Percy Jackson and the Olympians 2×01 & 2×02 Review: “I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals” & “Demon Pigeons Attack”

We return to Camp Half-Blood in season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Based on the second book in the series, The Sea of Monsters, Percy, Annabeth, and Percy’s new friend Tyson are on a quest to save Grover… and the camp.

I said, after the first season, that I would re-read the series before season 2. And it’s not like I didn’t have the time. Two years is plenty of time to read these books. But once again, I just… didn’t. Perhaps that’s a good thing, as my memory of The Sea of Monsters isn’t quite so fresh, and it will potentially keep book-to-show comparisons to a minimum. (Spoiler alert: it will not.)

Anyway, not important. Let’s dive in. “I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals” is an interesting way to title this episode. Granted, the episode titles are lifted from the books in that they’re all titles of chapters. But since they cut out the actual dodgeball, I just think it’s interesting that’s the one they went with. I mean, I guess they were dodging flaming balls of dirt, so that sort of counts.

Not important. The first episode quickly drops us back into the thick of things. In skipping the titular dodgeball scene, which happens to Percy and Tyson at school, everyone gets to Camp Half-Blood more quickly. We only have eight episodes, so it’s important to get the party started as soon as possible.

While it is a big character moment between Tyson and Percy, truthfully, the dodgeball scene isn’t important to the overall story. It does serve as a reminder to the audience that – outside of camp – Percy and other demigods are in constant danger, but this is demonstrated by the attack at the camp border. Although this does bring up one of my issues with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and honestly, a lot of TV in general now, which is the over-reliance on spoken exposition.

Case in point: the introduction of Tantalus. Tantalus is, as you may or may not know, a figure from Greek mythology whose punishment is that he is forever hungry and forever thirsty. You would certainly know this after the first episode, where Percy tells the audience who he is. I feel that Tantalus is well-known enough that you don’t need to just come out and say who he is; if you don’t know the name offhand, you likely would have figured it out from the popcorn gag with Mr. D, and later in “Demon Pigeons Attack” when he tries to drink a glass of water and can’t.

However, I do appreciate that they haven’t yet reminded us who Polyphemus is. That’s a reveal that needs to happen later, for a variety of reasons. And Percy connected the dots about the Golden Fleece all on his own, without needing to be told. They did figure out that the cannibals were a distraction a little quickly, but then, Annabeth is the daughter of the goddess of wisdom.

I also wish that we hadn’t witnessed Luke poisoning Thalia’s tree. In the book, I’m pretty sure that they learn the tree is poisoned, but no one sees what happens. Of course, it’s obvious that it’s Luke or one of the other rebel campers, but we don’t need to be spoon-fed the reminder that Luke has defected and is working for Kronos. Particularly because we are frequently reminded about this throughout the first two episodes.

Yes, it’s a cool character moment, but Annabeth is still supposed to be conflicted about Luke, and I think her witnessing that just weakens her defense of him. Percy even says this to her face.

I saw some discussion about the Tyson reveal being immediate. At the beginning of the book, Percy does not know that Tyson is a cyclops. After all, the Mist that shrouds magic from mortals also works on demigods. It’s only when Tyson throws himself in front of a flaming dodgeball that he learns the truth, since as a cyclops, he’s immune to fire. Still, I understand that, in the essence of getting to the meat of the story more quickly, there have to be some shortcuts. And it never made sense that Percy didn’t know, since a) Sally probably knew and b) he should have eventually seen through the Mist.

That said, I do like that they’re showing how Tyson is naturally quite skilled with mechanical things. This will be important later, but also it’s part of Greek lore that Hephaestus employs cyclopes in his volcanic forges.

(Also, Tyson is a Mets fan. I like him already.)

A casualty of such short seasons is that the side characters, who help flesh out the story and often are pretty important as we get further along in the series, do not get the development that they should. When the rebels confront Grover on the beach, the betrayal doesn’t hit quite as hard because we don’t know who any of these people are. We also have other named demigods that we haven’t met yet, but they’re introducing new ones.

Even Clarisse is just kind of there. I’m hoping that her playing a bigger role in this season means that she’ll get more screen time. They’re already giving her a bit more personality, showing how socially awkward she is (flirting with Chris) and that she can be tactical when necessary (choosing Annabeth for the quest).

I don’t want to be too nitpicky here. There are always going to be issues when translating from page to screen; it’s very difficult to find a perfect adaptation of anything. And some of these issues were a thing in season 1 as well, but have actually improved in season 2.

But what this show does, it does well. While I do think the overall tone is a little too serious when compared to the books, (which were, after all, narrated by a teenage boy), I do love the humor when it’s there. I loved the scene with the Gray Sisters. Mr. D reminding Tantalus that he didn’t announce the “no killing” rule in the chariot race, and Tantalus going, “well, things happen,” was hilarious. Percy has kept his snark (“You know, Zeus is a son of Kronos”), which I appreciate. Yet he still managed to exude petulant teenager upon learning that Tyson was actually his half-brother. He is supposed to be 13.

His feelings are more obvious in the books because they are told in first person from his perspective, but I think Walker Scobell is doing an excellent job at getting those feelings across. I think they really nailed the dynamic between Tyson and Percy. This is actually an example that proves the show can be subtle. The two are very close, but even before Percy knew Tyson was a cyclops, he was sometimes embarrassed by him. And they show that those feelings are still very much there in moments such as Percy’s hasty, “We’re not bros,” and his panic that Tyson has written to Sally.

Something else I think the show has seriously delivered on is the relationship between Percy and Grover. I love the scenes that show their bond, especially with them switching clothes. And both actors have the same kind of frenetic energy that their characters had in the books.

The production design is spectacular, as per usual. I know how much work went into prop and costume design, so I appreciate how it comes across on screen. Camp Half-Blood feels like a summer camp. It feels very cozy and homey. And the chariot race in “Demon Pigeons Attack” was phenomenal. In an era where everything feels computer-generated, a scene like this shows you how amazing it can look when they use practical effects. (Though using a rainbow speedboat instead of Rainbow the hippocampus feels like an attack.)

Also, the ending credits sequence? Gorgeous once more. I actually have art of the ending credits from season 1. I am such a huge fan. I hope the designers and animators were lauded appropriately for their skills in creating those.

I overall enjoyed season 1, and these first two episodes of season 2 show how much the series has improved since then. I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the season.

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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