TL;DR – Our first episode is very much a ‘get all our ducks in a row’ kind of narrative, but I didn’t mind because the cast take it in their stride.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Review –

Well, it is good to say that it is time for some more Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I was honestly delighted with everything that Season 1 had to offer, as it showed just how important casting is for a show. Well, now we are back for round two, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what the Sea of Monsters has going on. I mean, I know because I have read the books, but the sentiment still stands.  

So, to set the scene, it has been a year since Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) and his friends Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries) & Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri) stopped a brewing war between the Gods by discovering that one of their fellow campers, Luke Castellan (Charlie Bushnell), was a thief and was manipulating Olympus into open warfare. While Percy has been away from camp, he has tried to keep up with his friends, but when he dreams that something has gone terribly wrong on Grover’s hunt for the lost god Pan, he must get back to camp right away. Only, is he able to take Tyson (Daniel Diemer), the cyclops his mother, Sally (Virginia Kull), befriended through the barrier that stops monsters? Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

Structure

Overall, this is a very ‘setting the scene’ episode that is very common for season openers in the modern streaming world. This is the episode where they catch you up with the characters, the world, and the stakes, while laying out how the rest of the season is going to play out. This usually takes up a whole episode of content, so they often drop the first two episodes, so you get all the work in the first, and then still get to have some fun in the second. Thankfully, it does not fall at the first hurdle like so many of its contemporaries. While this is an exposition-heavy episode, even more so if you know what is coming in the books and the information they are laying the groundwork for now, it is still a bunch of fun.

Cast

Once again, the core of this show is the cast and how they work together in the show, and once again, I will champion the casting director who found our three leads. They have this incredible bond with each other that is picked up here effortlessly. Even when there are issues of trust, you can still feel that bond. The joy that you get watching Walker Scobell & Aryan Simhadri play a scene where they realise they are in each other’s dreams is delightful. The main cast has been extended this year, and while we only get a scene or two with Charlie Bushnell & Dior Goodjohn, they left an instant impression. The significant new addition in this first episode is Daniel Diemer as Tyson. Thankfully, the visual work to create the cyclops effect works well in this context, and Daniel brings an instant charm to the show and a different type of vulnerability than we have seen so far. This is even before we get to all the amusing guest cast that pop up throughout the episode.  

Recommendation   

In the end, do we recommend Percy Jackson and the Olympians: I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals? While I did enjoy the episode, there is not much to say about it other than it was the foundation that the rest of the season will be built on, and if that is the case, we are off to a good start. But as an opening hook, I see a quest in my not too distant future, and I am on board with that.   

Have you watched Percy Jackson and the Olympians: I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals? Let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and producers of Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Directed by – James Bobin
Written by – Craig Silverstein & Rick Riordan
Created by – Rick Riordan & Jonathan E. Steinberg
Based On – Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
Production/Distribution Companies – 20^th Television, Co-Lab 21, The Gotham Group, Mythomagic, Quaker Moving Pictures & Disney+ 
Starring – Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Charlie Bushnell, Dior Goodjohn & Daniel Diemer with Jason Mantzoukas, Timothy Simons, Kristen Schaal, Margaret Cho, Beatrice Kitsos, Sandra Bernhard & Virginia Kull and Threnody Tsai, Marlo Marolle, Mark Gibbon, Dan Payne & Daniel Cudmore