Percy Jackson and the Olympians Review

The final episode of the New Percy Jackson series came out on January 30th. This new series is a TV show adaptation of the highly rated book series, under the same title (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), written by Rick Riordan. The first book was released in 2005. Riordan, along with his wife, Rebecca Riordan, were executive producers for the series. Riordan and his wife worked together alongside co-writer Jonathan E. Steinberg to bring this beloved book to life. Only the first book in the series, Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief, had been released. 

The first book follows the life of the protagonist, Percy Jackson, and his journey of being a demigod (half human, half Greek God). Percy is sent to a camp called Camp Half Blood, a camp for demigods/half-bloods to live for the summer (or all year) and train. Percy is sent on a quest to retrieve Zeus's master bolt which has been stolen. Percy must choose two people to bring on the quest with him.  He chooses Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood. On this quest, the trio faces monsters, including the Furies, Medusa, Echidna and the Chimera, and Cerberus, in addition to running into a few gods. On February 7th of this year, it was announced that the second season, based on the second book in the series, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, has been renewed.

On a personal note, I think that this show did a great job of bringing all the aspects of Camp Half Blood to life. Places like the camp, the St. Louis Arch, Lotus Casino, and the most breathtaking of all, Mount Olympus were perfectly recreated. These locations are all very significant to the quest. The places are exactly how I imagined while reading this book and it is nice that readers of the book now have a visual representation. 

I recently reread the first book before the premiere of the first two episodes (December 19th, 2023) and I would say that the show adaptation stayed true to the plot of the book for the most part. There were some changes in the plot, but that is to be expected in a book to show adaptation because usually not everything in a book can be transferred to the screen. Riordan commented on the plot changes saying, ¨A big part of the challenge obviously is making the readers happy and showing them that it's a faithful adaptation but also making it a product that's going to work for viewers who've never read the books …It’s also an opportunity to do things that maybe we didn’t get to do in the book to make it more three dimensional and see things from other points of view when you’re doing a TV series and update it. 2005 was a long time ago. It needs a little refresh.”

In addition to the amazing world-building in the show, the acting was incredible. This show's cast was mostly made up of child actors. The talent that all of these teenagers have is insane. The three actors I want to focus on are the main trio. Percy Jackson was played by Walker Scobell (age 13 when filming started). Walker’s version of Percy really shows his sassy personality. The talent that Walker possesses is something special and it really shined through in this season. Walker’s ability to portray the emotional side of Percy was so impressive as well. Walker took this character and made it his own. Although he does not fit the physical description of Percy in the books, Walker really embodies Percy. Next is Leah Sava Jeffries who played Annabeth Chase (age 12 during filming). Jeffries was perfect casting for this role, having the wit and intelligence that Annabeth is known for. Leah also doesn't fit the physical description of Annabeth in the books, but she brought Annabeth to a new level. For only being 12 years old, Jeffries possessed a very mature nature on the show. She was truly incredible throughout the whole season. Last but not least is Grover Underwood, played by Aryan Simhadri (16 while filming). Simhadri was truly the comedic relief of all comedic reliefs. His character Grover was so lovable and relatable. Simhadri was exactly how I imagined Grover to be while I was reading the books. He also did a great job of making the audience sympathize with Grover in his emotional moments. The three of these actors worked so well with each other. The relationship all of them have in the series was really clear. When all three of them were together, they were some of the funniest moments in the season. The casting of this trio was truly perfect, and I don’t think anything could top it.

This new series really lived up to my expectations. If I had to give it a rating, I would give it a 9.5/10. It was cinematically beautiful, and the acting was top-notch. If you have read the books, I highly recommend watching this new show. If you have only seen the show, give the books a try! This show deserves all the praise it is getting, and I can’t wait for Season 2!