Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series was announced in May 2020, over 15 years after the first book by Rick Riordan came out and six years after the movie was released.
In the new show, the main character, Percy Jackson, is an 11-year-old boy who learns differently than everyone else and gets kicked out of school constantly. He unknowingly attracts monsters wherever he goes because, as it turns out, he is the son of Poseidon, making him a demigod. As Percy navigates this new life, he has to balance his personal life as an adolescent with the faults of Greek gods.
Starring Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood, the first two episodes aired on Dec. 19, 2023 on Disney+. The following six episodes were released every Tuesday until the finale, which aired on Jan. 30.
Many fans anticipated the release of the show because of the disappointment surrounding the movie adaptions. There are two movie adaptations of the first two “Percy Jackson” books, released in 2010 and 2014. Many fans of the book series were upset that the movie only very loosely followed the books’ plot and that many scenes were changed.
In the first episode of the new streaming series, many well-known characters were introduced, including Percy, Annabeth, Chiron, and Luke. It followed the first few chapters of the book accurately, but as the show went on, many scenes were cut out.
Every episode was enjoyable to watch for the most part, especially as the main trio traveled around the country for their quest and fought various creatures. However, the pacing was off, making some parts feel slow while others felt rushed. Some important scenes were brushed over and given limited screen time.
The Lotus Casino scene was hurried and had little depth to it. In the scene, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover visit a casino in Las Vegas as part of their quest. The scene from the movie was a fan favorite, partly because of the use of the song “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga. To many fans’ disappointment, the song wasn’t included in the show’s version of the scene.
However, the show executed the design of Camp Half-Blood well. The visuals of the camp are very atmospheric and colorful, giving it the feel of an actual summer camp. As Percy toured the camp with Chiron when he first arrived, the camera panned to different activities that campers participated in. The whole camp looks alive and vibrant, bursting with activity throughout.
Fans were also extremely pleased with the progression of the relationship of “Percabeth” between Percy and Annabeth. Although there are no romantic feelings involved just yet, Scobell and Jeffries indicated in multiple interviews that the relationship build-up will span across multiple seasons, just as it happened in the books.
Overall, the show is a great option for younger audiences and people who haven’t read the books, but it may come off as juvenile for older watchers who read the books when they were originally published. Although it does have many criticisms, the series still portrays the book in an accurate manner, proving to be better than the movie in many ways.
