Percy Jackson and the Olympians: you’ve heard of it, right? The series had over 180 million books sold worldwide as of 2022. But, we are not talking about the books right now. We are talking about the Disney+ show, starring Walker Scobell as Percy, Leah Jeffries as Annabeth, Aryan Simhadri as Grover, and Charlie Bushnell as Luke.
If you forgot what the first season is about, here is a synopsis. The story follows a 12 year old Yancy Academy attendee named Percy Jackson. But Percy is no ordinary 6th grader, he is a demigod and the son of Poseidon (god of the sea). As the book progresses, Percy, along with Annabeth Chase (daughter of Athena), and Grover (a satyr), go on a mission to find Zeus’s missing master bolt and make sure a war doesn’t break out in Mount Olympus.
Now that you know what happens in the first season, let’s get into it! I really liked seeing my favorite characters on the screen, even if how they appeared in the book changed for the series. We still have our oblivious Seaweed Brain. The virtual effects were spot on. All the monsters looked spotless. My favorite effect was probably Medusa’s hair! The casting was amazing too! Walker Scobell was the perfect Percy. All the actors really made the characters come to life.
I loved the Indian representation with Aryan Simhadri as Grover. As an Indian myself, I was really happy. There are not a lot of characters in books, movies and shows in Hollywood with Indians or actors that are Indian. Having such an important character in Percy Jackson be played by an Indian had me rejoicing. Especially when I found out he speaks the same Indian language as me!
The only thing I didn’t like was how they changed when Percy found the lighting bolt, and some of the character’s appearances. In the books, the trio cuts it extremely close to the deadline. However, in the show they don’t meet the deadline, but still deliver the bolt. All people who read the book first then watch the show know that appearances are always a bit of a problem. I actually didn’t mind the changes. It only bothered me a little.
Overall, Disney did an amazing job at capturing the plot of the first book in PJO (Percy Jackson and the Olympians). Happy watching everyone!
