Disney’s Percy Jackson Series Isn’t Great…But That’s Okay!

Disney’s Percy Jackson Series Has Some Problems
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
2:12 Camp Half-Blood
5:54 Low Stakes
10:14 Show Don’t Tell
14:24 Good vs Bad Adaptation
20:25 Grover & Annabeth
22:27 Percy
26:59 Luke
31:15 Conclusion
#percyjackson #disney

[@lostintranslation5630]

The characters already seem to know everything that is going to happen, but the show doesnt even bother to show us how they reached the conclusion or what they are thinking. The Crusty scene is a prime example. Very frustrating!

[@heyimjaytee]

i was disappointed with this aspect of the show because them having to experience things in order to figure out what they are gave everything a mysterious aura and made me curious to find out what it was

[@azsa3705]

Hermes left them the note that explained who and where crusty was. They definitely should've shown that in more detail but they didn't just randomly know who he was

[@misfits9294]

THANK YOU, that's one of my main criticisms of the show thus far.

[@atp8108]

I absolutely hated how they always knew everything! The whole charm of them falling into traps is watching them use their wits and resources to get out of it. The monster encounters felt dangerous and sad in the book, bc we know so many demigods don’t reach adulthood. And in the show, I never felt fearful for the trio.

[@CommerceAudio]

I agree so much with this. How about she just flipping knew it was madusa!?? HOW!? HOOOOOOOWWWWWW

[@gaby-leighjonathan2207]

I honestly think camp half blood from the Percy Jackson movies was situated on the far side of camp rock and that's why we only see so little of it. Demi and the Jonas brothers needed more ground to perform " It's a brand new day" 😭

[@Mykie_Mouse]

Then singing was a offering for the gods ✋😭

[@nataliebest7847]

most of these issues i think would’ve been solved with more/longer episodes. since the movie was such a flop, i don’t think disney wanted to give them full length hour episodes. i’m hoping that when they do the sea of monsters the episodes will be longer after seeing the success of the show

[@solemnlyswear9749]

I disagree with the fact that missing the deadline was a good change. It was supposed to build tension - missing the deadline basically meant world war 3 in the book. But here percy somehow gets a pass…? It makes the gods look weak. Poseidon surrenders but what does it mean for the real world ? For me that change was one of the worst decision. It completely removed the urgency of the quest, the tension and made the gods look too lenient

[@MrsSetsuna101]

I agree, that's probably my least favorite change as well. Also, never taking a moment for Grover (or anyone, really) to explain why Sally married Gabe makes it feel like his character was only there because he was in the book. I would've rather they cut him out completely at that point.

[@calebqueen2090]

I would’ve liked it if he was maybe just minutes past the deadline instead of how long it actually was

[@apoorvsingh4459]

But it made Percy's character arc stronger. He had no reason to go to Zeus and return the bolt after the quest was over, but he did it because it was the right thing to do and really wanted to prevent the war. Makes him look strong willed

[@Jimmothytv]

I think it’s meant to reinforce the idea that Poseidon cares for Percy

[@j.b.5422]

@@apoorvsingh4459 sure, but if the missed deadline doesnt cause anything bad to happen, then percys strong will is meaningless.

[@arok233]

they gave percy four pearls to emphasize Poseidon's care for sally

[@juliam28]

😂 something that shouldn't be emphasized bc gods. don't. care. unless it affects them (RARE are the exceptions) ... Why they tryina make the gods goodie goodies?

[@luciabangueses091]

If he hadn't gave them four people would be asking why did he gave them three, too. Sooo... people liking to judge

[@samniel]

@@juliam28the show emphazised that Poseidon actually cares about Sally and Percy, which is mentioned in the books (he called her "a queen among women") but the show made it more explicit that he's a really different person that he was in myths. The show isn't afraid to paint the gods as assholes (Medusa blames Athena and Poseidon, and Hephaestus and Ares outright say their family's messed up, and Zeus manages to be even WORSE in his one scene), it's just Poseidon who's realized he can be better.

[@Nique1057]

@@juliam28 The books dont even support this.

[@f.airy.x]

@@juliam28the books did that wdym???

[@lacroixmxcky9908]

Most of the problem this series had was due to time, -Lack of actual World Building -Telling and not Showing -No room for inconvinience -Stakes are not high -(Removed all the small funny quirks they have)

[@Nique1057]

- There's plenty of world building, what show did you watch - People have a juvenile understanding of show dont tell and arent understanding that this isnt a valid criticism, especially in a fantasy series which has a lot of exposition cause things need to be explained - this doesnt make sense - there are plenty of stakes in the show - Percy's mom, missing the solstice, Poseidon surrendering to Zeus - Grovers song, Percy being sassy, and plenty of other examples - a lot of those came from Percy's inner thoughts

[@jholmes553]

​@@Nique1057 - NO, there isn't enough world building. And judging from the number of likes in the original comment, plenty of people agree. - Show Don't Tell is a valid criticism. Being repeatedly told that the gods are very powerful is very different than being shown it. Being told that Aries is a powerful god while having Annabeth and Grover stand up to him and disrespect him in front of his face without facing repercussion is not it. Being told that reaching the goal before the deadline is important to save the world but showing nothing about the consequence of not meeting the deadline after, is the perfect Show Don't Tell. Also, another point for world building. - As mentioned in the second point, those stakes are told to the viewers but nothing about them being real stakes are shown. - You are right there, there are small quirks that characters have. But they are far from the characters they are based on. Not the actors' fault but the scripts'.

[@Nique1057]

@@jholmes553 - there’s 34 likes on the original comment lol. The mist, Camp Half Blood, the mortal world and how demigods function, etc. is all work building. So that’s just flat out wrong and it’s not an opinion. - You show a juvenile understanding of show don’t tell even when you see the consequences of the actions. The radio report of earthquakes are showing how the mortal world sees the war between Zeus and Poseidon. Then you see that Poseidon loves Percy when he surrendered to Zeus and lost credibility. Also if you didn’t get that Ares radiated power by Edges performance then I don’t know what to tell you - the characters are still the who they are in the books. Whether that’s Grover’s quirkiness, Percy’s sass, or Annabeths want to be in control. Stop the cap

[@jholmes553]

@@Nique1057 - 34 likes, yes. Plenty in comparison to the likes on your comment. Also the existence of some world building details does not mean it is not lacking. That is why LACKING is used and not ABSENCE. - Zues and Poseidon, commonly known as god of the sky and god of the sea, at war = earthquakes in a radio report from somewhere. Makes sense. And no, Aries is not radiating power. He looks and acts more like a regular biker gang dude without his squad. And Hermes? Hephaestus? Yes they seem more than mortals but they feel more like how superheroes/supervillains than powerful gods. - No, they aren't though. In the books the characters work off each other, balances each other out. In the show, you can replace Grover with a pamphlet containing all the exposition he gave, and the story would be the same. Percy for some reason has a fetish for sacrificing himself for not so compelling reason (turning into statue to get a shield in exchange for what is essentially a bus ticket to Lotus hotel and sacrificing himself in the arc when he is already poisoned and weakened when Annabeth has an invisibility cap, the years of experience in Camp Halfblood and the smarts to win the fight against a chimera). Then Annabeth somehow knowing so much and solving any puzzle in front of her even before the audience knew what the puzzle is supposed to be, making the whole adventure more like an annoying easy side quest in a game. Watching Percy fight three children of Aries and not helping and watching Luke beat the crap out of Percy and just staying invisible without even trying to knock Luke out before he escapes. So smart of her.

[@Nique1057]

@@jholmes553 your response lets me know you havent read the books. Percy's fatal flaw is that he care's so much for his friends and constantly sacrifices for them. Also if you think Grover is only exposition in the show the you clearly have no media literacy at all

[@ansmy.sbo12]

Changing it to 4 pearls in the show makes way more sense, their goal is to save Percy's mom and leave together. So makin Grover lost his pearl and Percy is willing to stay is an improvement . Even when im reading the book i was wondering why all three of them are going in the underworld while they only have three pearls but they're planning to save a fouth one.😅

[@edbertextreme]

Yeah it make sense to give 4

[@mojo.s4669]

Not really. The number three is a common superstition in Greek mythology, three fates, three main gods, three head hell-hound. It’s even referenced in the book that all quests must have a trio, as it is a lucky number! When there’s more than three, at least one person always dies. So to me it was a pattern that made sense.

[@katgreer6113]

​@@mojo.s4669I feel like most kids wouldn't have come to that conclusion...

[@mojo.s4669]

@@katgreer6113 I did lol, in 7th grade. But ik everyone is different. Three is referenced in the book though.

[@richardmalagar9168]

the number three was given a lot of context of importance so it made sense for it to be three. plus there are three of them in the quest and thats the most important thing right now for them to succeed

[@ashleyl.6898]

Honestly it really bothered me how these three just know all of the answers off the bat. Anytime they run into a monster or a trap they automatically know who they are and how to beat them. There’s no sense that these 12 year old kids on their first quest are even a little bit naive or inexperienced or in any real danger, which kind of ruins the fun. Especially when they immediately figured out who Medusa was, but then still decided to go into her house anyway, there was absolutely no mystery or suspense whatsoever. Not one time did I feel like they were in any real danger (aside from when Percy fell off the arch, that was a pretty epic scene.) Also the fight with Ares was so underwhelming, it didn’t feel like Percy was in a fight with a war god that’s thousands of years old. The way that Ares sat there and watched that slow ass wave come at him, and then gave up after it hit him was so disappointing. Also the episodes themselves were so short. I would have been happy to watch a longer episode if they had used that time to show us what was happening rather then use the dialogue to explain to us the things that were going on.

[@mar.s6516]

I agree with your points here and as little add-on about Ares-s fight yeah that was really dissapointing even more when you take into consider. things we know about gods from books like they can just insta teleport (we even see that with Zeus in finale), or they can take shape they like at moment - including appearing as giant versions of them, so why would Ares be overwhelmed by single wave as god with those powers and specif. as god of war?!?

[@chady5157]

Damn kid chill with all that writing

[@nerds-nonsense]

Ok seriously, yall gotta stop with the book purity bs. Just because the book did it doesn’t mean it’s better. It absolutely did not make sense that a daughter of Athena who knows all the myths forward and backward would not realize that the lady in the middle of nowhere with hella statues, named “Auntie M” is Medusa. The idea she would is *really* stupid. Not to mention grover who can literally smell monsters. Please explain how them being fooled by every monster they come across makes *any* kind of sense. Also they went into Medusa’s place because they had Alecto on their line and Medusa was the safer choice, *especially* because the show is clearly trying to have a message of “who is and is not a monster or a hero is not always black and white.” Hence the gods being bigger assholes than in the books and Medusa’s backstory being up for debate. Seriously, most of your complaints were just you not paying attention. Also, at least one of them genuinely almost died each episode, if you didn’t feel any tension from that, that is, again a you problem and not a problem with the show. Could it have been more tense? Absolutely, but not feeling any tension is fully just on you

[@edgeribble]

@@mar.s6516 In the book Percy makes Ares agree to no special powers after Percy kills the boar Ares sent at him. Ares agrees out of hubris and not wanting to look cowardly. Series Percy makes no such agreement so Ares should've just used his powers and railed him.

[@edgeribble]

@@nerds-nonsense But the tension and execution in the books was just better. That is not even an opinion its a fact. About he auntie M thing, you could say Annabeth wasn't thinking straight after almost being smitten by Zeus plus fighting Furies. She was also hungry so she wasn't aware, plus she realises way before Percy anyway so she was still a few steps ahead

[@quitecow757]

I was really surprised when I learned the show was only going to be eight episodes, that's not really enough time to make an adaptation for the first book. I expected ten or twelve episodes at least while watching the first several episodes because It felt like nothing was really happening in the story. Eight episodes was not adequate for the Luke plot twist, even just an extra episode spent at Camp- Half blood would've done wonders for the show, building relationships with the main cast.

[@kameron3967]

In one of the episodes they mention that the last time the gods went to war, the natural world was plunged into World War II. That gave a sense of what the stakes were.

[@talon532]

It doesn't seem like that was the case in this show.

[@kameron3967]

@@talon532 lol you’re right. It was a bit of tell and not show :/

[@franciscorojas6232]

It would have been a good way to set the stakes of the Quest, but Percy only says it in the last episode "Quirón told me the last time Gods where to war was during WW2" So it was told off screen in Camp Halfblood and we the audience only learned it in the final episode of the show .

[@talon532]

@franciscorojas6232 I didn't watch it. But the point I was trying to make was that during the first movie, there were already signs of war thanks to the news report. But here, there's nothing. No news report or even a homeless guy with a sign saying the world was ending.

[@CamReeds]

They never call his sword Riptide once And they kill every reveal by having the kids just guess right each time Literally, everything is underdeveloped

[@nerds-nonsense]

A major problem with the writing of the books is that the kids are kinda stupid, they know all these different myths and just about everything about every god and monster but they didn’t recognize Medusa immediately? Doesn’t make sense. Most of the mystery was for the sake of having Percy be a stand in for the audience and have everything explained. You’re complaining about it being different even tho they just fixed a problem with the show. They didn’t get the change perfect and some scenes aren’t as tense as they should be but that’s not the change itself.

[@MMcCalpinJ]

@@nerds-nonsense I wouldnt call it a "major problem." Like yeah it's probably not completely logical but it's something Im willing to suspend my disbelief for if it means I get exciting, suspenseful sequences with cool monster reveals. Maybe it was a minor annoyance when I read the book but I'll take that any day over the excruciatingly boring monster scenes in the show

[@nerds-nonsense]

@@MMcCalpinJhow much it bothered you personally isn't really the point. the scenes weren't boring because they changed it, they were boring because they were paced poorly

[@timemachinegeek]

With this, The Golden Compass, and Mary Poppins Returns, Lin-Manuel Miranda is really typecasting himself as the man who stars in children’s book adaptations.

[@gracehiler1428]

I had no idea that I’d love him so much in this. He has a natural charisma that I’m a little confused by and can’t describe

[@sakunaruful]

As long as he's having fun and enjoying the role.

[@Sloane-ih5fk]

I actually liked the pearl change because it makes Poisiden seem like a better person because with 3 it makes it seems like he doesn’t care but with 4 it makes him seem like he cares and still loses 1 they have to make a sacrifice

[@katherinealvarez9216]

The series was cute. I had fun watching it, I'm thinking kids might like it. Honestly, I was rooting for the fans to get something good because I was an Artemis Fowl fan.

[@frankito1122]

I think the biggest flaw of the series is its pacing issues. The book is quite frantic but it allows for moments to breathe. The show just jumps from one moment to another like it’s on a race to tick all the boxes. It might be because of the budget or the time constraints of filming with younger actors but a ten episode season would have done the show wonders. Of all the changes from the book, what ticked me off the most was how nonchalant the gods are. Percy was irreverent but even he acknowledged how scary the gods were. For me, Lance Reddick was the only one that came across as close to how Rick portrayed the Olympians in the books. And I completely agree with Luke not being a good villain. In the books, it was always more about Annabeth’s connection to Luke and how uncomfortable Percy was with it. The show had a wasted opportunity. But I think making Luke go on the quest would be too much of a deviation. Walker and Charlie have really good chemistry together, all it needed was more interactions from them. They should have just put in the first sword practice scene from the books in episode 2. Then more flashback scenes, like they could have given some of Grover’s exposition to Luke by making him explain things while they train or do stuff. That way, every episode from 3-7 would have flashback sequences. And it will also show that Percy actually spent enough time at Camp Half-blood to make him care about the place.

[@gabriella9897]

@26:03 but that’s the point though. Because it’s true Percy doesn’t have any faith in his father in that moment so it wouldn’t make sense for him to pray to him. And he doesn’t jump, he slips and falls after losing that fight. It’s Poseidon saving him that then makes him start caring about the master bolt aspect of the quest, cause saving his mom was the only reason he decided to even go, something that’s also accurate to the books. Literally in that same episode (or maybe the one before) he talks about how he wants nothing from that man. I will say although while I had a blast with the first season and think they did a great job, it’s not perfect and I hope it get even better in the future. But I really like the show so far and I hope they get more seasons to reap the seeds of what they’ve sown so far and find the good balance in improving the show. Cause I NEED all five seasons 😫😫🙏🏿

[@gracehiler1428]

Honestly it makes equal sense for him to pray or not pray to him. Because that’s his only hope for not dying even if he has next to no faith in his dad it would be within reason to ask him for help. The only way it absolutely wouldn’t make sense is if he didn’t know he was about to fall and he definitely did. Anyways that’s all whateverish and doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I didn’t think this first season was good but there’s no way I’m ever giving up on it. So it’ll be fun to keep talking about it with other fans ❤

[@gisela_oliveira]

You said someting immportant there: Is not perfect. it seems like everyone wants every movie and show to be perfect, no flaws, no mistakes. but, thats immpossible. this show is a great show, is well made, the cast is great, the acting is good, I can't find any giant plothole or terrible mistake or someting really wrong happening, so is good. There are so many other projects that are truly bad, some even from disney

[@user-to6oy8fd4w]

@@gisela_oliveiraTHISSSS because why is everyone pinpointing every little change or mistake

[@talon532]

​@gisela_oliveira Really? So ig you overlooked the massive plothole where Percy missed the deadline and war had already started with explanation as to why the Gods made him do so? Yeah, that's not a giant plothole at all!

[@gisela_oliveira]

@@talon532 I'm sorry, but what? I don't understand

[@mediaconsumer7468]

It was weird that the show runners didn’t lean into show don’t tell when it’s a tv show. Percy didn’t spend enough time at camp either which disappointed me.

[@ale.h.s_13]

Especially Annabeth’s knowledge. There is a moment when Percy is surprised when Annabeth does not know something, but all throughout the show she has not been more than slightly analytical (in comparison to all her knowledge in the book). I don’t see why they decided to take that out.

[@snowyyzoe]

I agree. The first episode had too much narration. All we really needed was the opening “look I didn’t want to be a halfblood”. His age, him having adhd and dyslexia, teachers considering him troubled…that all could have been easily shown to us.

[@saige2975]

i think all of these issues can be solved with 60 min episodes the fact that they’re so short kills me 😭 also i don’t find the show to be difficult to follow along with my little sisters understood the severity of the war and peoples backgrounds pretty well but i agree that the show lacked urgency

[@csm235]

The problem, which I have with the series, is that the fashion in which the story is told seems to be a summarization of the first book. All of the events only become truly fleshed out when taking the corresponding part of the book, and the information one gathers there, into account. A viewer that has read the book will know immediately what happens to Percy socially when him being Poseidons son is revealed. That is not possible for a viewer who did not read the book. They simply cannot grasp the gravity of the „claiming“ as it is never shown to be as such. And the fashion in which the events are told amounts to a „ and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happended“ type of story telling. Therefore I believe the series to be lacking. The storytelling would benefit from more vivid depiction and less reliance on exposition.

[@ale.h.s_13]

Yeah. There is a number of things that are included but never explained (e.g. the beads, the blue food for god’s sake) that a new viewer would never understand. That restricts the viewership of the show, and is something that they definitely need to work more on. I actually think the movies did better in that sense.

[@csm235]

@@ale.h.s_13 I really hope that they will learn from their mistakes when making season 2. Percy Jackson deserves a great adaptation.

[@Nessy-wy3ks]

My only issue with this show is the pacing, that’s because of the short episode count (8 episodes only 20mins each) they simply didn’t have the time to delve into everything we wanted them to in detail. This is why we have the issue of it feeling like they didn’t spend enough time in certain locations or do certain moments from the book justice cause they had to move so fast from plot point to plot point. I do love this show and I want a season 2, but I want more episodes and for them to be longer

[@snc9035]

Honestly the only major issue I had with the show was with the Casino episode. I have a feeling disney may have had issues with showing kids getting kind of sort of intoxicated and having fun in a casino cause if not I truly don't get why they wouldn't give us a fun little montage of the gang having fun at Vegas. Other than that I don't have any serious gripes with the show. I think some changes they made did make sense. Like logically it never made sense to me that Percy's mom wouldn't prepare him for camp and all by telling him Greek myths. Them missing the deadline also did kind of make sense to me because it played into this idea of Percy starting submerge himself into this world and doing things for glory instead of just because he has to. However, I do also get why a lot of people were annoyed by this change. Overall I did enjoy the first season. It had some issues but hopefully they'll be able to work that out with the next season. Also the series flows a lot better if you binge it. I think part of the reason it felt so lackluster is because we would wait an entire and then be met with episodes that have a lot of talking and walking. However if you watch it all at once, it does feel a lot more balance because you're then not waiting for weeks on end for the action to finally start.

[@JC_Cali]

Literally one of a couple things the movies did better lol

[@Evoker23-lx8mb]

I personally enjoyed the movies more. I get the show is a more faithful adaptation (somehow only barely though), I prefer to show as an adaptation but as media I personally enjoy the movies more. Granted that may be because they were my first exposure to the franchise. I really enjoyed the series but it had so much unfortunately at this point unrealised potential.

[@nairrdlairrd]

I liked the Luke training flashbacks in the finale. Admittedly, it could feel like a last minute attempt to make Luke feel more relevant before the twist, but I liked what it had to say about the dynamics between the gods and demigods (the spider analogy was cool). I do agree that the actual twist scene didn’t work very well tho, mainly because of Annabeth’s reaction not feeling right at all

[@laurenholmes1987]

This is a really thorough analysis, but I disagree that missing the deadline was a good change. It just creates too many plot holes that the show isn't equipped to answer, like: 1. What's the point of having the kids already know about the Lotus Casino if they're still going to fall for the trap? It felt like the writers remembered that the main plot doesn't work if the kids don't lose track of time, but they also didn't know how to make that fit with the show's established precedent of revealing every trap before it happens. 2. Why did the writers decide that a long conversation with Hermes was the best solution for the issue above? He knows the kids are on a deadline to stop a family-shattering, possibly world-ending war, and yet still shaves days off of their timeline before making them aware of it. Ostensibly, this is Hermes sabotaging the quest just as much as Ares did. The show does nothing to justify or even acknowledge that fact. 3. The premise is that the war to end all wars will break out the moment the deadline passes. Yet when that happens, nothing in the world has changed. Why didn't Zeus just kill Percy, the presumed lightning thief, the moment the deadline passed and war had started? Why was Percy so adamant about still completing the quest, only to further delay it in favor of retrieving Sally *as soon as he discovered the master bolt*? 4. What does it mean for Poseidon to surrender to Zeus? What tangible consequence does forfeiting the war have, in order to explain the depth of the sacrifice he makes to save Percy's life? It's not clear, so the impact of the moment falls flat for me. TLDR; I don't really care that the show changed things from the books. I do care that those changes seem to have been made without trying to solve for the inconsistencies they create.

[@luvmeday]

I have to disagree on some of your specific thoughts, but overall I feel the same. It's an okay adaptation, and yeah it's better than the movies in terms of book accuracy (that's an easy feat though), but that doesn't make it a great show. Which sucks because they are GREAT books, so it's sad to see the show not live up to that. You thoughts on Luke's betrayal are also pretty interesting.

[@KP-vr6sm]

I think the big issues is the vocal majority refuse to admit the flaws they legit attack anyone who has good feedback ( pointing out plot holes the show is creating etc) so how will show improve?

[@anthonyscarborough3813]

As someone who hasn’t read the books, I really enjoyed it. In fact, it’s my favorite show of the year so far. Personally, I think the reason many fans refuse to accept any criticism of show comes down to how hard it is nowadays to tell the difference between genuine good faith constructive criticism and bad faith fascist bigotry that “criticizes” shows and movies for featuring diverse characters and being “woke”. I experienced this myself with the Obi-Wan Kenobi show.

[@Vor567tez]

Not a book reader but I didn't like the show as much I thought I will because of the hype it had. The first problem with the show is it's expository and doesn't hv element of suprise. It's like characters can't have any weakness. This is supposed to be a BIG quest! War is at stake, they r Greek gods and their children! But for some reason it never feels that. The trio also knows way too much and thus never are at loss. It also didn't help that they didn't show what Percy can do with his powers.

[@talon532]

People keep skinming over the fact that Percy missed the deadline and war had already begun. Casualties had been wrought on both sides, and yet...theres no mention of it?

[@growingupwithdisney]

The wordy exposition and low stakes from characters knowing everything bothered me. I never read the books, so I’m just going based on the show

[@EzaleaGraves]

I think the biggest issue with the show overall, bigger than any adaptation issues, bigger than specific story beats, is just that it feels average. The special effects are average, the soundtrack is average, the fight scenes are average. I don't know if I would go so far at to say that the Percy Jackson books were Gen-Z's Harry Potter, but it was definitely the closest thing to what the Millennials had. This show seems to have taken that potential and wasted it The show had a really big budget, and it certainly had the ability to become something spectacular, but if it wasn't an adaptation I don't know that it would be even as popular as later seasons of Stranger Things. The soundtrack is the thing that bothers me the most. Everyone can instantly recognize music from Harry Potter, Star Wars, and MCU movies. I don't know why they went with this very generic style of music rather than giving a properly memorable theme to the show, or at the very least to the characters. The only music I can recall is the end credits music, everything else (like the rest of the show) is just kinda mid There's nothing wrong with being average normally, someone's gotta be average, but this series had the potential to be the next big thing on streaming. I think that's why a lot of people hate it

[@bibibirdie]

I liked it quite a bit but I read the books like 3-4 years ago. I was rlly sad about the end tho coz rlly the only part of the book i remember vividly(other than krusty’s and the bathroom) was the scorpion and i was devastated when it wasn’t there bc i do think it was more climactic than what happened in the show

[@turnipcrazy4602]

I guess they didn't want to show Luke trying to kill Percy, probably to go more sympathetic route. To me this season with Luke made me feel that they are really trying to show that he was manipulated by Chronos into believing what he does now.

[@joshz2491]

I'm happy they cut that because I don't think it would have translated well, it is too passive, the reluctant sword fight, and having Annabeth there is way better given the medium.

[@edbertextreme]

I prefer luke try to convinced Percy than the scorpion. It show that Luke really think of Percy as friend

[@nathanielstacy4488]

This show also omitted Percy learning he speaks/understands Horse since Posiden created them. That point is a big thing threwout the series.

[@paolaarnez5840]

I hope this gets better on next seasons

[@jackieboo8146]

I think the reason they added 4 pearls was because it would have been silly of Poseidon to only give them 3 pearls when he knew for sure they were planning on getting Sally back too. So it is a good change to have 4 in the beginning and lose one

[@edbertextreme]

Yeah, if they don't know if Sally were with Hades than they can go with 3

[@f3lixie]

This video is almost cathartic to me bc you seemed to hit every single gripe I had about the show and I found myself agreeing with all the points you made up until the Luke portion but I still partially agree. I feel like after the quest, it's very clear that Percy and Annabeth are locked in as friends, and we all know how Percy feels about his friends, if they hurt he hurts. l like the betrayal in the books for this very reason as well as Percy's fatal flaw. In my opinion it really sets the tone for how much of a foil Luke is to Percy. There's also the huge problem that only 3 demigods go on a quest which isn't really challenged until TTC. (You could try to argue SoM but that was a separate quest, Percy really only wanted to save Grover) Nonetheless I wholeheartedly agree with the point of Luke being seen doing more good. I feel like as long as season 2 has longer episodes (let's hope for an hour ya'll) a lot will be fine but even if not, they still should have a better feel at adapting the story. It's only up from here! (hope!!)

[@american1207]

The movie was better 😭😭. Or it at least had more rewatch value. Hour and a half vs however long the show is. I'm never sitting thru all those episodes again

[@imperialsarcasm]

For most of the series except the end there isn't really a threat, it's like they're like yall read the books we're skipping this. It wasn't really engaging around the ep 5 to 7 mark it felt more like a casual speedrun to the end of the season where only episode 8 felt threatening.

[@josebuenrostro1430]

So I actually liked the change with the pearls because it showed Poseidon knew Percy was going to try and save his mother so he gave him enough so he could save the mom. It showed that Poseidon did in fact care for her and wanted Percy to succeed in saving her. So it did two things showed that Poseidon was smart enough to know what Percy was planning and showing that he's at the very least no as big an A-hole as Zeus.

[@blackmanwithcomputer]

Seems like this should've been an animated show or full Disney Studio movie.

[@thewatcher2538]

i had no hopes for the series, and it gasslit me into thinking it was gonna be faithful and then went and did weird ass changes, and it still managed to disappoint me

[@misfits9294]

I actually disagree with the choice to give four pearls instead of three like in the books. People in the comments are saying it's to show Poseidon's care for Sally, which is fine, but also, it's edging the line too close to ruining the prophecy for my liking. Let me explain: the entire point of having only 3 pearls was so Percy had to actively make the choice of who to leave behind in the underworld. It challenges him in a direct way, against his straight up fatal flaw of personal loyalty. The prophecy's line of "you will fail to save what matters most in the end" is in regards to Percy having to leave his mom behind. It hits harder in my opinion for Percy to have to make this choice from the get go, rather than losing one of the pearls. I could accept the losing one of the pearls anyway if it was a more dramatic way than simply getting swallowed by Cerberus, and if Annabeth was still there at the end (which is another criticism I have, what was the point of having Annabeth not at the height of the conflict with Hades, just to show we can lose people in the underworld? That's the initial point of Sally being left behind, and is done in a way that challenges Percy on a fundamental level). Basically this entire situation summarizes my feelings on this series: it isn't just that they changed it from the book, it's that in some cases, the way the book handled it was just better, so you might as well have just stuck to that. I understand movie making is different than writing a novel, things are gonna need to be cut and shifted around, but Rick, who is not a screenwriter and has never worked in film before, seems to have made some key flaws in what he chooses to keep, cut, and change and how you place it in order. The later episodes of the season are just written clunkily, the scenes don't feel like they fully fit together as well as they could. Like the books are straight up MORE streamlined than the d+ series which is insane because you'd want it to be opposite, right, make the film adaptation more streamlined. Anyway I hope these problems are fixed in the next season.

[@kaiumeda6341]

I wish this series was animated instead of live action

[@milodavis1]

As someone who was reading the books as they came out i was genuinely confused about the plot and i couldn’t remember what was from the book and what was from the movie, so any deviation from those plots was jarring. Everything felt rushed and i agree everyone seemed to know what was going to happen before it happened.

[@atp8108]

I’m also really disappointed that so much of the lore from the books didn’t make it into the show or wasn’t completely explained. I feel like they were just relying on the book readers to already know the context so they didn’t think they’d have to explain it? They didn’t explain the ambrosia and nectar, riptide, why Mr. D is so angry being stuck at camp or why he’s there in the first place, or the repercussions of being a child of the big three, why Zeus is so paranoid about Poseidon overthrowing him. We don’t get to see how bitter Hades is and how much of a grudge he holds against his family. Which was so odd bc the writing made a point to emphasize how much the gods play unfairly with their family members. And yet they don’t bother to show what a jerk Hades is supposed to be due to how poorly he’s been treated by his family members.

[@ale.h.s_13]

Thank you. The fact that it relies on prior knowledge makes new viewers less likely to fall in love with the story, particularly with the show as an individual entity. I can’t believe they left out explaining the camp beads, celestial bronze, and to a certain extent even Annabeth’s backstory (we are just told she is going to visit her had, but the monumentality of that fact is never mentioned). Etc.

[@atp8108]

@@ale.h.s_13 Right! Like her decision to go back to her dad’s, how she wrote him a letter, none of that had the impact it should have. It felt like the show spent way more time developing Percy and his mom rather than Annabeth or Grover.

[@elenaacosta482]

Totally agree with about 90% of this video. Thanks for providing the balanced take I was hoping for!

[@username_creates6991]

For Luke. I’m fine that Luke’s betrayel landed hard for Annabeth and not for Percy. Cus in the later books Percy isn’t as hesitant to kill him, Annabeth is. And we see Percy’s feelings for Annabeth and loyalty to her make up his decisions.

[@split776]

I've heard it summed up best as if the show's Percy read the Percy Jackson books

[@username_creates6991]

Nah it would have been good if they left the action, left stakes. The series is terrible. Good adaptation, terrible film making. The films were entertaining. The series was not. It was weirdly paced, for newcomers it was very hard to understand (I watched with my bf who hasn’tread the books and he said he didn’t understand why they let 12 year olds go on quest, why the gods live in the USA and not Greece… he didn’t understand how they knew where to go, he was bored with the action because he said the kids were too smart) Basically they made the series for book lovers who know the lore. But they should have treated the series as if they were telling the story for the first time. They haven’t explained that Gods send kids on quests cus they can’t interfere. The summer solstice is mentioned but never explained. In the books Percy needs to be the one to return the bolt because the Gods think he stole the bolt for Posidon. So thats why he goes. To explain it in short. Its bad storytelling and film making. I also can’t see Annabeth cus they have to get her character a 100% correct since they moved away from her description and ethnicity. In the Lotus casino we get to see her play with Architecture and how she thinks she can build a better world then the Gods themselves. And I haven’t gotten any of that and they’re key points to how they’ll build Annabeth’s character. In Mark of Athena we get to see more of who she is. She’s basically a character that had to prove herself cus she battled against a dumb blonde stereotype, now they’ll have to replace that storyline so they have to get it a 100% correct.

[@nightshadoew436]

19:45 I honestly think Zeus wanting to "continue"(and I say continue because the gods didn’t start the war after the deadlşne they started geairimg up for the war) the war was very stupid even for Zeus. He believed Percy when he said Kronos was coming back and was after the theft, yet he was still willing to fight Poseidon and his side, wekaining both of them, for what? Pride? It could have worked, Zeus could have tried to kill Percy for being insulting and failing the quest and Poseidon could have intervined the same way. But this adaptation does make gods stupid as even Athena, the goddess of fighting with intellegence, allows a monster to enter her temple and nearly kill her daughter and her friend, possibly dooming the Olympians to war because he sent Medusa's head to her, not even her specifically. Like being insulted by that is fine but she is supposed to be the strategic goddess, just write it down and take revenge later, you know like Ares did in book 3

[@florence_black]

While i agree with some of the criticism (but still enjoy the show very much) i found it funny, that "show don´t tell" is mentioned, but when they do that with Grovers & Annabeths motivations for going on the quest (which are sometimes told directly) than it´s not enough telling :D "We never get a good enough reason why each of them want to go on this quest". Yes we do like you mention it directly after this: Grover goes on the quest because 1.) He wants to prove himself as a good protector + 2.) Percy is his best friend, Annabeth does so because at first 1.) She wants to prove herself/earn her mothers respect and after that because 2.) she´s Percys friend and wants to help him find his mum. I think people forget that they´ve been raised with the idea that the gods/their parents approval is the most important thing for years since their childhood. For Annabeth a quest is a chance.

[@KnittingTinker]

I think in regards to the four pearls it is so that they had everything in place, but due to them losing the one, it drives the knife in further. Makes the decision even harder due to the fact they had lost the pearl meant for his mom and was meant to be there with them as they left. But due to the mistake they had to leave her

[@marcusmilligan3283]

You know what would have been cool is if the whole show was actually an anime because you can get away with a lot more extreme anwars and as well. Show how powerful intimidating the gods me and even show how powerful percy can be

[@shsl_empath5437]

i feel like the show wouldve heavily been improved by having twice as many episodes. it felt like there was so much telling and not showing bc they didnt "have time" for a whole new scene. like with more time, there could be better ways to include all the scenes they wanted to without it feeling choppy and moving from scene to scene to just match all the bits of the book. edit: i am also a HUGE fan of the books (its one of my special interests) and i genuinely feel like the musical did a much better job that the show did and it skipped a lot of the stuff that was in the book!! its important to either allot for the time to make all the scenes fit or to cut some stuff, even if ppl would be disappointed

[@susaniacuone5758]

I feel like Riordan saw his involvement in the series as a chance to revisit. Any author looking back after twenty years would have things that they'd handle slightly differently.

[@speaktruth9989]

Show don’t tell they really need to work on this in season 2 16:10 I wish they showed him blowing up a school it woulda been cool

[@politereminder6284]

I have 2 issues with this adaptation. 1) they are trying to retcon the personalities of most of the parents. Sally is harsher and stronger, so making her not soft and passive means she has no arc to grow into. This makes Gabe pretty much pointless The gods are presented as more loving than the book characters. Posiedensl sends 4 pearls in order to make it seem lie he cares a lot for Sally, insteadd of the book version who is a player who has kids with all sorts of females all over the place. They try to protray him as a loving paramore to Sally while simultaneously potrayinf him as a rapist to medusa. Makr it make sense! 2) The production quality was meh. The soundtrack was by the numbers. I cannot recall a single motif or theme. The cinematography was uneven. The direction was bland. They had good child actors to work with, but they were failed by the direction.

[@Hoosiergirl2022]

The point of the 4 pearls was to show how Poseidon still cares about Percy’s mother. Makes us feel like his dad is watching out for him and her. Same with Poseidon surrendering to save Percy. However, the deadline change I feel was unnecessary and didn’t add enough to Poseidon’s character to justify it.

[@imperialsarcasm]

Yeah the Gabe aspect is unnecessary because there's no mention of the relevance of being with him

[@luciabangueses091]

When they said the bathroom things and to hide odor from the half-bloods I understood it was why sally had a stinky partner, as a non-book reader.

[@spoggyfrenchtoast]

Great video! You should def check out the documentary they put out about the creation of the show. It answers ur question about whether Percy has ADHD or not in the show and gives more details into why some changes were made

[@bibibirdie]

Everything in me wants it to get at least 2 more season js coz I love Niko sm and the part where Percy thought he liked anabeth but he actually liked Percy is js 🤌chef’s kiss

[@joseedil]

Ok, I just have to point it out that Percy’s dyslexia is shown (not told) like less than 5 minutes into the series so it is not implied it is like 100% confirmed that series Percy has dyslexia and that knocks down a little bit the “they tell don’t show” criticism (which I think is very fair, but I don’t know, exposition about Annabeth’s past being delivered through dialogue puts us in the same headspace that Percy is and helps in the natural development of their friendship as Annabeth is first shown as a misterious and kind of a cold person and only after she warms up to Percy. At least before the capture the flag, a Annabeth’s flashback would end the mistery too well quickly, but I definetively agree with the low stakes stuff

[@samgartner9030]

Agree with mostly everything. It’s so rushed. I’m disappointed 😢

[@quistwing]

i mostly loved the show (the actors are good and i absolutely adore the trio) but i wish they'd had longer episodes, more episodes, or just split the first book into two seasons. most of the problems would be solved with more time tbh. maybe then they'd get the time to show us the three of them thinking and figuring things out instead of them already knowing it when they are there

[@LovelyGleek]

I'm late but my hot take: the movies really weren't as bad as people make them out to be. In fact, I would say they were more fun to watch than the series. That's not to say the series is bad. Just like Tronn, I think the series is fine. But I like the movies and some of the direction they took such as aging them up and omitting/changing certain plotlines. Could it have been better? Absolutely. I wish people would stop making the movies seem like it was one of the worst adaptations ever when it really wasn't lol I think a book like Percy Jackson is better to adapt as an animation medium instead of live action and both the movies and series just didn't hit the mark. But like Tronn said, there is always room for improvement! So I hope the directors and Rick take the criticism seriously and I hope Rick realizes he's a bit of a hypocrite now lol

[@nataly-ct8gh]

i'm not a fan of the crasty scene but i do like that percy and annabeth are actualy smart. we see the characters make a more sudden change in the second book where annabeth does know most things and percy is also well aware of monsters/gods in greek mythology, in the books we get to see him recognize them vaguely until he comes to the realization that he DOES know who he is talking to. Annabeth is the same, in the last few books she knows pretty much every single monster they face and she helps percy by giving him advice on how to defeat them. The fact that they know what is going on makes more sense to them as the characters we know them and their interactions with most monsters add more depth to them as characters. Most changes made are for future season references rather than to actually keep to the book. the adaptation is kind of rough this season because one of the best parts of the books was percy's internal dialogue which we don't have here (wish there was a narration like in deadpool. My biggest criticism is the opposite of yours, i wish they stopped explaining everything to us, going into the books you need some knowledge of greek mytholody and i think the show is explaining too much of the actual characters. If they made it more comic-style, like a little card that shows the name and some infor that would be so cool or if they made a brief stop for a narration from percy about the creature it would add the humor back to the show. Overall it's an alright season for it being the first of the series, the first book isn't all that great either but most first seasons (both movies and books) are likely the weakest overall and the least faithful to the characters,

[@jukori]

Don't think Luke on the quest would have worked - he'd change the whole dynamic of the group. They simply needed to spend more time at camp to establish their friendship

[@hmmmmmmmmmm..]

I skipped a beat when I saw how little attention this has gotten. This was so well made and honestly helped me figure out why this series felt a bit empty to me as I watched it.

[@andalilbitqueer]

Your first two examples of good and bad changes in adaptation are personally ironic because I have the exact opposite criticisms; first, I actually like the change for four pearls to be given to Percy instead of three, because it makes it so Poseidon knows that Sally is in the underworld and provides a contrast between how Poseidon treats Percy and how Hermes treats Luke, making it so when Luke turns, Percy actually has a reason to fight against him instead of the book's "muh western civilization", that said, i really don't like how losing the fourth pearl was executed, they should've just lost it in the underworld desert or have Hades steal it to challenge Percy which would've in turn given some great characterization for Hades. Now my reasons for Percy having difficulties in school are probably more personal as an ADHD kid; in the books, Percy was specifically kicked out of Yancy because he was completely distracted after the battle with Mrs. Dodds and started to fail his classes, I like how it's portrayed that Percy's disability is placing him in a bad place academically and that it's a failure in part because of ADHD and dyslexia + the school's inability to work with his disability and made him much more of a relatable character. Meanwhile, in the show, he was kicked out of Yancy because the school didn't believe him when he said that he didn't push Nancy. Personally, I don't like the shift of how Percy originally felt like he was wrong or a mistake because he was always disbelieved, instead of Percy feeling like he was a disappointment and a failure, an interpretation I much prefer that was portrayed really well in the musical. In regards to the special needs school he was kicked out off for having special needs, I felt like that was just handled really badly, to be completely honest.

[@richardmalagar9168]

I really appreciate this fair analysis. A lot better than other ones that are like you said heavily one sided

[@oldchannel_MoM]

Since I read the book before watching, I think it did help me like the show better than if I didn't read the book and watched it. But I did really enjoy watching, so much potential for the trio actors.

[@H.P.93]

I think the first season shows a good amount of potential and promise. Especially if the writers, etc take into account some of the constructive criticism. And if they give it more time per season, like 10 episodes or something.

[@joelparshley9499]

The show needed more episodes and time many of the episodes felt super rushed they should have done 12 episodes for the 12 olympians at 45 minutes- 1 hour long

[@apluscast]

8 episodes was perfect, it just needed longer runtimes. 55min each episode would have done the trick!

[@ashleyterry6424]

I agree with alot of what you said but I dont agree about the tunnel of love scene. I missed the action sequence (a major flaw for the series) and feel like we dont need to explore fatal flaws yet as thats a major plot point in sea of monsters. Was it an ok change? Sure, but the book scene would have been 100x better to watch.

[@talon532]

Think you're confusing die-hard fans of the books with die-hards fans of Rick. Die-hard fans of the books would not mind giving critiques about the show. Die hard fans of Rick would praise Rick and all of his works no matter the obvious flaws.

[@just_foxy35]

I enjoyed the series, moreso than the movie (I haven't learned there was also a second one until like last year)I never read the books mind you, and the series finally made me want to I did feel like at least one another episode at the camp would be nice, but that ties back to the (imho) biggest detriment to the series, only 8 episodes in the season. it doesn't need to have 20+ like most series do, but 10-12 would still allow for a bit more exposition room than 8. it might be the fact I binged the series within one day, or it might be my not full but still prior knowledge of the overarching story... but it felt too... rushed in places it could've been dragged just a smidge longer. just enough to leave me hanging and WANT to put on the next episode, not because I like to watch things like that, but because I NEED to get my answers right there and then

[@NanishenmetF]

As one of the haters of the show that does think the first movie is better (which is quite depressing) let me just say, I wouldn’t mind changes to the story at all if they were DONE WELL. And literally nvrmd all of that, the biggest reason why I dislike the show is because it’s BORING and SOULLESS. The only reason why I even bothered to finish it and why I’m sure many others continued w it, is because of our loyalty to the books and how good we know they are. But if the books didn’t exist, and you were watching the show from a blank slate, let’s all be honest w ourselves, it’s boring af and no one would’ve bothered w it. The trio’s too serious all the time, every ep is structured as: encounter obstacle, Percy/Annabeth knows how to overcome the obstacle, journey on. It’s a bland sparknotes retelling of the book + some attempts at changes that weren’t done well. So, yeah ://

[@atp8108]

I’m glad I’m not the only one bothered by the writing in the show. I kept going on to PJO Twitter and seeing constant praise and I felt like I was going crazy. Yes the major plot points have been successfully adapted, but so much of the nuance and the character dynamics feel lost from the books. Percy being a child of the big three is def much more underwhelming/less dangerous in the show. And I really don’t like how they made Annabeth so infallible. We don’t get into the reasoning as to why she finds it so hard to trust and open up to people. The trauma of having ran away from home and being rejected by her father doesn’t feel as intense as the book. It also bothered me that everyone kept saying she’s the best warrior at camp when the whole reason why she wanted to go on the quest in the first place was bc she wanted to prove herself. I also felt like the backstory with Grover and Thalia didn’t get the weight it deserved. He felt like he had failed and when he got a second chance bringing Percy to camp, he felt he messed that up too. Him going in the quest with Percy was his redemption and that wasn’t touched on here at all. I’m just really surprised so much of what made the book great wasn’t in the show. Does Rick not remember these aspects of his own story?

[@growingupwithdisney]

I get why they did 4 pearls, making one of them lose it can add to the stakes. Since there’s no way the underworld is that safe that they all manage to keep theirs.

[@gracehiler1428]

Fair point! I never consciously considered it but I remember especially watching the movies all those years ago seeing the pearls stressed me out because they’re so small and fragile. It’s easier to not think about it when reading for me.

[@growingupwithdisney]

@@gracehiler1428 yeah, it also shows how kind the water/Poseidon is to Percy since he gave him 4 pearls

[@brianfutcher6674]

I would like to point out that Percy does have dyslexia, the words on his assignment in the first episode were shuffling around to represent his dyslexia.

[@xtentasticx]

13:32 You're completely wrong, the book readers 100% notice if you look at the reddit. They are PISSED because they were exicted to SEE it on SCREEN! They hated hearing the books practically read to them.

[@ardliellevilla6725]

Spending more time in camp half blood will also put more weight with Luke being the theif because they spent most of the time training together, they couldve also shown clarisse being more antagonistic so the accusation they made in the show i more believable

[@Baphypathrid]

The main reason I’m not a huge fan of the series is that it was just boring. There was no tension, that’s the main reason I love the movies so much. Although given I haven’t read the books, so my opinion doesn’t weigh as much but at least they were fun. They might have been stupid but they were fun

[@WR3ZTLN6LF3Kxng]

They did mention Gabe's smell covering Percy it was just very quick exposition

[@akeklife6609]

You compared Hogwarts to Camp Half-Blood I completely agree that disney could make a small theme park out of it and make some money. But the difference between both places is that in Harry Potter, the entire setting, or at least 85%, is at Hogwarts. We see the classrooms, the revolving staircases, the quidditch pitch, and the great hall. The climax of the first book/film is taken place inside the castle where we see the trio go up against the tasks the professors created to protect the Sorcerer's Stone. We stay inside that castle for the duration of the books/film. For Percy Jackson, we stay at CHB for a little bit because most of the story is taken place outside the camp. The climax is taken place in Hades and on the beach against Ares nowhere near camp. And like you mentioned, in the book, Percy is at camp for a month before he leaves, Harry Potter is at Hogwarts for 9-10 months. But I will say, if the series gets renewed and we see Percy for the next 5 years, that's enough time to flesh out CHB and for disney to decide to make a theme park out of it.

[@waterbabeful]

These are really good points I loved the books and seeing a better adaptation made me happy but I didn't think about the show standing on its own

[@fernandodecarlosmalcher7977]

personally I really liked the show, although, hopefully it improves for the second season, it didn't really bothered me how the kids figured things out because it made sense that they would know about greek myths like, a garden filled with statues of monsters, yeah... that's medusa, it's in the lotus casino where things are to much, however, still had a great time and looking forward to the next season, now at days it feels like if a show or a movie isn't an 8/10 is garbage

[@disneyplusreviews]

Changes were mostly fine other than the action scenes were way too short

[@joseedil]

I actually think Luke was 100% better in the show, Luke betrayal hits harder here because is better set up here. Also, the reason they put the fighting training scene in ep 8 is to remind us of their relationship before the betrayal. We actually pass a long time without design Luke so the average viewer could have forgotten of him

[@jam8444]

I don't think it's the number of pearls bothering me. It's the implication of a safety net. Three pearls worked, despite it not making sense to go in with the intention of saving 4, because it gives a sense of impending doom: that a sacrifice will eventually be made. Similar to Thalia's sacrifice, to Sally's sacrifice. It was a missed opportunity to deepen themes of sacrifice. Or Percy could have lied and said they had 4 but had 3 all along, intentionally choosing to doom himself. It still would've made sense because Percy cares more about other people than he does himself. The 4 vs 3 pearls argument is that it could have been a great character moment, instead of a plot device. Another personal change I would've wanted was more animosity from Percy against his father. It could have been visually represented in the way he refuses to use his powers as it will be associated with the god who betrayed his brothers, the father who abandoned him and who let his mother be taken away by the minotaur. It could have given the scene when his father actually does save him against Zeus, that much more weight. Overall, I just wanted to see more of how Percy actually felt about the people around him instead of being this genius conspiracy theorist who solves every mystery in the first minute. Great video by the way! You broke down all the points so articulately.

[@mylittledowooheart8676]

7:15 : I do think that at one time Percy mentioned that the last time there was a war between the gods it raged World wars on earth 😮 or might just be me

[@AngelRuiz-xq2ie]

I liked the show, but I think it can get better. I think the show is gonna take the feedback and get better with the Sea Of Monsters, but I think it’ll reach its full potential when they get to The Titans Curse and they don’t have the movies to compensate for/compare to for mistakes

[@TLorman-io8wm]

TBH I don't think I would enjoy watching this as a kid with little to no familiarity with Greek myths. Camp Half-Blood feels empty and boring, especially compared to something like Harry Potter. And they keep throwing around these different god names like we're supposed to know exactly what they can do and how powerful they are just based on a brief description, which doesn't help bc when the Gods do show up they almost have no presence. Bc of that it kinda feels like a Ancient Greek version of a Pureflix film (esp with how weirdly overly pious Annabeth sounds sometimes, or how they refer to the will of the Gods etc.), since the superhero-like status of the Gods is almost always just implied or undercut.

[@ViperPilot16]

Wait wait wait, its "ok" for this show to be bad, but not the movies that came before it. I won't defend Sea of Monsters, but The Lightning Thief was on the better end of average. It also has action, something the new show is afraid of for some reason. Tldr: Hypocrite

[@spiderneil]

They changed it from 3 pearls to 4 pearls because if Poseidon had given Percy 3 pearls he would have looked like an unsympathetic arsehole. They turned Annabeth’s fear of spiders into exposition as a metaphor for spiders being small but scary so get killed.

[@ofekma12345]

Percy 'causing' troubles in the books wasn't his fault, it's due to his nature as a half blood, being attacked by monsters and not controlling his powers that he didn't even know he had

[@thegoldentb7596]

Yeah. I concur with you. While I don’t think the show is bad, I am underwhelmed. I’m still hopeful that Uncle Rick will see reviews like this and adjust seasonings 2 accordingly.

[@theshadow4887]

Luke brought up Annabeth being afraid of spiders specifically to highlight a point he's making; it's not just exposition.

[@georgehunt292]

I really like the four pearls change, it solidifies that Poseidon really cares for Sally, and it makes the final scene of Poseidon emotionally reacting to Percy’s question work so well

[@spillthe_bea]

the true best percy jackson adaptation is the musical and i stand with this fact ahha

[@amayao601]

If you don't compare the show to the source material it's good, not the best thing ever but entertaining enough to be a success, now if you compare it to the source material it becomes a not so good show bc of all the inconsistencies and plot holes it creates. Im a big PJO fan so ofc i was a little disappointed by some changes thats why i like to watch the shows without considering the source material to see if the story holds by itself without needing book context or anything like that, I do have to say the main cast (the trio) was really well casted and they are perfect for their roles

[@monkeydadrian2028]

I honestly like the series because of how badly the movies did Percy jackson.. one of the big problems were probably luke's backbiter because how can he have a sword that uses a portal? how exactly will the battle of the labyrinth work? but I still really like it as a fan of the percy jackson book seriesl.

[@apluscast]

It probably has the ability to transport out of Camp-Half Blood but not in.

[@jukori]

whenever I think of Luke I picture him like Oliver Wood from Harry Potter