Olympus is the latest live-action mythological fantasy to find its way to the Syfy Channel. The show’s first two episodes introduce us to an unnamed Mercenary (Tom York) whose name has the power to kill if spoken aloud, an Oracle (Sonya Cassidy) on the run, and the inner circle of the royal family of Athens to which both characters’ destinies are linked. When we first meet our Mercenary he’s taken a job to return the missing Oracle to the temple. Saving the woman from a cyclops and marauders (who are attempting to save her from him), the Mercenary’s payment is nothing but betrayal as he learns the secret to his parentage and why priests and queens will kill to get the knowledge locked in his genes.
Along with further developing life in Athens by focusing on Queen Madea (Sonita Henry) taking advantage of her husband (Graham Shiels) being wounded in battle to seize more power for herself and her son Lykos (Wayne Burns) the second episode of the series also introduces Matt Frewer as the suicidal inventor Daedalus who joins the Mercenary and Oracle whose secrets their combined knowledge might unlock.
The first two episodes are mishmash of laughably bad blue screen and passable effects and backgrounds, fun humorous moments and questionable serious sequences, and the introduction of the mystery of the secrets locked in the mind of the Mercenary which would allow the right person to follow the clues and open a door to Olympus itself. Frewer’s introduction helps liven up the duo turned trio of heroes, but I’m already growing weary of the scenes inside the palace as they continue to recycle the same sequences of palace politics, betrayal, and intrigue over and over again. I doubt I’ll stick around for all 13 episodes but the three heroes may bring me back for another week or two.
