Photo: Disney+
Despite a few flaws, the Percy Jackson TV series has proven to be an entertaining mythological adventure thus far. With age-accurate casting, stellar, book-faithful performances from its core actors and a complex and riveting portrayal of Greek mythology, the show demonstrates great potential. Its most recent episodes, however, have been particularly rocky, with poor, inconsistent pacing and a major lack of action in fan-favorite scenes from the novels.
The story picks back up with Episode 6, “We Take a Zebra to Vegas,” which takes Percy, Annabeth and Grover to the Lotus Casino in Las Vegas, in hopes of tracking down Hermes, Greek god of travelers, to help them arrange transportation to the Underworld.
The trio’s pitstop to the Lotus Casino is easily one of the most fun scenes from the book. In it, they are unknowingly lured into the casino by Greek mythology’s lotus-eaters, and are so distracted by its bright lights, games, music and dancing that they completely forget about their quest and stay in the casino for days. It’s a unique moment in the story where we briefly get to see the heroes let loose, have fun and just be kids.
The episode as a whole felt very empty of action
Unfortunately though, the show’s adaptation of this highly-anticipated scene failed to deliver on every level. The demigods enter the casino fully aware of the mythology behind it and its ability to distract them into forgetting about their mission, ripping away the tension and plot twists this scene was supposed to have, while also depriving viewers of what surely would’ve been an entertaining sequence.
The depiction of the casino itself was incredibly dull. The Lotus Casino is supposed to be the most vivid, alluring place possible, but this set was incredibly bland, and felt more like a fancy hotel lobby than an actual casino—no wonder the trio was able to resist distraction so easily. I had trouble believing that the casino was truly capable of luring people into spending years of their lives there, given how unimpressive it was.
The episode as a whole felt very empty of action. A full twenty minutes of the episode is spent in the Lotus Casino, yet it felt like nothing really happened. The heroes do manage to track down Hermes, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, but even their conversation with the god lacked urgency. Additionally, Miranda’s performance felt uncharacteristically dull and held back due to choppy dialogue and exposition dumping, a wasted opportunity to showcase the actor’s talent.
When the heroes finally escape the casino after successfully securing a ride from Hermes, it is revealed that the Summer Solstice, their deadline to retrieve Zeus’s lightning bolt, has already passed. This is a drastic and completely unnecessary change from the book, where the heroes make it out of the casino a day before the solstice, forcing them to rush to complete their mission before war on Mount Olympus breaks loose. Having the solstice pass is a baffling decision, as it gets rid of the time-sensitivity of the quest and the overall feeling of urgency and tension.
Viewers never have any genuine fear for the characters’ lives since they get out of dangerous situations so easily
Even though their deadline has passed, Percy and his friends push on with their quest, which takes them to the Underworld in the following episode, “We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of”.
This episode, unfortunately, begins with yet another example of the heroes anticipating their enemies strategies before any real action can occur. The heroes arrive at Crusty’s Waterbed Palace, where Procrustes, Poseidon’s wicked son, guards the entrance to the Underworld. Crusty’s waterbeds are designed to trap and suffocate their users, and somehow, Percy already knows this, pushing Crusty into one of the beds within moments of stepping into the shop, immediately eliminating their obstacle.
There seems to be a common pattern emerging: The heroes figuring things out unrealistically quickly. With every monster they encounter, they already anticipate what their enemy plans to do and quickly take them down. This happened in the Lotus Casino, their encounters with monsters like Medusa and Crusty and once again with Cerberus, the three-headed dog the trio face in the Underworld after stepping through Crusty’s portal. When the dog chases them, Annabeth immediately tames it, cutting short what could have been a nail-biting action scene.
The problems with this pattern are clear: it eliminates all action and tension in scenes that could have served as opportunities to show the heroes’ resourcefulness and problem solving skills. It makes no sense that they’re so ahead of their enemies when we’ve barely been able to observe them in battle. Furthermore, viewers never have any genuine fear for the characters’ lives since they get out of dangerous situations so easily.
This episode, however, does have some strengths. There are several moments of humor that match the witty tone of the books and liven up the otherwise sterile dialogue. For example, when the trio reaches the underworld, they are met with the ferryman, who says, in the most deadpan tone possible, “You’re not dead.” After a long, awkward pause, Percy replies, “We’re all dying … to some extent?” That is the witty, sarcastic Percy Jackson we all know and love.
Additionally, another area in which this episode succeeds is its visuals. The Underworld is portrayed as a very bleak, desolate place with looming fog, vast gray deserts and shadowy forests, all of which send shivers down your spine.
The episode wraps up with the trio finally arriving at Hades’s palace, where they are immediately greeted by the god of death himself. In a shocking twist, Percy finds the lightning bolt hidden in the backpack given to him by Ares, who he believes has tricked him into delivering the bolt straight to Hades. But, in an even more surprising turn of events, Hades explains that he wants not the bolt, but his Helm of Darkness, which has also been stolen. Percy concludes that Ares, under the orders of Kronos, father of the Olympians, stole both items to unleash a war between the gods.
Using magical pearls, Percy and his friends flee the Underworld and return to the human world, only to find Ares waiting for them, poised for battle. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, with Percy and Ares, perhaps his most formidable enemy yet, rushing towards each other, swords drawn.
The story ultimately ends on an exciting note, promising an intense battle to come
While these most recent episodes definitely hit a low point for the series, the story ultimately ends on an exciting note, promising an intense battle to come. With only one episode remaining, viewers are left with many questions: Who really stole Zeus’s lightning bolt? Will Percy ever get his mother back, or get to meet his father? And, most importantly, can the heroes prevent a catastrophic war between the gods, before it’s too late?
Hopefully, all of these questions will be answered in the series finale, in which Percy’s quest will finally come to a thrilling climax.
