We’re back with the water motifs on Percy Jackson and the Last Olympians. In a flashback, young Percy (Azriel Dalman) is in the pool with his mom (Virginia Kull), who is doing everything she can to teach her son to swim. He’s going to need it later in life, Sally says, exasperated. She won’t always be there to help Percy hold his breath and kick his legs. Something tells me this swimming practice is going to come in handy when Percy is forced to encounter his sea god father Poseidon. Maybe one of these days we’ll get to meet him!
Today is not that day, though, because the kids—present day Percy (Walker Scobell), Annabeth (Leah Jeffries), and Grover (Aryan Simhadri)—are still trekking through the cornfields of the Midwest. No large bodies of water to see here, folks! After the mess with Alecto (Megan Mullally) on the bus, the trio has swapped to an Amtrak, where they try to catch some shut-eye as they zoom through Chicago on the way to Los Angeles, home of the Underworld.
Unfortunately, Percy is one of those “stay up all night talking during a sleepover” kids, and can’t stop pestering Annabeth about Thalia, the forbidden demigod child who came before him. Annabeth loved Thalia, who was like a sister to her. In fact, Annabeth admits, she finds herself caring about Percy in a similar manner, which is why she goes so hard on him. He’s tough like Thalia, Annabeth can tell, but he’s going to need to step it up if he wants to prove himself to Poseidon. Percy hates that. His dad should love him no matter what—Percy shouldn’t have to prove himself just to get a little fatherly love.
Okay, now Grover is awake, and he’s ticked. These two need to shut it so he can get some rest. They oblige, and when the trio wakes up, they’re only two days away from Los Angeles. Great! I sure hope there’s not a monster on this train about to slow them down. (Wait, what was that beastly entity that just slammed into the train? Did anyone hear that? Uh oh.)
Percy is confused about their plan. They get to Los Angeles on time, wonderful, but then what? Annabeth and Grover have never been to the Underworld before, and Percy sure hasn’t, so are they just going to throw an address into Apple Maps and hope for the best? Grover pushes his pal’s worries aside—that’s step 37, and they’re only on step three. Besides, the view is too gorgeous to ignore while fretting about the future. Centaurs gallop in the plains they zoom past. There used to be herds and herds of them, Grover explains, until Pan, the god of the wild, disappeared. Humans have been chipping away at the natural world ever since.
The police come around checking tickets and claim there’s been an issue in the kids’ cabin. It’s been torn apart. Grover pleads innocent, Percy is too stunned to speak, and Annabeth keeps demanding to know if they’re under arrest. They aren’t, but the police do need to know where their parents are at. While the kids come up with a scheme, some creepy old Karen-esque woman (Suzanne Cryer) comes to sit by them. She has some kind of animal in her zipped purse. Clearly, she’s evil, but she tries to level with the kids: “It’s okay, I’m a mom, I know how scared you must be.”
Hm. Alright. But only a few seconds into chatting with them, Grover notices smashed glass on her jacket—what if the windows in their cabin were smashed from the outside coming in, rather than the inside going out? Perhaps a monster has snuck its way onto the train. He’s correct. This woman, Echidna, admits that she is the mother of all monsters. That little pet carrier—it’s holding some beast.
“Today, you will be her prey,” Echidna says. Monsters, she explains, are less dangerous and violent than demigods. It is her duty to remove all demigods from the world. She’s currently teaching this young monster to hunt down all half-bloods—which is why the kids need to run, like, now.
The human police can’t see the monster, so they chase after the kids. We can’t really see the monster yet either; it appears to be some Komodo dragon behemoth with poisonous spikes flinging out of its tail. Percy is hit with a stinger. Right after, the kids escape, and run to a hidden temple Annabeth knows about in St. Louis—the arch!
No monsters can enter the monument, but the kids are going to have to leave eventually to make it to Los Angeles. Grover hates being in the museum area. There are a lot of plaques about hunting buffalo, which offend him, as a satyr. While he sulks, Percy and Annabeth do some light flirting—he thanks Annabeth for finding the safe spot, she tells Percy he can talk to his dad if he ventures to the top of the temple. But Percy doesn’t want to chat with Poseidon. He tells Annabeth she’s done more for him the past few days than his father has in his entire life. Swoon!
Percy dials up the chemistry even more when he passes out in Annabeth’s arms, the poisonous needle catching up to him. Grover is back, and thinks they should pour water on Percy—antidote, perhaps, considering his connection to Poseidon—from the outdoor fountain. But in going outside, they make themselves vulnerable to Echidna and her pet. They run back in. Something isn’t right. Echidna and the monster pass through the barrier, even though that’s totally not allowed, thanks to the fortress the gods have made for their children.
Annabeth is so confused. How did this beast—which, after seeing it, the kids identify as a chimera—break through the Sanctuary? The gods would’ve had to invite it inside, like a vampire. Then, it dawns on Annabeth. Her mother, Athena, is furious. By sending Medusa’s head to Olympus, Annabeth wounded her mother’s pride; now, Athena is embarrassed and getting revenge. Uh, sure, but Athena is really going to allow her daughter to die?!
The chimera, we learn, is nicknamed “the demigod killer.” It’s not looking good for our sweet little half-bloods. Alas, they devise a plan: The three will split up, Grover will tend to sickly Percy while Annabeth fights the chimera and tries to reason with her mom for a lifeline. But Percy, who is likely remembering Annabeth’s advice to be brave on his hero’s journey, wants to take control of his life. He locks out Annabeth and Grover from the top of the arch and faces down the chimera and Echidna by himself.
The chimera looks like a mix of half-leopard, half-rhino, with a bit of Komodo dragon and a whole lot of ire towards these children. As Percy tries to fight the beast, Echidna also lectures him about how Poseidon will never love him, how he’s worthless, how he won’t be able to save his friends. The chimera scrapes open a hole in the top of the arch and Percy falls in. He’s holding on, but he won’t be able to stay up for very long. He falls.
For a second, it looks like we’ve lost our hero—until, finally, Poseidon steps in. As he plummets to the ground, a blast of water surges upwards from a nearby body of water and sucks Percy under, into some pool. He’s safe. Well, he’s underwater and worried about drowning, until he hears a woman’s voice: “Trust him. Trust yourself. Just breathe.” This voice also tells Percy his father is holding back advice, he’s struggling to connect with his son. Percy needs to be patient. One day, they’ll connect.
We end the episode with Percy’s near encounter with Poseidon, but I’m left wondering: What is going to happen to Annabeth and Grover, who are still stuck in the arch with that chimera?
