Every episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, ranked worst to best

Paradise Lost: Episode 3, “We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium” 

The season’s third episode involves the first real danger our heroes encounter when they meet Medusa. Above all, it’s a lesson in perspective. The episode investigates the common concept of monstrosity. What is the source of evil: nature, nurture or narrative? This, more than any other moment in Percy's quest, is a fundamental step in his Bildungsroman, aka his coming-of-age story. Annabeth’s too, although she’s not yet fully ready to listen.

Medusa is not a cautionary tale for Annabeth and Percy, but a red flag that their parents are not perfect. Their abuses have caused unimaginable pain, the consequence of which now come to visit their children. It’s telling that Percy’s mother taught him to unpack systems and question prejudices, so much so that Percy is willing to listen to Medusa and give her the benefit of the doubt.

I will never not praise the delicate yet direct way in which the writers chose to address — and not dismiss — that Medusa is a victim of rape. The story only works by acknowledging the full picture, and I don’t take the bravery for granted.

There is not a single negative thing to say about this episode.

Paradise Regained: Episode 5, “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers”

Episode 5 is the turning point of the season. Not for Percy (who has stayed quite skeptical about the quest and yet sacrifices himself for it again and again), but for Annabeth. Annabeth, who has grown up so intertwined with the toxicity of the gods that she doesn’t know any different wa to be, realizes thanks to Percy that there is a better way to navigate their world.

After her own mother has virtually sent Annabeth into multiple death traps, it’s only thanks to Percy (and his mother) that her world of blind faith is upended. It’s poetic how the god Hephaestus — cast away by his own mother — sees himself in Annabeth and is the first god to truly acknowledge her, to see her and to answer her plea.

There is now a crack in Annabeth’s life, a before and an after. She’s no longer sure she wants to belong to the collective she has longed for her entire life because they don’t deserve her respect, nor done anything to earn her love. This realization could fester if left unchecked. It could lead to a self-destructive rebellion or even a revolution to take down Olympus. But Annabeth has Percy, and Percy has Annabeth (and his mother’s teachings), so they go off to save the world.

Favorite line? Impossible to choose this episode. Possibly, “You’re a good kid, Annabeth.”

Finally, THE WINNER: