Percy Jackson Series Wrap-Up
Averie discusses the popular series surrounding the mythology based story of Percy Jackson.
Percy Jackson Series Wrap-Up
By Averie Black
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Percy Jackson season one/book one.
The long-awaited Percy Jackson Disney+ series finally finished airing season one. It has been a hot topic on all social media platforms, and the reviews seem split. The announcement of season two has not helped the situation, with many fans rejoicing, and many fans begging producers to quit while they are ahead.
The book the series is based on follows 12-year-old Percy Jackson, who discovers he is a half-blood and the son of Poseidon. Soon after he arrives at Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for demigods, he is sent on a quest with his satyr friend, Grover, and a no-nonsense daughter of Athena, Annabeth. Percy was accused of stealing Zeus’s lightning bolt for his father, which he obviously did not do, and since the Gods have no mediating skills, Percy must find and return the bolt to Zeus before a war breaks out between the gods. It is kind of a lot for a 12-year-old. Along the way, they try to figure out who the real lightning thief is and encounter various characters from classic mythology. Percy Jackson is a perfect example of a hero's journey and the author, Rick Riordan, receives a lot of praise for mimicking the story structure of classic Greek mythology while maintaining a middle-grade reading level and humor. The Disney+ series follows this plot well but makes changes to the more specific plot beats, which is one of the main complaints against the show. However, it is important to keep in mind that Riordan is the main writer for the series, so all of the changes are intentional and canonized by the author.
The first noticeable change is the Medusa scene, where Annabeth can recognize her immediately and the characters are forced into Aunty Em’s. This contradicts the original scene of the trio not recognizing her to be mystical and entering her shop to get supplies. This is a welcomed change from the original book. The series version of Medusa dives deeper into her backstory of sexual assault and abandonment and paints her as a victim who turned against her assaulters. As Riordan explained to BuzzFeed, “Medusa has her own point of view. There is a reason that she is the way she is, and she has perfectly legitimate grievances with the Gods.” This version of the Aunty Em scene further flushes out characters and is a great improvement from the book. Grover’s little Consensus Song was also not included in the book, but no one is complaining about it because it is adorable. Throughout the series, there is one consistent change: how quickly the trio realizes the situations they are in. The formula of the book includes a chapter dedicated to the characters entering a dangerous situation while talking to the bad guy and slowly becoming aware that they are in trouble. This is then followed by the next chapter, where there would be a fight scene of the characters outsmarting the villain. However, in the new series, there is a lack of tension building. One of the golden rules of tension is the audience knowing the characters are in trouble while they are oblivious or that the characters are unaware of how much danger they are truly in. The Disney series squashes this by having the characters come to this conclusion immediately.
Overall, the pacing is a little messy. There are exposition dumps that last a little too long and fight scenes that are a little too short. The biggest crime of the Percy Jackson series was out of the director's control. The new format many TV shows are taking on of eight episodes that last between 34-45 minutes made it feel rushed. There was not much time for the characters to breathe before they were thrown into the next situation, which only added to the pacing and writing problems. When Percy fights Echidna and the Chimera at the top of St. Louis Arch, for example, it is not very exciting. Another complaint about that scene is the difference between book-Percy jumping out of the arch and series-Percy falling. In the book, Percy is faced with the choice of jumping into the Mississippi River or being torn apart by the Chimera where he questions his power, his father, and the Gods. Percy is also trapped at the top with a child and father, whom he is trying to protect. As book-Percy is faced with this decision, Echidna makes some small talk with him: ‘“If you are the son of Poseidon... you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline.' Percy responds," 'Yeah, right, I thought.” However, in the series, Percy does not make any conscious decisions. Instead, he is holding onto the arch with one hand and slips. Throwing the characters into situations where they are powerless as opposed to giving them autonomy strips them of their characterization. In the book, the reader can learn about Percy’s doubt, bravery, and protectiveness but, in the series, all the audience learns about him is that he needs to get his gains up.
It is time to give this series some grace. It is not perfect, but hardly any adaptation is. The Hobbit adaptation is an absolute phenomenon, and audiences need to accept that, with the direction the film industry is moving in, it is going to be impossible for another in-depth project like The Hobbit to happen again. The great thing about the Percy Jackson series is that it is a series. There is still time to save this show. Audiences can predict that the second season will demonstrate improvements in terms of writing and pacing. After all, movie and book pacing are two different art forms and this is the first time Riordan has attempted screen-writing. It is not fair to dismiss an experimental series on its first run, especially when it shows so much potential. Many little moments are relieving and enjoyable to watch because of their resemblance to the books. It is not so much that the series needs to follow the books scene by scene, but what it should do is evoke the same feeling in its audience. Some of the best scenes, like Percy being left to his own devices during Capture the Flag, the “I am Sally Jackson’s son” scene, Sally and Posiden’s discussion at the diner, and the end scene with Luke were some of the best parts of the show and none of them came directly from the books. However, it felt like Percy Jackson, which is what made them so great. Some of the humor hit, as well, like Percy trying to cheer Annabeth up at the arch and telling his mom that Kronos told him to tell her that Percy loves her. Not to mention that fans finally got to see how Percy managed to jump from the St. Louis Arch to the Mississippi River when it was several feet away and in reality Percy would have ended up smeared on the concrete. The show also took care to put in the iconic Percy Jackson moments the audience would have rioted over if they were not included such as the “You drool when you sleep” line.
Another bright spot in the series is the actors. The trio is made up of Walker Scobell playing Percy Jackson, Leah Jefferies playing Annabeth Chase, and Aryan Simhadri playing Grover. Other notable faces are Dior Goodjohn playing Clarisse La Rue, Charlie Bushnell playing Luke Castellan, Adam Copeland playing Ares, and Virginia Kull playing Sally Jackson. Although the majority of the cast are young Disney actors, there were only a few noticeable moments that seemed out of place. This seems perfectly reasonable considering the amount of CGI that was added and how often the actors had to react to nothing but the air in heavily green-screened sets. The fun the adult actors were having with their characters radiated off the screen. Copeland in particular seemed to be having a great time.
Although the complaints have died off, when the cast was first announced, many people were hating on the young actors for not looking like their book counterparts. While Percy in the book has straight, black hair and green eyes, Scobell has curly, blonde hair and blue eyes. However, unsurprisingly, the target of the majority of the hate was Jeffries– a black girl portraying an originally blonde-haired, grey-eyed character. It is really clear to anyone who does not have the thinking capacity of a five-year-old that this has little to do with Annabeth and much to do with racism. Jeffries proves on the screen that she is a wonderful actress who is the perfect person to be filling the role of Annabeth, but some people are unwilling to overlook her skin tone. Despite all of the hate, Jefferies has not made many statements about the discrimination she has faced, but Riordan certainly has. According to Variety, Riordan wrote, "You are upset/disappointed/frustrated/angry because a Black actor has been cast to play a character who was described as white in the books…You are judging her appropriateness for this role solely and exclusively on how she looks. She is a Black girl playing someone who was described in the books as white. Friends, that is racism." As previously stated, this series is a new concept. It should improve and build upon the original series and Jeffries's performance more than shows her commitment to her character. Not to mention that she is 14-years-old. A child. It is hard not to notice that many people outraged at Annabeth's actress have not said anything about Scobell, Simhadri, or Bushnell who look notably different from their book counterparts. All of it breaks down to racism against young black women.
At the announcement of season two, there is a concerned yet optimistic feeling in the air. Hopefully, there will be continued improvements in the writing and pacing, as well as progress within the starring trio’s acting abilities. Most of all, every fan holds their breath in hopes that the mouse will not squash yet another beloved show.
