Percy Jackson And The Olympians fifth episode is finally here, and the show is staying at a steady pace currently as our trio continues on their journey to the underworld to retrieve the master bolt from Hades and also rescue Percy’s mother.
This episode takes place right after the fourth episode, where we find Annabeth and Grover worried and awaiting Percy’s fate. It doesn’t take long for them to find out that Percy is okay, and here we witness the first hug between Percy and Annabeth, solidifying their friendship.
This act shows that Annabeth isn’t just this emotionless warrior with her eyes set on the journey ahead; she cares for Percy and his life, which proves to be a problem later.
Before moving on with their journey, Annabeth sees three old ladies sewing and staring at them before cutting one of the strands of yarn. This may seem like something very ordinary, but it’s in fact a call for danger, as these three old ladies were The Fates, and seeing this means someone is going to die soon.
This varies from the book because originally Percy and Grover saw The Fates during the earlier chapters before they met Annabeth. Originally, Grover was the one to explain it to Percy, but this time, while on the side of the road, hiding from an oncoming biker, Annabeth is the one to explain it to Percy.
It works better having Annabeth be the one to explain The Fates compared to Grover, as I feel like though Grover is his protector and technically the oldest, she’s the most mature and spiritually feels like the leader of the group; her words can be trusted and taken with seriousness.
This isn’t the only discrepancy between the book and show; from this point onwards, a lot changes while still staying true to the book. The trio meets Ares on the road and invites them to a diner, where he offers to help them in exchange for his shield, which is at an amusement park. Ares sends Percy and Annabeth off to retrieve it while keeping Grover in case they decide to betray him.
I was skeptical about this decision, as originally in the books, Grover goes along with them to the amusement park to grab the shield, but the more we got to see Grover and Ares just having a discussion, the more I was thankful for this decision. Adam Copeland was the perfect pick for Ares; not only does he look exactly like him, but he’s able to get his demeanour down perfectly.
While Percy and Annabeth are off attempting to retrieve the shield, we get to focus on the conversation that Grover and Ares have. We get reminded once more that Grover is actually 24 and find out that he’s a fan of Ares. This is odd, as Ares is the God of War and Satyr’s are known for loving their peace. They showcase Ares’ skills as the God of War slightly in this episode by including a joke where we see him starting fights on Twitter, which is ironic in today’s world.
Walker Scobell and Leah Sava Jeffries mentioned in several interviews that their favourite moment to film was the iconic tunnel of love. This was one of my most anticipated moments to view, but as Grover is not with them, it plays out very differently, and instead of Annabeth being scared of mechanical spiders, we get a lovely moment between the two as the story of Hephaestus is being told.
After the Tunnel of Love scene, we receive the best character moments between Percy and Annabeth. Both Walker Scobell and Leah Sava Jeffries really show off their acting capabilities in this episode, as Walker delivers an amazing monologue as Percy, which leads into the first real emotional moment of the series.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Episode 5, really tests the limits of switching up iconic moments from the book while also still trying to stay true to these moments at the same time. Though these were moments I really adored, I am happy with how they played out in the show, as they led to some emotional character depth with Percy and Annabeth and gave us the best performance yet in the show.
Percy Jackson And The Olympians Episode 5 is NOW streaming.
