The Percy Jackson Show: Review (SPOILERS)

graphic courtesy of teenvogue.com

Walnut Grove VIRIDIAN News staff Makenzee Kelley gives her review on the Percy Jackson show and compares it to the books and the movies.
by Makenzee Kelley

image courtesy of DisneyPlus

On December 19, 2023, Disney released the ‘Percy Jackson’ show. Due to the original ‘Percy Jackson’ movies, many people expected the show to be a flop. However, with the first season finished, the people were satisfied with the results. I, too, think the show is a much better outcome than the movies.

Compared to the movies, the Percy Jackson show is much more accurate to the book. While the movie completely ignored many aspects of the book, small details like the blue food that Sally Jackson makes, or the bully, Clarissa, not even being mentioned, the show focuses on those little details that make the storyline much more interesting. 

The ages of the actors and actresses are more accurate, too. In the books and show, Percy Jackson and his friends are about twelve years old. But in the movies, they portrayed them as about sixteen or seventeen years old. 

Some other details that the movies ignored, but the show added in, are things like Ares being a main antagonist, or Annabeth’s nickname for Percy, “Seaweed Brain”. The movies never mention Luke’s shoes activating to “Maia”, and instead says the wearer needs a running position to fly. In the books and show, Percy never wears the shoes because of Zeus’ warning about Poseidon’s son in the sky. Instead, he gives them to Grover, which they find out was a trap by Luke to drag Percy to Tartarus. However, the movies portray Percy wearing them and not getting sucked to the depths of Tartarus. 

I actually enjoyed the show. I liked reading when I was younger, so I had read all of the Percy Jackson series. When I watched the movies, they were honestly disappointing and did not meet my expectations. They had changed so many details that it felt like a rip off Percy Jackson. But the show includes all the small and big details. The show actually follows the story line and intrigues the viewers to keep watching. 

Yet, I have some of my own critiques. I don’t like the casting for Hades. I picture Hades as scary and angry, and taller. But instead, we have some guy who doesn’t really give off “King of the Underworld” vibes. I also think that Gabe should have been meaner. In the books, Gabe is abusive and cruel. The show just kind of makes him seem rather annoying. Sally Jackson is supposed to kill Gabe later on in the series, so the portrayal of Gabe now doesn’t seem justifiable to end him later. Overall though, I thought the show was much better than the movies.

I look forward to future seasons. I’m interested in Thalia’s return, and Leo Valdez with his dragon, Festus. I am also excited to see the return of Gaia and the big war at Camp Half-Blood. However, I think it will be a while until those seasons come out. 

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