Season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” was another great season for the series. The “Sea of Monsters” was perfect, and many more emotions came through. The series carried on where it left off, with Luke’s (Charlie Bushnell) betrayal to bring back Kronos and Grover on his quest to find Pam. Percy (Walker Scobell) takes on a quest he wasn’t assigned to, entering the Sea of Monsters to retrieve the Golden Fleece with Annabeth (Leah Jeffries). In the end, Percy’s group was reunited, but we were left with a shocking twist about Thalia.
The biggest improvement in season two is the pacing and engagement. One of the issues in the first season was how each episode introduced and concluded with a danger. Each episode resolved itself like its own movie, and the tension and danger never built up to that final episode. In season two, each episode gradually escalates to that final, which helped create momentum for the story and excitement during the climax. Another improvement is how the season deepens into loyalty and betrayal with characters constantly having to make hard choices that test just how strong a friendship was and just how strong enemies have distrust. This made the journey much more difficult and made the protagonist trust the antagonist in some situations.
One part about the season I enjoyed was the new character, Tyson (Douglas Smith). Tyson is not human; in fact, he is a cyclops. Cyclops are a species that are normally considered monsters. Tyson was a lone child without any help on the streets. Tyson begged the gods to bring him help or a friend, Percy’s dad, Poseidon (Toby Stephens), along with his mom, Sally Jackson (Virginia Kull). They adopted Tyson, giving him not just a friend, but a brother and family. At first, Tyson was treated as a monster, but Percy slowly adapted to his new brother and saw him as a priority. Tyson was able to get the crew out of tough situations at times and beat the infamous titan Polyphemus in battle.
For the first season, the casting could not have been more perfect. I believed that each actor fit the role and description and had great acting. Although during the second season, characters grew older, and even though the new characters had even better casting than the first season, small teens like Percy grew so much in just what was supposed to be nine months, and all of the kids had much deeper voices. I still would say the casters deserve a lot of credit for how well they cast.
Percy Jackson season two: ★★★★☆
