As the first season of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” ends, the latest installment in the franchise is not perfect but better than previous adaptations.
My first introduction to the “Percy Jackson” franchise was my big brother, who was seven at the time. I didn’t understand much about it, being five, only that there were gods, a smart blonde girl and someone who got turned into a tree.
The day I finally read “The Lightning Thief,” I became obsessed. The series had everything: gods, monsters, magic, the quippy humor upon which I’ve based my personality and an enticing urban fantasy plot to tie it all together. When I heard “Percy Jackson” was given another chance at life on screen, I was curious, and upon learning more, I allowed myself cautious optimism as I turned on my television last month.
Rick Riordan’s #1 New York Times best-selling series, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” can take credit for introducing our generation to Greek mythology. Since the first installment, “The Lightning Thief,” in 2005, it has captivated middle-grade and young adult readers with Camp Half-Blood’s most powerful and sassy demigod as he slays legendary monsters, completes deadly tasks for the gods and does his best to make it to 7th grade.
With the immense popularity of the book series and its many spin-offs, numerous creatives have attempted to adapt Percy Jackson’s adventures, from a graphic novel to a Broadway musical. The most infamous example, and the reason I was originally skeptical about this new show, is “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” a movie wrought with … um … so many questionable changes from the source material that Rick Riordan attempted to intervene during the film’s pre-production.
The movie was ill-received by fans, and the “Percy Jackson” film franchise embraced an early death when the sequel, “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters”, based on the second in a five-book series, clumsily wrapped up the plot.
After the catastrophe of the movies, fans and Riordan were left dissatisfied. In 2019, Riordan pitched a television adaptation of “The Lightning Thief” to Disney and the show was greenlit with Riordan named as an executive producer and co-screenwriter. Over the next three years, fans’ anticipation grew as the all-star supporting cast was announced — Jason Mantzoukas and Lin-Manuel Miranda among the pantheon of Greek gods, and Walker Scobell, straight off playing a young Ryan Reynolds in “The Adam Project,” cast as Percy himself.
The publicity was not without dire moments, however. Actor Lance Reddick, who appears as Zeus in season 1, passed away soon after filming wrapped.
When the premiere dropped a few hours earlier than anticipated on Dec. 19 on both Disney+ and Hulu, the crucial question remained: have we finally gotten a quality adaptation? The short answer is yes. The long answer, however, is no.
This show took me on a bit of a journey. At first, I found myself struggling to like it; I made excuses, smiled through gritted teeth, laughed too hard at the scant remains of the books’ abundant humor, but at the end of the day, I had to admit I was disappointed. The plot diverged from the book more than it stuck to it, inexplicably reordering and changing events. Without Percy’s inner monologue, most of the humor was gone. It’s a good story with compelling characters, amazing production value and a thrilling plot — but it’s not “Percy Jackson.” That was my experience for the first four episodes.
Then, something changed. I put off watching the fifth episode for several weeks, dreading having more of this beloved series tainted for me, but when I finally buckled down and watched the latter half…I loved it. It was funny, endearing, and though there were still changes, I became attached to the characters and noticed added details that delighted me. For the first time in my life, I genuinely felt like I was watching “‘Percy Jackson” on screen. Each episode improves on the last one. The finale is the best and most loyal installment with only minimal changes, and it provides the perfect conclusion to a story that started out dubiously.
While the changes don’t ruin the plot, they feel like story edits. It’s less like Hollywood trimming fat, and more like Rick Riordan is taking this opportunity to make all the improvements he has thought of in the last 20 years. Fortunately, they are good changes, and some make more narrative sense, giving side characters more autonomy and adding an element of conflict between the gods and their children. I found the plot a bit hard to follow, but I think that is more because I had just reread “The Lightning Thief” and was anticipating plot points that were not there and caught off guard by the new details. If you are a casual fan of Riordan’s works, you will appreciate this show much more than I was able to.
So, in spite of the inaccuracies, I can’t hate this show. The cast is charming, the soundtrack is one of the best I’ve heard in recent years (reminiscent of early Marvel tracks), the guest actors play their parts perfectly and a wholesome adventure filled with peril, monsters and friendship is something I can’t say no to. It’s not the loyal adaptation we expected, but it is a wonderful piece of entertainment that left me looking up details on season two.
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is not a perfect adaptation and not a perfect show, but it is still one of the best things to come out of Disney in quite a while. With the uptick in quality towards the end, I have faith that the future is bright for our favorite half-blood and his friends.