The following review contains spoilers for the third episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, “We Visit The Garden Gnome Emporium.”
Rather than hit the ground running, the third episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians slows things down for a side mission that tests our protagonists, both in their loyalty to one another and their parents, revealing new perspectives and sowing seeds of doubt. It’s a bold move that could have brought the pacing to a screeching halt, but instead delves into the psyche of our main characters and delivers some of the most important lessons the series has to offer them.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Episodes 1-4 Gallery
Turning the preconceived notions of the gods and monsters on their heads is a mainstay of the book series, and on the screen Medusa becomes one of the most interesting iterations of that idea. She’s a character who usually resides pretty squarely on the naughty list, but Percy, who listened closely to his mother’s stories, know not to read a book by its cover and accepted the Gorgon’s invitation for burgers. Reluctantly, Annabeth and Grover join the luncheon, where Medusa’s tale of betrayal by the goddess Athena gives Annabeth pause, having always believed her mother to be wise and just. It’s this juxtaposition of perspectives between her and Percy that makes “We Visit The Garden Gnome Emporium” so interesting, as the whole thing is essentially a long-winded argument between their two points of view.
Annabeth, who spent many of her young years already in the magical world and Camp Half-Blood, has had more time to be influenced by the careful teachings of Chiron and Mr. D, as much as she would like to think she’s above that. Percy, on the other hand, is new to the magical world and doesn’t have that same respect for the status quo. It’s both smartly conceived and smartly executed, which makes each of their individual triumphs over preconceptions and hard-headedness all the more gratifying.
Much of “We Visit The Garden Gnome Emporium’s” success can be attributed to Leah Sava Jeffries and Jessica Parker Kennedy, who spend the runtime stealing scenes from one another. Kennedy plays a gentle and softly spoken Medusa with an undertone of malice. She’s kind, but in a “don’t mess with me or I will not hesitate to kill you” sort of way, and this grounds the character in reality and helps make clear how complex she is. This is also our first real chance to get to know Annabeth (Jeffries), who had her backstory told to us by Luke in the previous episode. She comes off as cold and Spock-like as she did in the brief glimpses we got of her last week, but much like Spock, we start to empathize with her as we learn more about her and the relationship she has (or hasn’t had) with her mother. Jeffries brings subtlety to the softer side of Annabeth that peeks out here, especially in her and Percy’s final confrontation.
If there’s anything to nitpick about “We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium,” it’s the clunky beginning, wherein Percy assembles his quest mates and starts off on his journey, only to get immediately side tracked by the Gorgon. It’s not graceful, but worth it to look at Percy and Annabeth more closely and have them do some soul searching and team bonding before they encounter anything more serious.