Grace Schmidley

I grew up reading the PJO books and loving…and I mean LOVING them. I was super excited when they announced a tv show that included Rick because it would mean finally an accurate depiction of the books. Before the show was announced, or at least before I heard of it, I had watched The Adam Project starring Ryan Reynolds and Walker Scobell and thought that Walker would make an amazing Percy. Honestly I hoped they would at least make his hair black or something darker than blond, but I’m not really upset that he doesn’t look like the Percy from the books. It would have been cool if Annabeth had blonde braids, but just because it didn’t happen this season doesn’t mean it won’t! I’ve seen a few reviews that mention that Leah doesn’t depict Annabeth in any recognizable way, but I don’t know if they remember that in the first book Annabeth kinda acted like a brat. She thought she was better than Percy and hated him because of his dad and all that stuff up until the Tunnel of Love in the WaterPark. In my opinion, Leah has done a great job of portraying that shift from hating/disliking Percy in the first 4-5 episodes and warming up to him in the 6th. Another thing I think a lot of people forget is that they are kids…they are still learning the trade and growing into their characters…so if the first season is a little more stiff than we would like, who cares if it’s giving us the Percy Jackson that we all know and love in the end. Percy Jackson is a coming of age story…so let cast come of age! Yes, all us book nerds/geeks/whatever wanted a Percy just like the books down to him being shorter than Annabeth when he was younger…but the only way that would have worked is if the show was animated (which I think still would be cool). The show is live action…made with real people…at least they are age accurate! Another thing (and to whomever read this all the way through, you’re awesome) Walker Scobell loves Percy…he has read the books so many times…I recently saw an interview where he casually mentioned he read them 7-8 times as a kid…before he got the part. I’m glad that Walker cares about his roll, and I think Leah does too. I’m not saying my opinion is right and everyone else’s is wrong if they don’t agree. But I do think some people need to see things from another perspective. If they still don’t agree, that’s fine, but at least try to remember that those kids are working in an adult world. PS. I didn’t give it five because I don't think there’s a perfect tv show or movie…there’s always room for some sort of improvement