Fun fact, Rick Rhodian wrote a 12 page essay of how bad the first film was, and how was going to flop and send it to the director and writers.

You skipped the best line! “You met god?! Like… Jesus??”

Personally I think tv shows should go back to the 20+ episodes format rather than the 8-10 they're using nowadays, almost everything feels rushed because of that... especially when the source material are such iconic books

Somehow the trio already know EVERYTHING. They know aunty em is medusa, they know ares, they know what the lotus casino is and what it will do to them. Half of the fight is supposed to be them using their knowledge and skills to figure it out. Now there's no tension, no suspense, stuff just happens.

If you read the book you'll notice it is very fast paced. It is meant to keep kids engaged while reading, even If they have ADHD

The most unrealistic part of this series is that a kid named “Nancy BOBOFIT” wouldn’t be bullied constantly in middle school

Honestly I'm most mad at how they portrayed Sally and Gabe's relationship. The whole point was to show how much Sally was willing to sacrifice to protect Percy. Here, they made Gabe just seem like some mildly annoying housemate instead of the abusive stepfather and husband he was. He literally hit Sally in the books. She's scared of him but stays anyway for Percy. She is not able to boss him around like in the show. This would also water down how and why Percy is so protective of her, which we read about even until the moment Paul Blofis tells him he's going to propose to Sally.

Honestly Percy's lack of reaction in a lot of these scenarios is kinda reasonable. Imagine you're a 12 year old and find out your best friend is a magical creature, the mix of shock, processing the information and the "how cool is this" factor works well for a kid. It was way worse in the film where Percy was pretty much an adult.

The show actually opens exactly the way the book does

I just want to say that Percy 100% reacted to his mom's death. He tries to talk to her via burnt offerings, literally avenges her by killing the minotaur, and thinks about her and brings up her death multiple times. He was in shock, but he definitely reacts

"His mom dies then he wakes up in camp" You completely left out the part where he yells out and fights and kills the Minotaur. I would say that is a pretty strong reaction.

That scream clarisse did when Percy broke her spear was the best acting I’ve seen so far

Honestly, Percy being bombarded with all the lifechanging info at once is exactly how the whole book series goes. He is pushed into these circumstances and thrown some random info and he has to survive. So the show does do the justice.

They kinda did the step dad wrong, like at least in the movie he was a jerk and unlikeable but in the show he’s just kinda a burn out with no life. He’s supposed to be this super rude abusive guy who Percy’s mom only stays with bc his ‘stench’ is so much that he shields Percy from the monsters.

As accurate to the books as this show is trying to be, it's definitely got weird pacing. It's like watching perfectly cut screams.

The part where it cuts to Percy flossing was to me a perfect example of something not in the books, but completely fits Percy's character. Staying true to the essence of the characters is the most important part, and I think the show is doing that well so far!

I thought it was funny and weird how Grover just randomly screams “I’m 24” and no one seems to register it.

To be fair, Luke’s initial role was always this “tour guide” esque position. As leader of the Hermes cabin, he’d be in charge of explaining all of it to anyone new, just by the nature of his responsibilities. Of course his role is very different later on, but at the beginning he is very much a plot device lol

The major gripe I have with the show is how everything seems anticlimactic. They immediately figure out that Auntie Em is Medusa and kill her by just putting Annabeth's invisibility cap on her and slicing her head off, instead of a full-on chase/fight scene using their ingenuity. Really powerful monster chasing you? Just immediately pop Medusa's head out. Other than that, it feels good. The casting feels odd for some characters, mainly Annabeth and Luke. Luke doesn't feel like the guy to turn on the gods and steal Zeus' lightning bolt, nor one of the best warriors in camp. Annabeth just feels like a robot; she's too stiff, too monotone. Good show, though

Coming from an OG PJ fan: Although I like the show as is, there are definitely a couple things I would do differently. The humor, for one, is a big part for me. There was so much humor and sarcasm in the books that I feel was mostly glossed over by the show, and what jokes there as few and far between, at least for me. You’re supposed to believe that Percy and the gang are bouncing off each other and just joking around, but the humor of the script feels almost stale. I don’t know if that will get better over time, but I hope so. Another thing ( a bit more minor) is that so far, it doesn’t feel like Percy is really the “leader” of the quest. It’s mostly just Annabeth and Grover carrying him along like a puppet. I know that there’s supposed to be shock and Percy trying to scramble to keep up with his new life as a demigod, but it feels like he just lags behind everyone else, when in the books, Rick created a great balance of Percy stepping up as a leader, while also being a teammate to Annabeth and Grover. Just my thoughts ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Saying that Percy had no reaction to his mother dying, while also skipping over the scene where he kills the minotaur is wild.

At least the show is way more book accurate. The kids actually look like 12 yr olds. Instead of the characters looking 25

One of my biggest complaints, aside from the pacing, is how much overt exposition there is. Sometimes if feels like they’re trying to spell it out really loudly and slowly. It’s so clumsy, and it’s generally better to show than tell.

I think the bit where he threw her into the fountain could have been better - in the book it was described as something like he shoved her without shoving her, like the water reached up and pulled her under. In the show he just kinda does a funny hand motion.

9:53 Its actually kinda morbid why all the kids are around the same age. Its because kids are only susceptible to being easily tracked by monsters as they near Percy’s age but demigods don’t tend to make it into their adult years because they are hunted down and killed

Alex I want you to know that this book series is supposed to be weird and this is a pretty faithful adaptation but also that it’s okay that you think it’s weird

As a huge fan of the books, and after finishing the third episode of this show, I couldn't be happier. It is doing the book as much justice as it can being a tv adaptation. Also, the cast, especially Grover, is KILLING it. Definitely targetted to a younger audience, but still fun as an adult.

As someone who hasn't read the books or watched the movies, I do wish the events of eps 1-2 had been split into 3 instead - I'd have liked more time seeing Percy's mundane life, feeling how he feels day to day, before getting thrown into the magic world of Camp Half-Blood. I feel like it would have added a lot more weight to Grover's initial betrayal / satyr reveal, the 'death' of Percy's mom etc. The camp portions fell flat for me save for the more emotionally driven moments, but episode 3 was pretty strong thanks to some standout acting and expanding character dynamics - I think it's just a matter of the actors hitting their stride and giving the story some time to grow a bit.

To be fair even in the books, Percy's first question after seeing Grover's actual appearance was “So you and my mom know each other?” I laughed so hard reading that Edit: So if I wasn't clear before, I love this video like any other video on this channel. I'm not criticizing anything, neither the show nor this video. This just reminded me of this part in the book that's why I shared it.

Honestly, after watching this video, the biggest thing which stuck out to me was Percy's reaction to all of this. I feel like I remember the beginning portion of the first book being this cycle > Percy does something > gets gaslight by everyone > has a panic attack and this repeats a few times. From what I saw Percy seemed really chill, I'd imagine its because its hard to portray someone in a constant state of panic and anxiety.

Why does Luke look more like Percy than Percy himself 💀

This version completely lacks the sense of humor that existed in the books, everything is also overly-explained. For example in the book it takes many weeks before the trio realizes that they are being hold hostage in the casino and Percy realizes that when the teen ager next to him is wearing 70s clothes playing a game machine (and it is a really funny scene). In the series they realize it the moment they step into casino, that the whole place is owned by the lotus eaters. The, fun the exitement, the threat..it's all gone. I don't know how they managed to turn such a funny book into such a boring show. I am incredibly dissappointed with Rick Riordan. I almost wish that there was a narrator, adding some of Percy's fun snarks.

Unpopular opinion but Gabe seems pretty reasonable compared to the novel. If I hadnt read the book then I would not have hated him. Edit: This is my most liked comment and it's about smelly Gabe out of all people

Came here to defend this show with my life

While I will say that the acting from most of the characters could use some work, we actually get more details in each scene than we do in the book. The book itself is not that long, so it's not that the pacing in the show is too fast because they are trying to cram 5 books in one season (they're not, the entire first season is just the first book), but that is how Percy is experiencing life form the moment Mrs. Dobbs attacks him. It's quite literally one thing right after the other.

"Percy has no reaction to his mother dying" > proceeds to kill the minotaur with his bare hands > tries to talk to her through burning his last remaining blue candy > vows to bring her back regardless if it dooms the world to eternal damnation due to two Gods throwing a bitch fit over who stole the other's toys Yeah totally no reaction. None at all.

Walker Scobell was a young Ryan Reynolds in "The Adam Project", and his snarky banter and resemblance to Reynolds made him a perfect choice. Same goes for his casting as Percy here.

I think the show definitely spend more time on Percy mourning his mother. He has the single tear moment when he woke up the next morning and realize it was all real, and he talked to her by fire in a can. It shows that he actually cares that his mom is dead as opposed to the movie where it seems like Percy barely feels anything. Also, I think they handled the whole "dyslexia" "ADHD" thing way better in the show. They showed Percy struggling with reading and struggling to focus on the "real" world because he is getting lost in what he thinks are daydreams and it shows him having anxiety about the fear that something is broken in his brain. It doesn't exposit this info in the really shitty inorganic way that the movie does.

Honestly the more I watch the show, the more I love the movie. I don’t dislike the show, but the movie was so iconic. The fact that they were older meant they could do things differently. How they fought Medusa was so cool, the road trip they go on blasting Highway to Hell, fighting the janitor hydra, going wild at the casino and how Percy figures out the trap - the fact that they only brought 3 pearls to the underworld is so funny. There are so many aspects of the movie that I greatly appreciate. Also yes I’ve read the books.

I knew this was gonna be bad cuz 1. Disney 2. Race swapping a characters like Annabeth & Zeus. Massive red flags

half the dialog is pulled word for word from the books they're going chapter by chapter and I love it. the actors are giving the spirit of the characters even if they don't look like the canon artwork of the characters

As someone who DID actually read the books, I like this show. For me, it's exactly how a show adaptation of the books should be Edit: If you want to see hardcore fans in a mud fight over accuracy, feel free to look into the replies of this comment.

Its so much information because that's how Percy feels. The boy is so young and has so much going on all at once that he doesn't actively have time to digest any of the information. He's basically running an a long form of adrenaline until after his first quest. Which I believe is a very smart play from the Directors as they can cram all the lore into the first couple episodes and then go ham on the storyline after that.

Main issue I had with the first episode was that Percy and his mom really didn’t have any onscreen chemistry to me. In the books and even in the movie (yes, I’m going there), you could tell how close Percy and his mom were but in this show so far their interactions feel awkward, like the actors don’t know each other. Hopefully that’ll improve as the series goes on but their scenes honestly felt to me like two people just reading their lines and not connecting.

Percy is the only child of poseidon for a very long time, so while it makes sense all the other half bloods were born from one night stands, it is feasable that sally and poseidon actually spent some time togethor.

11:34 "I can explain" "No you can't" _"Okay"_ "Are you stalking me, Annabeth?" _"Yes"_ Why- why do I love their interaction so much lol

The capture the flag scene in the book was so cool, they literally have moments in the book were a few kids almost die but chiron gives them a special elixer and proceeded to tell all the kids “Fantastic game of capture the flag we had today” 😂

My biggest problem with the show is how Toothless it is. It’s so Disney plused all sense of edge or danger is just removed. That Medusa death scene was just so bad

Oh I can’t wait for him to get farther in the series and realize nearly every complaint he had about the lore of the show “the gods being neglectful” is actually the point of the entire conflict of the series

As an original fan I actually don’t mind all the info dumping because that’s basically how you feel reading any first book of a fantasy novel series.

Annabeth is supposed to be blonde, throughout the books she is motivated by the fact that she wants to prove that all blondes aren't stupid. She is also supposed to have grey eyes to signify her athena heritage. Also, luke and percy should have had switched hair colors.

The two major complaints i have with this series are that gabe is not THAT bad in the series compared to the books. I mean, him saying please? Come on. My favourite part of the book was when Poseidon claims percy and all campers kneel before him. I was quite disappointed that they didn't include the kneeling part :/ Just hope they don't mess up the fight between percy and Thalia in titan's curse...

Everyone's 'lore dumping' because he's new and doesn't understand this side of life. He basically is getting a crash course in the rest of his life

for those who read the books: percy jackson got me into reading cuz its fast paced and i had undiagnosed adhd and second we all know lukes TRUE colours and theyre not to just explain little plot details but for a much bigger purpose

as a fan of the book series and seeing how the movies turned out, I am way happier with how the show is turning out. I have been enjoying it so much and I can't wait to see the future episodes.

The scene with the Fates undercover at the fruit stand leering at Percy while cutting the string creeped me out as a kid, a little disappointed this scene wasn’t adapted but so far I’m really enjoying the series ✌️

It's funny cause that's the same way they dumped the information on Percy in the books. So for the first few chapters Percy was a mixture of confused and excited

The books were my entire personality as a 12 year old and this show is my entire personality as a 24 year old and I am not ashamed to admit it. I had some issues with the first two episodes but over all I loved them. I adore the cast and the visuals are stunning. The fight scenes are thrilling and the dialogue is actually funny. I am so beyond happy with this adaptation.

As a non reader of the book, the acting in this series leaves a lot to be desired. The scenes are cut abruptly, and I often I get lost on what's happening. Disney need to hire their old people fr.

7:39 of cause hes not surprisingly shocked i mean he had day dreams his whole life of satyrs and other greek stuff i mean come on i mean he just started to question what had happend in camp when he woke up because he thought it was just a dream of some sort

“Luke only exists to explain things” (someone doesn’t know who Luke really is)

“Percy doesn’t react to his mom dying and he wakes up in the camp later” He literally shedded a tear and immediately killed the Minotaur _then_ he woke up at the camp.

this video literally made me laugh. Just watching this guys reaction to everything and whisper/giggle to himself is so funny to me 😆

I'm currently listening to the audiobook, and no, the pacing is honestly very accurate to the book. And Percy's reactions as well. Without the direct access to his inner monologs, it makes him come across as a bit more slow to react, but he's very much the same in the books. He's a very internal screaming character.

Fun fact, the episodes are named after the chapters in the book

Zeus having to accept the pact about not going around having s3x with random women always had been funny to me, because he did that so much. Like no way he would have been fine with it, or if he did happen to accept it, he would have broken it way more than once.

The tv show isnt as good as i hoped it would be. Theyve messed uo a few charaters making some of the unrecognisable.

10:13 One thing, the Big 3 (P,Z,H) swore not to have human children. Granted, none of them stuck to this oath, but I imagine it did slow them down, especially compared to the past. There are hundreds of other demigods for the other olympians, but it is still rare to have one of the Big 3. That means that the relationships the big 3 form are fewer, and I would assume *slightly* more meaningful.

The show is pretty Solid. My only complaint is that it’s jarring how quickly they go through some of the story beats. Will be interesting to see the comparisons to the movie and books. Solid 7/10 so far Edit: Also Gabe is not enough of a piece of shit. He’s more like that guy that can occasionally be a dick

My only thing is when I saw Clarisse I was like “she’s suppose to be big and ugly”😂 but the actor plays her personality well

“Luke only exists to explain every single thing of everything.” Little do you know.

I hopefully we see some changes in season2 1- they don’t rush the tv show take their time filming it They follow the book not add new scenes Make more episodes so the can fit everything

He was experiencing shock when his mom died. When he saw the minotaur horn, he decided to channel his grief into finding his dad because he didn't want to think about it. He's about to brake when he pulls the blue candy out of his bag, but Luke-who sees a demigod slowly about to brake down- decides to step in and try to alleviate the situation.

The only thing I have a problem with in the show is Gabe 😭😭 like the fact that the show made it so you don’t instantly hate Gabe like you should is just so weird to me 😭 like he just seems like an asshole that has his good moments when that shouldn’t happen 😭😭

I’m both reading the book and watching the series at the same time and I’m loving them both. I love the kid that plays Percy and think he’s doing very well, tho I find the girl that plays annabeth kinda stiff.

Wouldn’t have felt rushed if all the episodes were close to 50 min long. So much happens in each book, I think they have to extend the duration of every episode a bit more so it still doesn’t feel fast passed. Super happy with how accurate it is to the book still though

Fun fact: Quick lore dumps are cannon in all series of Rick, in HOO, and the Pjo series.

As a huge Percy jackson books fan, this was actually a huge suprise. It was actually incredibly great.

Riordan calling his fans racist if they had a problem with the casting (not the actors themselves) killed any chance of me watching it tbh.😂

It’s still so weird trying to like Annabeths character she isn’t the Annabeth the books made her to be.

Authors are not script writers. JK Rowling was heavily involved in “Crimes of Grindelwald,” and we all know how THAT turned out.

“I’m Annabeth.” “Are you stalking me Annabeth?” “Yes.” One of the best dialogue exchanges the show added by far😂😂😂

I really like what they’ve done with Sally Jackson. Because she’s not this stereotypical perfect nice mom who bakes blue cookies. They really made her strong and gave her a lot of gumption and showed her working around Gabe’s domineering behavior. However, they also made Gabe seem like not a great husband but also definitely not someone who deserves to be turned into stone???

honestly i feel like the first eps being so packed with info and having it dumped onto percy and the watchers is really book accurate, cause thats how the first few chaps felt especially for percy. like no one told the poor boy ANYTHING 😭like his poor 12yr old brain cant process all of this and all this time he thought he was simply neurodivergent but nope yo dadis a god and your whole fam tree is messed up 💀but with each new ep that comes out, the characters develop more and im loving it. and all the changes made by rick to fit theformat of it being a series aswell as this being a totally different era (both in the show and in society) i am so here for it

Personally as someone who has all of the books memorized, the only thing I don’t like so far from the first 2 episodes is their portrayal of grover as a snitch because its nothing like how he was in the novels

I’ve was so surprised about how emotional I got watching the first two episodes. The series was a big part of my childhood and helped get me through a particularly rough battle with leukemia. After the disappointing movie adaptation, this was so refreshing to see. And the kid who plays Percy in particular is great!

Am I the only one who wants him to cover the whole show??? LIKE BRO THIS SHIT IS AMAZING!

Just came back to this video and thinking about how Alex mentions that all of the mortal parents of demigods don’t mean anything to the Olympian gods, as they have procreated with so many mortals. But, episode 7 showed that Sally IS different and Poseidon does cherish her and care for her. She didn’t even have time to say an actual prayer before he came running when she made an offering.

Saw the tittle and I’m nervous, Percy Jackson is literally my childhood. Idk if I’m over correcting because of how bad the movies were, but I really liked the show.

For Me... Pros: Walker is AMAZING as Percy. His line delivery is fantastic and he genuinely made me laugh out loud a few times. He has that Percy sarcasm down perfectly. The relationship with him and his mother is great and I actually felt something when she died. I like that she went out of her way to protect him from the minotaur. I know my Mom would do the same thing for me in a moment like that. I think the look of the world and especially Camp Half Blood is fantastic, it looks exactly like how I pictured it while reading. And for the most part the stunts and VFX all look great for a series. Cons: The pacing is really off. I felt like episode 1 rushed through SO much important establishing moments. The story was moving a mile a minute and I feel like non book readers are gonna get whiplash. The encounter with Dodds was like 30 seconds long, she wasn't established at all prior to that scene, and neither was Mr. Brunner. He gives Percy the pen in such a random way and the action really lacked intensity for me. Gabe isn't nearly enough of an asshole and having Sally stand up to him immediately removes so much development for her going forward. I don't see him abusing her whatsoever. He was mildly annoying but nothing at all like the book. I kinda wish Percy freaked out a little more at all the crazy shit happening around him and how insane this new life is. The capture the flag scene doesn't show Percy getting strength from the water, it just heals him. He's supposed to be a terrible fighter until he gets wet. I wish the Big Three were fleshed out more and why Percy being alive is such a big deal. Also there was a lack of Annabeth. She's supposed to spend more time with Percy prior to capture the flag and for what we got so far, it just didn't impress me. They made her so stoic and boring.

Annabeths actor didn’t really work, her line delivery was just always…poor.

low key, the new series is so good. at least so far. Books are way easier to make a TV series out of than just one movie. It's far harder to squeeze an entire book into 1 movie, while a tv series gives writers the most freedom to fit in what they feel is necessary to best replicate the book.

Saying I was terrified of you going to make this video is an understatement.

Percy is always like "it is what it is" in the books. You can tell him the most soul crushing thing and he’ll instantly accept it and not react much

the mouse cursor joke really got me, because i did indeed spend what felt like hours to download a mouse cursor only for it to not always work

great video, really enjoyed it!! you’re the only person i can stomach reviewing this show for me so seriously thank you 💀💀 listennn not to sound annoying asf but as an autistic+adhd person who hyperfixated heavily on pjo since i was 11 (i’m 19 now) and despised the movies i could barely finish the movies (forced myself to sit through them to gain the knowledge and be absolutely certain they were ass, had to take several breaks to literally pace the living room bc i was so annoyed), the show IS GREAAT. for a disney+ show ofc. immediate and honestly only point that really worth mentioning so far, bc of how important it is to percy’s FUNDAMENTAL character+life experience morals etc. , ABSOLUTELY DESPISED how they diluted Gabe. honestly find it disrespectful, damn near nauseating, call me dramatic but i had to take a day long break from watching the show immediately after starting it bc holy christ is gabe handled so bad. it already pisses me off that in the og books the abuse is ALREADY diluted bc of disney regulations and the truth being too dark for a children’s/young adult series, but anybody with any subtext skills can draw the conclusion that that man physically beat sally and percy: ( ‘If I didn’t, he would punch my lights out’ - TLO literally a couple pages into the book, which yes very vague, but also directly through the eyes of a 12 yo child AND through the disney lense. COME ONNNN). and that enough would turn me completely away if it wasn’t a disney+ show and it wasn’t already a problem in the og series, so i could overlook it (still feel a burning hatred for disney though and it has grown a thousand times stronger bc a whole generation of pjo fans might never know this key part of percy character and think that gabe was just slightly an asshole but it is what it isss 😔) and keep watching the series and honestly im not too mad about any other changes, if any, that there are in the series so far. like at 8:57 the no reaction part is completely real and reasonable and it issss a little annoying, BUT it is kind of accurate to the books bc percy doesn’t really outwardly react to a lot of things, the book is mostly told from directly within his head and thoughts, and as a character, like as a fictional 12 yo he learned through the bullying in literally every new school he goes to and from the mentioned abuse from his stepdad, he’s just not a very physically expressive kid, and thought are really hard to portray in tv shows, especially in one w little time like this one 10:55 i know luke just feels like exposition but LET HIM COOOKK LET HIM COOK I PROMISE. a lot of people ended up not appreciating and devalueing his character by the the end of the series, just dwindling him down to a sheep/vessel, and ppl have to keep in mind HE was 12-13 when he first got to camp, his life before camp is too messy to unpack like most demigods’, and a lot of his frustrations WERE valid. so yeah this feels like exposition (not like it’s NOT) but it could be seen as angsty-teen-force-to-be-leader yapping, overdumping information on this new kid bc there’s SOOO MANY PROBLEMS AT CAMP AND W THE GOD WORLD IN GENERAL bc he is frustrated, has no outlet, and anyways has plans for percy so might as well bad mouth camp in the most suddle ways as MUCH as possible while he has the chance? it prettyyyyy accurate so the books so far, and definitely a hell of a lot closer than the movies so im very pleased and my 11 yo heart is singing :)

I think a couple of reasons the episodes feel so jam packed is cause they have eight episodes to show everything (cause the movies straight up cutout Waterland and a bunch of other stuff) and they state the show is basically “for the fans” so there’s a caveat that more people who read the books and knows what’s going on/coming up will be watching so they can more afford to just speed through stuff, if that makes Any sense at all (Also the books, or at least this book happens within a short time period as well so there really isn’t a lot of time for a character to fully process what happened before going on)

They covered nearly half the book in 2/8 episodes of the show so yeah I think the rest will be much less rushed.

I was honestly hoping you would talk about Percy flossing during capture the flag because that legit made me laugh out loud. 😂

I mean, my mother died when i was 7 and my reaction was pretty much the same as percy, other such things happened in my life such as losing my grandmother when i was 16 and my reaction was still the same, shock, internal rage and suffering. It's not unusual to have no expressions when bombarded by info, you just take it and go along couse you cant do much after all.