House of R - ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Episodes 5, 6, and 7 Reactions

Episode Date: January 26, 2024

The House of R has now returned to talk about the last three episodes of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ (08:43). They begin their deep dive with the continued godly quest of Percy and his friends (14:40). Later, they dive into their book section of the pod to talk about possible future spoilers as well as comparisons to the books (96:15). Hosts: Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman Additional Production: Arjuna Ramgopal Social: Jomi Adeniran Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did Don Draper really buy the world of Coke? Did Tony Soprano really die? Or just order more onion rings? The finales of our favorite shows can make us argue, make us cry, and make us crazy. From Spotify and the Ringer, I'm Andy Greenwald, and this is Stick the Landing, a new podcast where we'll be telling the story of modern TV backwards, one fade out at a time. Find Stick the Landing on Wednesdays on the prestige TV feed, on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. The playoffs are here, and you can predict. the action all the way to the finals with Fandul predicts.

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This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable internet means everything for your business. And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum Business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24-7 US-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum Business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. I want him to know who he is. Your family tries to tell him who they want him to be. He is better than that. He has better things in him than that. It's going to be torture for the both of you. But it will be stronger for it on the other side. His mother raised him well.

Welcome back to the House of Art. Been a minute, huh? I'm Jenna Robinson. And, you know, grab your seat on the thrill ride. Oh, Love. Because I love my life has returned. Tell me figure out how to, how somehow, somehow. Kronos has returned.

It's Mallory, how are you? Joanna, we're so sure she's a genius and we know owl are not. I love that Mallory is kicked off by quoting the new love of her life. I'm obsessed. Aries, the god of her heart. Hi, we're here to talk about Percy Jackson. What Percy Jackson, you may ask? why Percy Jackson

Episodes 5, 6, and 7 because listen it's been it's been a January there's been some illnesses, there's been some scheduling things

there's been an injury we're figuring it all out but here we are right at the end of all things to bring you a recap not a deep type into each episode

we're going to go thematically through episodes 5, 6 and 7 of Percy Jackson a show that we are really enjoying and then we're going to throw it all at the wall

for the finale which we're really excited about so we're really glad we wish we do wish we had gone sort of week to week with you guys on this, but here we are excited to cover a show that we're really excited about. Before we into all of that, spoiler warnings, Ahoi. So up through episode seven of Percy Jackson, obviously. We have not seen the finale, so we're not going to be talking about the finale. We have no idea what's going to be in it,

except we read the book. So there will be a book reader section at the end of the episode, and we'll give you a warning for that. So you can jump off before we get to that. Book reader section where we might talk about what we see in the finale. We might talk about some Easter eggs that point towards future books. Mallory has been reading ahead in the series a bit, so she has some book info that she can put in there. But that's coming at the end of the episode. So you will have due warning before we get there.

Program reminders. Over on our sister feed, the Ring Reverse, the Midnight Points had a truly iconic kids cartoon Royal Rumble this week. That was just like an incredible journey through a lot of your favorite shows and just like classic Midnight Boys Shanigans, to be honest with you. Mint Edition next week has a recent comics catch-up with Stephen Jomey and some guests. So check in on that. And the Mid-N-N-Night Boys will be back doing their thing next week as well.

Button mash. I mean, if you haven't listened to the Prince of Persia episode, I do recommend it because we all have a lot to say about Prince of Persia. So, yeah. So in terms of our schedule was coming up for us, in terms of the Ring of Versa, the Ring of verse was going on over there. Mallorven, how do you propose folks keep on top of all of that? I would recommend following the pod. Follow House of R. On Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the ringerverse. Follow prestige TV. Follow trial by content. Follow, follow, follow, follow. While you're at it, look for the ringerverse on the social media platform of your choosing.

We are on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok. And of course, as you know, the inbox, it's open. So send your email. Send your Percy finale email. Send any thoughts you have. Send your Apple Wars takes to Hobbits and Dragons at gmail.com. I mean, let me just say how influential your emails are. First of all, someone email me being like, why don't you say what's up bad babies anymore? And I was like, wow, because I plum forgot. So it's back. Thanks to a listener. Secondly, we got a couple suggestions for tropes courses, like sort of overlapping suggestions that Mallory and I, there's this one. idea that Mallory and I both sort of lost our marbles about yesterday based on some recent emails we got. So keep your tropes course, your whatever suggestions coming in, because we do read them, we do consider them. And then thank you to all the bad babies who emailed us about the binging with Babish Apple video,

ranking or tasting 50 apples. TLDR, I will just recap what the video wants to let us know, which is the worst apple is a crab apple. The best apple is there was a pronunciation debate whether it was Jonah Gold or John a gold. But we should say he has the nice things to say about both honey crisp apples and Granny Smith apples in the mix there. I almost very merely ordered you a box of Jonah Gold apples. I enjoy a Jonah Gold. Yeah.

Oh, I've never had one. Okay. Oh. Glad I didn't waste my money doing that. No, I didn't do it because I was like, oh, wait, Mal was going on the road. And I don't want to come back to a box of rotting apples for me because that's not the message I'm trying to send. I'm sure Adam would have enjoyed them. Sometimes my grandma will mail us mandel bread and Adam will ensure that it is eaten before it can turn.

In a timely matter. Okay. Never mind. I won't be sending you apples. Have you had a sugar bee apple? I've never had. There's a lot of apples I haven't had. I had a sugar bee.

I'm sure I've had one before, but maybe I didn't realize I had a sugarbee before. But I came across some over the holiday in a local market. And they look delicious. And I brought some home. And I'm just like, you know what? I'll always have a honey crisp around. I'll always have a pink lady because they're my favorite. But I'm enjoying a little bit of Apple discovery.

Okay. Maybe I'll find another more obscure varietal descent to your doorstep when you come back from your journeys. Great. As I said, we're coming. three episodes of Percy Jackson today. We are. Episode five, a God buys us cheeseburgers. Episode six, we take a zebra or zebra to Vegas. In episode seven, we find out the truth, comma, sort of. On the zebra zebra front, can I just tell you something really quickly, Mallory? I'd love for you, too. Please. Zebra is what the Brits say. And I realized while

rereading my copy of Percy Jackson, which I bought after we were in Sweden, when I was in Norway, is where I bought it. I realized that similar to the Harry Potter books where they made American translations of certain things, even though this is the UK edition. And so I should have pinged when they said Lori instead of truck.

We hopped in the back of the Lori headed to Vegas or whatever. Exactly how all the kids from Manhattan dock. But what really got me is when they get out of the truck in Vegas and they're like, it had to be at least 40 degrees. And I was like,

We stumbled out into the sweltering sands where it was 40 degrees. And I was like, oh, I've got the UK edition of Percy Jackson. How smashing. Pals to be ripping. I thought you were going to say that when you were rewatching these episodes to prep and you saw the heaping plate of cheeseburgers in a god buys us cheeseburgers, you immediately opened DoorDash and ordered a cheeseburger because you're susceptible to stimuli. But I guess that's just what I did.

I guess that was just my experience rewatching this. Genuinely, boy, those look delicious. A classic Mallory Rubin move. Before we get into sort of our thematic run-through of these episodes, you just thought we might take a sort of wider look. So this is the opening Snapshot.

So moody. God, Lee, Steve. I love it. All right, Mallory Rubin, five, six, and seven. What are your quick thoughts on these episodes? I gotta tell you, I love this show. I really am having a blast. I think that they have done such a good job of bringing this world and these characters to life

and striking that sweet spot that a successful adaptation needs of honoring and staying true to the spirit and heart of the text and the characters while also updating in a way that makes the story sing either in this particular moment in time or in this particular medium, whatever the case may be. There are actually quite a few. I was thinking back to our episode one pod and how we were talking about how faithful it was. And I think that is still true. I think fans of the book would call this a faithful adaptation. But entwined in that faithful approach are a number of updates. I think that was felt particularly keenly in these recent ones where there are many things that are brought up from later books just to kind of like plant a seed or tease something. some tonal shifts that I think we'll talk about a little more as we go.

I'm having a fantastic time. I'm honestly despondent that there's only one episode left. I really don't understand. I have to say, I am, I'm assuming it's just a formality at this point that they haven't put out a press release announcing season two, but I don't know what the hell is going on and where this announcement is, and I hope it comes right on the heels of the finale, because this is a successful show in a number of respects, and I really, really, really hope that we get definitive confirmation soon

that we'll get more of it. I will say that I think episodes five and seven are my favorite of the season so far. I thought they were outstanding. Six was probably on first watch my least favorite because it is so radically different. Once I knew what was in the episode and how it was going to move and what some of that tonal variance was, I hung with it a little bit more when I revisited it.

But five and seven are just absolute bangers. I can't wait to discuss them with you. How are you feeling about everything so far? Great. Love this show. I think three is still my favorite, but I thought five and seven were really good. And this is something I know that you and I agree on. When you look at the runtimes of those episodes, if you look at it, it's episode five is 40 minutes, episode seven is 42 minutes.

episode six, the one that you and I are like, eh, on is 34 minutes. So something I know you and I definitely agree on is that the longer the episodes are, the better they are. And some of these episodes that feel just like a little slight, as episode four did for us, I think, are these shorter episodes. We're just sort of like, oh, okay. I agree with you also. I, when I rewatch, I rewatched these a couple times, but the last rewatch I did was last night as I was like putting some notes together, which I did in a binge. And, when you do it on a binge, like it's less noticeable, those like sort of different rhythms. You know I'm like, I'm a huge proponent of week to week.

I am anti-bing, but I will say like, in this case, the binge did help smooth over some of those pacing sort of stops and starts. Yeah. And I could watch young Percy Jackson, young Percy Jackson, angrily honk a taxi horn in a parking lot forever and be. satisfied that part of that part of episode six killed me. Yeah, getting on the parking garage was pretty incredible. But yeah, I mean, I'm having a really good time. And it's, I mean, what's, what's wild about the book when you read it too is just like, we're moving so fast through set pieces. The casino, which is the set piece of episode six, is like four pages. It's like just a few pages of the book, you know? So it's like, I sort of understanding. I sort of understanding.

how they're trying to make one big sort of set piece per episode when the book itself is sort of zinging around. And even saying that, episode six has an addition to the Lotus Casino sequence that attempts to sort of bulk it out and give it more like heft and depth, which I think it does in many ways. Episode six isn't a bad episode. It's just sort of like in comparison to what they're able to accomplish with five and I think particularly seven. I mean, I know your- Seven was unbelievable. Your boyfriend Aries is in episode five. Hades is also my boyfriend. Your boyfriend, Hades, is in episode seven.

My boyfriend, Poseid, is in episode seven. My girlfriend, Sally, is heavily in episode seven. So, you know, there's a lot going on. On the runtime front, I will, like you tease, we'll talk a little bit about what we're anticipating in the finale when we get to the book spoiler section at the end of the pod. I will just say broadly, they've got a good amount to get through still. And I'm, it's achievable, certainly.

I feel confident after the season that they'll execute the finale well. But they're actually, to like your set piece point, a number of critical scenes still ahead of us. So I was like four. Yeah. Yeah, I hope that this finale is robust. I'm looking for a 45 to 50 minute runtime. I really hope we get that.

We hope that that's the case. This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips. Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those WeatherTech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need WeatherTech unless you plan on doing summer.

Visit weathertech.com today. Let's go into what we're calling the deep dive this week. So as I said, we're going to go thematically, and we're going to start, as we mentioned, with our various boyfriends and girlfriends. We're doing the pantheon. We're going to talk about the gods that we've met in these last three episodes, a lot of them. And before we get it, we go God by God, we want to mention, have a little mini discussion about the fact that, like, when you read the book, there are far fewer of these gods mixed into the action at this point in the book. We'll meet them later and later books. But there's a number of these gods that are not kind of, quote, unquote, supposed to be here at this point.

So I have heard from, you know, just poking my head around the subreddits and TikTok and whatever. I've heard from some readers who are not fond of this decision because they feel like, you know, there are these literal Deus X Machinae who are taking some of the agency of the quest away from the kids. If they're constantly gods intervening, it is less a story about these kids scrappily trying to figure things out. And you feel the hands of the gods a bit more directly here and there. And I understand that. At the same time, I find these depictions of these gods so delightfully enjoyable that I have a hard time complaining about them being here. But I kind of see the point about like it feels like it shifts. who's at the center of the story a little bit,

at least for some book readers. What do you think, Mel, about that? Yeah, it's interesting. I think maybe we'll hit some of the particular moments when that sensation might have manifested as we go through our godly encounters here. Broadly, I will say, I have enjoyed the gods arriving earlier

in almost every case. I think in part because the season has really deletely. deliberately focused, including centrally in these episodes, around this idea of what a fucked up family we are. And so the more members of that family we meet and the more we understand early what their particular resentments or sources of longing are, the better we understand the interplay that is going to be so central to the tale ahead. And I will also say that there are just a lot that still remain who we haven't met.

So I don't mind it so much. The note about losing a little bit of that detective Percy, detective Annabeth, Detective Grover quality, I actually agree with that critique, but not in terms of the godly deployment. I would like cite an example like arriving at Krusties. Yes. And our Percy just walks in the door and knows everything and is not piecing it together as Krusty starts talking about the stretching and the way that our characters are sifting through the clues in the book and really working to sleuth and gumshoe is such a satisfying

aspect of the tale. And I think we had in part probably because of the runtime constraints and needing to get from point A to point B, et cetera, a few moments in these episodes, which again, broadly loved where it's like, wait a minute, this is a little bit quicker than we should have been able to reach this conclusion. Yeah, we have a section later. which we might blow through it before we're supposed to get to it possibly, as is our want, titled, like, book departures we have questions about. And I think for me that's the main one. It's something that I praise in episode three when they show up at Medusa's, and they're like,

clearly this is Medusa's. And I was like, that makes sense to me. It seems very clear that that's where we are. But there are other instances where I'm just sort of like, where's the tension? If you walk into the Lotus Casino and you immediately, like, know the deal of the Lotus Casino, like, where's the tension around all that? So we'll maybe talk about that a little bit more. I want five days lost to gaming.

Yeah. And water sliding. And like snack bar rating. And junk food consumption. Yeah. And it's exploration of the hot tub. Yeah. Before we,

we realize what to be wary of. I'm going to do, we're going to start with Mallory's first boyfriend. And I'm going to do a dramatic reading for the book of his description here. The guy on the bike would have made pro wrestlers run from mama. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans. and a black leather duster with a hunting knife strap to his thigh. He wore red, wrap-around shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face I'd ever seen.

Handsome, I guess, but wicked, with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred for many, many fights. The weird thing was, I felt like I'd seen his face somewhere before. So of all the godly descriptions I'm going to read over the next few bullet points here, this is the closest one. This is the one that most closely matches what's on the page. Attire aside, which is slightly different. just the way, you know, we're talking about pro wrestlers, we're talking about a facial description that very much matches what we get.

We have a literal pro wrestler here. I can't praise this enough. Yeah. Like, we talked at length about the Zach Wilson jersey and Smelly Games way back when. There are sports enthusiasts who are contributing to this production that is apparent casting Adam Copeland. a famous wrestler, of course known to many for years as Edge, as Aries, given that pro wrestler's run for mama description is just like a chef's kiss bit of casting that I cannot praise highly enough.

I, Joanna and I often text in real time as we are consuming the content that we are going to cover. but the number of Airy's spin-off when missives that she has received for me in the last couple weeks. You even like worked it into a previous podcast that we did. It's just been on top of mind for you. I can't say. I think that this performance is sensational. I really do. And it is like so, it has that perfect Percy blend of tone to me.

It is, I think, riotously funny. Oh, so funny. Yeah. And also. Sinister. Deeply on. Yeah. Sinister, but like normal. You know what I mean? Yeah, there's that great description in the book, too, about how like when you look past, because his eyes, one of the differences in the show, obviously, is that his eyes are not actual fire pits like they are in the book. But this description as Percy is parsing, you know, he says at one point, here he realizes Ares must love to mess with people's emotions. That was his power, cranking up the passion so badly they clouded your ability to think. So he has this like elevated, anger and rage as he is around Aries and he's processing what Aries is sparking in him.

And of course, in other people across history as the god of war, right, inciting this response in people. But then there's that great moment where Percy, like, realizes that he thinks Aries actually looks kind of nervous and the insecurity beneath that exterior I thought was so brilliantly captured in the Aries Grover sequences, which are among my favorite thing the show has done so far. I thought that was just brilliant. Far and away, my favorite Grover sequence is, like, great performance.

Nature is brutal. Red and tooth and claw. Yeah, like, great stuff. I don't get a chill watching that. Just like the look on his face, Grover's face and that exchange throughout, where he's like, he's tried to work Aries and outsmart him. But it's just in this very, like, serene, calm, small smile sort of way. the camera angles are telling a lot of story.

There's, like, one high camera angle on Grover's face while he's talking. Like, it's just exquisite. And this is a book departure where, like, in the book, Grover goes with them to the amusement park. This whole, like, Grover Areas exchanges a TV edition thing, and it is wonderful. Rescues them. Flying shoes. But it's extremely wonderful to make this choice instead. And I think to your point about, like, how Percy describes how he's feeling in the book at this point.

This is something we talked about last time. We covered Percy. Was that last year? I don't remember. Where we talked about the limits of being inside one character's head in a story and how you can't cut back from Grover and Ares to Percy Nannabet. That's a limitation of the book. But an advantage is being inside Percy's head, you can, to your point in this scene,

he doesn't know at first that his emotion, his anger and hatred and whatever is being stirred up. He's just like telling us how he's feeling. Similarly, later in the Lotus Casino, as he succumbs to the siren song of that setting, he's just telling us how he's feeling. And we as readers are like, no, Percy, no, you know, but like we're inside his head and inside his emotions. And he's just like, so you're able to communicate it that way. You have to do it differently when you're making television. To your point about like, it's a sticky, icky family affair, and this is we're getting information. the Athena Aries sibling rivalry.

You opened this episode with an Aries quote about Athena and her owl. I'm describing her pet owl, which is just iconic stuff. But yeah, he says stuff like I hate kids. I love my job. But like Grover playing him like a fiddle around his resentments directed towards Athena is just fantastic stuff. I absolutely adored it. The humor in that scene, but the way that Grover is working him, manipulating him. And of course, the deduction that he reaches in that scene we will learn is not correct, but it doesn't matter.

It's like the confidence that we see on display from Grover. And the way that this is this dynamic we've been tracking the whole season, demigods, saters, gods, Olympians, monsters, when and how are our huge? Heroes. Grover is happy to remind me that he's 24, but in essence, children, able to gain the upper hand. And so to watch the intellectual, and I think, frankly, like, a scene like this makes me, again, like, miss even more of those other aspects of deduction and the, the use of logic to reach a certain conclusion. I just thought this was wonderful. Kind of wrong, but still, like, yeah, he's trying, you know, he's like, yeah, leave me behind. To the answer. Yeah. Can we,

talk for a second about Aries sitting alone initially at a diner table, cackling like a madman as he- Flames people on Twitter. Twitter feuds? This made me think so forcefully of that, I think actually genuinely chilling line in the book when they're like, you can't just like pull knives on people. And Ari says, are you kidding? I love this country.

Best place since Sparta. And what an absolutely withering indictment of American culture. and violence and rage that is. So the Twitter thing, which was a little bit like almost too real and too uncomfortable to watch on the social and political commentary front, I thought was a really effective way of getting to that idea. And you mix that in with him calling them you three idiots, just calling them dummies. It just was absolutely delightful.

The rundown of Greek mythology, Greek mythology 101 with Professor Ares, my grandpa, Kronos, ate my aunts and uncles. Yeah. Then my dad made him puke them back up. When he said that kind of set the tone right out of the gate, I was in tears. I was laughing so hard. This is just perfect. I will say it's funny.

It is a little like when we're watching this and we've read the book and we know where things are going with Kronos, which people who are listening to this podcast now know, because we've been through episode seven. Then you're like, oh, that's a little, a slightly clunky little bit of exposition dropped in there to point us to a certain direction. delivered like hilariously, you know, like... Bread crumbs. Delivered really well.

Yeah. Bread crumbs. That's a bit... That's more of like a crouton. It's a little chunkier than a crumb. It's a crout. It's a crouton. Did you know about one and three people with plaques psoriasis may also develop psoriatic arthritis,

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tasting power. Ignite your taste, start your engine. Shift your flavor to high gear with new Nass Energy Grand Prix Guava. Hit the street, grab a can and get after it. Let's go down to Hephaestus, which of all the gods we meet, this is like sort of our slightest interaction is at a shadowy, you know, balcony in the far distance is our interaction with Hephaestus. This is, again, in the book, we don't meet Hephaestus here. What happens with the kids? The chair, Hephaestus chair is not here.

None of that is happening. the kids are get trapped and Grover, as you say, helps to rescue with the flying shoes. Annabeth helps rescue them with her knowledge of angles and momentum and physics and something like that. There's a lot going on. I love it. And Hephaestis is basically intending to it broadcast this. Right. Streaming live.

He was hoping to trap Aphrodite and Aries and instead caught a bunch of pretees. But the thrill ride of love, a wonderful season. sequence, which we'll talk about a little bit more later. Though the question that I put on our notes was, why would you put the story of getting cuckolded into your ride? I don't know why. Maybe this is like art therapy for him. Who knows? It was riveting animation with an excellent musical accompaniment, but you're right, it's an interesting choice. What is love? Maybe the goal is before he embarrasses Aphrodite and Arias, he's like, I want to remind you of the humiliation that I have suffered at your hands. But is that was that his goal? Because it seems like, Like the whole chair, like, machinery seems like it was put in place after the shield was left there. Right? And then he, like, created this trap using the shield as bait for Ares. To come back.

So, like, it's a different scheme that Hephaestus is up to here. Here's what I'll say about the chair thing. Yes. There are things that work for me and things that don't about it. Annabeth refusing to leave him. Hephaestis. See, and we're going to talk a little bit more about everything that Annabeth says in that moment, and Hephaestis recognizing a desire to split from a toxic family dynamic that he also wants to reject

because he having been rejected by his mother Hara, having been cuckolded by his wife Aphrodite, all this sort of stuff like that is like, yeah, it doesn't have to be this way. I see this. I see this in you. I will release him. There's some things that I like about that and some things that I don't like about a seemingly massive sacrifice that is immediately undone. But the reason why this seemingly massive sacrifice immediately undone that doesn't bother me is Walker's performance as Percy, like Percy believes he is going to be stuck in that chair forever. You and I know he's going to be stuck in that chair for like just a minute or two.

But like there are tears in his eyes. He's being stoic, but he's scared. And there are tears in his eyes. And I just thought his performance and then her performance thereafter, like really, really sold that moment, the emotional, the emotional truth of that moment, even though the plot truth is, we will be out of here and a Jif. Yes. Yes. I know we're going to hit this again in our Percy Annabeth section later. So I'll save my thoughts on what we learn about.

Annabeth's perspective shift here. Yes. But in terms of what the impact of that is on Hephaestis and him saying some of the, of us don't like being that way either and that idea of not only what the demigods can or maybe are plagued to learn from the gods what kind of instincts they inherit or aspire toward because of that world that they're born into, the idea that our heroes can help a god, can help an Olympian maybe want to live differently. I thought was a cool thing to show us this, even though I loved episode five, and I thought the emotional beats of the sequence were really impactful.

I thought the plot mechanic changes here were sort of odd, and I don't necessarily know exactly why this particular change happened. That said, LeFest is surviving early. I am, this is the one I'm assuming some people were bumping on, unlike, did they, because his presence, he, you know, he's ultimately the one who unlocks the chair, right? And it's because Anabeth breaks through to him, but he is providing a major assist there. I really like introducing him earlier into the story, I think, particularly given his role as an outcast among the Olympians, it's like an important character to introduce early. You know, we like basically briefly glimps him in book three and then he's really arrives in

the story in book four. This is way ahead of schedule, like way ahead of schedule. So I'm curious if that means he will be. more prominent throughout the series and that that might end up being true for some of the other gods as well, that they not only arrive early, but are then with us more consistently throughout, or if this is just like a glimpse. And then it's a while before we see Hephaestus again. I have no idea.

But I thought the performance was lovely and great to see our guy. Hvestus. No flaming beard. Sad. No. No flaming eyes on Ares. No flaming beard on Hephaestus. Where's all the fire?

Like a well-waxed mustache beard situation. Absolutely wonderful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Speaking of someone else who is not even supposed to be here today, it is Hermes. We already met him earlier in the elevator delivering Medusa's head. And whistling a tune. And so it's time for some Joanna Robinson, TM, Isobal, TM, musical theater corner, TM. You didn't get your songs. No. How are you feeling?

Everyone wants to know. Lynn Manuel Miranda is here, and yet there is no musical sequence to be had in Las Vegas. Are you okay? My heart broke for you when we realized there would be no singing. It was a hot bummer, but let me, a good dual-leap needle drop there that kind of worked for me. My question for you is, I want to do like a mini-fit check with you. I feel like, Hermes streetwear, the hoodie fit, all of this, felt very Mallory Rubin core to me. How did you feel about this whole look?

I loved it. Yeah. You would wear this on a Tuesday. If I were the god of travelers, the god of thieves, or just Mallory Rubin here on a Friday, this is definitely what I would wear. I like the idea, you know, he says, right, I exist beyond space and time kid. Why do you think they put me in charge of delivering the mail? I like the idea that a god who's really on the go, who's really out and about.

Now, he does seem quite content to just sit here and play craps. But in theory, out and about has really embraced. An athleisure lifestyle. Comfortable. Comfortable clothing. He looks cool. He looks ready for some potentially incredibly painful conversations with demigods who have wandered into his craps leisure time.

And I thought that fit was great. Thank you for asking. Did you think about Ned Stark saying war was easier than daughters when Hermes says time and space are easy kid parenting is hard? I did. I did. Can I say something that I think before we continue our Hermes chap, but just because Hermes is so central in the Lotus sequence, I'll mention it here.

Can I say something that I think might be shocking and controversial? Please, I'm like clutching my pearls in advance. Okay, I'm not going to say that any scene in the fabled and infamous Percy Jackson movie is better than anything we've seen in the show, because I don't believe that to be true. But are you saying that Lady Gaga's poker face is a better needle drop than Dillip was in I'm saying is that in a movie that I think completely and shockingly missed the mark in almost every respect, the lotus sequence is kind of fun. The lotus sequence in that movie is kind of fun. Now, do I think we need to see our 12-year-old TV show characters mainlining lotus flower biscuits and just getting like absolutely blasted and blitzed?

No, but that scene is so twisted. There's some stuff that happened in that sequence that I find like shocking in a not so good way, but there's an energy to it that I was like that I don't hate revisiting that film. And I thought that this lotus sequence, forget the movie for a second. Let's just talk about the book, which we already alluded to. I like the emotional heft of what we are presented with from Hermes. Yeah. From Hermes on the Hermes Luke's mom front.

Fascinating and poignant. Genuinely. Yeah. We're missing something in this sequence, though. We definitely are. Absolutely. I think we are missing something in this sequence. Absolutely.

Like, again, this is a... Something kind of like surreal and odd and like untethered, right? Like, that quality isn't as present. I would argue that you get that a bit in the Augustus character who Grover's interacting with. Like there is something in that, in he... is demeanor that, like, gives that to you. But the kids walking in, knowing the rules already, knowing what they're not supposed to do. And then again, in the book, it's Percy looking around and realizing that all the fashion is

from different eras and like, uh-oh, people have been here for a while. And in the show, it's Hermes being like, guess what? I fucked you. You know, like, TikTok, look at my watch and telling them, like, you've been here for a while. And then there's really, like, whenever someone, figures their way out of something. I want to root that. You've talked about this before. I want to root that in a character choice, a character meaning, you know? And there is some version of that in which Annabeth says, Grover's like, why was it easier for you to remember than for me to

remember? And Annabeth is like, we were together. When you're alone, it's harder to remember what's real or whatever, you know, which takes us back to that Sally premiere flashback as long as we have each other. Yeah. We can hold fast idea. Absolutely. And so that is there and that's meaningful. But like, I would have loved to, like, A, have these kids have more of like a trippy experience there. Yeah. And B, have them be more active in figuring everything out. That being said, what we do get from Hermes on the, like, learning more about what it means to be a God and a parent at the same time, some of which we'll get to a little bit later when we talk about Poseidon. But when Hermie says, do you know what it feels like to be so close to someone you love, knowing neither of you is any choice but to keep hurting each other?

I know you do. And then just like grabbing Percy and forcing him into a flashback that we won't get the flashback for episode seven. We won't get the full measure of until episode seven. But like forcing him into that moment, giving us like that mysterious cue is violating for him to be like, let me make you feel one of the most painful moments of your life. And through all of that, through like totally fucking them by making them sit at the table for as long as he does all that sort of stuff, Lynn performs Hermes as a series.

very like benign, calm, but with some regrets kind of guy. And this is like a really, I think, a potent depiction of the gods, which is that they don't, they will absolutely screw you with the gentle smile on their face. You know, like this is, you have to be, these kids were already on their guard and it just wasn't enough for them to get out of your own skates, you know? Absolutely. That line that he has, it's very hard for a god to feel powerless after Percy asked, you know, why would my dad say that he would meet me in Santa Monica if X, Y, and Z from what you just told me, to realize that the way Hermes, that the way a God is responding to that sensation and how it has shaped his own life is to make somebody else who is a 12-year-old child feel that way.

It's hard to feel powerless. Let me touch your arm and make you think about a moment when you felt that way so that you understand why it's never worth it. why something is always lost and the thing you want is very rarely ever gained is like, on the one hand, it tells you something so emotionally essential about Hermes that you feel, you feel for him, your heart breaks, but also it is such a foul position to put somebody else in so that they can in theory understand and appreciate your perspective. And then, of course, for Percy, that moment when Hermes says, it was your father who warned me to stay away?

Said it was awful watching you struggle and feel powerless to stop it, but that sometimes that's what parenting is. What a like crushing, devastating thing for Percy to have to hear. There's that green of there's always this dissonance, right? There's a bit of kindness. There's a bit of kindness in that. Exactly. There's the like dissonance of the tenderness of your,

of not wanting to inflict pain or some sort of wound. Or knowing that or knowing that. or knowing that his father has thought about this as a hard, staying away is a hard thing to do. Yes, but also that it is in some way a sacrifice that he was willing to make for however long. It made me think of the, we'll get to the, we'll get to the oceanic CGI, I think, at some point. But the book version of that scene, when Percy walks into the Pacific in Santa Monica,

and we get a, we get the conversation about how. the show about how proud Poseidon is. The book quote, though, it really felt like it connected to this Hermes-Persy Annabeth conversation here. He stands at the brink of an unwanted war. He has much to occupy his time. Besides, he is forbidden to help you directly. The gods may not show such favoritism.

And Percy says, even to their own children, especially to them. Like, how awful? Awful, but then. What a cruel position to be in for everybody. but also like I don't know that that is a reliable messenger that messenger there you know but it is something that you know

Percy nonetheless had to hear yeah um anything else you want to say about Hermes before we go dumb kids on the envelope with the uh grisa iconic I ask just absolutely wonderful way to to leave a message

when we initially briefly thought that Annabeth had in fact swiped his keys without him noticing. I was like, this is actually like, there's simply no way that this is believable. And then, of course, that's not what happened. And I was, I was relieved. The god of thieves, not knowing that he had been pickpocketed, would not have sat well.

But thankfully, that was rectified in short order. Mirror minutes. It took as long as it took Percy to get out of that impossible chair for you to figure that out. Okay. So next one is, he's not really a god, but I just want to say that Karen, not to be confused with Karen is, you know, the ferryman of the dead, quite scary in his depiction here, and quite different than he's depicted in the book. And I liked it. So it's, it's one of

my least favorite changes. Yeah, because you love Italian designer suit. Well, he does, you know, his appearance morphs in the book once they get down to the river. So like, I think we get, I think part of what I love about this, first of all, it's just he's here for 12 seconds. Like there's a creepy look after a very funny. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me.

Excuse me. Excuse me. To live in the city for a bit. So funny. I've had this exact experience with like New York people. When I don't know if I've ever told you the story. I won't name who it was, but I was with one of my VF bosses in Austin checking in for the South Life Southwest Film Festival.

And we had to stand in like, jails. genuinely the shortest of lines. And he was like, they really need to understand that some of us have places to be and things to do. And I was like, this is like the shortest line I've ever stood in. What are you talking about? He's like, I'm from New York. And I was like, okay, okay. All right. That's one of the things I miss about New York, actually. Like, I love to, I love to weave through a congested hallway or sidewalk and rapidly make my way. Will you throw an elbow? Are you an elbow as you go through? I try to be respectful of the people around me.

I have made the elbow throwing mistake in the past. I believe I've told you that I have a memory that brings me deep shame, which was the deathly hallows midnight release at the Union Square Pards and Oval in New York, where I was living that summer for a summer internship. When those doors opened. I mean, no one was safe. I was just like... That was the fault of whoever was managing that line,

that they didn't give you guys like numbers or something like that. Well, actually, it was to get in initially to like get the little ticket. To get the numbers. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, I just couldn't be stopped. Anyway, I try to be good now. Just really quickly. What was your number? Do you remember? Like, were you in the under 10s? Here's what I remember. I remember that, um, so my, one of my, one of my, one of my number,

fellow Time Inc. Editorial Interns that summer, Lindsay Schnell, dear friend to this day, fellow very obsessive. We went to the book released together and we got our faces painted. So I got a scar painted on my farm, of course. And Lindsay got a dragon paint. I have this photo still, actually. I will send this to you. She got a dragon painted and she had asked for a dragon. I think she thought because I had gone first that it would be like a little dragon because my scar was like a little scar, right? Harry. scar. Her entire she was like turned into a dragon on half

of her face. This is my memory. It's probably apocryphal. I'm sure I'll look and it'll be like, this is like a three inch dragon. And then we had to ride the subway. We were living up in the Columbia dorms. We were on the subway with this face paint and people could tell that we had gotten the book and kept trying to spoil it for us. And I was like

to strangers on the subway as a, you know, 20-year-old, like, if you ruined this for me, like, real tough guy. False bravado. And I was so nervous the whole ride back to my dorm room that someone would spoil the book for me. I was, like, in a state of terror. And I locked myself in the dorm room. I just read it. Anyway, Karen.

Do you feel like, if someone had spoiled Deathly House for you on the train, you would have been in some sort of. That would have been a rat. Haiti's hell situation. That would have been a wrap. That would have been a wrap. Great transition back to the... Let's go to Haiti.

On Karen, I just want to say one thing quickly, which is like the thing... I understand the runtime imperative of moving quickly to get them to Haiti's or to get them to Tardis and then to Hades. The Karen sequence in the book to me is emblematic of that, again, perfect balance of horror and humor. Like, the fear of him sitting there

and saying to Anabeth, whoever said death was fair young miss wait until it's your turn you'll die soon enough where you're going and then the absolute levity mere paragraphs apart of percy trying to sway him to their cause with the temptation of money and him sank caron glanced down in his silk italian jacket as if imagining himself in something even better i must say lad you're making some sense now just a little. Like, that is such a riveting stretch,

and I did miss that. I did. I agree, but there's, and there's just, like, possibly because it's Disney, like the edges are rounded off of this, like, in terms of decapitating crusty,

or, you know, there's just violent things that happen in the book that don't happen here. All right, I'm going to describe our next god as he is described in the book, and then we will talk

about how he is depicted in the show. He was. Quote, and again, Amang is the British edition. Quote, he was at least three meters tall, for one thing. And dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold.

His skin was albino white, his hair, shoulder length, and jet black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking live, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.

Meanwhile, we get the clickety-clacety. Here's J. Duplas. Tread of J. Duplas. This is like, again, iconic casting to me. This is flawless. Well, what's funny, I love J. Duplas. You and I both love Jay Duplas. Best Deplast.

A true favorite of ours. Great, great, wonderful. Love that he's in this role. I was watching this. The first time I watched this was on a smaller screen, not like my usual way of watching. So, like, when he starts way back in shot, I didn't know Clock it immediately as J. D. Plus, I was like, this is some sort of, like, hell functionary who's, like, walking up to take them to Hades. And then I was like, oh, no, it's Jay himself. And I just love, I love the long walk. I found the way the, the sound design on his shoes as they clicked and clacked and echoed as he walked up to them was just, like, truly funny. Offering them pomegranate was really funny. It just reminds, it's very different from the book, but it's very fun. It reminded me, um, Hercules. I have talked about how it is, I think it was one of the best Disney. animated films. And James Woods depicts Hades in that. And he has talked in interviews about how,

I guess a lot of other actors auditioned for that role. And they were like, I'm Hades, God of the Dead. And James Wood was like, hey, Hades, got out of the dead. How are you doing? Like, you know, has this real, like, funny, lax, whatever. I admire the cut of your jib, little nautical reference for you. Yeah, like, it's just really good. Huh? Hoot tricked Who? I'm not in Cahutes with Aries. I seldom Cahoot. I seldom Cahoot. I seldom Cahoot. I seldom Cahoot is astonishing. stuff. Just absolutely genuinely hilarious. I was reading some J-Du-plus interviews around his appearance in this. His kids are huge Percy fans. Apparently, his daughter calls him Hades around the house now because they think it's really funny. That he basically he auditioned for and thought he might

get Chiron, like that that was the role that they were like looking at him for. Like he heard this was happening. His kids were huge fans. He was like, I got to be in this. My kids are going to be thrilled if I am in the Percy Jackson show. He was like, I got this close to Kyron. They did not go with me. He's like, then they approached me for Hades, question mark. Okay. And it's just a great move.

It's really fun. I loved this so much. So good. Yeah. Speaking of Kyron, quickly, did you hear on our sister pod the watch when our beloved pal, Jason Manzukas, joined Chris and Andy, the nugget that he, dropped about Glenn Derman actually,

who is a cowboy, actually riding a horse to film these scenes. That was unbelievable. Yes. What a nugget. Please listen to that. Please listen that episode.

It's fantastic. Just a lot of, a lot of Reacher talk for the Reacher fans out there. If you're a Reacher enthusiast, check out that pod. But if you're not, you could also have things that you can enjoy

in that pod. Great pod. Great pod. Jay also said interviews that he focused a lot on the loneliness of Hades. This is like a real hallmark of this god in mythology. He has a wife who he essentially has to trick to be there and she's only there half the year anyway. So like in the book there's all these scary, dressed in various military uniforms, like guards around Hades. And I like that it's just him and a statue of Sally and some like.

sad single guy apartment furniture like in his in this domain. And I like the idea, all of these gods that we meet, even Hermes surrounded by all the people in the casino, strike mealy is quite lonely, solitary. Ari's on the road, solitary, you know. Poseidon when we meet him, which we'll talk about solitary. Hephaestus certainly lonely and solitary. So I think contrasting that with the fellowship that is our three. pals is a really smart move that the show is made.

Absolutely. And he's another god who immediately indicts his fellow gods for the pettiness of their jealousy, right? These grudges, they go on forever, super unhealthy. And it's like, yeah, correct. But they are all so isolated from each other. They are all plotting against each other. What we learn in this stretch is that Hades thinks Percy has his helm of darkness. So Sally's presence, Sally being spared and saved from being crushed by the Minotaur,

is just to lure Percy down there. It's all bait. It's all a trick. And Percy having to confront the fact that all of these lonely larger-than-life figures are just trying to use him and others as a pawn on their board, a board that they sit and assess in complete isolation is such a harrowing thing to have to confront. This is the, when I talk about the maybe like abs, I had a wonderful conversation yesterday with our beloved colleague and Percy Jackson superfan, Zach Cramm.

And we were talking, he was really saying that he's really liked the show, but he was really saying that the absence of the humor in the last couple episodes is something he's felt, like the relative humor compared to the books. And I thought that was like a really reasonable observation, like the tradeoff of what we get in its place. Like what we're going to talk about in a minute here, Sally and Poseidon, is I think just outstanding. But it is coming in place of something. The Haiti sequence gives us that much like the ARI sequences, I thought, that pitch perfect balance. I seldom cahoot is hysterical.

So good. Like, this is unbelievably amusing and entertaining. I thought there was a touch less of the, you know, in the book when they're entering the palace and Percy's walking past these images of horrors, like from the history of humanity. There's that line I wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true, which just gives you an absolute chill and especially fascinating to think of in the context of how Percy thinks about, do you challenge a prophecy? Do you accept it?

the role of fate, et cetera. We could have used maybe a touch more of that, like the underworld and what it means, the way in the book the kids are looking at Elysium and Percy is like, so few people did good in their lives. Like that is just, it hits you so hard. I would have liked to touch more of that, but still broadly, Hades in particular as a godly figure entering the story, they nailed it. Last not least in this section, just because we get a quick trailer tease of him and the finale, where else we'll find him.

It is Zeus himself, played by the late great Lance Reddick. This is going to be really emotional next week. It's going to be very upsetting to see him and know that it will be the last time. You know, we will get to see him play this role. So that is coming next week. But you're like, surely Joanna, you've missed an important one. And that's because he gets his very own section. It is Sally Jackson and Poseidon, this episode seven absolute banger interaction.

Maybe my favorite thing that has happened, I think is my favorite thing that has happened on the show. Before we get there, to episode seven, I just want to talk about like a few moments in five and six leading up that are like paving the way. When Percy gets out of the water in episode five, remember that guys? It was several weeks ago, but it happened. When he gets out of the water in episode five, he says he saved me my dad, I guess, I never really thought that's something he would do for me, right? So this is just like a nice defrosting of Percy. Yeah, it looks so sweet.

And then Annabeth in, I think it's the thrillurito love sequence talking to Percy, talking about Sally, she says maybe she was preparing you. So when you got to us, you'd be different than this, this being the horror of the, Huffest is his horror show of his cuckoldery and rejected by his own mother and then in episode six when they get to

Santa Monica and he meets the narrate in the water she says this is not your fault you are brave you are strong you made your father proud you were brave you were strong you know and again he says in the book

how much this voice sounds like his mother to him this just sounds like something Sally would say to him, right? You were brave, you were strong, you know, hold fast, Percy. But episode seven. Wonderful. Virginia Cole, as Sally Jackson, this is really, we've been remarking throughout about the way in which they've kept her so at the forefront of our minds with these various flashbacks. And how key that was that we not, that we don't go from like, Sally in the, like,

premiere and then the gold statue that we see in Hades and that's all the Sally that we get, right? Like there's a version that that's what it is. And instead she's just like alive and vibrant in conversation in flashback and her importance in shaping who Percy is, which we heard in the opening clip and which Annabeth echoed, this like, you are different and you are a different kind of hero because you. you were not raised in this system because of Sally's influence is just incredible. Her heartbreak in like knowing that she's leaving when when little per, and as you know,

little teeny tiny Percy like always gets me in like hysterics. This is little golden jumper. Oh my God. So precious. His untouched ice cream Sunday because he's like too upset. That Sunday was delicious. I know it wasn't deeply indebted. intense moment for young Percy, but it looked delicious.

But he's so upset that he can't, because, like, her thing is finished. So, like, they've been sitting there for a while and he hasn't touched his ice cream. So, like, her heartbreak in leaving him behind him being like, I would never do this to you, right? Which will be immediately pay off in the choice he has to make. The way that that, like, tore my heart into just shreds. But even, like, the look on his face at the school when he is listening. he can overhear this conversation that Sally has with a counselor and forget all of the stuff about, what does it mean if our little, our little man saw a drew a Pegasus and saw one on the roof and followed it?

When he hears the suggestion of homeschooling and then Sally say that she can't do that, that that's not possible, that's not going to happen. And so it fuels this sense, not only that she's depositing him somewhere that he doesn't want to be, but that she was presented with an alternative and chose not to keep him close. Yeah. And I think, you know, everything that you just beautifully outlined about the, the intentionality of the show's focus on how she has guided and comforted and shaped him, that conversation with Annabeth about that prep work that Sally was doing and how certain we are at this point in the story of the nurturing, caring, guiding hand and role that she played in his life, this essential elemental figure to know that there were moments where he doubted that. I mean, it's life. But it's like, it's just. so heartbreaking and to know that she had to stomach that, like had to swallow that her little man was sitting there thinking, saying, why are you trying so hard to get rid of me when there's nothing in the

world that she would want more than to keep him close and safe? It's just like, that's her sacrifice, right? It was so agonizing. As, you know, as she said, there's a couple moments in these last three episodes where people have talked about things being unfair. And a god's like, yep, it is unfair. Correct. That's the way this is.

So this scene with Poseidon. Yes. So where Sally's at the bar, she offers up the burnt offering of dropping like the match. Do you think we can summon Poseidon with the burnt offering? Let's try it right now. I would be interested. The way that we get an immediate deluge, right? The rain just comes pouring down.

and he walks in, we see him in the, like, soft focus in the back, and he walks into the bar. They don't look at each other, which is just, this is a beautifully written scene, a beautifully performed scene. Whoever made the choice of, and they won't look at each other the whole time, ratchets is this up to, like, astonishing television. It's so good. It's just sensational. The restraint that you can feel each of them.

Yeah. Yeah, like, if I look, then we're right back into it. Like, I won't have the strength to walk away again. And what that tells you about how drawn they were to each other. It's just magnetic. Sad and sexy. And, like, and also what it makes because there was a moment. Before she said the thing about, like, do you want to go to him?

I was like, is this just all happening in her head, right? Like, is, like, is she communicating with him in actuality, but he's not physically there? because the way it shot, it looks like, they have this conversation, this exchange is very like divorced parent, but also very like God believer, right? Where she says, you don't want to hear why. And he says, probably not,

but you have no one else to say it to. And maybe that's the most unfair part of it. You say it. That was beautiful. Beautiful. Written and also just beautifully like, you have no one else to say it to say it to me is what a God might say to their supplicant, right?

Like, say it to me. Say it out to me. So it's like, oh, It's almost like a prayer, right? She says this out, like her truth out loud, just again, what we heard at the top of the episode. Again, beautifully written. And I think, too, that contrast of like,

part of Percy's journey of discovery is having to confront, we talked about this last pot. Question mark. Yeah, I think last pod. Maybe both pods. About how Percy is really wrestling with how absent he feels his father has been from his life and why. And so that idea that like you say it, I will listen,

that Poseidon was said to Sally, I actually will be, maybe this is not the moment where I can take action, which we'll talk about in a second. But I am here and present in this way, in the way that I can be. That tells us something crucial, right, about what they mean to him and their impact on him and his presence in both of their lives.

So that was just, I thought in addition to just being a gorgeous bit of writing, and beautifully performed, as you said, like a really crucial idea. Let me read for you as you're thinking about how beautiful ginger god Toby Stevens looks in his crisp blue shirt. Here's the description of the book. He reminded me of a beachcomer from Key West. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahamas shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it.

His skin was deeply tanned. His hand scarred like old-time fishermen. His hair was black like mine. His face had the same brooding look that had always got me branded as a rebel. But his eyes see green like mine were surrounded by sun crinkles that told me he smiled a lot too. So there's things that are definitely not here like the Tommy Bahama shirt with caracoconos and pears all over it. But the description of his eyes is I think like bang on. Toby Stevens, incredible iconic casting.

We've talked about how certain. Black Sales actors have already worked their way into the cast here. Toby Stevens is the, like, lead of Black Sales, the star of Black Sales, the show that the showrunners of Percy Jackson worked on previously. Can I just say, I love Toby Stevens. I've loved him for a long time. He's in a great adaptation of Jane Eyre. There's just like a lot of wonderful, amazing things that he has done. I was so offended the other day when I opened up TikTok and a whole bunch of Percy, I get served a lot at Percy Jackson Tick-Tocks right now. And a lot of young, I can't be mad at them.

But a lot of young Percy Jackson fans were like, oh, my God, did you know that Poseidon is the son of Professor McGonogall? And I was like, I get mad on like nine different levels because I don't like when Maggie Smith is referred to as Professor McGonagall. And I didn't like that Toby Stevens, definitely a Nepo baby. Absolutely. That's true. But I was like, but anyway. So tell me your thoughts and feelings. on Toby Stevens here in this moment.

I don't know how many times in one pie. I can say I have no notes, but that's how I feel about it. I just thought it was perfect. This, the, the line, perfect quote to pick from the book, the crinkle in the eye, the laughter, that weathered skin, life at sea.

You know, the moment in the book when Percy looks out at the ocean and thinks, like, how could I be the son of somebody in charge of all of that? that. Besideon has to convey heft, right? But there also has to be like a charm and a little bit of sadness and a sexiness. I think undoubtedly we heard how Sally talked about him back in the premiere. I think that was all here with love and respect to the decorative Tommy Bahamas shirt. I think going with the subtle seafoam button down still conveyed a beachy vibe. So I thought this was.

an absolutely great choice. And the chills that I got when she, when Sally asks if he wants to see Percy, maybe just hear his voice, like the little, any little gift, any little ember of connection that you could possibly have at that point would like, in theory sustain you and he can't even have that. The way that they cut, I just thought this was a great bit of editing and his, his one day closing speech here. And we cut to Percy waking on the beach and that like connection that you feel between

all three of them. And the show's I think really like master stroke ability. It's such a crucial moment for a Percy Poseidon connection and a promise of what's to come for them. And Sally is so central. Nothing was sacrificed to give us that gain. I thought was beautiful. And that Annabeth quote about that you that you, that you cited earlier about,

in the Hathustis conversation, Percy being different, not like all these other petty people who are just chasing glory and how we see in this sequence with Sally and Poseid and how that is so fully to her credit. And then I also just loved the,

one day when he's ready, when he knows who he is and where he belongs. And fate has revealed him as true path and we're cutting to Percy waking and seeing air. He's marching toward him, not with the baseball bat is in the book,

but with a very intimidating sword slung over his shoulder. You think back to that. Aries Percy moment in episode five, you think you know who I am, but you don't, right? And if you're not careful, you're going to find out. And, like, that tells us everything. Like, this is the moment Percy waking there. He knows who he is.

He has that sense of self. What? This is a great television episode. It really was. Building attention for us where he's like, Percy has gone into the water twice and not found his father. He and his father have been in the same place in that in the, that restaurant bar.

Little Percy's like over his shoulder like in the background so close. I texted you that like clip from from a book of Boba Fed technically, but the Mandalorian of him being like, but he's right there, right? Mando came all this way. He's right there. And he does turn to look at him. He does like the look over his shoulder. Like kind of look.

Like the side of the eye. Kind of result of look. Yeah. Our listener Ryan wrote in to note that like in addition to, like, in addition to the downpour that happens when Poseidon enters, when there's that temptation to look moment, we hear thunder rumbling. And Ryan's interpretation is like, that's Zeus's way of saying no. And, yeah, I mean, what's lightning without a little thunder?

All right. Last thing I'll say sort of on the Sally Jackson front is Percy making the decision to leave her saying, hold fast, mom, had me like, we. We've been in a wailing. Shattered. And again. Shattered. This is a TV show rhetorical invention, right?

This is something that the TV writers put in. It's not a book refrain. But we've heard it three times now and it just like then it becomes this. And our anticipation, our aching eagerness for Percy to finally get to meet Poseidon, like perfectly teased in this appearance here. So that if and when it happens in the finale, I don't know actually one way or another if it will. There's an argument can be made that it wouldn't. There's an argument that can be made that it would. It's going to be so satisfying for us when it happens just because of all the things that they've done. So it'll happen eventually. If it happens in the finale, if it happens in a future season, when it happens, it will be like Sensa and John like hugging at the wall or something like that.

So yeah. Okay. Percy and Annabeth. Great stuff. Ptootid pittittitties is all I have to say about this. These will forever be remembered among the fandom the episodes where we got to hear seaweed brain and wives girl spoken aloud. A frill, a joy. The way in which they've been like peeling these two off from Grover a couple different times in the last few episodes, again, those separations don't happen really in the book,

allows these two to have their like, to build their version of their relationship. And there's just like little breadcrumbs, occasional croutons along the way of this like budding relationship. Her hugging him straight out of the water in ups and five and then him later being like, oh, I get it. It's not a big thing you know that you hugged me. And she's like, actually I saw the fates. So get over yourself. Remargeable.

Which he says she's never seen a movie and he immediately is like, oh, we should watch a movie. Like, you know, as soon as this is done, let's go. Let's watch a movie together. And you know, you could tell that it was really true because when he again channel Sally later to see her not in Kansas. She's like, we left Kansas four days ago. Yeah. And he's like, oh, right. Got it.

Yep. Oh, man. I love the tension as they're bracing to enter thrill ride of love. And, you know, we get the scary ghost ride line, but also the like being weird about this language. that passage in the book just is so coming of age story. Like, just grip your heart adorable. Me? Go with you to the thrill ride of love?

How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me? Who's going to see you? But my face was burning now to leave it to a girl to make everything complicated. It's like, free teens. I really love the moment. The moment as he's going to ghost a day, down on that chair for again what he thinks is a long time but really is just a few minutes um

and he says i need you promise me something and she just says immediately like overlapping i'm not leaving the underworld without your mom this is not even what he was going to ask but is like the most important thing to him you know yeah and it's just like yeah um did you get sorcerer stone when the shield fell like oh yes chest board absolutely fives Not me, not Hermione, you. All right, so let's hear, we've alluded to it a couple times, but let's hear Annabeth talking about the ways in which Percy has changed her in just a few days. And after the speech is done, we're going to hear a little bit of the score that comes after

because it is exquisite and we just need to pay some respect to it. Steve? Eat or be eaten? Power and glory and nothing else matters. Aries is that way. Zeus is that way. My mother is that way. He isn't that way.

He's better than that. Maybe I was that way once. But I don't want to be that way anymore. I won't be like all of you. I just won't. Excuse me? Stornin. Stornin.

I'm going to just rattle off a few other things. Luke saying, when did you turn into an old merry couple in episode six? Percy and Miring. Walker's performance there, like, that's a change the subject. But I'm going to. But I'm going to. Percy essentially giving her heart eyes when he finds out that she picked Hermie's pocket, how he finally figures out how to drive the cab and then she's like,

Paisa McAnsman and smiles at him. And he looks at her and smiles and gets totally distracted that just plows the taxi cab into the wall the rest of the car. way out of the parking garage. Again, it's just like these, and then how terrified he looks when he couldn't find her in the mist in Hades and Epsa 7, like when she's with Cerberus. It just, again, they're just like, I think it's just like a beautiful, beautiful little breadcrumb trail for this, the building of this lovely little story between these two people.

A few quick thoughts. Yes. on sending Percy and Annabeth off without Grover a couple times to Waterland and then in the Lotus. I think we and a number of viewers had a question about why Annabeth left the underworld sequence in the show. That is not what happens in the book. And in fact, I do have a theory about that.

Okay, yeah. Some of the deductions that I think were like, did we get here a little quickly in the show. when candidly of Anabeth is there in the book, helping to reach those conclusions, you don't bump on it like that. But it did strike me as like maybe needing to balance the... To give Grover. ...doer who is getting some time with.

That's fair. The clip we heard, this like beautiful awakening that Annabeth is experiencing. Like, you noted it's all happening pretty quickly. Episode three, you know, the... You're loyal to your mother. Yes. stand by her always you love her of course i do but i i feel like it's been we've had enough crucial

moments parceled out you know including athena's betrayal that it the timing of this turn lands i think particularly because the relationship you know we think of that like careful like it almost like sounds like you're talking about me like a friend moment back you know in the episode three four area into like where we are now and this, this, I, I loved invoking glory because if we go back to episode two when we were still like camp halfblood and we get these sequences where Luke is talking about glory and the role of glory and what glory can confer on you, like makes it, your name, like makes it bigger, scary, or more important. Like this is something that, that demigods, that half-bloods, that heroes seek, right? This is part of the arc as you find your

glory. And so for Annabeth to rejoice, to rejoice. that as like the ultimate pursuit, in part because of what Percy and Grover and this friendship has very quickly unlocked for her, this perspective that she has gained, is an essential thing for her character. The book right around here, they're in the transport on the way to Vegas. So it's like similar placement in the book. It's a conversation between Percy and Annabeth, but this is where we sort of see. that Annabeth has arrived at this moment of like, you're my guy.

You're my guy and you're my guys. Like, you guys are my friends. You're the ones I'll stand with. So if the gods fight, I said, Percy, will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon? She put her head against the backpack areas had given us and closed her eyes.

I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you. Why? Because you're my friend, seaweed brain, any more stupid questions. And again, it's similar placement in the book where they are in the story. And that means it's not very far away in the book either from the tension. Can they be on the same page? It's just a beautiful thing in these coming of age stories when you see people build that trust with each other and that reliance on each other. And when you recognize that that person who's in it with you will actually be there. Like would come back to get you out of that chair if you had stayed in the chair for more than a couple minutes. Lovely. Our next section, which is like perfect segue, is Detective Grover slash animal pals.

We already talked about the scene with Aries, the diner, but when they find him in the casino. Yeah. And he calls them later, he says they're his best friends, and nobody blinks at that. Nobody's like, we've been together for a couple. I mean, like, he and Percy have been best friends for a little while. But, like, you know. And he must go way back. Yeah.

Yeah. But like as a trio and like he and Annabeth weren't like best friends. In fact, there's like trauma there. And also like- Talk about trauma bond. Yeah. And then Percy was like felt betrayed by him. You know what I mean?

Like the deception of their friendship and stuff like that. So he's like, yeah, we're just we're best friends. This is why I'm you know. And everyone's like, yep. That's who we are at this point. Friends. Here's my lament on the Grover animal front. Not nearly enough with.

the animals. This is such an incredible portion of the book, not only for Grover, who of course cares deeply about the natural world as we have talked about, but Percy?

Like, Percy, talking to the zebra. And the decision that they make collectively that this is foul and hideous and wrong how these animals are being treated,

but like the switching of the meat and the turnups and the cages and the conversations and how important. it is to make sure that they are okay. I miss that. I love an animal. I wanted a little bit more. It is funny when they're just like out on the streets in Vegas. And Bursi's like, I meant like, is it safe for the people? I was like, oh. But I would have loved a little bit more, you know, conversation with our pals. On the friendship front and then I'm going to let you talk about Cerberus, as long as you want.

But there's a section towards the end actually when they're in, when they're facing the decision of what to do about Sally. They have three pearls, who goes back. What do they do? They're in Hades. And Percy decides to do a little previously on, right? He says, they had both been with me through so much. I remember Grover died bombing Medusa in the Statue Garden and Annabeth saving us from Cerberus. We'd survive Hephaest's Waterland ride, the St. Louis Arch, the Los Casino. I had spent thousands of miles worried that I'd be betrayed by a friend, but these friends would never do that. They'd done nothing but save me over and over, and now they wanted to sacrifice their lives for my mom.

And it's just like, yeah, this like, he brought them in the first place because he's like, there's no way these are going to be my friends. And then they become in a few, in the manner of a few short days, the closest people to him. Cerberus, a.k. Fluffy. What do you want to say about? Yeah, this will be a fun moment for, you know, people who are like, the Cerberus, this is just Fluffy. And then discover the Fluffy is, of course, based on Cerberus. Yeah, of course. Time is a flat circle. the, the, no stick in the show, you know, no bedposts from Krusty's ripped off and carried as a, a stick to use here with, with, with, with, with, with, with, with, with, with, with, with, but the red ball is here. The chew toy is here. And Annabeth's understanding of how to, uh, soothing and calm and, uh, entice a pup. That's all here. I would love for Cerberus to, to, get the playtime that he clearly is seeking, let's get some more chew toys down there in the

underworld for our three-headed watchdog. Great little line in the book, even here in the underworld, everybody, even monsters, needed a little attention once in a while. Like, he just wants someone to play with them. Yeah. And I think, I don't think, I don't know the show completely nailed this idea because we do get Annabeth looking back like a little regretfully, but like in the book, she's like, crying over the fact that like Cerberus just wants to keep playing with them. Sad. In the show, he keeps chasing them in seemingly a menacing way. But in the book, it's just like they're the first people to ever play with him.

And he just wants to be a puppy and have some attention. And Annabeth is like sad she has to leave him, which is not really the circumstance in the show. So do you think the fourth pearl was here only so that we could get the bit of Grover being eaten and leaving his pearl in Cerberus? I feel like it's there because that's the only reason? I think the fourth, because we know earlier in the show than we do in the book that Sally is in the underworlds. So I think the fourth pearl has to be there so that Hades, Poseidon doesn't look like a dick of like three pearls. Fuck your mom. You know, like that's our stuff, right?

Great call. But then they have to lose it really quickly because the whole thing is that they only have three pearls with them when they discover that Sally's down there. But yeah, it's a little silly. Great point. Here we are. Okay. Quickly, and I'll just tease that we have a plan for an episode next week. Things may change, but so far, 89% looking good.

To have an episode next year where we dive in a little bit more on some of these concepts before the Percy Vanali next week. Mythology must, dreams, prophecies, fate versus free will, etc., etc. Percy is told again and again, not just by the Oracle, but by Aries, by a number of people that he's going to fail on his quest, crusty, like, all these people are like, you're not going to make it. What the fuck are you doing? And I thought it was interesting to get this moment from episode five where Percy talks about fate versus free will. Steve, will you play this, please? Okay, guys, we need to talk about this whole fate thing. Three old ladies with a ball of yarn

can't know what's going to happen. What I choose to do changes what's going to happen. I can choose to do anything I want. Need some help. Sorry, I cut that last part in so you could hear from your boyfriend again. What do you make of what the show and the book is saying so far about fate versus free will, free will versus prophecy? This is something we talked about a lot, Rings the Power, actually, when we were talking about Lord of the Rings. I mean, it's my favorite thing to talk about in stories. I think it's, again, I think I said this in the last pod.

I think it's not a spoiler to say that prophecy plays a huge role in the story beyond this book in a number of different forms. So prophecy is central to Greek mythology. This is obviously such a focus in lightning thief that it's not a surprise that it is present in a meaningful way elsewhere in the tail. I think that it is important. We were like, wow, no, the fates weren't here

when we expected them to be here at the beginning. Oh my God, they cut their fates? Yeah, yeah. And so I was like, okay, of course they're still here. They're just here in a different context where we can have this conversation. Yeah, I love these ladies. Interesting that like Annabeth is the one making this meaningful eye contact in the show.

And that was fascinating to me. The great, do you know what it means? The fact that they appeared in front of you, they only do that when you're about to, when someone's about to die, Grover line in the book and person being like, whoa, you said you. No, I didn't. I said someone. It's just so funny the way they're assessing what it might mean that they appear. But Percy's saying this.

Percy being a character believes that your choices matter, that you are not simply part of some great tapestry that somebody else is holding the threads for, that your fate has been written and established, and that nothing you do matters that the outcome is set, is crucial. Like, the heroes that we respond to have to believe that their choices matter and that they can make a difference. What I think is so fascinating about the story is that doesn't mean Percy's a character who rejects prophecy or the role that it plays.

It means he questions the impact it has on his life in the course of events and other characters' lives. What stock do they put in? It's kind of their conversations that these characters have with each other, which is just like it's not just subtext for us to parse. It's text for the characters. It's amazing. And again, I think that feels very much like Sally's influence on him, right? Where he's like, he hasn't grown up in this world steeped in like a prophecy is a prophecy and it will come true no matter what exactly the way that it is interpreted or whatever. And he's just sort of like, I do what I want.

Like, I'm a young American. I do what I want. You know, I'm like a white male and American. I do whatever I want. What are you going to tell him it to do? We don't need to linger too long here. But Percy's dream connection to Kronos, especially in the scene where he's like watching Kronos talk to the lightning thief could not feel more hairy, moldy, moldy,

as he is sometimes called Good Oldham. When do you think we'll learn that Percy is a horrocks? Do you think that's going to happen in the finale? I think that's book five. I think that's book five stuff. And then it's very, very hairy. The dream seer stuff that he has, I like the way that bringing the conversation

about Luke's mother via Hermes forward means that when Annabeth is talking about her, Percy gets this very concerned look on his face. Like, it drove her mad. And he's like, what does it mean? He doesn't say this. Like, exactly. But he's like, internally, what does this mean that I have these dreams, that I see these things?

Am I going to be driven mad by it? I thought that was really effective. He's scared. Anything else do you want to say before we get to maybe some book departures that we have questions about that we haven't hit so far? I don't think so. Let's dive in. Okay. The main thing, the kids know.

things very quickly. We've already talked about a lot of this. Immediately figuring out who built the amusement park, rules of the casino. Our listener, Josh, was like, Grover asking two dyslexic 12-year-olds if they had read The Odyssey was unintentionally hilarious, and I kind of agree. Graphic novel.

It counts. Loved it. Loved it. And to your point, what you said earlier, our listener, Liz and Ronan, said, I was surprised at how Percy and Annabeth

didn't get the benefits of the lotus eating, blithe hedonism, but they got the consequences of it, lost time. Grover, of course, gets a very sweet and sad experience, quite the opposite of the somewhat icky, sexy moment he gets in the film, and I love that. I just wish Percy and Annabeth got a moment of rest, even if it's drugged and ultimately bad for them, let a kid play video games already. So, yeah. Yes. Get on that water slide. Knowing who Krusty is and knowing about his trap immediately. And then this is the most bananas one is putting the Kronos pieces together

crazy fast with very, very little evidence. Like, that one felt really bizarre. And the fact that, like, he's decided that that's what's true. And Hades immediately is like, yes, you got it. That's it. For sure. You know, it just all felt like... Actually, I will take the lightning bolt because if war with Kronos is coming, I'd like

to be prepared. Yeah. If a 12-year-old has decided that this is his new theory, having just very confidently stated a very wrong theory just before it. It's like, why are we following this, you know? Yeah. I think like, again, I mentioned this already, but Annabeth's presence in this sequence in the book is really helpful because there's a lot of buildup where she is like, it's starting to dawn on her that there are other hands at play, like that they are missing something that something else might be a foot. And, you know, you compound this, like, you're kind of, you're, you're all.

on guard for maybe some other revelation. And of course, we're, you know, we're getting a lot of the dream sequences in the show just as in the book. But then you get to the Tartarus sequence. And I will say actually that's maybe an area in the show where like the visual element gives us an edge of a connection because you're just like, I recognize that pit from Percy's dream. Oh, no.

Like something is. But we're not inside of their. This is the nature of adaptation. So if you don't have conversation or other ways of rendering for us how the kind of wheels are spinning and the logic is unfurling, then it can seem sudden. I do think that Percy, the thing that was still effective about it for me is that Percy has this like deep and abiding resentment about how he is being used by everybody, right? How he is this pawn in their game. And you felt that. I thought effectively here the way it's like everything's dawning on his face as

once. At once, I've been tricked. I've been duped. I've been made to feel a fool. Lots of great lines in the book about how he's like, I don't like bullies. Like people who make me feel stupid. Like I've had a lot of experience with this. And I won't stand for it now.

So that was all good. Yeah, the work piece things together very quickly. That's been, I think, a little bit off. The sleuthing is just a very fun part of the book. The last thing, I think we've touched on everything else in the section. The last thing I want to mention is the deadline. passes with seemingly no consequences and I don't know why because like they don't miss the deadline well they do but they don't like not in this exact way sort of thing uh in the in the book

and I don't understand passing before they getting to Santa Monica and there being no like the war hasn't started like what are we doing and then I mean I guess this will have some this will manifest in some way in the finale right the consequence of this it feels like it has to but I don't know so and then Grover just being like Zeus will wait And I'm like, what? What? I don't understand that choice at all. I am willing to wait for the finale to see if it makes sense.

Joanna, never trust a backpack for Mary's. That's what I'll say. Fair enough. I would say never trust anything from Mary's. That would be my recommendation. Not even a burger. Fair. We don't really have them, but should we just skip Easter egg section entirely?

We don't really have one. We will talk about an Easter egg in the book section because there's one thing we want to hit there. There's one really. You gotta go to book section for that. Real biggie, but we can't talk about it without it being. Okay. So let's go directly, Steve, if you do not mind, to the wig watch.

TM with Joanna Robinson. TM, thank you so much. Do you wear wigs? Couple things. First of all, the way Percy's hair looks when he gets it wet, which is often, the way they style his little curls on his forehead looks like so old-timey Greek hero to me. You know what I mean? And, like, I think it's a, I'm really impressed with the hair department how his hair dry looks like, a 12-year-old boy might have this hair. And then you wet it and it's like these perfectly crisp golden curls on his forehead the way that like, you know. It's great. My counterpoint is just like, canonically, he's supposed to be dry when he comes out of the water. Unless he chooses not to be. Wow. Okay. Guess is dry when she comes out of the water, Annabeth. Well, let's take a moment to talk about Annabeth and her water repellent wig. This.

email came from our listener, Ray, who says, in the love boat scene, after the, I've missed the Raven Caw. Thank you, Steve. In the love boat scene, after the backdoor pilot for the new Disneyland Park ride, Percy and Annabeth are thrust into the water. Percy gets completely soaked,

but my girl, Annabeth cannot be bothered, and pops out of the water with dry hair, wig, I don't think so, from a top shot, and a lightly misted face. As a person with twists, I know how monumentally different her hair would look if she took a dip for multiple takes to get the scene, Could it's the hair and makeup team understanding the assignment?

And then Ray signed the email Grady Smith Enthusiast, which is an automatic get into the episode as far as I'm concerned. And last and last one at least, we need to talk about J. Duplas' Hades hair slash eyebrows. Remarkable. I read all those J. Duplas interviews, and there were many where he said kind of the same thing over and over again. Hoping in one of them, someone would ask them about the eyebrows, but no one did. No one's asking the true hard-hitting questions, Maloney. His hair looks like it was like hot rolled and spritz within a life, like, it just spritz into submission where it's like sticking up and waves on the top of his head. But the eyebrows brushed up and gelled into spikes just incredible.

Anything you want to say, Mallory? I just thought this was flawless. Yeah, agree. He's like wearing this like silky rope. Fantastic. You know, actually quietly, I thought the best choice in that whole story. stretch. There's just like a floor lamp. Exactly. That's why it looks like a bachelor's apartment to me. There's like a random floor lamp

and like a leather couch and then like some snacks on the coffee table. It's just like great stuff. Come to my come into my pad. All right. We're going to do best jokes. Just one joke from the last three episodes that we want to single out. Very difficult to pick because there were a lot of choices, but I did, I did make my way to a decision. It's an Aries quote. It's, he says to Grover. So what are you like a casual World War II buff? You've seen saving private Ryan, have you? Do you think Aries is a rewatchables fan? Definitely, yeah. He's just like crunching pods. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Mine happens on the throw ride of love. Yeah. When what is love is playing. And Parsi says, feels like I've heard this before.

I think from an orthodontist's office maybe. So good. From an orthodontas maybe. He's probably right. Absolutely on the nose of what that song has become in culture. So good. Last and at least, this is where you jump off if you don't want any future information as given to us by the books, some of which we have read. This is Book Reader Corner.

Okay, so here's where I'm going to give you my Annabeth. trapped in the forest of Asphodel and goes home early. The fact that she is trapped by regret. Yep. And not Grover, who has throughout been, you know, burdened with regret of what happened. I'm wondering if it's a misdirection about her as the real lightning thief or something like that.

Do you know? Interesting. I mean, we have very little time for red herrings in the finale, but like, yeah. There is that little moment in the book during the, I, if I recalling correctly during the Irish message chat where Luke is like, it had to be stolen by someone invisible, right? And then he's like, oh, no, it didn't mean it wasn't implied it was Annabat.

I would never. Yeah. Yeah, maybe they're trying to like do something like that. The thing that was on my mind that I didn't want to mention outside of the book reader section with Annabeth and the regret framing Grover asking, I mean, we have like, this could be a lot of things from the past. Certainly it could be everything with Luke. It could be everything with her father.

father, Annabeth's, the question of choice for Annabeth and the choices that she is faced with and has to make such a central part of her book four plot that I was wondering if this was like a little, not as blatant, but like a little bit of a version of bringing up Luke's mom's history with Hermes from book five up to the Lotus Casino and like planting some of these key thematic for some of these characters early. Mr. This is the big Easter egg that we couldn't say outside

of the book reader section, but in the little, canonically in the books, when Percy and Annabeth and Grover are in the Lotus Casino, there are two characters, Nico and Bianca, who are also in there.

At the same time, we meet them later. Mallory has promised me I'm going to fall in love with these characters. I think Nico will be one of your favorites. He's one of mine. But when you listen very closely in the background of a Grover conversation, you can hear a little voice saying, Bianca, Bianca, in the background.

Absolutely thrilling. Just remarkable. And like the reason we didn't want to obviously mention this outside of the book corner, not only because they're future characters, but because in book three, like, Bianca and Nico can't remember a lot about their past. And like, it ends up being a reveal that the reason they can't is because. They were trapped at the lotus for decades. They're from, like, decades. They were there for, like, two-thirds of a century, three-quarters of a century. And I think there's probably no way that they, since these are not characters who will be introduced until season three, unless they're, I mean,

I guess, again, they're moving things around. But I'm assuming they'll arrive in season three. So there's no way they've cast them. But you didn't have to cast them to do this, to have a little boy shouting, Bianca. So this is, like, perfect. People say that there's, like, two dark-headed children dark-haired children that could have been at the beginning.

But, like, that's the kind of thing where you, like, put some Maranos in and you're like, could be them. We haven't cast the actors yet, though, so not them, but, you know. Ideal. Oh, Nico. A lot of Mr. You know, the Who stole the Master Bowl breadcrumbs? What's Coming? The Luke I am, the Iris messaging call they do in the, not through the spray of water, but through a prism in the, in the lorry, very, very. Very well done.

But just to keep Luke in the plot. Yes. Annabeth's saying in the Lotus Casino, you can't ask Luke about his dad. They don't get along at all. Yeah, she says, at all. The stuff with Luke's mom and Luke blaming Hermes for it and all the sort of stuff like that.

And then also, I should say, Percy has it multiple times in this season said some version of we're all going to die eventually. We're all dying. Yeah. It's something that he just says a lot. Just keep tracking it at home, I guess. We're all done.

Eventually. Eventually. I thought in the Luke Irish message, like, maybe this would have been who could spikis in the show, but I was longing a little bit for the like, are the shoes coming in handy? Yeah. How are you, you're liking the shoes, right? I think they dropped the ball.

They dropped the ball a little bit on the shoes in that we haven't really seen Grover use that because he doesn't have a chance to use him at the water park because he's not there. Yeah. We don't get the water park usage and we don't get the Luke reminder. Yeah, so they kind of like vanish from the plot

until they show up in Haiti. So I think that's like a slight miss. But yeah, anything else in Bookreader corner that you want to mention? I don't think so. I can't wait for next week. You know, we've got a lot. We've got the Aries fight.

We've got everything on Olympus. We obviously have some. I hope. Olympus goes so quickly in the book, though. Like, it's really fast. I mean, that's the thing. It's like we're down to, you know, three chapters worth of material,

which is like not actually dissimilar from what other episodes have covered. Sally at home. Yeah, we got to have Poseidon and Luke Reveal at Camp. Luke Reveal at Camp. We got to have Poseidon and Percy. I mean, I don't know because like,

I mean, I feels like we have to. But in the shot in the trailer, yeah, it's Zeus alone. you know, up of Mount Olympus. So Poseidon's not sitting next to him as he in the book. So there has to be another way in which they do that.

If they do it, I think there could be a way in which he doesn't meet Poseidon in the finale and make his way for season two. But I don't think they should do that. But I'm just saying they could do that if they wanted to, you know? Because he doesn't have like a deeply, deeply, deeply, deeply meaningful conversation with his dad. I think the conversation about heroes is like, I would. I would hate to not get that. I'll remain open-minded, but... I mean, it probably will.

I'm just saying, like, we've gotten these promises, like, to make us, wait. Probably, probably they're quite pragmatic as acknowledging the media landscape and knowing you shouldn't wait to see if you get a season two to do a thing. You should just do it because you never know. We all believe in and feel certain that they are going to get a season two. But I like, I think the smarter showrunners these days, are just sort of like don't hold anything back from season one.

I've been waiting. We talked about this. Maybe in one of our Doctor Who pods we were talking about hiding in plain sight. I tried to remember where I would have possibly quoted this before actually getting to the Percy pods. But I mentioned before, but like that I have brought you a hero's fate and a hero's fate is never happy. It is never anything but tragic. Like that was my favorite line in the book. And I have been waiting all season for that.

moment between them and I'll be really sad if we don't get it. We'll see. I'm sure you will. All right. And I think they could do the Ares fight very quickly. It's the Sally Gabe Medusa head stuff that is like tricky. Gabe popping up on TV. We didn't get Barbara Walters.

We didn't get Barbara Walters, unfortunately. No. Alas. Oh, man. Great stuff. That's it. We did three episodes of television in under two hours and that is a goddamn record for us. Handedly a shock.

We were like 90 minutes, but I think we both were like, if it just doesn't have a two, we'll have done it. And we fucking did it. We did it. More Percy coverage to come next week. And we'll be back to sort of our regular, you know, two pods a week cadence going forward. I won't be here at the top of the week. I'm on the road.

I'll miss you all. I'll miss Joanna. But I'll be back for the finale pod. And then we will be together twice a week after that. I hope plenty of bad babies have tickets for your watchable live shows that Mallory is going to be doing on the road next week. So hopefully you'll get to see. here there. I'll be here on

someday early next week to do something. Hopefully personally related is the plan. And then Mal and I will be back on Friday to cover the finale for sure. So yeah, thank you to Steve Alman. It's been a minute, Steve. And we love to have you here

with us. And thanks to Regina Ram Koppal for his production work on this episode. Thank you to Jomey at Diner on. He's always on the social. And we will see you on the shores of the beach in Mount Olympus back at Camp Half Flood somewhere.

Next week. Bye!