Let's get it out of the way: the first season of Disney's Percy Jackson and the Olympians was not perfect. A lot of scenes were too dark, the score gets too loud in some places, and the show's pacing is not that great. Moreover, it's changed so much from the original that one might call it a less-than-faithful adaptation. But that doesn't take away from how good the show is.
Photo retrieved from https://ondisneyplus.disney.com/show/percy-jackson-and-the-olympians
In the previous article, we talked about the long and arduous journey to finally getting Percy Jackson a good adaptation. We discussed how the movie never lived up to the book and how it killed hopes for a blockbuster movie franchise the likes of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. We talked about how Rick Riordan's involvement made fans feel confident that this would be the adaptation that we've all been waiting for. I even mentioned how the first two episodes gave me hope that the series was, in fact, a step in the right direction in giving Percy the adaptation it deserves.
Now that the first season is over, I can confidently say that Disney's Percy Jackson and the Olympians was not a faithful adaptation—but it didn't have to be.
One of the advantages that the show had was having its original creator in the writing room. The show manages to transition into contemporary culture, which is necessary considering that it's almost two decades old.
As we know, it is impossible to lift every single thing from a book into a film or a TV show. Problems are bound to arise because storytelling methods are not the same across different mediums. That's why we never measure an adaptation by how perfect an adaptation it is, rather by how much of the plot, tone, and spirit of the original is present. For the most part, the show had been successful in making these all apparent.
From the moment we found out that the show will only have eight episodes, each running for less than an hour, I already knew that things would be changed or omitted entirely, which is completely fine. After all, the Lightning Thief musical managed to condense the whole book into two hours. The most important thing is that all of the story beats that needed to be hit were there, and nothing had been changed without reason (looking at you, Tennessee scene).
Moreover, some of the more obvious changes were crucial to the story as a whole to make sure that the details fit the current cultural and social climate or to elaborate details and characters from the story.
A prime example of this is the elaboration of Medusa's character in the third episode of the series. Over the years, certain interpretations of the original myth have made her out as a more sympathetic figure, a victim of the gods more than anything. This is portrayed quite well in the episode, where Medusa talks about power struggle and how she had to bear the punishment of the gods.
The tone is where things become a little sketchy. Most of us who have been fans for years come to expect a light show with dark moments; instead, we got somewhat the opposite. The show suffers from the recent "edgifying" phenomenon, in which media intended for younger audiences are made to look darker (in some episodes, quite literally) to attract an older audience. Though the script does retain Percy's personality, the lack of his inner world narration definitely takes away from the storytelling in this medium.
The series also suffers in its pacing. It's hard to get hooked onto a story as rich as The Lightning Thief when each episode ends right before you've had the time to process any of it. The series being released on a schedule of one episode per week gave the viewers time to process and discuss, however it was still made for a streaming platform. It was made to be binged in one sitting, and having episodes end abruptly then moving on to the next gives you little time to react. Additionally, some episodes feel like a collection of scenes more than anything, and though that literally is how a story is meant to unfold, it definitely speaks to how well the transitions are executed.
Overall though, the spirit of the book is definitely there. The moments that highlight the characters' youthfulness offer much needed brightness to the story without taking away the gravity of the stakes. The humor is smart and subtle as well as evident in both the dialogue and the actors' physicality.
Speaking of the series' actors, Denise Chamian and Jordana Spiurka deserve their flowers for putting together such a brilliant cast for this first season. Seeing the chemistry among Walker, Leah, and Aryan both on and off screen is a brilliant thing to experience. Charlie Bushnell's Luke and Dior Goodjohn's Clarisse, both playing demigods, definitely struck a chord. Jason Mantzoukas and Jay Duplass provided great comic relief and were standouts despite having only little screen time. Lance Reddick's Zeus was something to behold in all of his under five minutes' worth of screen time and is truly a loss to the series.
The existence alone of the series, along with its initial success, is a triumph in itself, a result of the fandom's persistence and dedication to the book getting the adaptation that it deserved.
As of today, there's still no news regarding a second season; however, we're all feeling very optimistic considering that the show has managed to prove itself to both its fans and the general public. Hopefully, we get both the news and the season sooner rather than later.
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