About:
Hero of the Week: Clarisse
Riordan Readalong: The Lightning Thief, Chapters 5 to 9
Previously: “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher”
Hey there… Campers? (I never know what a fandom’s supposed to be called.) After this two-episode premiere, I’m feeling pretty good about this show,* especially now that we’ve finally (“finally”, after one episode lol) arrived at Camp Half-Blood and met some very key characters. Let’s dive in!
*And based on last episode’s poll, most of y’all would agree!
Demigod Diaries
Percy (Walker Scobell) wakes up in the infirmary at Camp Half-Blood, devastated over his mother Sally’s (Virginia Kull) demise and determined to meet his father. Instead, he gets acquainted with a few Camp Half-Blood staffers and campers: Mr. D (Jason Mantzoukas), who actually is the unwillingly sober god Dionysus; Chiron (Glynn Thurman), who actually is a centaur and not named Mr. Brunner; Luke (Charlie Bushnell), who actually is not a jerk; Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn), who actually is a jerk; andddd… Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries), who — actually, Percy’s not sure what her deal is, but she’s watching him closely for some reason.
Still unclaimed by his father, Percy figures that he can’t be easily ignored if he demonstrates his skill as a demigod — and Capture the Flag is the perfect opportunity. Percy gets ambushed by Clarisse and her pals, but he turns out to have a knack for sword fighting and holds them off long enough for his team to win — and for Annabeth to push him into the lake. All of that does indeed catch the attention of a god: Percy is claimed by his father, Poseidon. Which also makes Percy a forbidden child, because the Big Three — Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades — made a pact to stop having kids because they were too powerful.
But that’s not the only brotherly beef brewing. Zeus and Poseidon have been fighting over the stolen master bolt, and Percy has now become the prime suspect. Zeus is demanding that the bolt be returned by the summer solstice in one week, or THERE. WILL. BE. WAR. Percy has zero interest in helping his deadbeat deity dad — until Grover (Aryan Simhadri) reveals that Sally can be brought back from the Underworld… which is conveniently where Poseidon’s quest for Percy would send him. Quest ON!
Hero of the Episode
I’ll be honest, y’all — I had all but prewritten Annabeth’s coronation, but she’s barely in the episode! Her time will obviously come, so I’m going with Clarisse. Like so many of the supporting characters in the Camp Half-Blood universe, I really grew to love Clarisse’s development in the books, so I’m thrilled to finally see her in live action.
(Apparently, Clarisse is in the second movie — played by Glimmer, even! — but I’ve either not watched it or have zero recollection of doing so. Both very plausible!)
Overheard Olympians
Grover: “Mr. D, this is Percy Jackson.”
Mr. D: “Yeah, Grover. I heard him the first time.”I love this kid. (Both Percy and Walker!)
Percy: “Yeah, but did you?”
Chiron: “Mr. D is not your father.”
Mr. D: “I could be.”Chiron and Percy, though, I can see the resemblance.
Chiron: “Yes, but are you?”
Percy: “I mean, ignoring me is one thing, but he doesn’t get to ignore you.”
Sally Jackson’s son through and through!
Percy: “Are you stalking me, Annabeth?”
MY QUEEN.
Annabeth: “Yes.”
Percy: “Poseidon has ignored me my entire life.”
Mr. D: “You are his son.”
Percy: “I am Sally Jackson’s son.”My loudest guffaw. (I’m still laughing when I think about it.)
Mr. D: “Who’s Sally Jackson?!”
Riordan Readalong
The Lightning Thief, Chapters 5 to 9, with Chapter 6 getting the titular honour.
Some spoiler-minimal series reader observations:
- It’s interesting that prophecies and the Oracle haven’t come up yet. Granted, that’s a lot of exposition to squeeze in, so I’m not surprised, but I’m still curious how the show will handle it (since the movie did not).
- There’s so much foreshadowing and laying the groundwork for the future, as well as all the exact dialogue that’s made it into the show. A real treat for book fans!
- This is how long it’s been since I’ve last read the first series: I only now remember what the voice is (helpfully closed captioned as The Voice).
- As with Gabe in the first episode, there’s more nuance to Clarisse than a stereotypical antagonist. She doesn’t just hate Percy for no reason; she thinks he’s lying about defeating the Minotaur. (Book Clarisse was definitely more petty.)
- Luke! I’m glad we got a little time with him and Percy together before the quest, although I would have liked some Luke and Annabeth interaction, too. (And just more Annabeth, forever and always.)
- Annabeth! The Yankee cap! And now the countdown to the first “Seaweed Brain”!
- We also meet Juniper, maybe? Grover might be 24, but he still looks like a child and is played by a child, and that wood nymph had a more maternal vibe to me.
- I’m also going to headcannon that one of Clarisse’s friends is Silena Beauregard.
- In earnest, I don’t intend to be constantly shitting on the movie. But at the same time, I will forever think about all the things it omitted, especially with the show now doing those things so well.
Greek Chorus
- Jason Mantzoukas as Mr. D was the casting that I was most excited about, and the man more than delivers. (Mr. D was another movie sequel addition, albeit played by the Tucc. But seriously, the sins of the first movie are eternal.)
- I love scenes in an adaptation like Grover with the Cloven Council, then later with Chiron and Mr. D, that show a perspective that the book couldn’t.
- The casting is so wonderfully and casually diverse (even if the racist backlash is anything but casual). Not just in the main cast, but background characters like the archer in the wheelchair!
- Percy burning the blue candy from Sally was heartbreaking, but I also love how it’s a small example of the show actually setting up its story. (Sally gives Percy the candy, then Percy finds it in his backpack after her “death”, so we already know what his offering is going to be before it happens.) So many shows nowadays feel so rushed and substitute exposition for plot development that this feels like a real throwback.
- One current TV trend this show does unfortunately follow: TOO DARK, like visually dark for the night scenes. Are we just never supposed to watch TV during the day now?
- It only just occurred to me that both of Percy’s bullies are girls. A win for feminism?
- In live-action, Capture the Flag feels way more… child soldier-y, like it’s a bit weird to see children march into battle.
- Percy’s waiting montage, LOL.
- For this episode’s special effects thoughts, I present my convo with my fellow FYA Riordan (and video games and The Last of Us) stan, Stephanie:
Stephanie:
I was wondering why Chiron’s horse parts were so… long. 😂 that was the only one where I was like, this feels off proportionally
Mandy W.:
Meanwhile, I was thinking, “That is not how a centaur moves.” AS IF I KNOW HOW A CENTAUR SHOULD MOVE 😂 but just compared to a horse, it looked unnatural, like something was OFF with the speed
Stephanie:
I feel like I’m my head I can totally figure out the way a centaur walks 😂😂😂 I’ve got an excellent imagination and a basic freshman class worth of physics knowledge.
Percy Poll
I initially thought I’d only be asking about y’all’s thoughts on the show, but I’m also v. curious about your whole selves, too!
Have you read the books?
- Yes, I've read the first book (or beyond) (88%)
- No, I'm only watching the show (13%)
- No, but I'm going to (0%)
Loading ...And because I make the rules: bonus poll!
The special effects for Chiron: yay or nay?
- Neigh! (50%)
- Undecided (50%)
- Yay! (0%)
Loading ...What did y’all think of this episode? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Annabeth!!! There was not nearly enough Annabeth.
I’m feeling like at some point I DO need to re-read these because some of the things you’re mentioning in the readalong part I do not recall at ALL.
I’m liking the sets, and Walker is adorable and has some great comedic timing so far, so I think he’s doing a bang-up job as Percy. That whole waiting around montage had me cracking up.
Jason is one of those actors that, while he can be a bit over-the-top sometimes, I just truly enjoy seeing pop up in small bit parts randomly. He’s ridiculous in a great way. (I also can’t just help thinking “wind chimes” every time I see him, because of THE GOOD PLACE, IYKYK lol)
I flip back and forth on whether I should reread after watching the episode, but just going by memory and skimming/Googling where necessary has been working so far lol.
I totally forgot about Derek and the wind chimes, LOL. My first reference was Adrian Pimento on B99. So many great characters! (And also that perfect kind of tertiary character that doesn’t get overused.)
The comment about Chiron! I actually haven’t done any checking, but it looked like in the scenes with the focus on Percy, it looked like the horse used there was real (like it looked too real and too in detail to have been CGI) so I wonder if they had the actor sitting on the horse and then CGI’d it together for some parts which makes it look a little odd.
That theory might be right! I think I heard it on a podcast that the actor was on horseback; good eye!