The Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief book by Rick Riordan completely changed pre-teen reading. After its release in 2005, the book immediately became a rite of passage for middle-schoolers. In fact, the series got so much love and attention, a Percy Jackson TV show has come out(In fact, we’re going to ignore the forgettable movies). The first episode premiered on December 19, 2023, and the first season just finished on January 30, 2024. Many people have lots to say about this show. Prior fans were thrilled to see one of their favorite books come to life, and new fans enjoyed the amazing aspects of the show without previous knowledge. In case you haven’t seen it, the TV show follows a middle-school boy named Percy Jackson and his friends, Annabeth and Grover. Throughout the series, Percy learns who he is and what he can do. This includes finding out who his father is, meeting new people, and seeing the world in a whole new light.
The Percy Jackson show has gotten a lot of love from fans. The Blue and White asked Mrs. Houvouras, an avid reader and book advocate, what she thought about the show. When we asked what she enjoyed, she said, “I liked that they followed the book so closely. I really liked that the kids’ ages reflected their actual ages. Of course the CGI is much better now, so the monsters look like actual monsters.” Some of Mrs. Houvouras’ favorite parts of the show include Percy falling into the water and realizing he can breathe underwater, the first time Percy, Annabeth, and Grover met Ares, and Lin Manuel Miranda as Hermes. Freshman Delaney Heard, a big fan of the books, also really enjoyed the show. Her favorite part was Luke being revealed as the lightning thief. Delaney thought Luke recruiting Percy instead of trying to kill him was “interesting and made sense with the bigger picture in mind.” She said this made the “betrayal all the more hurtful knowing that Luke did care for Percy and wanted to be fighting with him rather than against him.” Junior Abigail Urena, another big fan of the books, said the show “hit every plot point of the book and immersed me the same way.” Abigail feels the directors “did an amazing job of representing the characters because each actor literally feels like they fell out of the book directly and you can tell they all work really hard at getting the character right.” Natalie Davis, a junior, also thought the directors did a great job with casting, and said that she “enjoyed how the actors really fit their roles.” Natalie was also a fan of how they “covered many aspects of the past and present with Percy and his mother.”
However, not everyone had a completely positive opinion of the show. Junior Myah Jones, a reader of the books, did not enjoy the show as much as she hoped. Myah said that she hated the pacing of the show, and that the episodes start out slow but almost speed up too much. Myah liked the portrayal of the books, but thought there was too much “cheesy acting.”
Besides the few negative opinions, the show is loved by a lot of people, so much so that the series was officially renewed for a second season on February 7, 2024! Rick Riordan said this about the second season: “I can’t wait to bring the next season of Percy Jackson to Disney+! Raise anchors. Hoist the mainsail. All hands on deck, demigods. We’re heading for the Sea of Monsters!” Fans are very excited for the new season. Mrs. Houvouras said she was most excited to see Annabeth and Percy’s growing relationship. Abigail Urena wants to see the sirens in season two because “it goes into a lot of Annabeth’s wants and troubles.” Natalie Davis is thrilled about Charlie Bushnell playing Luke Castellan and wants to see more. As of right now, there’s no set release date for the next season, but we’re hoping it’s soon!
