains a steady and much-needed presence that manages not to feel like a sidekick. It is, however, the chemistry between Scobell and Jeffries as two friends trying to navigate the way they feel for each other while trying to save the world that really makes Season 2 shine.
Relationships like that of Percy and Annabeth’s are hard to bring to the screen, because as much as the pacing makes sense for a book, a show has to do a lot without long moments of exposition about how the characters are feeling. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 succeeds at that because the dynamics are already established to a point where we can see the growth from just one look between Percy and Annabeth. And that just makes you want more.
Of course, the plot of this season is very much known to the fans of the books. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, nor should it. The books are a great source material, and the best version of this show is always one that stays true to the spirit of Rick Riordan’s story, while understanding that any good adaptation will have to go deeper on some things, add some moments that perhaps weren’t in the book, and allow the actors to bring the necessary spark.
And Season 2 has spark. And no, it’s not just the clear romantic setup between Percy and Annabeth. It’s Tyson, who might even be an improvement from the books if only because he was always going to be eminently more lovable in live-action. It’s Clarisse, who remains an interesting character even when you’re not on her side, but one you might even find yourself rooting for so much earlier than even fans of the book could have expected, because Dior Goodjohn makes her so very real.
It’s Grover, who is both a great friend and a great character. It’s Luke, who could have been a very straightforward villain, but is instead a deeply interesting take on a character doing bad things for a good reason. And it’s even the adults who, minus Sally, are often useless but more or less a net win because they’re at least entertaining.
Sure, there are some pacing issues, ones that I think have less to do with changes from the source material and more with how much there is to go through. Sometimes it feels like things are happening too fast, and other times the show doesn’t really fill in the blanks from A to B as well as it could, so some things might be a tad confusing for anyone coming into this fresh. But they won’t detract from your enjoyment of the season, whether you know what’s coming or not.
That’s because the writing is tight, the action sequences look almost better than anyone could have imagined, and everything from the color palette chosen for different scenes to the cinematography was obviously done with a lot of intention and care.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 is a magical return to a world where mythology isn’t just a thing you learned about and forgot. It’s bigger. It’s cheekier. It’s bolder. And it might just be better than Season 1. But then again, that was always the way this was supposed to go. Percy is growing, and we’re growing right along with him.
The first two episodes of Percy Jackson Season 2 will premiere on December 10 on Disney+.
