Helmed by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg, Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1 follows a 12-year-old demi god named Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) who is accused by the Greek god Zeus (Lance Reddick) of stealing his thunderbolt, resulting in many beings of Greek mythology to go after him. With the help of newfound friends, Percy must race against time to find the bolt and restore order to Olympus before an all-out war happens that puts the fate of everything at risk.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a truly beloved fantasy book series that many people, including myself, grew up reading, and it remains hugely popular even today. With the success of the Harry Potter film adaptations, two film adaptations for the first two books of Percy Jackson were attempted but unfortunately, they were complete failures that were unable to capture the magic or the accuracy of the books.
But from the fires of the failed adaptation came hope in the form of the very author of the book series himself, Rick Riordan, who promised to help deliver a better and proper adaptation of his work. Almost 10 years later Rick Riordan has finally given that promised adaptation in the form of an 8-episode season and it was absolutely amazing. Not only is it superior to the previous adaptations in every single way but it may perhaps be one of the best fantasy book adaptations we have had in years, with the potential to one day rival the Harry Potter franchise if given the chance.
I was so nervous about how this adaptation was going to turn out after such a long wait, but I was majorly happy with everything this series gave to me from start to end, as I felt like I was truly absorbed into the wonderfully crafted world of Percy Jackson that I read growing up.
This near-perfect adaptation gave me everything I wanted and a lot more thanks to the truly talented and perfectly chosen cast and crew under Rick Riordan’s strong leadership. This series is guaranteed to not only satisfy fans who have been waiting patiently but also bring in new ones who may have not read all the books, making this a series that anyone can watch and really get into.
There is a lot to dive into for this first season but for this review I won’t go into any major spoilers, but I will discuss a few minor ones such as certain character appearances.
Kicking things off is the previously mentioned perfectly chosen cast because they were the ones that truly brought Rick Riordan’s wonderful characters to life in such brilliant ways with each cast member getting the chance to shine and deserve serious recognition for their work in this series. Spearheading the story is the trio of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover played by Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri respectively. These three are the heart and soul of the story so getting them right was the most important thing for this show to do and I can happily say they were done right. Walker, Leah, and Aryan perfectly fit into each of their roles embodying all the major traits of the characters from the book and getting us to be invested in them due to their strong performances and fantastically written arcs.
Walker excels at delivering Percy’s sassy nature while also embodying his loyal to-a-flaw type persona as we see him grow from an outcast into a hero in a greatly paced and thrilling modern-day Greek odyssey. Walker also manages to capture the charm, the heart, and the many emotions Percy endures on his journey, which is something the previous adaptations never attempted to do in the slightest. He is the misfit underdog that we are all rooting for like in other stories involving Greek heroes and you can’t help but just love him along with his comrades.
Leah Sava Jeffries beautifully captures the strength and smarts of Annabeth Chase, truly bringing the daughter of Athena to life in the best way possible with a great range of emotions and a compelling arc of seeking to prove herself on this quest. All those ignorant individuals who doubted that Leah could ever play the part of Annabeth have been put to shame because she truly slayed with this performance embodying all the signature traits of the character and giving us many significant powerhouse scenes.
Also, the way that the bond between her and Percy grows naturally which in turn makes her open up from her initially cold persona is handled extremely well throughout this series making for a far more convincing relationship than what came before. She was an absolute star that I adored and rooted for in this entire series and I wish nothing but the best for Leah’s future beyond this series.
And then there is Aryan Simhadri who brings all the heart and laughs to the role of Grover the satyr. He wonderfully plays the supportive and peacekeeping best friend that anyone would need in their lives, especially Percy and Annabeth. He can be a lovable dork at times but he also proves his worth and loyalty to his friends in the most dire of times and return his friends support him when he is in need. I didn’t know much about Aryan Simhadri when going into this series but after seeing his awesome work in this I’d love to see where else he may pop in next.
As a trio, they share energetic chemistry feeling like actual best friends growing together on a grand quest and not just actors pretending to be best friends. Rick Riordan made the right choice casting these three and he made even more right choices with the rest of the supporting cast in this series with each cast member standing out on their own no matter how brief their appearances may be. All of them are fantastic with their respective performances but given that there is a lot of supporting characters I am only going to discuss the ones that stood out the most to me.
First, there is Virginia Kull who plays Percy’s selfless mother Sally Jackson who nails down some of the most emotional scenes of the season especially the ones involving her and Percy, and one particularly heartbreaking scene between her and Poseidon. You truly feel the love and pain her character has endured over the years to protect Percy from the great dangers of the fantastical world of Greek mythology thanks largely to Kull’s performance making her feel very impactful to Percy and his journey which was a major factor that was missing from the previous adaptation. Sally was treated as a second thought in the first film while here she is at the forefront of Percy’s mind every step of the way and it was her teachings that made Percy the selfless hero he would become on his journey, making her feel like she is a crucial part of the story even when she isn’t on screen.
Next, there is the gorgon Medusa who only appears in one episode yet was acted beautifully by Jessica Parker Kennedy and looked stunning. Kennedy gives Medusa a dangerous and unsettling presence the very moment she comes on screen even before later seeing her infamous snake hair. And when we do see the snake hair it looks stunning as it seemingly mixes practical effects with light amounts of CGI, selling it as a whole and making her stand out hugely from most of the effects-heavy past interpretations of Medusa. Despite her short role, she was very memorable, which is more than can be said for Uma Thurman’s previous portrayal.
Another short but memorable character was the menacing mother of monsters Echidna, played by Suzanne Cryer. While not as fearsome in looks compared to Medusa Echidna makes up for it with her sadistic personality and obsession with her monsters (including the deadly Chimera) making her a dangerous obstacle that the trio faces off against. Suzanne was able to deliver some great unnerving tension as this character in her first onscreen appearance I consider her to be one of the most underrated castings of the season as a whole.
When it comes to the gods of Olympus, Rick Riordan picked the best choices for the ones that appear in this story including Jason Mantzoukas as Dionysus, Timothy Omundson as Hephaestus, Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes, Adam Copeland as Ares, Jay Duplass as Hades, Toby Stephens as Poseidon and finally Lance Reddick as Zeus in his final role.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is full of fun energy in his portrayal of Hermes but also manages to perfectly display feelings of regret that he carries on his sleeve, making him feel like one of the most human gods next to Hephaestus and Poseidon who have similar moments that speak emotional volumes and are played amazingly by their respective actors.
Jay Duplass gives us a stylish and somewhat sleazy Hades that was having so much fun in his role and it made me want a lot more of him when he came along.
But for me, my favorite casting was Adam Copeland as the God of War, Ares. As one of the most crucial characters of the season, it was important that Ares was adapted perfectly and he was thanks to an outstanding performance by Adam Copeland who displays some serious acting chops with his ability to transition from being entertainingly humorous to being ruthlessly aggressive and full of himself living up to the deity’s reputation. With several WWE stars giving a go at acting in big studio franchises in recent years I can say that Adam Copeland has had one of the most impressive acting debuts in a major project next to Dave Batista and I am hoping we can see him in more projects going forward.
And then we come to Lance Reddick as Zeus who only appears in the final episode of the season but delivers one hell of a final performance that forever cements himself as a truly remarkable actor who was taken away from us too soon. Lance Reddick brought an immense presence the very moment he stepped on screen, showing just how powerful the king of the Greek gods is meant to be as well as just how dangerous he can be to those that attempt to insult him. Even through his eyes, he shows great ferocity that you can never look away from and makes this final performance for Reddick one to truly remember. How I wish we could have still had him here with us to continue playing this role because he truly was the perfect casting choice for Zeus and will be missed dearly by all.
The entirety of this season is based on the first book “The Lightning Thief” and from start to end it is a near-perfect adaptation of the story with only a few notable changes to make it work in a TV format. Like the original story, it plays out like a classic and epic Greek Odyssey but is all set in the modern world.
The season’s narrative is full of fantastic thrills and exciting turns while also being full of great heart and compelling emotional moments that the film adaptation of the first book was completely missing. Rick Riordan and the crew that made this season were focused on making sure this series would do justice for the fans while also welcoming new generations to fall in love with the fantastic world they invite everyone into, which I am majorly happy with.
And even with some of the changes they made with this adaptation, they all worked well in favor of the series never ruining anything from the original story but instead stayed true to most of the elements of the source material and even enhanced some of them. This is the kind of creative passion that many YA fantasy adaptations have been missing for years after the conclusion of the Harry Potter film series and as a longtime fan of the books I am so happy to finally see this series get its time to shine under proper hands starting off strong and sticking the landing in an emotionally intense finale.
Now even though this series is narratively great and well paced there is one particular creative choice made for the show that I feel impacts the flow of the season as a whole. In every episode, there are these specifically timed cuts to black, almost like when a commercial is about to play, that break up the episodes into sort of mini-acts similar to most non-stream made shows on TV. While they aren’t as frequent or bothersome as other shows they do disrupt the flow of each episode, especially in episodes where things are getting extremely tense or thrilling. It may just be a personal nitpick for me but I do hope that when they do a second season they could maybe ditch these cuts and just let episodes flow without any interruptions.
When it comes to technical elements this series features some amazing work in terms of action, effects, cinematography, and music. The action, when it occurs, is done really well and has great tension to it, even though we are only scratching the surface of how strong some of these characters will become including Percy. My two favorite action scenes in this season are the Camp Half-Blood CTF battle in the first episode and then the two sword duels in the finale due to how they are executed and how emotionally charged they are.
When it comes to effects this series uses a large amount of practical effects and sets over CGI, making the world feel much more alive and making the more CGI-heavy scenes that come later look better. For instance, Camp Half-Blood is a full-on real camp filmed on a real location and not on a studio backlot, making it feel fully natural. Then there is also Waterland Park which looks completely hand-built and features impressively built set pieces. Even when the characters get to some of the CGI-heavy locations like the Underworld and Mount Olympus a majority of it looks like a seamless mix of practical sets mixed with some CGI elements but it was honestly hard to tell the difference, which I was impressed by.
There were some moments in earlier episodes where the CGI would seem a little iffy but it got much better later as the series progressed, with some of the best visuals coming in around episodes 5, 7, and 8. CGI is also used for a selection of certain beasts and all of them looked damn good with some awesome designs that make them all look fearsome.
Also, the cinematography looks absolutely stunning in many of the episodes, but there was one recurring issue that seemed to pop up in some episodes when it came to filming night scenes. Whenever they filmed certain scenes in the dark in some episodes it was nearly impossible to see what was going on due to a lack of proper lighting, which admittedly annoyed the hell out of me since some important things were going on in each scene. I hope that next time they work on filming better-lit night scenes so we can see what is actually happening without the need to brighten the screen.
When it comes to music we have the awesome Bear McCreary composing the score for this season, delivering whimsical and epic tracks fitting for the grand adventure Percy and his friends take that further absorbs viewers into this awesome fantasy world. The main theme of the show is easily my favorite track of the season and I hope we could get more of his music in future seasons.
This first season was a near-flawless adaptation of “The Lightning Thief” and I am really hoping for them to potentially adapt all the books into multiple seasons because this has the potential to become a phenomenal series that could rival Harry Potter, as long as the same amount of passion and care is put into them. Whether you are a long-time fan of the book series or someone completely new, you are pretty much guaranteed to love a lot of what this adaptation has to offer over the soulless, terribly made film adaptations of the past. I’m going to give Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1 an A = 97.
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