Rating: 2.5 out of 5
When I opened the first page of “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” in fourth grade, I knew that I would be obsessed with these books and the world of Percy Jackson for years to come. So when Disney+ announced that Rick Riordan would be creating a TV show adaptation of the books, I was excited for a chance to relive the excitement of reading the books again.
The show follows the protagonist Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) who is on a quest to save the world with his two best friends Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava’ Jeffries) and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri). Percy, Annabeth, and Grover all work together and venture across the U.S. to retrieve Zeus’ (God of the Sky) master bolt and prevent war from breaking out between Poseidon (God of the Sea) and Zeus at Olympus (the home of the Greek Gods).
The first two episodes were released on Dec. 19, and the eighth episode, the finale, was released on Jan. 30. Not only was the total number of episodes not enough, but the short length of each episode ruined critical character development, had limited opportunities to worldbuild, and did not provide enough context to audiences that had not read the book series.
For someone who hasn’t read the books, the show proves an enjoyable, exciting watch. The set designs, acting, and digestible storyline make for a good show when separated from the books. In terms of acting, each actor does an excellent job portraying their characters, doing justice to the way they were written in the books. While Simhadri is able to bring Grover’s meekness and comedic timing to the screen, Scobell steals the show with his ability to portray Percy as a sassy, yet fierce character.
The set design is as if Camp Half-Blood had fallen out of the books and onto our TV screens: the layout of the cabins and design of each cabin’s interior make the show come alive.
One of the most crucial relationships in the novels is Percy and Annabeth’s relationship. Their love story is clever, sweet, and they truly are one of the best couples in any book series I’ve read to date. However, in the show, because the entire first book is captured in short episodes, their relationship dynamic is ruined, and their relationship seems forced and awkward.
The show lacks a romantic build-up and tosses a few romantic scenes in so the audience gets the sense that Annabeth and Percy are falling in love, but as a whole, the relationship seems like an afterthought to the main plotlines in the show.
While the plot feels rushed in the show, each episode (45 minutes including credits) goes by extremely slowly, as if the trio isn’t trying to save the world.
The sense of urgency is lost because of lack of worldbuilding, as audiences don’t understand the dynamics of the world of the gods and demigods, and audience members fail to understand the gravity of the situation. In certain scenes, the characters seem to be taking their own sweet time to complete tasks, making the quest seem insignificant and not as dangerous as it was described in the books by Riordan.
While it may not be for those who enjoyed the books as I did, the show still is entertaining and definitely worth a watch.