*Warning: This review contains spoilers for the Disney+ series ‘Percy Jackson & the Olympians’ and spoilers for the book series of the same name*
If you’ve been following the 2010’s wave of book-to-screen adaptations such as “The Hunger Games,” “Divergent,” and “Maze Runner,” you might find one breakout series, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” failed to get the same adaptations. Sure, there were the two films, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, but they were both inaccurate to the novels, and the author of the books, Rick Riordan, never gave the producers the rights to adapt his work. Speculations of an accurate book-to-screen adaptation have been roaming for years but it wasn’t until May of 2020 that eager fans received promising news. Disney+ and Rick Riordan announced a television series, and the fanbase was extremely ecstatic that the world of Percy Jackson was finally coming to screens. As an avid fan of the books, I could say I was just as excited. The casting was announced with the series starring Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava’ Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood, forming the lead trio of the series. The series premiered on December 19, 2023, with weekly episodes on Disney. The series “has now amassed 26.2M views in its first three weeks on Disney and Hulu,” which also made it one of the highest-grossing Disney premieres (Deadline).
For those who are unfamiliar with the premise, Percy Jackson is a little more than your average troubled twelve-year-old boy. From being attacked by a monster during a school trip at the MET museum, to getting kicked out of his prestigious boarding school, Percy grows worried that something is truly wrong with him. Later that evening, his mother reveals to Percy that he is not an ordinary kid—he is a demigod, half-human and half-god. He is escorted to a safe home for demigods like himself by his friend Grover, who turns out to not be a kid but a satyr—his protector. At Camp Half-Blood, he befriends an older boy named Luke and faces rivalry with the daughter of Ares, Clarisse. During a capture-the-flag game, Percy is pushed into a lake, and a trident beams over his head, signaling that he has been claimed by his father Posideon. A week later, he is given his first quest: to travel west and return Zeus’s master bolt before the summer solstice. He chooses Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and Grover to accompany him on his quest. The trio travel from the Long Island Sound to Los Angeles where they face monsters, gods, and betrayals, and find the true meaning of friendship along the way.
Nothing more can be said about the fantastic casting of the series. Starting with Walker Scobell who portrays everything Percy is—loyal, sarcastic, and brave. He has the right sense of humor and for only being thirteen years old when the season was filmed, his acting is mind-blowing. Leah Sava’ Jeffries is truly the daughter of wisdom encapsulating Annabeth’s strength and kindness. Ayran Simhardi does a fabulous job of showing Grover’s love for nature and his courage. The actors have an amazing chemistry and it does feel like you’re watching three best friends on your screen.
The cinematography of this series is truly fabulous. The set designers built an actual Camp Half-Blood outside of Vancouver and brought the whole place to life. One of my favorite cinematography shots was seeing Mount Olympus for the first time. The architecture is beautiful and feels like you’re traveling up the steps to Zeus’s palace. The show also does an amazing job of showcasing Percy’s fatal flaw, which is revealed in the later novels. Percy is undoubtedly loyal to his friends and would risk his life if it meant saving his loved ones. Another foreshadowing element is how the writers set up Luke Castellan and Percy Jackson as being foils to each other. There is a consistent theme of Percy criticizing the Greek gods and questioning how demigods can be loyal to their godly parents even when the respect isn’t mutual.
The slight changes added to the series haven’t taken away from the source material and instead have added a larger element. Undoubtedly the best episode in my opinion (and in many fans’ opinions as well) was Episode 5 — “A god buys us cheeseburgers.” The episode features a conversation between Grover and Ares, the god of war, which didn’t happen in the book. The banter and humor in these scenes were enjoyable to watch. But most importantly it showcased Grover’s emotional intelligence as he tricked Ares into revealing who stole the master bolt. This inclusion didn’t take away from the plot but added depth to Grover’s character and showed what he contributes to the group.
Since the show is based on Greek mythology, the writers didn’t shy away from adding many mythological references. A talked about highlight of the season was the handling of Medusa’s character in the third episode. In the books, Medusa is portrayed as a monster who tricks Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. However, in the show, the writers told the true Greek tale of Medusa: how she was not a monster but a victim of bullying. This portrayal of Medusa has allowed her character to be explored in more depth and highlights how the gods torment anyone who goes against their rules. A last change that I enjoyed was the conversation between Sally Jackson and Poseidon. Since the novels are told from Percy’s perspective, we never see any conversation between Sally and Posideon. However, in episode 7, there is a flashback of where Sally called Posiedon to come talk about Percy. My favorite element of this conversation was how the pair were sitting shoulder to shoulder with each other and never looked into each other’s eyes. This shows the distance in their relationship and how it can never be repaired. This conversation was a beautiful touch as it explored more of Sally’s character who is very influential in Percy’s life.
With any book-to-screen adaptation, there is bound to be criticism. A common critique is that there is a lack of tension in the series due to the writers’ decision to make the characters know everything. The whole purpose is for Percy, Annabeth, and Grover to be tricked by the monsters and fall into traps. A major setback was in the “Lotus Casino” episode. In the books, the kids didn’t immediately figure out that the Lotus Casino makes them lose memory and track of time. But in the episode, within minutes of entering the Casino, they remembered the story of the Odyssey and how Odysseus ate the Lotus Flower. While I do appreciate the mention of the Greek story, I think it’s also important to have the kids fall into the trap of the Casino as they do in the books. This “tell not show” attribute makes sense for a children’s series where the characters are explaining things to the audience, but it’s also entertaining and adds thrill to see characters fall into traps. This flaw is seen again when Percy walks into a mattress store and immediately knows the owner of the store is Procrustes — a robber and trickster. In the novel, the characters fall into the trap of Procrustes and trick him once they figure it out. I think this is a flaw that wasn’t prevalent throughout the whole season, but it’s evident that it’s something that the writers can work on in seasons to follow. Another main criticism of the series is the pacing of the episodes which I think is the fault of Disney for not allowing episodes to be over 35 minutes. I think airing the eight episodes at around 45 minutes to an hour each will still be fitting for the middle school audience, and can also give room for the writers to add more show than tell. I hope that in the future, Disney will allow for longer episodes which is the root of the problem of majority criticisms that the show receives.
After watching the show as a longtime Percy Jackson fan, I can say that the Disney+ adaptation did do justice to the novels. Even though there are some things I would like to change, it’s nothing that can’t be fixed in the following seasons. The series got the most important things right from the characterization, set design, relationships, and humor. It hasn’t left me disappointed and instead left me eager to continue the journey. A second season was announced on February 7th, and I can’t wait to see what quest the demigods will take us on next!
