Gripe on Gripe | Percy Jackson and the Olympians show

In recent years many beloved childhood books have been turned into movies and shows. Fans have been overjoyed to see their childhood wonderlands and stories brought to life. After 20 years and poorly adapted movies, Percy Jackson fans finally get to see the glimmering lake and magical hills of Camp Half-Blood come to their screens.

The new Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV show is a new and innovative take on the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series. The TV series captures the magic, wonder, thrill, and humor that was so loved in the books and brings new adventures for Percy, Annabeth, and Grover to explore. The changes made to the plot of the book have only enhanced the story and have brought new and interesting twists. The changes made to the show have allowed book readers, who would’ve known every plot point, to get invested in the show and feel the suspense because they are seeing these stories unfold for the first time. Rick Riordan, the author of the series, was a producer and writer on the series and has said that he is very happy with the changes made to the show.

 The books were not written with a TV adaptation in mind, so viewers should not get upset when they have to make changes because it would not translate well to television.

With all of this said, the show is not perfect and there are changes that could be made to improve the second season. But the show does the books justice and is an adaptation that new fans and old fans alike can be proud to watch.

The new Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series through Disney Plus was a poor book-to-screen adaptation. It was disappointing to witness the author of the series, Rick Riordan, preach constantly online about how the series was meant to be this wonderful adaptation, but when it aired it definitely was not. The series was missing the “thrill” factor that the book provided, it was confusing to see all of the characters already have knowledge of the things about to happen to them. Rather than getting to witness them solve mysteries, finding new pieces of the puzzle and make them click. Not only was it missing the thrill, but it was also missing the fun, the adaptation completely let go of the majority of the humor and light-hearted moments that readers witnessed throughout the books.

The show was far too serious and that honestly made it boring since there was no thrill or humor to balance it out. Another point to make is that Riordan made major changes to the plot of the show, which made it almost a completely different storyline from the book. The show would’ve been better off as a stand-alone series about a young hero rather than deeming it as a “book-accurate” adaptation. It’s understandable to see why people enjoy the show, but as a book reader, it is easy to see where more could’ve been done to further develop the plot and make the show less of a bore.

 To say I completely dislike the show is untrue, the series started off strong, and it’s been a joy to watch a favorite childhood series come to life. However, the show just leaves a sense of wishing there was more, and hopefully, season 2 can fulfill that.