Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands - Episodes 4 and 5

"There. Sure glad I don't look stupid in this."

Reva gets herself made Jarl, but on two conditions: That Beowulf be her Reeve, and that Slean marry a princess of the Mire, a 'lost tribe' who pop up out of nowhere to split the tie.

While Rheda and Slean deal with stuff at home, Beowulf is dispatched to take a dowry of iron swords to the Mire and bring back the bride, accompanied by the Mire rep, Healer Girl and Sleazy Sidekick. Spunky Blacksmith Girl follows and accidentally invades a Mudborn burial ground, kicking off some shit, and the rep is killed in the resulting stand off. Fortunately, Beowulf is able to distract them from the small desecration of their burial ground by setting fire to it and the problem is solved. They make their way across a strip of sand to the Isle of Dunes, unaware of the pursuing sandworms.

I was joking about the sandworm!

Uh, yeah; it turns out that it is totally a sandworm, a small one, but definitely shai-hulud. They flee, but the dowry is eaten.

Back in Heorot, Rheda's brother is trying to subborn Slean into an alliance: Back him as Jarl and Slean can be Thane of Heorot, but Slean isn't biting, even though Rheda's idea of common laws for all tribes is proving divisive and no-one seems to know they difference between a statute and a contract.

Beowulf and party receive a very cool reception, given the lack of rep and dowry, but at least the bride's father is a reasonable man, right?

"I've been thinking about colour schemes for the wedding..."

They bluff about the dowry and meet the bride, who almost immediately falls ill. She's in love with their Reeve and, overhearing that the dowry is absent, spills the beans and sets Beowulf up for a fall when he volunteers to hunt shai-hulud and claim the waters of life. With sidekick and the Reeve to help, and Beowulf tapping the sand to attract the worm, they kill one and harvest its vital glands. Reeve leaves them stranded in the middle of sandworm territory, but they find the dowry in the worm's gullet and make their way back with no trouble at all.

"How do you call among your the mouse that jumps?"

The dowry is delivered, but the bride dies, despite her treatment. Fortunately, her younger sister leaps in to volunteer, and leaves her shitty sand dune home with the kind of smile that suggests her sister didn't recover from the fever on account of all that poison Little Sister slipped her.

So, yeah; Beowulf fights sandworms to earn an marriage alliance with Walder Fremen, and David Bradley once more gets to seethe about how no-one betrays him over a nuptial deal. This show really does want to be anything but Beowulf.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands - Episode 3

I can't help feeling that the steward of Heorot didn't get the message about
dropping the 80s make up theme.

Beowulf and Rate head off in search of Slean and Scorann (who is Rate's brother, not that I recall knowing this before,) accompanied by... well, no-one actually. Even Beowulf's sidekick is just kicking his heels in Heorot and occasionally antagonising the captive skinshifter for no real reason.

While the hunters bond a bit and Scorann helps Slean to grow up, Rheda must preside over the trial of the skinshifter's wife, whose life is forfeit if she knew what he was. After fighting off the unwelcome advances of another Thane, she tricks the accused's daughter into admitting that they knew what her step-dad was, but the skinshifter breaks loose when told that she is to be executed. In the confusion as he is cut down, Healer Girl helps the wife and daughter escape, leaving no means of learning who is behind the whole nasty business.

Scorann and Slean break out when Beowulf and Rate attack their guards, although Scorann is mortally wounded, choosing death in battle over a chance of recovery. Slean recognises the kidnappers' employer as his uncle's man, and thus deduces that his uncle planned the whole thing to discredit Rheda, allowing him to step in.

Return to the Shieldlands continues to be complete bollocks, but mildly diverting bollocks.

Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands - Episode 2

Our publicity image for this episode features J'onn J'onzz, David Ajala threatening to do me in for calling him Black Tim Curry, and the dead stunt casting again, despite him not being in this episode at all.

I think we may be in the lands of the post-apocalyptic parallel, a concept I came up with to describe the way in which a sufficiently dodgy pseudohistorical setting is improved by regarding it not as the original historical or pseudohistorical story, but a loosely equivalent story set in a post-apocalyptic world, hence the goofball costume choices and scads of black Scandinavians.

Episode 2 sees the Queen trying to delay the approaching Thanes until Beowulf PI can track down a skinshifter, the shapeshifting mudborn that killed the old reeve. This leads to the smelters, an underclass of mostly black vikings who... keep beasts for gladiatorial combat? I'm actually not sure. I may not have been paying attention. He briefly suspects Thoroughly Modern Millie, but she gets her kit off and he's convinced. (Seriously; he knows the skinshifter is injured, so she drops her dress to prove a) that she's not it, b) that she's modern and comfortable with her body and c) that this show sucks at subtle sexual tension.) Beowulf partners up with the chief of viking police, Col, who turns out to be the skinshifter in a twist which would have been shocking if I'd known who the fuck he was before this episode.

The Queen meets the Thanes and tries to persuade them to make her Jarl. The interchangeable old white gits (full disclosure; there may just have been the one guy) seem loosely in favour, but her main rival is dead set against her policy of appeasing the mudborn. When I heard his voice I thought they'd somehow cast young, cute Tim Curry, and he does look a bit like him, but black, and without the need for time travel. Of course, now I'm stuck thinking of him as black Tim Curry, which doesn't make me feel good about myself. I have white guilt. I look at actor David Ajala in the picture above with his 'come at me bro' stance and its like he's calling me out for it.

Meanwhile, Prince Sneerface meets up with another Thane, played by David Harewood (Supergirl's J'onn J'onzz, so naturally with all this shapeshifting going on, I'm liking him for a Martian) and gets captured trying to rescue one of the thane's soldiers from bandits. Fair play, Sneerface is actually a pretty complicated character; a bit of a weasel, but committed to his inappropriate girlfriend and not without some chutzpah.

I'm starting to wonder why I'm still watching this, but it's drawing me back with an Atlantis-like magnetism.

Olympus

Sexy princess threatens to literally put a snake in our Hero's belly. Sadly, this
is like the pinnacle of subtle imagery for this show.

What the fuck is this shit?

Remember when I was talking about Dominion? SyFy's crazy angels vs. humanity SFXfest, and how it was bonkers but fun, even if the characters were a little bland and/or inconsistent? Imagine if the same creative approach was given to a Greco-Persian mythological mashup that kind of is to the unexpectedly awesome Immortals as Dominion is to Legion, except without the actual connection and deeply shit instead of rather more fun than it deserved to be.

Because oh my life this series is bad. Sub-Hercules CGI struggles with terrible actors to claim the title least convincing, and I've only really made it to Episode 4 - or possibly 3; it's that good - on the strength of Matt Frewer's turn as the perpetually disappointed-in-the-world Daedalus and because I'm trying to work out if Sonya Cassidy, as the Oracle of Gaia, is taking the piss or not (as a Brit in a Canadian/miscellaneously exotic cast, she may just automatically sound as if she's rolling her eyes with every line.) Either way, she steals every scene that doesn't have Daedalus in it, not that Tom York's Hero (he's credited as 'Hero' and called variously Athenian or mercenary, because apparently speaking his name would make you spontaneously combust) is putting up much of a struggle.

The plot is a paper thin quest narrative held together by chance (I'm sorry; destiny,) and the progression is constantly being delayed, both in production terms and in universe, by sex. Minos and Ariadne separately seducing the Oracle and Hero was basically a way to kill an episode, but at the same time King Aegeus is being distracted from a suicidal battle plan by the strategic application of sexy priestesses. It's so overwhelmingly gratuitous that it almost validates itself.

And yet, I still haven't deleted the rest of the episodes. Why? I don't know. It's not the boobs; there are more of those in Game of Thrones or, so help me, Penny Dreadful. The thing has a kind of train wreck compulsion to it, although I can't binge on it.

Come back, Dominion!

Atlantis - 'The Queen Must Die'

This doesn't feel like winning.

Medea betrays Pasiphae, allowing Jason to capture her and Hercules and Pythagoras to execute her. Icarus's treachery is revealed, but he comes through in the end and the show finally confirms that Pythagoras is gay (yay!) All ends happily, and then Pasiphae comes back to life and OMG season 3 (that isn't going to happen!)

Or something.

Okay, you may have noticed that I've been hemorrhaging interest in this show, and the extended finale kind of sums up why. Atlantis was always at its best as tosh, and the increasing darkness of the second season has bled out the fun which made it worth watching, leaving only the negative space of it's hit-and-miss plotting and action. 'The Queen Must Die' features two of our heroes stabbing a defenceless woman to death in the rural equivalent of a dark alley (Pasiphae's powers have temporarily left her,) their bestie's mother no less, and there is no emotional kickback from it. When she turns up scarred and resurrected, all the drama they poured into the scene is wasted, and in the interim there's more emphasis on whether JerkJason did the nasty with Medea before marrying Ariadne in a wood than the fact that Herc and Pythagoras murdered (seriously, there's some attempt to portray it as an execution, but they are basically shivving her up in a gully and foolishly leaving her body for the scavengers.)

Mind you, by this point Pasiphae has sort of fallen back into being the bitch of her nasty adviser whose name I can't even recall, standing around looking conflicted while he snarls: "You must kill Jason, the people/gods demand it." He keeps bringing up Jason's blasphemy, despite the fact that everyone in the conversation knows that they framed him for it.

The one highlight was Icarus/Pythagoras, which was pretty brave for prime time.

Anyway, it's done now, with just a few flashes of the Argo and Jason making out with Medea while Ariadne stands on the beach on Naxos looking forlorn to hint at what might have been.

Atlantis - 'The Dying of the Light' and 'Kin'

Things are not going well.

Tensions are high in the heroes camp. As Pasiphae subjects Atlantis to a rule of iron, Jason is consumed by the revelation that he is her son, losing his compassion and coming to blows with the grieving Hercules. Injured and then captured after a friend betrays Pythagoras, he is forced to fight for his life in Pasiphae's brutal gladiatorial games. In desperation, Pythagoras - who is basically the hero of the show in all but name by this point - seeks the advice of the new Oracle, Cassandra, and is led to Jason's father, the leper Aeson, who may be the only person who can reach the good still in Jason.

Now, honestly, there is a problem here. Medea explains in 'Kin' that those touched by the gods are drawn to each other, but it's all a bit sudden, and the idea that this magnetic pull a) depends on knowing that Pasiphae is his mother and b) can totally reverse his personality, yet c) be overridden by a hug from his old Dad. I'm not saying I'm not in favour of some paternal props, but it's all a bit quick. I guess they're cramming before they run out of series. Thus, within the space of a three episodes we've gone from Jason rejecting Pasiphae and Medea, to Jason making out with Medea in the woods, then connecting with his mother in jail, and finally turning from them and heading back to his friends.

Ever reluctant to expand its roster, the show kills off Aeson pretty much as soon as Jason is back on side. As to what it does to its greatest romance, it breaks my heart. Poor Pythagoras is going to be heartbroken to learn that Icarus has betrayed him, even to save his father's life.

Atlantis is really suffering from early-onset Cerebus Syndrome. It's going to wrap up next episode, and I don't think I'll miss it.

Atlantis - 'The Marriage of True Minds' and 'The Day of the Dead'

Not the wedding episode.

The wedding of Ariadne and Telemon is now arranged, but first the groom insists his bride visit his father's kingdom. It's all a trap of course, as Telemon is working with Pasiphae to lure the Queen into an incompetent ambush.

In 'The Day of the Dead', the survivors of the ambush are holed up in a necropolis and pursued by zombies. Hercules and Pythagoras have to protect Ariadne and their travelling companions Orpheus and Eurydice, while Jason has a bit of an Enemy Mine situation going on with Pasiphae's sidekick, the Colchean sorceress Medea.

Hey everyone! It's Ronald Pickup!

If we learned one thing from Merlin, it's that other significant mythological figures don't have a good time in these things, but hey, it's a great to see Ronald Pickup and Sian Thomas bringing a spot of class to the proceedings as Orpheus and Eurydice, even if we're pretty sure something bad will happen to one or more of them. Speaking of bad things, a lot of bad things happen in these two episodes, which end with many dead and at least three lingering abdominal wounds.

'The Marriage of True Minds' is a pretty standard episode, but 'The Day of the Dead' is a thoughtful exploration of what drives the various characters, in particular Amy Manson's Medea. Her interaction with Jason actually makes him more interesting, and the confrontation between Jason's desire to see the best in everyone and the suspicion of his companions is all the more gripping for the final twist of the episode.

Atlantis - Telemon

"What's fanservice?"

Episode 3 of Atlantis gets back to the pillars of its appeal: gorgeous costumes, tortured OST romance, and well-oiled gladiatorial fanservice. There's an Amazon in the mix for the boys, but she gets killed pretty early and I'm getting the feeling that I'm not 100% in the target audience here.

Still, target audience or not, there's enough that isn't muscular pretty boys for me to still enjoy it. Jason and Ariadne and their pointlessly tragic romance (although I believe that learning he is Pasiphae's son would drive him evil, since he doesn't have much personality of his own) may be about as interesting as paint, but Pythagoras and Hercules make the show. This episode, it's primarily Pythagoras and his investigation into the mysterious Telemon, a foreign prince intent on marrying Ariadne, and who is almost certainly up to no good.

Atlantis - A New Dawn Part 2

Series 2 of Atlantis will have an increased Medea
presence.

The conclusion of Atlantis series 2's two-part opener begins with Knosstroytlantis besieged by the Calchean army, its only hope the return of the Palladium and the returners struggling through cyclops-infested tunnels with a wounded Jason. There will be blood before this is done, and secrets will be learned that can not be unlearned.

Much like Merlin before it, Atlantis series 2 is going more political and establishing a larger human ensemble in place of its earlier jolly small-band adventure and monster of the week format. It remains to be seen if Jason of the Fluffy Hair can carry this, as he is struggling to look seriously pained each time the insuperable barrier of his breeding comes between him and Ariadne, while she seems to only ever look pained.

The addition of Medea to the series suggest that they may be about to go love triangle on us, which might be no bad thing, although alas Jemima Rooper's Medusa is off in her cave trying to work out what conditioner works on snakes.

Perhaps the greatest strength of the opener has been taking a chance on Hercules. Although played by the very talented Mark Addy, he's been written slightly one-note until now, and moving him more centre stage could be the saving grace of the series.

Atlantis - A New Dawn, Part 1

Ladies and gents, the pride of Atlantis.

With Doctor Who out of the way until Christmas, we return to the famously landlocked city of Atlantis. King Minos is dead and the exiled Queen Pasiphae is intent on taking power from her stepdaughter Ariadne. Pasiphae has the numbers, but Ariadne has a city that has never fallen to siege and the not-so secret weapon of lovelorn crossworlds traveller Jason and his intermittent superpowers.

Part one of our series opener begins with Jason and his gang - self-made legend Hercules and surprisingly badass polymath Pythagoras rescuing one of Minos' old supporters, Lord Sarpedon, from Pasipahe's legions. Sarpedon, however, is apparently the Agravaine of Atlantis, bringing ninja-priestess Medea inside the walls in his luggage so that she can nick the city's luck, the Palladium, because Atlantis is now Troy as well as Knossos.

Jason demonstrates once more his patented look of baffled
incomprehension.

Series 1 of Atlantis was a slightly uncomfortable effort to recapture the glory of the recently completed Merlin, but in a different mythological milieu, which evolved over its run into a distinct beast with its own strong mix of action, mythological japes and muscular bromance. Series 2 opens in the vein of the later episodes, with Jason and co now apparently the Atlantean SAS and Pasiphae escalating from sinister plotter to full-on mad conqueror.

While Sarah Parish's Pasiphae is a study in hissable villainy, her departure from Atlantis proper leaves the city a bit of a sausage fest. Series 1 tempered this somewhat with Medusa, Hercules' doomed love interest, but now we're left with the drippy Ariadne as the only heroic female character. There may possibly be a recurring role for Jason's mytho-canonical soon-to-be-jilted love interest Medea (although I suspect that commitment to the Ariason romance will see her either killed off saving Jason's life and dying in his arms somewhere around the close of episode 12, or thrown over and killed while trying to murder him in Episode 10,) but she's currently in the Pasiphae camp anyway.

'A New Dawn, Part 1' is a decent opener, but the lack of strong female roles is felt, even in comparison to Clara Oswald and all her flaws. Come on, Atlantis; give us an Atalanta, or even a Hypatia (because why shouldn't Atlantis be Alexandria as well?)

Atlantis - The Song of the Sirens, Rules of Engagement and The Furies

Just a quick update to cover the last three episodes of Merlin in sandals adventure series Atlantis.

In The Song of the Sirens, Hercules is manipulated by the enchantress Circe in order to bind Jason to the future assassination of Queen Pasiphe. It seems a little odd that the death of the current primary antagonist should be a price, but it plays up Jason's sensibilities quite nicely, as well as reinforcing his loyalty to his friends, as he accepts the price to save Medusa, who has been fatally overcome by Hercules' date-rape drug.

And, yeah, that's the problem of the episode, as it hinges on a desperate Hercules buying a date-rape drug - well, bottled siren song - to make Medusa love him. It's a shame, because it makes him highly unlikable just as they're starting to dig beneath his boorish exterior.

Overall, these are three good episodes for the self-styled world's mightiest mortal, and Mark Addy flexes his not inconsiderable acting muscles to make the hard-living heavy a sympathetic character despite his vainglory and hypocrisy. He displays considerable loyalty, courage and compassion throughout; it's just a shame we had to kick it off with a magic ruffie plot.

Rules of Engagement comes back to our 'hero', Jason, who learns that Ariadne is to become engaged to Pasiphae's nephew. He sulks, and even his emo strop is bland, and then enters the celebratory pankration to try to win her hand. Ariadne does better than Jason out of the proceedings, almost achieving the level of actual characterisation as she first compromises, then declares her open resistance to her stepmother, with the upshot that her handmaiden and confidant is assassinated as a lesson in power. It's actually quite a dark and powerful moment; more so than anything Jason gets.

Finally, The Furies is Pythagoras' episode, introducing his brother and some background about a murdered father, and culminating in an attempt to defy the Kindly Ones, here a consuming sandstorm rather than the tormenting Furies of legend. There is also a fairly dull side-romance between a couple of supporting players, and a sacrificial one-off character whose death is barely remarked on by anyone, despite his managing to become slightly more interesting than Jason in just a dozen or so lines.

Agents of SHIELD: The Girl in the Flower Dress and Atlantis: White Lies

Finally, Agents of SHIELD presents us with an episode with some real pace and kick to it, as Centipede's machinations threaten to expose Skye's true loyalties, and put a man with pyrokinetic powers in deadly danger.

Perhaps the biggest problem with this episode is that our second example of the Rising Tide is such a colossal douchebag that it's hard to feel much sympathy with Skye knowing that these were the hypocrites she used to hang with. On the plus side, however, it brings that particular subplot into the open before it has a chance to get old or annoying, and the new direction is honestly more interesting.

Some nice touches this week as well, such as the importance allotted to the giving of a name, and also Coulson's determination to save the super of the week, and his sadness to realise that he can't.


And then, Atlantis, which honestly gets dumber by the week. Conspiracies and secrets this week, as well as a comedy subplot about Hercules' unhealthy obsession with his pet racing beetle. Jason also got to establish himself as not merely dumb and dull, but also less awesomely superhuman than previously shown, which pretty much renders him completely pointless in his own series.

Agents of SHIELD: Eye Spy and Atlantis: Twist of Fate

On the strength of Eye Spy, I'm glad to say that Agents of SHIELD seems to have found its footing. This week's episode had no new backstory not directly related to the plot, which was also a furthering of the central arc, and allowed the characters to stretch their legs and run for a while. FitzSimmons get a proper tech line, while Ward and May each have their action spot, and the pairing of Ward and Skye is starting to come into more focus (with 'you're gonna have to bromance him' scoring highly on the line of the week stakes).

Meanwhile, Atlantis continues to be as silly as ever, but it's still quite fun. I really hope that some of these mythological tie ins pay off though.

Agents of SHIELD: The Asset and Atlantis: A Boy of No Consequence

Episode 3 of Agents of SHIELD continues, I am sad to say, to be workmanlike. We get some glimpses of character development, in particular from the friction between the consummate pro Ward and the ultimate dilettante Skye, and from another hint as to what actually happened to Coulson, but that leaves fully half the main cast with not a lot to do but stand around a table.

Now, it's a good cast, but they are basically standing around a table, and Agents of SHIELD needs to nail down the pacing needed for a 45-minute ensemble arc show or kill half of them off, because at the moment its just not quite there; for me at least, although I really want it to be. It's got everything in place to be great and it has its moments, but so far, it's only okay, and in today's genre-rich environment, that isn't quite enough.

Ladies and gentlemen: Our hero.

Moving on to something that still isn't as good as Agents, but has the distinction of being better at least than it has on paper the right to be, and that is Atlantis.

In A Boy of No Consequence, Jason leaps to the defence of an old ma and winds up punching the queen's nephew. This means, thankfully, that we get some actual character development for a female character. Not Ariadne, who remains pretty bland, but the wicked queen Pasiphae, who seems to have two strikes against her already, being both a wicked queen and Ariadne's wicked stepmother, whose loutish nephew is both Ariadne's intended and the jerk Jason lamped in the street.

As a consequence, it's the bull-leaping for our band of pals, and Jason must get his team to work together to avoid a life of jumping over angry cattle. Add a little Greek voodoo and a sudden but inevitable betrayal, mix well and serve with some doubtful CGI.

And yet, I find it hard to look away.

Atlantis - The Earth Bull and A Girl By Any Other Name

So, this weekend I got caught up on a couple of shows. More on Episode 2 of Agents of SHIELD later; first, Atlantis.

Taste the cheese!

Merlin was a bit of a surprise hit for the BBC, I think. They obviously had some hopes for it, but I suspect that they never really envisaged it lasting five series. Remarkable then that the makers seem to have chosen when to end it, with their final season of ever-increasing doom (which I still need to catch the end of, IPlayer desktop having failed me on that and Being Human, but it is doubtless that which positioned them to pitch the replacement series Atlantis.

In short, a young man named Jason is searching for his missing father, lost while exploring the ocean depths in a submarine. During a dive, he is draw helplessly into a bright light and awakens on the shores of an island, dominated by the mighty - if slightly underwhelming - city of Atlantis, which he of course believed was a myth. The city stirs memories, even as he encounters names he knows well - Pythagoras and Hercules, as well as the Minos family - in a world out of step with history, yet filled with mythology.

The opening episode sees Jason face off against the Minotaur, after taking Pythagoras' place as sacrifice (I was, I should say, deeply disappointed at his failure to leap forward and declare 'I volunteer as tribute'), only to learn that the cursed monster was once a man who knew his father, and that his true identity is a source of deadly danger to him. In the second episode, A Girl by Any Other Name, a rescue mission takes an unexpected turn as Jason and co rescue a girl named Medusa from the clutches of the bloodthirsty Maenads.

Where I always viewed Merlin as a story taking place in a post-Apocalyptic recreation of Camelot, Atlantis is openly crossworlds, with the Oracle (Juliet Stevenson, bringing some serious thespian muscle to the proceedings) telling Jason that his old world (the modern day) and the world of Atlantis are but two of many. Of course, it could just be a form of purgatory, where a disheveled and unreconstructed Hercules helps dying archaeologists to 'go to the tavern' and so pass on, but currently I'm not putting money on that.

So, it's not Greek mythology, just something very like it. Okay; I'll buy it. Thousands wouldn't.

As hard as I try to avoid comparisons, there are a number of similarities to Merlin in the basic set up. A hard, unforgiving monarch (although currently Alexander 'Genre Credibility' Siddig's Minos is looking positively fluffy next to Sarah Parish as Queen Pasiphae), and a bromance (apparently already known as Python) between an awkward, brilliant geek and a natural warrior. The decision to change up and make Jason the outsider-hero, with the adorkable Pythagoras as the deuteragonist, is the big shift. Jason also has access to secrets, as Merlin did, with the Oracle as his thespian Dragon and the pervy clothes-removing gateway between the worlds in place of magic, although the latter at least has not yet been given much relevance, besides his familiarity with the square on the hypotenuse and an ability to weird out satyrs. I hope to see more of it later, and if he hasn't built a tank by the end of the series, I will be very sad.

Now, unfortunately, Jason brings a lot of Arthur's traits to the series: he's tough, he's manly, he's a bit of a dish, and he's about as interesting as woodchip. Jack Donnelly isn't a bad actor, so much as an actor with not much to work with. I am also unconvinced by his supposedly incredible physical abilities, so far shown with a less-than-superlative bit of jumping, a little parkour-lite and an arrow dodge. On the plus side, there is a convincing natural chemistry with Ariadne (Aiysha Hart), if only because she is equally dull. Bereft of the spotlight, Robert Emms' Pythagoras is lovely, but so far a bit of a cypher, leaving the star turn - at least among the central group - to Mark Addy's drunken has-been Hercules.

Overall, the series has been a bit of a sausage fest so far, and it remains to be seen if any of the other female roles - Pasiphae, Ariadne, Medusa - will ever manage to be as interesting as the Oracle.

I am sold enough to keep watching, for a while at least, but I can't really say more than that, and I am less inclined to give it the leeway of a new series than I am with, say, Agents of SHIELD, by which token I suppose I can say that it has won my interest, but not my indulgence.

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

You know what; I've found while writing this blog that I like European movie posters more than the English ones.

Anyway, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief was a big disappointment to me as a movie, coming to it as I did from the perspective of a fan of the books. I was, however, optimistic of the possibilities of Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, as the trailers suggested a more faithful adaptation, bringing in many of the overarching elements that I felt were missed from the first film. I was therefore keen to see it and more-or-less persuaded Hannah and Andrew (and thus Arya) to come along.

I therefore feel bad that I didn't like it more than I did.

Now, don't get me wrong, as a movie I enjoyed it more than the first, and although I can't say for certain whether that is because I had lower expectations, I think it was, in itself, a better movie.

There were fewer things that really frustrated me in this one; mostly it was little niggles. The absence of Clarisse from the first movie made her sudden appearance as Percy's long-time rival slightly jarring, and the use of a nameless and not-at-all-as-tall-as-the-sky hekatonkheires in a minor cameo sadly suggests the removal of Briares from the plot moving forward. I was also saddened to see the cursed blade misidentified, the relationship between Luke and Annabeth basically excised and the non-appearance of Backbiter.

Overall, my biggest disappointment was that Silena Beauregard and Ethan Nakamura were chucked into a one-scene appearance. This means that Ethan's plot-critical role looks to have been struck, along with Silena's key relationships, especially with Clarisse, which seems to be a recurring theme with any narratively significant relationship that doesn't involve Percy.

On the other hand, Clarisse was good, and I loved her zombie crew and styling nautical coat. Moreover, Percy himself is nicely controlled, where it would be easy to play him far too arrogant and cocky. Overall, in fact, the cast is solid, and the effects are very pretty, especially the Hippocampus.