Episodes: 13 (hour)
Seasons: One
TV show dates: April 2, 2015 — July 2, 2015
Series status: Cancelled
Performers include: Tom York, Sonya Cassidy, Sonita Henry, Graham Shiels, Cas Anvar, John Emmet Tracy, Wayne Burns, Matt Frewer, Alan C. Peterson, and Sophia Lauchlin Hirt.
TV show description:
This fantasy drama series takes place in Ancient Greece. A young man discovers that he holds the key to unlocking Olympus — the home of the Gods. With great power comes great responsibility however and a lot of people want to steal it.
Hero (Tom York) is the young and handsome (bastard) son of King Aegeus. He’s also the holder of the Lexicon — the secret code that allows man to enter Olympus. If he (or any other human) knocks at Olympus’ door, Zeus knows that Man has exceeded his status and is on the verge of becoming a threat. But Hero doesn’t care about the Lexicon. He’s an honest and simple man who just wants to understand his past and it’s that pursuit that leads to his destiny.
King Aegeus of Athens (Graham Shiels) is arrogant, aggressive, and prone to fits of rage. Groomed to rule, he always believed he held the key to the Lexicon but, upon having a son, it left Aegeus for his first born. His wife is Medea (Sonita Henry), a ruthless and sexy sorceress who has one true love: power. She seeks the hidden code and even married Aegeus to get it.
Lykos (Wayne Burns) is the son of King Aegeus and Madea and he’s not a fighter or much of a leader. He does have a big heart however and a strong sense of strategy. He also thinks he has the key to the Lexicon.
The richest and most powerful king in ancient Greece is King Minos (Alan C. Peterson). A ruthless bully, he’s determined to conquer the whole civilized world. His name strikes terror into the heart of men but has almost the opposite effect on his family.
Cool, beautiful, calculating and manipulative, Princess Ariadne (Sophia Lauchlin Hirt) is the daughter of Hero’s enemy, King Minos. She is a sensation-seeker and feels very entitled.
On the outside, Oracle (Sonya Cassidy) is tough, straight-forward and trustworthy. She’s a Seer — the mouthpiece of the Gods. Her visions have taken their toll over the years however. When Hero comes on the scene — a man whose destiny is prophesized — she finds he’s someone that she can finally help.
A crabby and mad genius, Daedalus (Matt Frewer) is heartbroken and guilt-ridden over the loss of his son Icarus (who fell to his doom when he flew too close to the sun). Daedalus’ allies forgive him his curmudgeonly nature because his intellect and inventiveness are unparalleled.
King Aegeus’ brother and the rival to his throne is Pallas (John Emmet Tracy). He’s a man of great integrity, who nevertheless plots to overthrow his brother because he genuinely believes it’s the right thing for their country. Sometimes pompous, he’s too clever for his own good.
On the surface, Xerxes (Cas Anvar) appears a pious and devoted guardian of the faith. He administers religious ceremonies and festivals to honor Athens’ chosen Gods. In reality, he’s a practical and ruthless operator who manipulates the faithful to his advantage.
Episode #13 — Truth
Daedalus, panting, talks about the long journey and sacred bond he and Hero have shared while Hero makes his stinkface expression and makes threatening gestures with his lasso. “My heart has never wavered,” he concludes, before Hero starts throttling him. “Where is it?” Hero demands, meaning The Ring. “Let me go, or I will use it,” Daedalus gasps. Hero releases him, grumbling that Daedalus would end it all now in one moment of madness. “Or genius,” Daedalus hisses, and gets his arm whipped with the lasso. Hero grabs The Ring. Daedalus charges him. They wrestle. The Ring goes flying, and Daedalus catches it, but Hero is soon atop him and strangles him until he dies and his hand opens. Are we…actually supposed to root for Hero? ‘Cause he’s making it reeeeeally tough.
Back to the earthquake caused by Hero and Oracle’s kiss; time stopping; and the menacing growls of Chronos. Chronos opts to speak English, praising Hero and saying his fine bravery and willfulness have opened a door to Tartarus “to find [his] heart’s desire.” A doorway opens in the rock wall. Hero asks if Oracle will lead them over the bridge, but she’s preoccupied with how the kiss worked when she doesn’t love him. Instead of wondering who cares and urging her to just go already before the gods change their minds, Hero asks, “Are you sure?” She asks if he loves her. Who cares! Just go already before the gods change their minds! Hero stinkfaces that they struck a deal; will she lead them or not? It becomes clear that Hero brought Oracle there so she’d lead him to Ariadne; Medea points out that Oracle will also find her heart’s desire over the bridge, but Oracle only wants to end “this, once and for all,” and stalks towards the doorway.
Cut to her and Hero tapping on a mirror wall. Hero says Oracle must know what it means or how to get through. She shrugs that it’s the will of the gods, and he patronizes her to let go of her jealousy and rage so this adventure can benefit her, too. Medea reminds him that Oracle can help them cross the bridge, but they have to get there on their own. Hero and Oracle snipe at each other as Daedalus and Medea stare unhappily at their aged reflections. After some mumbo-jumbo about real ages and true selves, Daedalus concludes that the riddle has something to do with The Ring, and asks to look at it. Hero tosses it to him. It creates an audible whine and another mini-earthquake. Daedalus theorizes that the tone is harmless at humanity’s “speed of time,” but lethal to the gods. Hero snatches it back as Daedalus says throwing The Ring at the doorway could collapse the whole mountain. Medea, dryly: “Perhaps we shouldn’t try that.” Hero sees another door in the mirror wall, reflected faintly far behind them, and heads straight for it. The others follow…
…and find Hero looking at the lip of a dark cavern. Medea warns him not to look down, lest “the forbidden world” burn his eyes. With Oracle in front, the four work their way single-file along precipices, eyes closed, each with a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them. Oracle stops short at a break in the bridge; they’ll have to jump. Everyone makes it across, sort of; Daedalus ends up on a beach, and himself strolls up to him with a shaved head and business suit. “It’s not what you think!” says Business Daedalus, but they’ll have to hurry.
Oracle lands on Gaia’s knee. Gaia is so sorry. Oracle prostrates herself.
Medea comes upon her dead sons, breaking rock.
Hero follows the sound of singing through some curtains.
Business Daedalus points into the distance towards the truth Daedalus is looking for.
Medea hugs her sons.
Gaia prepares to show Oracle the glorious truth in payment for her sacrifices.
Hero weaves among bleating goats to find Ariadne, who doesn’t recognize him; Dionysus is her lord and master, father to her “children,” the goats. She screams.
A jet plane screams over Daedalus’ head. It’s the work of “men like you,” not the gods, Business Daedalus tells him.
Medea tries to lead her sons out of Tartarus, but the older one brats, “We can’t leave!” A white light flashes around them as the younger one says the older one told him they only live in her imagination. They walk into the light.
Gaia has bad news: there’s nothing for Oracle here. She has to make her own heaven on earth. Oracle is stricken.
Hero says he’s there to rescue Ariadne. She snorts that she doesn’t need rescuing from sweet oblivion, not from “a child who knows nothing.” She yanks his arm. He falls through her…
…and lands with the others on the other side of the bridge. Three tunnels are before them, with a light at the end of one. Medea says it’s “the call of Aiakos,” the gods sitting in judgment, whatever that means. “The gods only judge the dead,” Oracle worries, then says they’re not dead yet. Medea has to inform Hero that the Lexicon was just a fake-out. He bitches that he didn’t sacrifice his life for this, and orders Oracle to take them back. She can’t, she murmurs, as the bridge disappears behind them. It makes no sense, Hero pouts. Why send him on a quest for nothing? Just accept your fate, Oracle monotones. Hero sighs, “I have no soul.”
Daedalus is the only chipper one; content that man has no need of gods, he extends his hand to wish an in-denial Hero goodbye, then hugs him. Rueful nods to Medea and Oracle, and he’s on his way. Hero snots that he’ll go first, because he may have a surprise left for the gods before they’re all killed…but when he looks down, of course Daedalus has pickpocketed The Ring from him. Hero dashes after Daedalus. Medea walks down the tunnel with the light. Oracle sighs.
Hero catches up to Daedalus, and we repeat the opening scene as Medea climbs a staircase into Hades and comes out on the bridge of a skull’s face. She asks if Hades is to judge her. He is not fit, he says, but Medea’s sons are. She swears she’ll stay with them forever, but the older one isn’t having it, though the younger one argues that she loved them too much and isn’t at fault for their deaths. The older one’s judgment is damnation. The younger one votes salvation. Lykos appears to say that it’s up to him, then, and she waves the dagger, ordering him not to get between her and her sons. That’s enough to write her off in our opinion, but Lykos asks if she’ll love him too if he allows her to stay with them in eternity. Medea takes almost that long to answer, and even after prodding from her older sons can only muster an “I will try.” The younger one cutesily asks Lykos not to hurt his mother, but Lykos has finally had it, and gives her a literal thumbs-down: damnation. Medea falls backwards into an abyss.
Oracle and Hero ascend the same stairwell. Each reaches the top to find the other there, on a landing now floating in the sea. Hero asks if the gods will judge them there. Oracle asks in turn where Daedalus is. Hero contemplates The Ring and lies that he chose a different path. Oracle sees through this and says, disgusted, “He was your ally.” “I have no allies,” Hero self-pities.
As the raft sets aground (or something) on Gaia’s lap, Hero asks snottily whether she’s going to judge them. Not them, him, Gaia says — and she won’t, Oracle will. She can avert her terrible visions of Hero ruining everything by choosing damnation for him. Oracle doesn’t want to do it, and Hero wants to know who judges Oracle, then. By damning him, Oracle saves herself and gets to return to earth. This looks like a no-brainer to us, and even Hero steps up to say that he’s damned already: “Save yourself. Let me go.” Oracle mulls it over, then chooses with a defiant “No. Take me instead!” Gaia’s like, srsly? She asks if Oracle is really choosing mortal man over her god. She is. Gaia asks if Hero accepts Oracle’s love, like, are they getting married now? “I do,” he says. Gaia’s proud of them both: “You are finally ready.”
…To fall through the sky, a flashback, and a vortex into the sun, apparently, because that’s what Hero does. Shots of Hermes and the cosmos; fish; Hero dragging Oracle by the lasso; war; and a mountain sunrise before Hero and Oracle lie on a hillside in each other’s arms, canoodling. Hermes tells Hero all that contentment is his forever…if he can kill their father, which the gods cannot do. The Lexicon was a tool to find the man capable of this greatest sacrifice. Hero asks disbelievingly, “You want me to kill Zeus?” They’ve imprisoned him, Hermes says; throwing The Ring at him should end it quickly (we think?).
Then Oracle is taking a beating from shadowy figures as Gaia yells at Hero about his destiny. What is going on? Hero comes upon Oracle on the ground in the forest of Elysium and picks her up as she wails in pain. Why did she save him? When the time came, she trusted him over Gaia — but she doesn’t trust him now, because he’s cursed. Which means she should have damned him, no? Put an end to all that? …Oh, forget it. Hero tells her she has to lead him to Zeus’ door so he can kill Zeus. She knows. Will she help him? “We are both mercenaries now,” she non-answers, before laugh-crying that she’s wasted her life — the gods are selfish jerks, just like humans. “We must trust each other,” Hero says.
Together they approach the door to the pit in which Zeus is imprisoned. Another riddle, Hero wonders, but the golden apple of discord manifests to them. Oracle plucks it, and hands it to Hero to taste; he bites into it and it vanishes as the pit door opens. They creep into the entrance, Hero holding his lasso with The Ring affixed to the end. There he is: Zeus, who has Hero’s face and a not so great wig given that he’s a deity. Zeus warns Hero that killing him means stopping the force of nature that drives his existence, and taunts him for being a puppet of the other gods, but Hero is unmoved and twirls the Ring lasso. The resulting earthquake reveals they’re standing on a giant snake as Zeus prates on about the marriage of god and demon in us all.
Then he asks Oracle’s name. Her given name is Pandora. Well, that figures. And Hero’s real name? It’s the same as the first man — so, Adam, we suppose. It turns out Hero’s there to slay not Zeus, but polytheism itself, as he offers to kill Zeus’ children and let mortal man rule himself, with Zeus as their one true god. Oh, brother. Oracle has a flashback to her original vision, and the eagle holding the snake is the stone eagle holding Zeus. Hero throws the Ring lasso. Zeus breaks free of his bonds, howling, “I am the light!” as Oracle and Hero flee the prison chamber. (Courtesy Syfy.)
First aired: July 2, 2015.
What do you think? Do you like the Olympus TV show? Do you think it should have been cancelled or renewed for a second season?
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