When Disney first announced they would be making a TV series for the popular “Percy Jackson” young adult books, I was transformed back into thirteen-year-old me. I distinctly remember my friends and I passionately reading all the books and “fangirling” by wearing homemade “Camp Half-Blood” T-shirts (yes, I still have mine in my parents’ house somewhere.) In addition to my reinvigorated sentiment for the book series came renewed hatred for the two attempts at making movies for the first two books in the 2010s. My hope for the TV show was to correct the many mistakes which made fans hate the movies—and, Percy Jackson and the Olympians as a series on Disney+ proved to partially be the remediation I was looking for.
Although just released Dec. 19 and consisting of only eight episodes, I am already obsessed with the show. My boyfriend and I looked forward to sitting down every Tuesday night and watching the newly-released episodes while eating dinner. It is funny, the actors are cast well and age-appropriately (something the movies failed to do) and the story stays pretty true to the original first books.
Another thing I love about the Percy Jackson series is how they break up episodes into a few chapters at a time, as it feels genuine to the book series and allows a natural flow to the series. The scenes and cinematic shots feel immersive as a viewer, as well.
Despite the show having many good aspects, it also has some negative components. One review on IMDb states, “The pacing is too fast honestly (great for kids with short attention spans ig [I guess]) and the lines seem pretty cliché and cheesy to be frank,” and I agree that the pacing is way too quick, but not enough to classify it as ”underwhelming.” Disney+ typically does not release a ton of episodes produced solely for their platform anyways, in my experience (Season One of The Mandelorian only has eight episodes), and Season One of “Percy Jackson” tried to get all 22 chapters of The Lightning Thief in less than 10 episodes. Overall, we have to be realistic—this is a show for adolescents based on a book made for adolescents. Those saying the show is worse than the movie are catastrophizing. Yes, I wish they drew out the storyline to include more episodes. But, nonetheless, that doesn’t mean we can’t suspend our nitpicking to enjoy a genuinely entertaining TV show adaptation of a book. It makes me sad to see all of the negative reviews online, but they didn’t stop me from looking forward to my Tuesday evening “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” watch-dinners.
