Percy Jackson, a faithful adaptation?

Tis yapping season and to yap is to breathe and so I have arrived. 

But first before we review and slightly desecrate a piece of media that is very beloved to me and to many we must celebrate it's existence. AAAAAAAH THERE'S A PERCY JACKSON SHOWWWW. 

Okay so now that that's out of the way let's talk about the show. Just to preface, I'm not going to be talking about the casting because I like it and also have the decency not to hate on literal children for the choice made by professionals. You know who you are. 

I'm not going to spoiler territory completely and review each episode but just talk about the stuff I liked and disliked about the show. 

The main thing I had a grievance with and this hurts to say, was the writing and pacing of the show. The scenes were written too short and not given enough time the breathe like most of the fight sequences and scenes that were more pivotal in the books. The kids always knew what was happening and it took away from the mystery and the fun of being new to this world. It also makes every other scene more expository rather than just a normal conversation. It's sad because Rick (the author of the books) was a show writer but it seems that they hadn't quite found a good flow for each dialogue making it slightly awkward and stiff. 

I liked the visuals of the show and the score and theme was really fun. I did however majorly dislike the way the Underworld was just dark, dim lighting and a bunch of rocks. It can be the land of the dead with some color you know? Overall, the lighting in the show was here and there. I found that to be especially annoying in episode 7. 

I love Percy's relationship with his mom because it's adapted in a more realistic and lovable way and also Sally is just so human and easy to empathize with. That scene in the diner with Poseidon? The acting was amazing. As someone who was always curious about their relationship from the books, yeah I was very happy. 

The acting overall is solid. There are a few stiff moments here and there but it's mostly just good. 

I really like all the foreshadowing they're doing. With the Kronos dream sequences, Luke's mom, Thalia, Poseidon and Zeus, Percy and Annabeth, The quest for Pan. It's all leading up fairly well.

Another thing besides the writing is the pacing of the show and it's runtime. Part of the reason why the show felt so off sometimes was because of the fact that each episode was barely 40 minutes. And there were only 8 episodes so they really had to run stuff in. 

That's where Disney+ comes in. And all streaming services really. 

The show suffered a bit because of the fact that a lot happens in the first book and they couldn't adapt it all and add new scenes without rushing quite a bit. Proof that while some shows thrive under the 8 episode miniseries idea, not all do. Some shows need either a longer run time or more episodes. The day these platforms realize that more episodes is  good thing in terms of viewership is the day I shall attain some semblance of peace. 

The CGI was mostly good which was a good change of pace from the horrorfest that is most Marvel and DC movies these days. I really enjoyed the flashbacks scenes with Percy and Sally. 

In the end, it was an okay show but can be improved a lot. Most of the issues are easily resolvable and the show has the potential in it to be better than it currently is. 

Hopefully it gets renewed soon and we get the next season before the main cast turns into adults. 

🐄