Courtesy of Disney Plus

Starring Walker Scobell, the season follows Percy as he crosses the Sea of Monsters to retrieve the Golden Fleece and save his friend.

Last December, Disney+ began airing the second season of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” television series with episodes released every week. 

Based on the book series by Rick Riordan, the show follows Greek demigod Percy Jackson as he battles through a series of trials in his journey to save Mount Olympus. 

In Season 2 — adapted from the second novel in the series, “The Sea of Monsters” — Percy embarks on a journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Sea of Monsters. His mission is to save his friends at the mystical Camp Half-Blood before the fleece falls into his enemy’s hands. 

At their core, Riordan’s novels are lighthearted tales featuring witty dialogue and a comedic main character, which sets the series apart from other typical heroic novels. But compared to the first season of the show, which was released in December 2023, Season 2 of the television series seems to have lost some of the book’s fundamental humorous attitude, with the characters’ moods being consistently serious. 

However, the series has been able to accurately portray the setting descriptions of the book. One of the most impressive sets in Season 2 was the Princess Andromeda, a monster-filled cruise ship that Percy embarks on. The book described the Princess Andromeda as a massive ship the “size of a building in Manhattan”; the set’s wide pool deck and luxury cruise suites lived up to the description. 

Where the Disney+ adaptation excelled in the visual aspects of the show and fell short on the script, the 2013 movie adaptation lacked detail in both the character portrayals and set designs. 

In 2013, 20th Century Fox produced the “The Sea of Monsters” movie without involvement from Riordan. Riordan did not direct or decide anything in the movie’s plot. The movie starred Logan Lerman, who was 21 when the movie was being filmed — a poor choice since Percy is only 13 in the novels. The considerable age difference made the movies seem more mature, diverging from the clumsy and lighthearted mood set by young Percy in the novels. 

Additionally, the 2013 movie portrays the Princess Andromeda cruise ship as a small yacht, a lackluster set that does not live up to the book’s descriptions. The inaccurate representation of Percy and set recreations by the movie led to a loss of popularity despite high anticipation for its release. Even Riordan revealed that he was disappointed in the movie adaptations, which he called a “mess.” 

When the Disney+ “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series began filming Season 2, Walker Scobell, who stars as Percy, was 15. The closer age gap between Scobell and Percy Jackson highlights the youthful awkwardness of the main character and his journey to maturity as the series progresses. 

Another major issue with the 2013 adaptation was the inconsistency of the event timeline. The “Sea of Monsters” film combined the events of Books 2 and 5 into one movie, condensing the timeline greatly and causing major plot changes. 

Book 2 was still part of the early stages of the rising action. Challenges that Percy faced to reach the fifth book’s climax highlighted the growth of his character; however, many of these events were cut away in the movies, which took away from the importance and significance of the climactic battle.

Since Riordan is taking on an active role of involvement in the Disney+ series, Season 2 has continued to deliver an accurate timeline of events with respect to the books. 

Despite the second season’s higher Rotten Tomatoes rating of 86%  — Season 1 received a 78% — the latest episodes initially saw a declined viewership of 438 million minutes streamed compared to Season 1’s 1.3 billion minutes streamed. Factors that contributed to the decline in viewership could have been related to Season 2’s decreased marketing, the increased price of Disney+’s ad-free subscription plan or the release being overshadowed by the holiday season.

My take is that Season 2 of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” delivers a clean and accurate representation of the book series. However, with both the books and television series targeting younger audiences of around 10 years old, the acting and dialogue lacks complexity; the lack of humor in the script makes episodes feel dry and predictable.

Though Disney+ has already revealed that “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” will be back with Season 3 later this year, I don’t see a need to watch it if I’m just going to see the exact events in the book be  reenacted. However, in the finale of Season 2, a new twist onto the book’s original plotline hints that the television series may be taking a fresh take on the books. 

If you are a long-time Percy Jackson fan who wants to see the books come to life, the series is a great way to visualize the imagery described in them. If you’re not a fan, the series lacks the depth and complexity that more mature audiences usually prefer, and you should skip it. 

Rating: 3 out of 5 Falcons