Picture this: I’m eleven years old, pacing the corridors of a second hand bookstore when I spy two brightly coloured spines, one blue, one green. I pull them out, intrigued by the pops of colour amidst the sea of plain black or grey books.

In huge letters at the top of the page it reads ‘Percy Jackson’, and then I read the titles: ‘The Lightning Thief’ and ‘The Sea of Monsters’. Huh, sounds cool. It goes in my bag.

Little did I know that I had found one of the greatest book series to ever be written, and that this very series would be my favourite for years.

Even now, many (and I do mean many years later), this story is still a favourite of mine, so I was utterly ecstatic to find out that the first book would be adapted for television in a Disney+ series.

This post is part review, part explanation/defence, and part excited rant, so strap in demigods!

Characters and Casting

I’ve seen people mad about castings in the past, but it was something else when this cast photo was released, so let’s talk about it.

The author chose each of the actors for the characters, so I think it is safe to say they are pretty damn close to what he first imagined while writing them. Because these books are originally and fundamentally Rick Riordan’s, so its true that his choices are most important. Yet, these books have been around almost twenty years now, and for long-time fans, who have grown up with them (myself included), these stories become our own too. I understand fans who wish to have perfectly accurate casting, but this is an adaptation of the books – not a replication.

The physical description of characters is one thing, but an actors ability to embody the character’s personality, attitude, and of course to act is more important!

Let’s start with Wise Girl herself: Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy.

In the books she is described as a white girl, with tan skin, stormy grey eyes and curly blonde hair. Other children of Athena share these features, and Annabeth explains that she dislikes her blonde hair because she believes it makes others underestimate her and doubt her abilities. In one book, she actually plays into this ‘dumb blonde’ stereotype to outwit an enemy!

It is true that Jeffries doesn’t look much like Annabeth is described, but as the book was released in 2005, this stereotype is largely of its time. No one really believes in the dumb blonde idea anymore, so its a little dated. However, racism is still rife around the world, and many young black girls are often seen as or treated as less intelligent, wise, and respectable even today. Hence, the change is a modern reflection of Annabeth’s character, and in my opinion, her appearance is less important than her attitude.

Leah Jeffries has proven to be an incredible capable actress, capturing Annabeth’s stubbornness, naivety, pride, intelligence, and ruthlessness as well as bringing a real emotional depth to the character. Her scenes have all been incredible, and she had me totally convinced that she was Annabeth by the third episode.

Next up is Seaweed Brain, the titular character himself: Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon, God of the Sea.

In the books, he is described as tan, with black hair and sea green eyes. Many a time, he is said to look and sound just like Poseidon, with an easy-going nature that can become stormy in seconds. Percy is, like his father, the embodiment of the sea.

We just love our boy, so I was a little confused when I first saw the blond actor chosen to play him. I thought they might dye his hair, but when they didn’t I decided to roll with it, and see how we went. I was blown away.

Scobell has the perfect surfer-dude look, and effortlessly captures Percy’s struggle to be a good kid while also saying the first thing that comes to mind, which is usually on the sassier side. He captures Percy’s confusion with the new world he is forced into, while also showing his cunning mind, and the fierce loyalty he shows to those he cares about. Already he has been amazing.

Last of all, Goat Boy: Grover Underwood, the loving Satyr guide and protector for Percy and Annabeth, who is also their best friend.

In the books, Grover is described as a scrawny looking kid who sometimes uses crutches for his limp, with curly brown hair and freckles. Of course, he’s a not exactly human, having the lower body of a goat as well as horns!

I think the show-Grover had the least pushback with regards to looks, and though he doesn’t exactly look like the book Satyr, he still brings such a liveliness and gentleness to his performance. In the books, Grover is also the most scared at times, though he remains brave and loyal to Percy and Annabeth, doing just about anything to save them – no matter how terrified he may be.

Episode Reviews

Episode 1

Rank: 8/10

I was so excited for this episode, and I loved the monologue! It was taken right from the book and brought to light in such a gripping way ahh! It’s such an excellent introduction to the tone of the story and set up the series so well.

As far as characters, I felt that they were all very true to their book counterparts, and I enjoyed how Sally and Grover were portrayed amazingly. Sally especially demonstrated her love and protection for Percy, while still being his mom, and I think it was great that she was both calm and assertive. Gabe was also more sanitised than in the books, but I think it was important because making him super abusive could have been a little confronting to young viewers.

The Montauk scenes were amazing, especially with the emotional moment between Percy and his mom, as well as the funny moments. The minotaur sequence was great, and I liked how Percy defeated him. It was short, but I didn’t mind because he still had no training here! He was scared, angry, and traumatised and he did what he needed to and we love him.

I heard a lot of people had problems with the dialogue, but I didn’t really see any issues. It all fit well contextually, the characters were in some difficult situations where you will react strangely, and the actors are all phenomenal.

Favourite Line: ‘Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.’ It is iconic, but another one that had me rolling was: ‘You fell in love with God? Like Jesus?’

Episode 2

Rank: 9/10

Camp Half-Blood! It looked amazing and all the new campers were great!

The meeting with Mr D was hilarious and their banter was something I always enjoyed throughout the series. It was great getting to meet Luke and have him befriend Percy so early on. In the books I felt Luke was a lot more charismatic, but I grew to like this more chill version of him more.

I won’t be the first to say it but Dior Goodjohn was incredible in all her scenes as Clarisse, and I loved her fight scene with Percy later during capture the flag. It shows how Percy is a natural fighter even without the water, and proves that he did beat the minotaur without training.

Annabeth was iconic and I loved Leah showing her sass and annoyance with Percy. She and Walker were so tiny and its so funny watching them have beef.

I will say that I do wish that they had included the scene of everyone in the camp bowing to Percy, which would have shown more than anything what it meant to be Poseidon’s kid. Percy isn’t just a demigod like everyone else, he is set apart, he is more powerful, and he will be respected because of it – even if Percy couldn’t care less about that, it just adds so much to his character.

The cliffhanger endings are so fun too, annoying, but very true to the Percy Jackson world unfortunately. Still, they really get you excited for the next episode.

Favourite Line: ‘You drool in your sleep.’ Annabeth Chase you will always be iconic.

Episode 3

Rank: 7/10

The Oracle opening scene was hilarious and well done, and I liked that they kept some of the lines from us to be revealed later. One thing that annoyed me is all the people complaining that Gabe was the vision that told the prophecy when that was literally from the book – I have to laugh.

Percy picking his team was great, and definitely something a twelve-year-old would do. Thinking that Annabeth would throw him down a flight of stairs for the quest is both entertaining and kind of sad for a kid. The call back to Grover’s first betrayal and Percy saying that he chose him because he trusts him adds such a great layer to the story! Loved it.

I also loved Percy trying to get the team to vote on the decisions was hilarious, and the Consensus song showed how sweet and disconnected Grover can be. It was really cute watching Annabeth trying to choose candy for the boys to make friends with them after saying she would just get them chips and sodas.

Medusa was great, and I loved the changes they made to her story! She isn’t what people think, but she has killed hundreds of innocent people and stored them in her basement. Maybe she was a survivor once, but her actions have made her into a monster

Lastly, the tension between Percy and Annabeth here was top-tier, in the woods and in the basement. Percy’s emotional confession about the betrayal was amazing, and Annabeth and he realising that they were already on their way to being friends was so sweet.

Favourite Line: ‘I am impertinent!’ I love my boy so much.

Episode 4

Rank: 8/10

Why so short! This had some great flashbacks to young Percy and his mom, showing how hard she worked to take care of him and prepare him for everything. I also didn’t mind the Kronos dreams, because it was good foreshadowing and added another layer to the quest, though it would have been cool to see the eagle vs horse dreams symbolising Zeus and Poseidon.

The bonding with Annabeth was great, and it was so sad to hear about her past (it’s on sight for Frederick Chase and Athena). I think it also helped Annabeth to begin seeing Percy in a new light, and this whole episode seemed to be about the two of them confronting their flaws. Annabeth was able to swallow her pride to ask for help and her mother chose to let her die – that’s going to leave some scars, especially because it perfectly mirrored Medusa’s lesson in the last lesson, and her words, ‘I wasn’t like you, sweetheart. I was you.’ Amazing cinema.

The swap! I will never shut up about that I think. It was so great to see Percy’s fatal flaw in action, and to see why it is truly a fatal flaw. He will do anything to help his loved ones, even putting himself in grave danger.

Lastly, I can’t believe people were mad about the Chimera fight when he was sick, poisoned, and still fighting with only minimal training. The shot of him hanging there with no water below him was even scarier, and showed how impossible the situation was for him. I only wish he had called out to Poseidon as he fell like he did in the books, but it was nice seeing him get caught by the water anyway, showing how much Poseidon was willing to go out of his way to help Percy. The panic of being stuck underwater and having to trust his dad was cool, and I do wish that we’d had a little more time there.

Favourite Line: ‘This isn’t your fault, but sadly, you’re going to have to bear the burden of your parents mistakes today.’ That’s it, that’s the story.

Episode 5

Rank: 9/10

First I wanted to say that it was actually a good change having Annabeth see the string get cut by the fates, because it will add more depth to her later quests and her understanding of Percy’s fate. Especially in the Battle of the Labyrinth, where she fears she will ‘lose a love to worse than death’.

Percy being so far behind his friends in figuring out the quest is hilarious and peak Percy. It was also good to include the moment where he was glad Poseidon saved him, because it changed the way Percy sees the gods! His ‘grey’ understanding of the gods is what saves their legacy and helps the demigods in the end, so its great showing his initial conflict.

Having Grover constantly give information was actually a good choice, because Percy did a lot of the info-dumping for us in the books. It makes sense for the world, but I do wish Percy didn’t know so much mythology, and Annabeth should have given us more information herself.

Ares was sick and I loved the interaction. I thought Grover had a very interesting new role which worked much better, and the interrogation made sense. It was also quite funny the way it was made to sound like they were talking about music. Ares being so easily plied is classic for the gods and so funny. However, it was sad hearing that he hates kids, especially his own.

Why was it so dark? I don’t know why this is a common theme for the story, but hopefully they get better with it, especially lighting for Annabeth.

The Thrill Ride O’Love is one of my favourite parts of the book and I enjoyed the changes they made. I missed the spiders, but I liked the chair and meeting Hephaestus just as much. Percy calling out the gods was great, and it helped Annabeth to see everything differently. We also got seaweed brain!

There were so many important layers to this episode too:

• Their moment of her telling him she would obviously come back for him shows that they are friends now, no matter what! She wouldn’t push him down the steps for the quest!
• Annabeth’s pride in trying to undo the chair which no other god could figure out! Then her monologue to Hephaestus showing why she wouldn’t be like the gods anymore was great.
• It looked like Percy was actually suffocating while he was on the chair, so I wonder if he would have actually died if Hephaestus hadn’t let him out. It would also add a lot to his future fear of drowning.
• Ares being pissed that they both came back, meaning they were able to get Hephaestus to help them while he never would have been able to do that.

Lastly the cliffhanger was hilarious: ‘I know who stole the master bolt!’ No you don’t babe, but I appreciate the effort!

Favourite Line: ‘He isn’t like that. He’s better than that!’ Yeah, I love them.

Episode 6

Rank: 6/10

Another short one, but it still had some great moments.

The Iris message looked amazing visually, and gave us such a great red herring for the show in Clarisse.

This was probably the episode that was the least like the books, although interestingly, its the one scene the movies got right! I wonder if this series wanted to go in a new direction because of that? Even so, I still think they could have had a little fun first and then had Percy figure out the dangers of the casino like he did in the books before finding Annabeth and Hermes.

The meeting with Hermes was good though, and I liked how it set up the bigger story with Luke and his mother. Initially I doubted Lin Manuel Miranda as Hermes, but he ended up being really good at portraying a trickster god who also has a lot more to him. The car sequence with New Yorker Percy was hilarious too, and I did enjoy that.

Again with the darkness though! The Santa Monica scene was interesting, and I was initially really confused about why they had the Solstice pass early, but after seeing the end I can understand the change. Changing the story to have four pearls was great, as it showed that Poseidon really did care about helping Percy with his quest and getting his mom.

It was amazing having Percy decide to continue the quest despite it failing already, as it shows that he really is a hero.

Favourite Line: ‘When did you two turn into an old married couple?’

Episode 7

Rank 7/10

Admittedly, I didn’t love how early Percy identified Procrustes, because he was a very obscure mythical figure, and there could have been a bit more build up. I also think Annabeth should have identified more myths and monsters as she is the intelligent one, but hopefully she will be that figure in season 2 (keep praying guys!).

The Underworld looked amazing as it was vast and detailed, and I really liked that it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Cerberus looked amazing, and I didn’t mind the bits they cut from the book about crossing the Styx to keep everything moving on time.

The Fields of Asphodel were creepy in a good way. I was glad to see the darker side of this mythical world, because even though it is a kids series, it has some heavy themes and some really bad moments. Side note: What was Annabeth’s regret? I really want to know now!

The master-bolt and Tartarus scene was so cool, and panned out almost exactly like in the books! which was great! It also made sense for Percy to find the bolt early, because in the book he noticed the bag was heavier, but chose not to look yet. That wouldn’t exactly work on screen. Hades was not at all what I pictured and I am still not sure how I feel about their interaction. I imagined him to be bigger and much more imposing, as he was the first god that Percy truly thought of as a god.

Lastly, the Poseidon and Sally flashback was phenomenal, and I loved how the voiceover continued at the ending, as Percy stood on the beach to face Ares. Overall it was a great episode, and it brings the whole quest together right before the big ending.

Favourite Line: ‘Hold fast mom.’ I do love some full circle moments. Or when they’re in line in the Underworld, ‘Only suckers wait in line.’

Episode 8

Rank 10/10

Definitely the best episode of the series!

The Ares fight was amazing, and I loved how it was spliced with Percy’s training with Luke. Percy getting a solid beat-down was also realistic, Ares isn’t just your average fighter, he is the god of war! Also, Percy outsmarting him? It’s just like Annabeth said in the book,“Even strength has to bow down to wisdom sometimes.”

Olympus also looked amazing, and once again, having Luke talking to Percy about why the gods were afraid of the demigods was great. The little details like this make it so good! I’m a little disappointed that each of the chairs weren’t personalised to each of the gods, but I’m going to pretend that it’s because that only happens when they are sitting in them.

Zeus and Poseidon literally could not have been written or acted better – which only makes me a little more disappointed that Hades seemed so strange. They captured the awe of the gods while also humanising them in a way. The conversation between Poseidon and Percy was also top notch, though I wished it had been a little bit longer, and I wish Poseidon had told his son he did well like in the book.

Another Percabeth hug! Then it was time for the true betrayal – which was amazing as well. Dare I say that I like it even more than in the books? The scorpion was alright, but this scene gave us so much more emotion and character that the book really lacked. In fact, if you re-read the scene it was only a few pages long, and it was a ton of exposition to explain everything which the show already showed us much more succinctly. Annabeth’s horrified reaction was pretty devastating, and it’s going to be so tough watching her relationship with him progress.

Favourite Line: ‘I warned you, if you’re not careful, you’ll find out who I am.’ What an amazing end to the series.

Summary

So in conclusion: 10/10, I loved the series! There were some changes that took me a moment to understand, and of course some moments from the books we missed out on seeing, but overall it was a great start to the show. It captured the heart of the story, and adapted almost all of the funny and important moments that the movies failed to do.

I don’t think anyone’s favourite book from this first series is The Lightning Thief, because every book only gets better from here, but it is a strong start and it will (hopefully) only be the beginning!

Once again, I want to reiterate that this is an adaptation not a replication, it is designed to recreate the books for television in a way that is faithful to the story while including new scenes to add more depth!

It’s the beginning, so of course Percy isn’t quite Percy yet, nor is he and Annabeth ready to jump into Tartarus together – it’s called development!

And for my last gripe: people do not understand what it takes to adapt a book to screen. Even I don’t! But I do understand that changes must be made! Especially because we spend most of the first book reading from Percy’s perspective – if they put that on screen you would have hours of just looking at Percy while he thinks. Not fun.

Those who don’t like the series have such fascinating complaints, as they argue that people who like the story ‘haven’t read the books’ but then complain about the very scenes that are ripped right from the books. It makes me laugh actually, but I digress. I do hope we get to see all five books adapted, and I hope it only gets better from here.

If you got this far, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did! Do let me know your thoughts about the show, and tell me your favourite lines and moments while we wait for the season 2 announcement!