As a child, I was a MEGA-fan of the Percy Jackson books. When a new book was released, I would actually hop the fence at recess to run to the nearest bookstore and buy it, and then spend the rest of the day binge-reading it! I grew up with the series, so when I heard that my childhood obsession was being turned into a TV show I was prepared to be obsessed! As you may know, this isn’t the first attempt at adapting Percy Jackson onto the screen; the 2010 Percy Jackson movie, while having some redeemable qualities (Logan Lerman being the main one), left much to be desired for fans of the source material. While there were some concerns that this adaptation would also fail to meet the mark, it’s been pretty successful and has already secured the spot of biggest debut for a Disney Original show with 13.3 million people watching the premiere in six days! For the past two months, I’ve spent every Tuesday night watching this show and reflecting on both what I love about it and what I think could be worked on. WARNING: this review will contain some spoilers for Season 1 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians!
For those of you who are unaware, the first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians follows 12-year-old Percy Jackson as he discovers he’s a demigod—half god, half human—and his journey of finding out where he fits and who he is in this new, mythical world. With the help of his friends Grover and Annabeth, he is tasked with finding Zeus’ stolen lighting bolt and returning it to him before war breaks out between the gods.
Overall, I think this was a great first season and loved how it remained loyal to the book (which is something the 2010 movie did not do). Based on the first season alone I think this show has the potential to become Disney’s next big thing! One of the best parts of the show for me is the cast. Every character feels like they were pulled right from the page and plopped in front of a camera! Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri, who play Percy, Annabeth, and Grover respectively, do an amazing job at showing the depths and vulnerabilities of their characters and delivering these powerhouse scenes throughout the season. The scene between Percy and Poseidon in Episode 8 is one of these. It’s emotionally impactful and pretty heart-wrenching to watch Percy finally meet his father only to get sent away by him, and all the complicated emotions surrounding the conversation are perfectly portrayed by the actors. The main trio of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover also have amazing chemistry which is important since the friendship between the three is the heart of the show and books! The found family trope really hits home in this show.
Even minor characters are performed with a dimensionality that makes the audience understand them to a deeper degree – Medusa for example is given a more complex backstory as opposed to being a traditional ‘monster’ and the actress, Jessica Parker Kennedy, finds the perfect balance between making Medusa more sympathetic to viewers without sacrificing how terrifying she is. While this was a change from the book, I think it was a positive change that further pushed the show’s message that “Not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero, and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster“.
Another strong point of the show is how visually stunning it is. Similar to other fantasy book adaptations, like Harry Potter, there was a huge pressure on the showrunners to properly depict the magical world of Percy Jackson in a way that measured up to what readers had envisioned. In my opinion, this show definitely measures up to how I imagined it (in some cases even exceeding my expectations). Camp Half-Blood, the “Hogwarts” of this show, is exactly how it was described in the books and captures both the homey feel of the camp and its magical otherworldliness. Some shows and movies rely too much on CGI and I was happy that the show used a mix of practical sets and visual effects to keep the backgrounds from feeling too flat. The Underworld and Olympus are also both stunning and the monsters throughout the show looked very lifelike which all added to the world-building that’s necessary for any first season!
In terms of the writing, I found that it fluctuated throughout the season from very strong to okay, and I think a large part of this was because of the short runtimes of the episodes (33-44 minutes). The first two episodes start the season off strong with a natural introduction to the characters, intriguing exposition and world-building, and a suspenseful fight scene between Percy and the Minotaur that hints at Percy’s growing power and potential (which is explored throughout the whole season). Likewise, Episode 5 has some amazing scenes like Ares’ introduction and the whole waterpark sequence which included action and character development (AND a banger soundtrack). Each scene flowed naturally from the last and the episode was largely very coherent.
However, while watching some other episodes I felt a lack of this flow and the pacing felt off. At times it felt like the writers were just getting the characters from point A to point B without delving into the importance of those scenes. Episode 4, while highlighting the complicated relationship between demigods and their parents which is an important theme in the show, is a lot of talking and not a lot of showing. There’s a huge lack of tension and urgency as they run from a deadly monster, and the fight scene that the whole episode built up to is over in what feels like 10 seconds! This could be excused by the fact that Percy is still learning how to fight, but it would’ve been great to see him struggle against these monsters and build his skills in longer scenes.
Episode 6 was also somewhat disappointing to me as it turned one of the fan favourite scenes from the book, the intoxicating Lotus Casino and the trios struggle against its spell, into a filler episode where the characters somehow immediately knew about the hidden dangers of Casino which erased all tension and suspense! I think the short runtimes of the episodes are a factor in this since they might not have the time to show the characters slowly discover things, but in my opinion having the characters know everything and avoid all potential traps lowers the entertainment value of the episodes. It would’ve been great to see Percy, Annabeth, and Grover fall under the spell of the Casino and slowly discover the truth at the same time as the audience!
Thankfully, the last two episodes—particularly the last—end the season with a bang which makes me excited for the Season 2 (which has just been officially renewed). Luke’s betrayal is heightened by the flashbacks they showed of him training Percy, and I loved the use of fireworks to create unique lighting throughout their fight. The series has also done a great job of foreshadowing future books subtly, and I loved how this fight hinted at the two characters’ fatal flaws and their dynamic in the later books. The final scene of the trio as they leave Camp Half-Blood is so heartwarming and I love how Percy’s final monologue ties back to the first episode and highlights his growth. While this first season may not be perfect, it’s a great introduction and showcases the series’ potential to improve with each season (just like each book gets better and better)!
Disney just recently renewed the show for a second season which comes as no surprise due to the high view count, love from fans, and amazing potential to become Disney’s next big series. Fingers crossed we’ll get to see all five books get adapted into their own seasons! Overall, I give the Season 1 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians a 7/10, and can’t wait to see what the future holds for this beloved young adult series! All 8 episodes are now available to watch on Disney+!