Percy Jackson & The Olympians‘ epic cross-country quest reaches its halfway point with the fourth episode, “I Plunge To My Death.” What sort of monsters will next trouble our heroes on their journey to the underworld? How will their newfound trust and sense of teamwork come into play? And will our heroes’ godly parents stop ignoring them and help out for once?
All these questions and more will be answered momentarily. Please bear in mind that there will be full spoilers for “I Plunge To My Death,” so tread lightly if you haven’t seen it yet. Without further ado, let’s begin.
Also Read: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: 5 Failed Franchises That Deserve a Second Chance at Revival
Percy Jackson Episode 4 Plot
After waking up from a flashback nightmare about a swimming lesson with his mother, Percy talks to Annabeth about how unfairly they and other demigods are treated by their godly parents; to which Annabeth retorts that at least gods follow a consistent set of rules, unlike humans such as her stepmother, whose attitude towards Annabeth caused her to run away when she was seven.
The trio are headed for St. Louis by train when they are detained by security for supposedly wrecking their cabin. They are then confronted by Echidna, the mother of monsters, who seeks revenge on Percy and the others for killing her various children in the previous episodes. She unleashes her pet, a baby Chimera, and Percy is struck by one of its stingers before the trio escape to the St. Louis Arch, secretly a temple of Athena.
After wandering the tourist section of the Arch, Percy collapses to the ground due to the aforementioned stinger being poisonous. And worse yet, the water healing trick Annabeth used on Percy back at camp doesn’t seem to be working. Echidna returns ready to strike as our trio escapes to the top of the arch, quickly and discreetly evacuating civilians via the fire alarm.
Percy tricks Annabeth and Grover into escaping without him as Echidna unleashes the full-grown Chimera on him. The Chimera slashes a hole through the floor leading outside the Arch, which Percy falls through into the water below. Once Percy is submerged, a mysterious voice tells Percy to “just breathe,” exactly what he told his mother during the flashback swimming lesson; revealing to Percy and the audience that he can breathe underwater.
Percy Jackson Episode 4 Critique
Despite being the shortest episode so far at just about half-an-hour, “I Plunge To My Death” is packed with story and character and it’s all handled pretty much perfectly. The opening flashback is a really palpable and authentic-feeling mother/son moment between Sally and Percy; with the conversation between Percy and Annabeth that follows being an excellent reflection of both characters and a solid deconstruction of the demigod concept.
I love that the trio now gets along, but is still able to playfully rib at each other, like when Annabeth rolls her eyes at Percy when he asks self-proclaimed “stupid” questions or Annabeth and Grover desperately splashing Percy to heal him while he sarcastically proclaims that “it’s totally working.” It’s a dynamic that feels ripped straight out of the original books and a testament to the excellent performances of the three young leads.
And Echidna? Delightfully sinister performance by Suzanne Cryer that sells the combination of motherly but murderous with remarkable gusto, further enhanced by just how cool of a creature the Chimera is. The creative design work that went into combining all these different animals into one beast combined with some impressive CGI and stunt work make the ending fight between Percy and the Chimera one of the best action scenes in the show.
And all of this comes together beautifully in the final reveal of Percy breathing underwater. Pitch-perfect use of setup and payoff, a great cliffhanger to tantalize viewers, and a satisfying resolution to the individual narrative of the episode. I genuinely have no real complaints here. “I Plunge To My Death” does everything it sets out to do pretty much perfectly and I hope the second half of the season keeps up with this level of quality.
10/10
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