Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 Episode 5 Review: We Check in to C.C.’s Spa & Resort

Percy Jackson ensures our stay with Circe is a memorable outing.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 Episode 5, “We Check in to C.C.’s Spa & Resort,” adapts one of the most anticipated moments from the Sea of Monsters book with whimsical sets and impressive worldbuilding.

It’s the fantastical villain lair of hidden traps and wicked curses we want to see this mythology series explore in detail.

The Lotus Casino was notably underwhelming in the first season, with two-dimensional sets and minimal exploration or meaningful questing from our trio of demigods within its walls.

C.C.’s Spa & Resort boasts impressive sets that feel grander and more luxurious the longer we sit in them.

It’s more than believable that the resort goes on and on with winding corridors and steamy bath houses just beyond our sight lines.

That larger-than-life set goes a long way to cushion the side quest this episode is tasked with breezing through with Annabeth and Percy.

This island getaway honors its book roots by ensuring that this is no ordinary side quest. It is beyond valuable to Annabeth and Percy’s character development as the episode delves deep into the fatal flaws that define mythology’s heroes.

Rather than uncover those fatal flaws and move on, the resort’s treachery forces Annabeth and Percy to confront their weakness over and over through powerful dialogue exchanges and tender demonstrations of appreciation.

Whether it’s Annabeth declaring she will not let Circe take Percy from his mother or Percy confessing he would sacrifice Olympus for Annabeth, every confrontation and confession is exhilarating.

It all comes to a meaningful, powerful conclusion when Annabeth’s pride to earn her mother’s respect becomes her downfall, while Percy’s devotion to his loved ones is what saves them both from the sirens.

The concept that every hero has a fatal flaw that will ultimately lead to their demise is a fascinating one. So it’s exciting to see Percy Jackson give the theory proper room to percolate.

The dialogue also does an excellent job of enfusing this fun game of cat and mouse with impressive snark and awareness. There is plenty of room to sit with the implications of Annabeth and Percy’s fatal flaws while poking at the larger scheme afoot with Circe.

Percy uncovers Circe’s grand plan to keep demigods trapped on her island, which goes a long way for his character arc, while Annabeth constantly shutting down Circe’s leading questions shows she is no fool.

She is, however, a girl who wants her mom to show her an inch of the affection Percy’s mother gives him, and that is a heartbreaking undertone to the episode.

For that arc to culminate in an epic Athena fake-out is a storytelling triumph.

Our time with Annabeth and Percy at the resort is so precious that it’s difficult to leave them for any amount of time.

That said, Grover and Clarisse are an entertaining enough pairing to fill those minutes with crucial development towards the larger quest for the golden fleece.

Unfortunately for Clarisse, she is the plot’s punching bag, and it does get a little silly when she’s incompasitated for a third time.

Understandably, the show would take this time to remind the audience of what we are missing with Grover removed from most of this season. And just how much of a threat Polyfemus will be to Percy when they finally meet.

It’s necessary downtime from the main storyline that boasts an equally fun setting and demigod quest shenanigans.

“We Check in to C.C.’s Spa & Resort” may not give us the complete goddess make-over we envisioned for Annabeth, but the nod to her transformation with that beautiful gold dress and laurel crown is still beyond glamorous.

And we get guinea pig Percy during the same episode as wedding dress Grover. That’s a proper nod to the quirky middle-grade schenigans of the books.

This outing is an exceptional example of how Percy Jackson can thrive in the mission-an-episode format when it embraces a meaningful objective and an engaging antagonist.

With storytelling this good, leaving Circe’s island feels rather impossible.

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New episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians drop Wednesdays on Disney+.

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