Percy Jackson and the Olympians 2×05 & 2×06 Review: “We Check in to C.C.’s Spa & Resort” & “Nobody Gets the Fleece”

Percy Jackson and the Olympians continues to hit it out of the park with its second season. I am really enjoying seeing the show come into its own. It just gets better every week!

While Percy Jackson and the Olympians may not have taken a New Year’s break, I did. It wasn’t intentional, but after a couple of days, I figured it would make more sense to just wait and do a double review.

One of the things this second season is truly nailing is how it’s expanding on its characters. Granted, there are both pros and cons of getting out of Percy’s point of view. However, I feel that there are more pros than cons at this point.

While, yes, we do lose some of the dramatic tension by seeing what happened to Clarisse in “We Check in to C.C.’s Spa & Resort”, rather than just finding out later that she survived when they get to Polyphemus’s island, I am really loving the depth they are adding to Clarisse as a character. I feel similarly with Tyson in “Nobody Gets the Fleece”. Knowing he survived takes some of the shock out of his sudden appearance at the cave, but they do still keep some of what happened to him as a tease. (The bracelet made a comeback!)

Fortunately, we are still being drip-fed information about what Luke and his rebels are up to. I’m OK with scenes like the one in “Nobody Gets the Fleece”, where we see a little of what happens after he ends the rainbow message with Annabeth. Scenes like this are enough to remind us that this is a character we should care about while still keeping his actions shrouded in mystery. They’re keeping him sympathetic in a way he wasn’t at this point in the books, because we aren’t being swayed by Percy’s thought process.

With “We Check in to C.C.’s Spa & Resort”, I have to say, I really loved the set design of the spa. It looked very classical, while also still somewhat modern. I lowkey want to go to this spa, even if it means I’d never end up leaving.

I also seriously loved the sirens. The character design was fantastic; sirens are generally portrayed as beautiful women, which makes their song all the more enticing to sailors, which would at that time in history primarily have been men. Portraying them as rock creatures emphasizes how persuasive their song must be, as no one in their right mind would ever want to approach them normally. I always enjoy when they change it up with expectations. It’s like in Ice Age 4, how Skrat ended up seeing an acorn, and I can’t believe I’m bringing up Ice Age 4 as a comparison.

The entire siren sequence was fabulous. First of all, their song is kind of a banger. I wonder if they’ll release it as a track. But also, I was absolutely fooled by their trap, the same way Annabeth was. I was so excited to see Athena that it didn’t even occur to me she was directly interfering, which the gods are strictly forbidden to do.

I liked how they did the fatal flaws as well. Looking into a mirror is the perfect visual representation of introspection. (Annabeth already knowing hers was hilarious.) That scene was very Mirror of Erised. I thought it was very self-aware of Percy to be able to connect his fatal flaw to the Great Prophecy. He’s been showing a lot of personal growth. It was also perfect foreshadowing for the moment in “Nobody Gets the Fleece” when he gives Luke the fleece to save Annabeth.

The Percabeth crumbs are everything. It may seem like too much too soon, but I feel like at this point in their relationship, Percy would be that way about Grover as well. His line about burning the world to save Annabeth is intense because he thinks she’s the only one left, that Tyson and Grover are gone.

As I said earlier, I appreciate the extra information we are getting about Clarisse. It’s making her a much more complex and compelling character than in the books, where she was kind of two-dimensional. Her desire to not lose more warriors will hopefully return in later seasons. It’s an interesting motivation and it seems directly contrasting to her nature as a daughter of Ares.

Likewise, they are giving the villains a little more depth as well. I love how they made Circe into basically a cult leader because she was tired of helping people only for them to leave her. Not to mention, her implication that the stories the demigods know may not be entirely accurate could be something they return to in future episodes.

And I am so happy that they made Polyphemus smarter than he was in the books; he clocked Grover from the start. It makes sense, as his enhanced hearing and ability to mimic voices imply a certain level of cunning. After all, Odysseus had to outsmart him, which implies that he was smart to begin with. (Him collecting voices of his victims like trophies is so chilling. It makes him a much more interesting villain.)

This goes along with the changes they’ve made to Tyson’s character as well. But also, I feel like it’s partially to emphasize that Luke kind of has a point with his rebellion. Demigods think Cyclopes are dumb giants, but we’ve seen with Tyson how that isn’t true. And now we see this confirmed with Polyphemus.

I appreciate that Percy can apparently still control his powers as a guinea pig, but I wish we had seen more of them in this episode. Could he not even steer the ship? I’m sure this is a budget issue, but it’s so frustrating. There’s a reason the Great Prophecy is about the children of the top three.

I understand the point of Percy’s dream in “Nobody Gets the Fleece”. He’s worried about camp, and he’s worried about his potential role in the downfall of Olympus. But I feel like some of the emotional weight is missing because we don’t know any of the other campers other than the three on the island. They focused on that one girl’s face, and I think it would have hit harder if it was someone we recognized, like Chris.

Also, I know that demigod dreams are different. They’ve made it a point to mention that before. And I’m sure Sally telling Percy that dreams tell the truth was because she knew he was a demigod. But, you know, sometimes dreams are just dreams. One time, I dreamt I got attacked by giant bees (like giant bees), and I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

However, in this case, I do believe Percy’s dream about Thalia is meant to suggest that she would be the likely subject of the Great Prophecy. I appreciate that it was this dream, which I’m sure Percy was hesitant to share with Annabeth for various reasons, that helped her realize that she had been putting Thalia on a pedestal in the same way she did to Luke.

Everyone is so smart in this show! Clarisse was very clever with the mirror, and I loved how flummoxed Grover was by the entire situation. Similarly, Annabeth distracting Polyphemus with her invisibility was great, and I loved the callback to The Odyssey, which you had to know was coming at some point. I also like that Annabeth was able to catch onto the trap, even if it was too late to stop Percy.

“Nobody Gets the Fleece” really cemented Tyson as my favorite character. While we knew he survived, they still teased his “escape” a little, so his showing up at the island just in time to stop Polyphemus from attacking Annabeth was clutch. I cheered. The fact that he was able to hold his own against Polyphemus, who has to be at least twice his size, was impressive.

And I’m so happy that Rainbow the Hippocampus finally made an appearance!

Also, I just have to say that from a cinematography standpoint, I absolutely loved that shot down through the tree branches of Percy looking up at the fleece. And from a silly humor standpoint, I loved the way Clarisse just dropped Percy on the ground, plus everything about the sheep sequence.

I’m not thrilled that they spoiled a major plot point in the trailer for next week’s episode, but I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. This season has been so much better than the first season, so I’m going to make the decision to trust them. With only two episodes left, I’m excited to see what happens!

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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