There’s plenty that Disney Plus’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1 gets right, starting with the casting that nails accuracy with the three kids and fortifying their dynamics with layers and depth. It’s easy to care about their story from the start, and it’s effortless to invest in a tale where the storytelling is clear and thoughtful. But something shifts in Season 1, Episode 7, “We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of,” when Poseidon and Sally Jackson reunite for the first time on screen.Â
It’s a transient moment, most of which essentially focuses on Percy and Sally’s uncertainties about how to move forward with the occurrences in their path. Still, it’s poignant in showcasing that what lies between Poseidon and Sally Jackson is more significant than what we know. Plenty boils down to Virginia Kull and Toby Stephens’ performances, the profundity in which they show to us that merely sitting here in the same space together again brings something comforting that they’ve both been longing for.
It’s the tears in Sally’s eyes that keep falling, the weary physicality in Poseidon’s otherwise godly build. There’s so much beyond the surface, and you feel it in every frame long before Poseidon confirms in the season finale that he does, in fact, dream of her. Stephens further solidifies this notion in an interview with Den of Geek, where he states: “This scene gives them a real relationship. It wasn’t just some sort of Fly By Night kind of thing, not a fling or fad, he’s invested. He’s invested in her, he loves her. And he is invested in a son who he loves.”
Much of the depth we see in Poseidon and Sally Jackson’s relationship in the brief scene comes from the performances and the screenplay. One single line that confirms to us he’s willing to bear the crosses she carries however he can, considering the space between them. “You say it, and I will listen,” he tells her.
This one sliver of dialogue is everything we need to understand that Poseidon knows how unfair circumstances are. It’s what shows viewers that despite Greek mythology, this version of the character isn’t the deadbeat father who got a woman pregnant and then bailed. He is a man who’d be there when he could—a man waiting for an opportune moment not because he wants to make a grand gesture but because the plights accumulated against them make being a family near impossible. He’s waiting for the moment to risk everything for his kid, which is precisely what happens in the Season 1 finale, “The Prophecy Comes True.”
The tension at the bar could slash deeper than any divined blade, which says plenty as we watch with our breaths hitched in our throats. So many things are apparent at the moment, but the distance between them, even while sitting side by side, is almost brutal. Neither can inch even a little closer—they can’t touch, they can’t even maintain eye contact for too long. Yet as they both face forward, as the camera pans to close-up shots of them individually, we feel the deepness of their bond like it’s striking straight into our hearts.
We understand how close they could be if their worlds could merge with the union they’re hoping for. We level with the idea that these perils are so colossal that even a god’s hands are tied. And with the cutting tension, we see that there are burning feelings still they need to tuck away.
Poseidon and Sally Jackson may not ever get the happy ending we could hope for. This hybrid family might never have a chance at solitude away from a divine world that’s consistently focused on war. But it’s clear as day through the performances that the love between them could change things for the better—sweeten their days on a particularly stormy afternoon. Poseidon wants to be there for his kid—he wants to be there for the woman he adores. It’s all profoundly palpable in a fleeting beat, solidified with promises he keeps and longing that isn’t going to wither any time soon.
What are your thoughts on Poseidon and Sally’s relationship? Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Disney+