The Reel Rejects - PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS Episode 5 & 6 REVIEW!!

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

ARES & LIN MANUEL MIRANDA HERMES!! Percy Jackson and the Olympians Full Series Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Greg Alba & Tara Erickson react to Percy Jackson and the Olympians Episodes 5 & 6, continuing Disney+’s faithful adaptation of Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief. As Percy, Annabeth, and Grover race to stop a divine war, these episodes crank the stakes way up — bringing in major Olympian players and some of the season’s most memorable set pieces. In Episode 5 (“A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers”), Percy (Walker Scobell – The Adam Project, Secret Headquarters) reunites with Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries – Beast, Empire) and Grover (Aryan Simhadri – Cheaper by the Dozen, Spin) on the road to Los Angeles — only to be pulled into Ares’ brutal side-quest at Waterland. We get the Tunnel of Love trap, the nerve-shredding Hephaestus throne sequence, and Percy’s growing realization that the gods’ games are deadlier than any monster. These episodes feature huge guest-star gods, including Adam Copeland (Vikings, WWE Hall of Fame) as the intimidating Ares, and Timothy Omundson (Psych, Galavant) as Hephaestus, whose heartbreaking mythology adds real emotional weight to the quest. Episode 6 (“We Take a Zebra to Vegas”) swings the trio into Las Vegas’ Lotus Hotel & Casino, where time warps, temptation hits hard, and the deadline to prevent war slips away. The episode introduces Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Encanto) as Hermes, bringing charm and mystery as Percy tries to get answers about the bolt and Luke’s involvement — all while the Lotus tries to swallow them whole. Tara & Greg REACT to the best moments including the Waterland Tunnel of Love / shield trap, Percy nearly sacrificing himself on Hephaestus’ throne, Ares’ threats and divine manipulation, the trio arriving in Vegas and getting lost in the Lotus’ time-dilation spell, Hermes’ reveal and the ticking clock toward the Underworld, & MORE!! Follow Tara Erickson: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TaraErickson Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/taraerickson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/thetaraerickson Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ella McKay, coming to theaters December 12th. Your father's here. Why? A heartwarming new comedy from James L. Brooks. I'm a different person. I have never been my life out this way about any other woman. Jesus! I wasn't counting your mother! It's a perfect holiday comedy about an imperfect family. You can use a scream, Ella.

Starring Emma Mackey, Jeannie Lee Curtis, Camel Nanjani, Iowa DeBerry, with Albert Brooks and Woody Harrelson. You should do that every afternoon. Ella McKay. let's begin this show well guys we just watched percy jackson five and s nope yeah five and six five and six we got to meet aries we got to meet hem hempes heppa hepatitis hepatitis we got to meet hepatitis we got to meet the other age guy hermes hermes

Hades, no, Hermes. Hermes. Hermes. Aris. No, Hermes is Lin-Mamil Miranda. Right. Yep, that one, too. Hermes. Percy Jackson is Limanwell Miranda. Yeah, it is. Yeah, okay, you're right. See,

I know everything. He's right. Anyway, okay, how are you feeling, Tara? I'm feeling pretty good. But, yeah, I, okay, I think just initial reaction, I don't think the pacing is really that bad in this show, but there's something about it that, I don't know, I'm not like totally hooked on it. And maybe it's just because we move so quickly that it's not like we can establish a really good emotional connection towards like the kids and the new characters that we meet.

I don't know what it is. It's missing for me, but I just, I don't feel like it's as exciting as maybe the movie in some parts were to me. But I'm still having a good time. I just don't know how to like fully explain it. Like it's good.

I just, I don't know. Well, the movie is like a trimmed down version of the book and it probably throw a lot more action in this. yeah and this is i think i know what's kind of because i think episode five is a pretty good episode the one with aries i think it's a pretty solid episode that's not like i'm really starting to understand more of the intent and how this execution goes kids travel kids encounter god god gives information expands on lore and usually there's some mission involved right that's pretty much what happens in the next episode too they go to this casino

They meet Lin-M-M-M-M-Mranda. They got to go retrieve their friend in the car. Boom. That's how these episodes go. They encounter a god, new information, so on and so forth. And episode five had a little bit more meat than six to me. Yeah. Like, I like Lin-M-M-Mammaranda's scene.

I like when Grover was forgetting. I thought that was providing some type of intrigue. And in episode five, the Ares presence was nice. I thought that actor brought a lot. to that role to really elevate it and it was the rare case because i i feel like this show is often having characters say the world and explain stuff in different names but we never really cut to it so it starts to feel a little bit like semi-amature filmmaking when we're just cutting to people who look like regular dudes who are playing gods and

They don't really feel like gods. They just feel like regular people. And I get that's like part of the conceit of it of God's living amongst us. Yeah. And have been with us through time, this whole time we've been around. Yeah. But sometimes there's that presence that's missing where I feel like five managed to actually do a good job in that. Where the guy who played Aries still felt like he was larger than life.

Yeah. He was like a dude on a bike. I agree with that. He feels larger than life. when he's explaining stuff about the history and having the banter with Grover because it's not just Aries dumping information or explaining something to Percy. They're going back and forth about something of their opinions on something. It feels alive what they're explaining. Like I start to see it and the interaction makes it feel like there's something propulsive to it.

and then you got the scene with Athena and Percy when they're going through the water and like the set that's what I mean like you don't need to cut to like a war or something but the set they built while it was just this one set I mean yeah the waves and stuff had all it's like CGI sets and shit and that thing on the wall explaining the backstory was really cool but the actual set with the chair and everything

that makes it feel like more rich and lived in And then you get a scene of sacrifice where Percy is having to, you know, tell Athena, not Athena, Annabeth, why he, why she went through, why he has to sacrifice himself in this moment of time. Like a lot of the best stuff I thought was, was there. And I thought like, oh, a lot of things that I've been finding kind of off about this series, five was succeeding more in that realm, a lot more. And then six, like halfway, I think carried it over. like him at my mom randa seen it would you like him out my mom randa i did i mean he's a great great actor good delivery i like the stuff that he said you know in sharing info where he's like i just can't help you out it's realistic yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah him and and aries i thought were

really good they they brought something really good to it because a lot times you know like within the the the way the trio is directed yeah there's just not much range i agree and i think that bogs down the excitement of it and i really don't because because i think like two out of three of them are obviously not adults i'm like maybe the grover actor's an adult maybe but two out of three of them are definitely not adults and i am really big on not criticizing child acting unless they're already like the goonies Like if there's a kid there in the goonies, I'm like, they're old as hell.

I'm going to say whatever I want, you know. I like that. And these kids, I'm not just saying it to say it. They're not bad. And oftentimes when it comes to kids. It's sometimes it's fully the direction. It really. The watch like the Harry Potter making up or you hear any directors of,

anything with kids so much relies on the directors of how to bring out the performances and the kids. It's like, it's like, yes, the kids have to do their job. but a director really has to do something and like rare is the day you get like a stranger thing season one cast where you're like man we got the magic formula here where every kid is alive and with this one though you know like they're dealing with a lot of heavy information one of them is playing a lot older than they're supposed to be and just like everyone's delivery and range is kind of like the same like little wavelength is just like everyone's delivery and range is kind of like the same like little wavelength is It doesn't really, there's not much variety in it. And so it just starts sounding like, you know, when you put on like white noise, you know, it's like the same level. And after a while, because there's no dynamic range in the levels of deliveries, it starts just, you know, losing impact. And then the feeling doesn't really rise as much.

So when the adults come in, like in Ares or a limb-am-well, they really bring something. thing to change up the dynamic range and the levels like I literally imagine like audio levels like it just changes everything up but most of the scenes with it with the with the main trio are I think that's what's kind of missing the punch and the zest for it and I keep holding I keep going like I think season two could improve on this a lot because kids come back kids often get better I mean if you look at Harry Potter one like Daniel Rancliffe wasn't good in that movie you know he's definitely like the main kid in that yeah he was the weakest one right and then he came back and it's like oh wow yeah as the guy as he kept going they got they got better and better became like amazing actors so i kind of feel like that that has the potential there um so yeah you know and i do think it is a little bit weighed down by what i was saying when episode five managed to supersede six kind of reverted back to that you know and they're like slowly walking around the casino and just like spouting more lore yeah i know like and that walk to me a walk

and talk does not need to be that slow there are certain directing choices that i don't agree with because if you're in a casino nobody walks and talks at well i guess when you saw him then that was you're at a freaking park and nobody's around not at a casino that that bugged me but so did him not eating any of the cheeseburgers when he said he was starving. Honestly, I think it has to do with continuity and cost. And they're like, we don't want to deal with that. You're going to have to remember, were you wiping mayonnaise off of your mouth during this line that has to do with a lot of intercutting, which is why I assume none of the kids were allowed to touch the food and neither was the guy.

That was fine. I still like that conversation. But there's little things about it that I think could bring it more to life and give the, like just imagine if we see air. And he just said, the diner, I'm starving. And we have that whole conversation. And he is, like, diving in and talking. To me, that would have been wildly entertaining. Because that's real life.

He's starving. I want to see it. Let's talk it through. He wants to go to war. The same thing with them in the casino. We're moving. We're grooving. We have, like, ideas.

We're trying to figure it out. I don't think we would be walking that slow. But that's just my little tweets. Well, you're talking about one of the. first things I ever learned is like a teenager with writing was the um you don't want what is it you don't want talking heads yeah no like have them doing something unless it's really good writing you do not want two people just sitting there and talking yeah unless you're like Quentin Tarantino but even that he's usually like they're eating food at the diner or something or someone's smoking a cigarette or something like that

exactly and at that moment like yeah there are there's a food that is not acting on that at all And I think, like, what misses here is, like, momentum of stuff and, and urgency. That's it. So, like, when, when Annabeth, you know, goes in, it's like, no, we can't have fun. We need to go in there, get out, and get to go. Right. Now, let's really take our time walking around this casino. Yeah.

And then I think that's where the pacing does kind of, because it's weird. It's like, I want a show that will take its time to go beyond the movies. I want to show that we'll dive more into, honestly, the lore and make this feel more lived in and rich. Yeah. But there's something about this that kind of still feels like it, for a lot of it, kind of keeps me at a distance. It doesn't actually feel like lived in. It doesn't feel like there's a, sometimes I don't really feel like there's a bigger world outside of what they're just saying in this room. And they keep saying there is.

Yeah. Like, there's a war brewing. Right. is happening and I don't really feel like that's it's like I feel like that's just information being told us but I'm not feeling like there's something building and something dangerous happening I agree because we keep talking about people we've never seen

yeah yeah people you like barely spend time with that's the number one thing you never do an improv if you're going to set it up in your first beat and something comes out somebody behind the the curtain better go oh they said a name I need to come out now and play that person Yeah. And it's different in the, when you're reading a book, it's so different versus when you're reading and they're giving information. That's common with books. But that's why books are a format that are meant to be read. Yeah. And movies and shows are meant to be seen. You know, it's a different translation.

Maybe that's why for us because we didn't read the book. So, you know, our brains are not in that. I know that we already discussed that a lot of people feel like the adaptation is like perfect. Like, our heads aren't in that world that we already have internally inside that full story that was fully built up in the word. So when you're watching it, it's just joyful to see it come to life. I don't have that background. Yeah. But the car scene was funny. Yeah.

The car scene was funny. I agree. I liked episode five quite a bit. and the last parts of episodes like the first half of episode sex I wasn't super into but like the last once I got to Lim Mal Miranda I started getting more into it but yeah it's kind of bobs and weaves from like

it's fine to I'm more engaged than before you know back and forth yeah I'm a little back and forth with it and I'm hoping that you know it sticks to landing in the finale yeah I hope so people seem to really lovely show and hey you know what we'll decide if we're going to do season two after we do finish off for sure finish off season one right and we'll decide if we'll do season two

well let's go to the questions yeah yeah yeah that's right not bad landed miller which character's choices in these two episodes say the most about who they really are oh well percy in going to the chair right he is going to be the one to sacrifice himself but it also speaks to Annabeth because Annabeth is like well that's what I'm here for like it has to be you so I think that like it shows how clean they

are in in moral in their moral code and I like that yeah I mean then to expand on a different part I think Grover's seen with Ares is really good because he's using the thing where you feel like Grover's kind of an idiot and just a

boy who's passive or like can be stepped on, but you see that scene, he's being tactile in a way that he's using that, the way people assume his personality to be, he's using it to his advantage to

get information out. Totally. In a way that's, like, really clever. So, I think episode five was really good on character expansion. Yeah. So, okay. His name is S. Sammy. Is he S silent? What are your thoughts on areas, and do you think the demigods are similar to their

parents from the information we have received so far percy and poseidon luke and hermes annabith and athina clarice and aries um that's right creuse is early on in the show huh oh yeah she was the one who's like taunting yeah yeah remember i said like way back at camp yeah i don't you know that's i already made that calm before i said there is still so many characters that we have talked about but we haven't necessarily met and like seen right and totally flake them out. So I'm not quite sure how I feel about the demigods versus their actual parents. I know that we've received information. But to me, the biggest one, I can't really speak to Luke and Hermes or Annabeth and Athena. I mean, right now, me and my brain is that Percy and Poseidon

are different. I feel like Percy is more self-sacrificial and his dad may be more of a narcissist like he i get how the lady was like listen he waited as long as he could but i'm like bro it's your son and now you're you're having to go rush off to war okay um that's as much i can say about that i get why they would maybe clashing and where he finally felt his father's love and like just breathe even though it was a message from the lady underneath the water uh yeah that's that's what i got to say to that uh uh Honestly, I don't really know how to answer to this question. We don't have that.

We don't have that's the thing. We don't have that much information on their parents. It's just little things that they've said about them. And we've made jokes of like, well, does anybody get along with their parents here? Because it seems like everyone has a little bit of a detrimental, you know, path that they've followed in regards to their parents and their upbringing. I would say Luke is very different from his dad. because Luke is a straightforward really nice guy who's a good leader. And Hermes seems to be kind of neglectful and gravitates more towards fun.

And we'll, and we'll, uh, and we'll, uh, get lost in that versus the responsibility. Anyway, those are you got it? Driving ahead. Episode five is my favorite of the show because it outdoes the books when it comes to the waterland. Okay. What has been your favorite set piece so far? I think a great strength of the book is the whimsical challenges along the road trip. Okay, whimsical challenges along the road trip.

It's a favorite set piece. Yeah. The set piece being like when she's going to the water. The waterland is great. I remember that. But when they're saying whimsical challenges along the road trip, my brain road trip, I'm like, oh, they hung out in a van the whole time with animals. which I loved but I get where you're headed I did also love the carnival the tunnel oh love

was great but also the obviously when we got in there with the boat and we go to the shield all of that was amazing it's a great set I gave it to that honestly it's good stuff it's kind of a hard one at top yeah honestly I don't really like the sequence and at the end of four was good but I really wouldn't call out a full alone set piece no not like five five was wild man yeah that was a beautiful one that's a really hard one at top iriana f i know gregg that's me mentioned that the performances i felt natural so far but he's been waiting for one that truly stands out do you feel episode five delivered that for you today a lot of viewers consider it the strongest episode in terms of performance and character development

that's exactly what you just talked about and what we both talked about Hell yeah. All I know is I'm right on the money. I really like the girl from the, I forgot her name. Annabeth. The woman from four, the one who had the pet tiger. Oh, she was so good. Yeah, I loved her.

She was great. But the guy who plays Arias is probably, I mean, not between the three kids, I can't really decide there. But the guy who plays Aries, I feel like it's been a phenomenal standout. Yeah. He hits the right pitch for me for this show. I agree. Because he can also switch into when he's being

defensive or angry, like, oh, yeah, you don't want to mess with this guy. Yeah, it's believable. You don't want to get on his bad side, basically. Totally. But you can also see, yeah, you can have, like, fun with him. Whoever plays areas, I think does a superb job. He's definitely my favorite of the characters

who have shown up so far. Surprisingly good. And, you know, I think the one pull away probably for Annabeth was one of her better sort of emotionally driven scenes is when she's like, we don't want to be like all of you, right? and then he opens up the engineering chair for her.

That was probably the most we pulled out of her in an emotional, like, status, I guess you could call it. Like, she laid it out there. I believed her. I mean, of course, we can always get more, but that specifically was pretty good. Yeah, that's true. Yeah.

You collect it. Rudy Rogers, much appreciation for y'all's honest. opinions on the show. As an enjoyer of the books, I even agree that the show lacks a little something at first. I also think the movies only strength lies and making it feel more action-packed. Well, the show has a lot of more story to unpack, without comparing the two, which aspects do you guys generally prefer in the context of adaptations? I mean, I'll just go right off the bat. When something is action-packed, it keeps the pacing up, and it can distract you from the lag. or maybe the lack of writing

or too much plot and getting too plot heavy action kind of steps in and goes like cool it takes you to where you want to go when you watch a movie or TV show which is out of your brain out of your world out of your life out of your head this show in particular

does a little bit of that but not fully as I would like it to be so I would answer your question I would prefer I believe the action parts the most but I think the question was about which aspects you generally prefer in the context of adaptation.

I would love more action in this. Just something a little bit more exciting. You know, because remember when the lion shows up, they're on the arch, that was fun. And he's hanging down. He's going to die. But still, for me, I was like, oh, let's freaking go. How are we going to get out of this?

That was a good time. Well, I think for a world that keeps talking about danger, we need more physical danger. moments. So we don't need like full-blown flight scenes. Just something that elicits like these people are really in danger in this moment. And

yeah, about that. I guess I would want that. I think what the movie did really smart is they showed us Zeus and Poseidon. The movie I remember starts off with Zeus and Poseid on top of things like Empire State Building or something. And it's

driving, it's showing you who the gods are and that there's a war brewing. And then it cuts to the real world of the kids and Percy Jackson. So that way, as an audience, you are hooked into there's something bigger happening that we're unaware about, but you feel that. Yeah. And so I think in adaptation, you have to kind of drive that home a little bit more. Because when you're a reader, you're kind of using a lot of your imagination.

And when you're watching, you're not using your imagination as much because you're taking in someone else's imagination, you know? Yeah. And they're saying, like, they get, well, without comparing the two, I get what you're saying. Like, which aspects do we prefer in adaptations? I think you're not asking necessarily the right people only because we have not read this book. Yeah. But in adaptation, if we had read the book and loved it, like, I think I read Water for Elephants and I watched that movie.

And it was pretty close to the book and some of the lines. And I was like, oh, this is exciting. Like, I got to see what I felt like I read in the book and I wanted to see. So I think for a lot of people, if you read the book, you're like, I love that they gave us the book juice. I don't know what the juice is there. I mean, I read Frankenstein and I watched the movie, and I think the movie is much better than the book. And what I like in an adaptation is when they decide to be more visual and more character-driven. because and whereas like a book can get like

bogged down with explaining a bunch of shit that you don't really need in a movie and so I feel like this movie's trying this show is trying to do both right now yeah well we'll see how it unfolds we'll see Patricia Carrillo is me of the parent-child parents you've met

or you know about so far whose interaction are you most excited or intrigued to see it's a little bit like the question we got earlier but I mean, I'm in a place where I'm like, yeah, Percy and Poseidon they've built it up so much and dad just, he's lingering behind this woman, and then

he effed off to go do war, so I just want to see what his words are when his son gets there. I want to see Clarice and Arias, because Clarice is kind of just like stoic, mean. Yeah. And Aries brings a lot of life, and I want to see if they can bring out another shade of dimension to the Clarice character

instead of just that. note that she was playing. Yeah. Do we read this trivia? Might as well. Bree Garcia. Not a question, just trivia. Ari's one of the very few Zeus's children with Hera. Mostly the other children

are their products of affairs he had, including Hermes and Dionysus. Athena is Ari's older half sister, and since she's also a war goddess, although she's more in a strategy and eris is about the brutality. They are often at each other's throats, and therefore their children at camp.

are two. Wow. Okay, additional trivia. Athena's myth is that she was born fully grown. Ziz turned his first wife into a fly and swallowed her after she helped him destroy his father. So rude is what if Brie Garcia wrote. But she was already

pregnant at the time, so Metis raised Athena in Zeus's mind and Athena grew up until she gave him such a headache and Hephaicestus. Hepatitis. We call Hepacitis A or B, we don't know. Cut Zeus's head open with an and out popped Athena so that gives you just a bit of inside down saying great mythology as

wow they were just making shit out back now fly and swallowed her but they were they were they were they were they were like saying what the gods were yeah they were like cut off her head and then the fly every came out and they were just a crowd of like 20 people there and then their little togas whoa that really happened that's crazy that's crazy that's crazy they should we should put our whole society built around this now it's crazy swaggeroo wild man all right well there we are there we are we did it we did it we did it um yep we'll finish off 7 and 8 let you now we're feeling after and thank you guys who have been willing to be with us on this journey and we'll see you guys soon peace

Thank you.