Reanna Sheehy

I've been a fan of Percy Jackson for going on 11 years, and this show has got to be the worst thing to ever happen to this fandom---yes, even more than the movies. The movies, as inaccurate as they were, were at least FUN. And captured the vibes quite well, in my opinion. I WANTED to go to the Lotus Casino, I was scared of Medusa, I loved the music, and the acting was great! Of course, they missed the mark on many things, but at least they were entertaining and I feel like they had a good time doing it. This show is bland and stale. The casting is meh. Even Walker, who outside of this show is Percy embodied (albeit blonde and blue-eyed), was disappointing. The show makes so many basic storytelling mistakes, it's hard to believe Rick was in on it. Why are we sitting down and talking with the villains all the time. The action scenes are the shortest (what's up with that??), the pacing's HORRIBLE, and they're rushing developments too fast. What do you mean, they're already introducing Hermes and Hephaestus? Why? Why did they change the characterization of so many characters: Hades, Gabe, and even Annabeth. Annabeth would never in a MILLION years sass Ares, especially that young. The whole point is Annabeth's smart and used to this world. Percy's so sassy because he's unfamiliar with it. That's another thing. WHY OH WHY WOULD YOU HAVE PERCY KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT THE MYTHS? I understand the idea of having Sally tell Percy everything she knows (not that we already had Chiron for that but whatever), but also the whole point of him not knowing in the books was to have him be the introductory character. They almost always have one of these characters. Harry was raised by muggles, so he doesn't know the wizarding world yet. We don't either, so we're learning alongside him. Luke Skywalker was unfamiliar with the force because his aunt and uncle never told him, so we discover about the Jedi alongside him. Percy was like that in the books, but they freaking changed it! Why? I absolutely abhorred that they knew everything going in; it immediately sucks the tension out of every situation. They knew Medusa was Medusa going in (Which Grover suspected but Annabeth and Percy were blinded by the enchanted smell of food), they knew the Lotus Casino's enchantments going in, and they knew who Crusty was. That scene disappointed me most of all, as it was one of my favorite's in the book but they rushed past it :( Speaking of no tension, WHY DID THEY PASS THE DEADLINE? That's just about the stupidest decision ever. Made Zeus look like a lazy sot for not immediately starting the war like he threatened. Seriously, what was the point of that? JUST STICK TO THE BOOK. The sets were meh, I'm sorry. Percy's cabin was ugly af. Lotus Casino was Boring with a capital B. I did like the firework fight in the woods at the end, though. Leah's acting was poor and not like Emma, who embodied Hermione and gave the character life---even with those over-expressive eyebrows. Luke's acting was bland. He's supposed to be charismatic, warm, leader like. He was monotone and flat. Boring, boring, boring, BORING. I don't know how people who read the books liked the show, and even how people who didn't read the books liked it. Overall, it's poor television and only slightly better adaptation than the movies. It definitely should've been animated. I will die on this hill.

Kind of horrible, but like a train wreck, you just can't look away. At least, that was my experience. I loved the bizarre outfits, the music choices, and the dynamics of the characters. Camila Mendes as Drea was delightful. She really sells it, in my opinion. As for Maya Hawke, the jury's still out. I feel like she plays very similar roles and I just don't know how to feel about her quite yet. But she worked well enough. The plot twists were a little crazy, but I liked them still. Made it really fun to rewatch for those moments where Eleanor made some interesting expressions/reactions to things and it made more sense. At first I wasn't a fan of all the buzzwords and such, but the way they used them felt playful and almost like commentary because they obviously weren't taking them seriously. I also liked that it showed how people twist them to use them to their advantage. I don't know if that was on purpose or not, but that was the outcome for me. Ultimately a fun watch, if you're not looking for anything serious or morally conscious.

I will admit, I am rather rusty on the books, so I can't really say that it's accurate to them. However, I can say that it captures the vibes very well. I would even say that I enjoy this show more than I enjoy the books. I like the way they handle the kid aspects, how they go dark but not mindlessly so without consequences. They approach the show with care and handle the characters with grace and complexity. I love the morals, I love the acting, I love the color grading. This show is really excellent--particularly season 3. Season 1 had a lot of long shots of Point Blanc or on Alex in a car, etc. that made me laugh a little just because they'd just have those shots with suspenseful music and it felt like they were trying to take up time or something. That was my main 'annoyance' with that season, but I rather like it now. Season 2 was a little more forgettable and slow for me. I liked it, but the game aspects were just a tiny bit goofy. I appreciate what they were trying to do, and I do like what they did, but I do think it could've been better and some things do just come off a little silly. Season 3 was perfection in my eyes. I watched it all in one night because I physically could not put my phone down. My only issue was I wanted to see the assassin chick with the stick and Tom's brother more (but that's not a flaw with the writing, just something I wanted more of). As far as I heard, s3 is the last season, but I would absolutely LOVE a 4th. And a 5th. I know Otto is getting up in years, but they could always do a time jump. But even if they don't continue this show, they tied it up perfectly. We don't NEED more. They did perfectly tying up this last season, and I am 100% satisfied. I really need more people to watch this show; it's far too underrated.