Percy Jackson resurrects as latest trip up Mt. Olympus offers narrative redemption

The saga of child-aged war heroes has returned, this time with age-appropriate actors, book accurate lore, and a phenomenal cast (excluding the appearance of Lin Manuel-Miranda, who needs a part in every Disney+ production). Percy Jackson & the Olympians is already miles ahead of the unspeakable 2010 movie abomination. Originally announced in May 2020, fans of the classic children’s book series have spent the past four years eagerly waiting for a faithful adaptation of the series they loved as a child. Clinging to every scrap of announcements and teasers released from the author Rick Riordan and Disney+, fans were healing their inner child and beyond excited to have a new way to experience characters they held so close to their hearts. Those yearnings were answered when the first episodes dropped on Disney+ on December 19.

Fans were over the moon when the casting was being released, until they learned who was playing the main trio of the series, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood. Readers were outraged because the white, blonde, Annabeth Chase was going to be played by the black 12-year-old Leah Sava Jeffries (Beast). Jeffries got so much hate at such a young age, just because she was black and playing a character who many readers perceived as white. But, she wasn’t the only character who didn’t perfectly match their book description. The titular character Percy Jackson, described as having dark black hair and green eyes, would be played by the blond haired and blue eyed Walker Scobell (The Adam Project). Despite the passionate anger they had over Annabeth, comparatively, his casting was met with the sound of crickets, an infuriating example of racist double standards.

This disappointment, to put it lightly, became even more pointless when episodes started airing and the sheer talent of these actors came through. Every single one of them have given performances that are blowing people away, especially given their age and slim prior experience. Amazingly, they will only continue to grow as they go on in their careers. Scobell, Jeffries, and Aryan Simhardri, who plays Grover, are the perfect embodiments of their respective characters.

It has become very clear that, as the show progresses, the actors are getting more comfortable and ingrained in their characters. The performances in the first episode or two were admittedly a bit stiff, but afterward they sunk into their roles with stronger, more honest performances.

Much to many viewer’s displeasure, the eight episode series is being released on a weekly basis, with the first two airing together on December 19th, and one each subsequent Tuesday thereafter. Although weeks seem to drag on waiting for the next release, the pros greatly outweigh the cons. The space between episodes allows each individual installment to set in more with the audience, raising appreciation for each one rather than feeling they blur together and become indistinguishable.

It also offers more time for the building of community engagement. Viewers are able to gush about certain scenes, and with the addition of post credit teasers, they get to theorize about what will happen next week. Viewer engagement increases with this format, rather than a whole season dump that audiences can binge-watch in a weekend and forget about two weeks later. Audiences spend nearly two months, maybe even more, thinking about the show and taking in all it has to offer. It’s a great marketing strategy to raise audience participation in both the community as well as more potential of rewatching episodes which increases chances of the show being renewed for further seasons.

The downside of the 8 half hour episodes is some plot points and scenes need to be cut down, as it’s difficult to fit everything into such a limited time frame. Hands were also tied because of the restrictions of CGI and what they could do in production; there’s just some things a show can’t skillfully achieve like books can.

However, a successful change the show creators made was the change in the portrayal of Medusa’s storyline in episode three: “We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium.” In contrast to the books, the series demonstrated both sides of Medusa by, rather than solely depicting her as the villain people have come to know her as, showing her backstory as a victim of Athena’s pride and ridicule. The episode further expanded on layering characters, by paralleling the story of Medusa with Athena treating her daughter Annabeth in a similar fashion as Medusa. Two people that cherished her and viewed her on such an untouchably high pedestal were abandoned in their time of need because actions of other people “embarrassed” her.

It seems the show is correcting some of the issues present in Riordan’s books, and hopefully this will continue, especially in its portrayal of women within the series. Clarisse in the books is often described in many demeaning ways; she’s viewed as an ugly bully with no other redeeming qualities. Another problem lies with the treatment of the Aphrodite cabin. Most of the prominent characters of the series, especially other women, view all members of the cabin as obsessed with fashion and romance to the point where they don’t do anything for camp. They’re viewed as “weak” and “useless” to the camp all because of lousy stereotypes forced onto women.

Book fans can also spot small Easter eggs littered throughout the show. For example, in the first episode, Percy and Grover are playing Mythomagic, a Pokemon-like trading card game with Greek gods, heroes, and monsters. Through this game, Grover can fulfill his role as Percy’s satyr protector, teaching Percy about the demigod world in a subtle way that he won’t immediately catch onto, at least until he’s ready to finally learn the real truth of his existence. The game sticks out to readers in preparation for events of future seasons regarding soon to be introduced demigods, Nico and Bianca di Angelo. Speaking of the two siblings, viewers were eagerly waiting for episode six: “We Take a Zebra to Vegas” and the lotus hotel, hoping for just a mere millisecond of a cameo of the two.

The music in the show has notable moments, although, much to the chagrin of long standing fans, Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” did not make its appearance in the sixth episode despite fans fondness over itsinclusion in one of the few well received scenes from the cursed movie adaptations. Though that’s probably for the best as the movies had an older age demographic with teenagers getting high in a casino, this wouldn’t be very age appropriate for this new 12 year old cast.

The teaser trailer for Percy Jackson & the Olympians used a cover of Vance Joy’s “Riptide” recorded by Stealth, offering a great callback to Percy’s weapon of choice, a ballpoint pen doubling as a stygian iron sword with a golden hue, bearing the same name. The soundtrack continues including splashes of bigger names like Olivia Rodrigo, Conan Gray, Seafret, and surely more to come.

Each episode of Percy Jackson & the Olympians raises the bar for what this show is capable of, leaving a promising sentiment amongst audiences new and old.

Rating: A+

Blurb: By righting wrongs of the past, layering previously flat characters, and bringing beloved and iconic characters to the screen, the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is already achieving heights its movie counterpart could never dream of.

By righting wrongs of the past, layering previously flat characters, and bringing beloved and iconic characters to the screen, the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is achieving heights its movie counterpart couldn’t.

by Addi Isely

Published January 29 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue IV