My favorite thing about this episode was Clarisse informing them that she has those jobs covered and pointing out who was who, just so we knew exactly who to dispatch.
Because that was my first thought.
Like, thanks Clarisse, now we know exactly who to off, so you have no choice but to deal with us.
Which Annabeth does.
Gotta love the brilliance there. Annabeth just rolling her eyes, like sure you morons could fight to the death on the beach here or I can make it impossible for you to not accept our help.
Love it.
Clarisse foolishly promising her crew that they could go to the lovely place in the Underworld when this is all over and desperately trying to fulfil that promise was just a crazy character development I didn’t know I needed. I do not remember if this was part of the book or not, because I do not know Sea of Monsters like I know the first book. However, I loved it regardless.
There’s something so heartfelt about this Clarisse I didn’t feel in the book.
While that may because it takes place from Percy’s perspective and he’s not always the most emotionally intelligent person in the world or because Rick Riordan hadn’t fleshed her out well enough yet, I don’t know. Either way, this was a welcome addition to the story that Clarisse needed to humanize her. Because she does care for people.
Seeing her have a crush. Be uncertain about leading her crew. Seeing her actually deal with her father in a way we never saw in the books.
All of those things bring Clarisse to life as more than a bully.
She’s a whole person. With feelings and fears and wants and desires.
And I think for the first time, we really see Percy get that too as he tries to help make a difficult choice.
But I also love that while Annabeth is logical and understands that certain things must be done in order to survive, Percy and Clarisse aren’t like that.
They’re ruled by passions.
The untamed wild of the sea.
The brutal force of war.
Neither of them fit into boxes or go quietly. They are who they are. Loud, brash, and filled with a chaos that can be hard to predict.
While Annabeth is logic and reason. Which makes her trying to understand prophecies or people a bit of a challenge as she points out here in this episode. She can’t always understand what people will do.
Why they let emotions dictate choice.
Even from herself.
Those little details that push the tide in one direction or take it somewhere else entirely.
Like Clarisse suddenly deciding she needs to honor the crew and not allow them to horribly murdered so they can pass through to the Sea of Monsters. Especially as one looks her in the eye as he realizes what has been done to them. Especially as they so trustfully volunteered to do this job. To follow her.
I love that Clarisse decided to be utterly human in that moment.
Because it led to her trying to save everyone. Annabeth included.
Her ghost crew.
She wanted to make it through that moment with everyone intact.
That’s pretty great. For a character who felt very one dimensional until later books, it was really nice to have those layers here and now. Not find Clarisse a horrible obstacle to overcome as I felt during book 2. Which I have not read recently, but from what I remember, that’s how I felt about Clarisse.
I just wanted her to go away for most of the book.
While I’m finding myself wanting more time with her during this season.
Such as the end of the episode when I didn’t know when we’d see her again after the explosion, I was actually sad. So kudos to that change in the series, because I actually think it was really needed.
Meanwhile, Annabeth struggles with a bracelet she found where she lost it so many years ago when Luke gave it to her.
We see Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke in flashbacks during their final adventure together before they head to camp. We even see them meet Grover.
Percy knows exactly where he is on the water at all times, including how fast he’s traveling.
Annabeth tries to get rid of the bracelet, but the darn thing keeps coming back. Freaking thing.
Tyson works the engines.
Percy makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. With cans and bread that I’m wondering whether or not they came with the old ship manned by ghosts.
Is the food ghosts of past food as well?
Is it expired? Percy did you check that before you started eating it? Because I think you needed to.
Maybe that’s why Clarisse didn’t eat half when offered to her.
Eventually though, all h*ll breaks loose, and the ship is ripped into pieces and everyone is scattered about. Which if you’ve read the books, you know what happens next. If you haven’t, well go watch the episode, and we’ll chat about next Saturday!
Overall, this episode is really good. It’s a highlight for me how fleshed out Clarisse has become.
I loved Percy trying to talk her down by informing her how confusing prophecies can be. All the more reason not to bother trying to figure them out. At least, I wouldn’t.
This is one of Percy’s great qualities.
He’s able to relate to people when he wants to. He may not like Clarisse most days, but he doesn’t want harm to befall her. They’re not friends, but that doesn’t make them enemies. Therefore, Percy continues to try and be there for her.
He’s only very cut and dry with people he doesn’t like, such as Luke.
He find Luke irredeemable and has written him off.
However, with Clarisse, he understands there’s a lot of reasons for why she is the way she is. But there’s a lot more underneath her and he believes what his mother has taught him. A true hero, helps others.
That’s what he does.
At the end of the day, that’s Percy.
He helps because he can.
I love that.
I loved Annabeth and Percy’s conversation below deck. It’s a great illustration for how much they rely on each other to get through the worst days of their lives. They lean on each other in the worst moments.
What one doesn’t have the other can make up for.
Annabeth is logic and reason. Percy is passion and impulse.
Together, they make a great and formidable team. I would not want to stand against them. Their relationship has been a true highlight this season. Not that last season was bad, but we’re getting a lot of focus on the two of them being friends and allies this season.
They were both super wary of each other last season.
I loved this episode. Onto the next!
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