The new Percy Jackson series

[Anonymous]

I watched the first two episodes on Disney + so here are my thoughts (never read the books, but I remember the older movies).

The actress who plays Percy Jackson's mom is great. My favorite performance from what I've seen so far.

The writing is shallow and gimmicky, especially for Grover the satyr in several scenes. I don't like to be critical of child actors, but many of the child actors (not just Grover) are either badly directed or just not that amazing.

It was overall okay. Good messaging for kids with disabilities. Reminded me why I never got curious enough to read the books though.

[Anonymous]

Are Chiron and Dionysus as emotionally inept with children as they are in the show? Jeez.

[Anonymous]

*in the books as they are in the show

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are Chiron and Dionysus as emotionally inept with children as they are in the show? Jeez.

Pretty much. Mr. D largely acts like he hates the campers most of the time. The gods generally don't care much for the kids and that drives the entire series. Chiron is somewhat better but he still hides a lot from Percy.

I have read all the books and seem the musical and really love the series. So far I like the show. The pacing is a bit off and I find the books to be a lot funnier than the show. But at its heart it is a Disney show made for kids not adults. I think it's important to take thet into account when judging the show. Right now the actors are supposed to be 11. Remember the first Harry Potter books/movies were very different than the later ones and I imagine the PJ series will be similar. Although it never gets AS dark as Harry Potter. The lightning thief is still a general low stakes book compared to the other books in the series.

[Anonymous]

Annabeth is annoying. Loved Medusa in episode 3 though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Annabeth is annoying. Loved Medusa in episode 3 though.

I mean I think in the books she is generally a self righteous know it all at first. It takes a bit for her to open up and trust others and for them to work as a team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Annabeth is annoying. Loved Medusa in episode 3 though.

I mean I think in the books she is generally a self righteous know it all at first. It takes a bit for her to open up and trust others and for them to work as a team

Yeah, if the character is annoying you, then the actress is playing it well. She annoys the heck out of Percy in the first book, and over time their relationship changes.

So far, I'd give the show an A-. The first 2 episodes were A+, but it slowed a little bit episode 4. Which was a bummer, bc it was a great chapter in STL.

But the show is fantastic. They are doing an amazing job with the source material

[Anonymous]

Why was episode 4 so short?!? Booo!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are Chiron and Dionysus as emotionally inept with children as they are in the show? Jeez.

Those two are worse in the books.

I've read this book (not all the books, there are many) and I think the show is good. The first two episodes were stronger than the second two but I think the child actors are doing great. I also love the changes they made to his mom and step mom, compared to the books.

There are some weird cuts / jumps that I assume were made for time, like the cold open with the oracle, that aren't ideal. I think editing hurts the medusa episode in particular.

[Anonymous]

^ *step-dad not stepmom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why was episode 4 so short?!? Booo!

It's a writing and production choice. The showrunners/writers figured, I think rightly, that they had quite a few big action pieces to handle in the last half of this season. They decided that if they tried to jam too many of those together in any one episode, things would get too crowded, so to speak. They chose to have an episode with just the St. Louis Arch plotline, separate from what comes next, tomorrow night (which will include Waterworld/the "thrill ride o' love" plus meeting Ares for the first time, apparently). So better to handle the St. Louis-Echidna-Chimera incident as one episode and let it breathe on its own. I thought the length was fine for the storyline. Source: An article I read, which I'd gladly link but can't remember exactly where.

Upcoming episode lengths have been announced and they're running longer than Ep. 4. Not tons longer. I think the longest upcoming episode is something like 40-44 minutes though.

[Anonymous]

I’m not a fan of the books at all, but the ending of episode 4 almost made me cry. As someone who knows what it’s like to be abandoned by your parents, that was good to see at the end.

[Anonymous]

This was one of my DS’s favorite book series as a teenager :

He thought it was well done.

[Anonymous]

My kids don’t like the casting for annabeth at all. They love the books. I’ve never read the books and didn’t have a problem with her. They also said that Grover isn’t funny enough.

[Anonymous]

Percy Jackson was my now-17 year old’s favorite book as a child. I read every single Rick Riordan book out loud to him. He is dyslexic and has ADHD tendencies, so the books meant a lot.

We are watching together and enjoying it. Much better than the movie that came out casting sexy 18 year olds - this is a series about adolescent searching, and the casting of children is appropriate. I like it!