By Allison Blair
On Tuesday, Jan. 31, Disney+ premiered the season finale of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” The eight-episode series is a live action adaptation of the book series written by Rick Riordian. Season one follows the first book of the series, “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.” Percy, a forbidden son of Poseidon, is accused of stealing Zeus’ masterbolt and sets out on a cross-country adventure to retrieve the bolt from Hades in the Underworld. Percy embarks on the quest with his best friend, satyr Grover Underwood, and Annabeth Chase, a demigod child of Athena. Along the way, the trio encounter many figures straight from Greek mythology, including Chiron, Dionysus, Medusa, Echidna, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Hades.
This show has become my entire personality for the past month. Percy is the epitome of the sassy man epidemic, and if there is one thing he is, it’s committed to a bit. He would rather fight a literal god than be serious for two seconds. I was slightly terrified that Lin Manuel Miranda would burst out into song whenever he came on screen as Hermes, but the singing was limited to Percy and Grover, who sang the series’ original song “Consensus.” And who can forget the montage of Hephaestus’ life with “What Is Love?” playing in the background when Percy and Annabeth take a detour to retrieve Ares’ shield? No matter how many years it’s been since I first read the books, Luke’s betrayal will never not hurt me. Hades is a real one; I, too, do not want to be involved with my siblings’ drama.
While it is not an exact adaptation of the books, I don’t think it’s trying to be. Part of the magic of myths is seeing how they change and adapt over time into something modern audiences can relate to. The series closely follows the book, changing a few things to keep book readers on their toes. There is something for new and old fans to enjoy. All the casting is top tier. I don’t know what the showrunners did to find actors who seem like they walked straight out of the book, but I will gladly take it. Now we just have to pray to the gods for a second season renewal.
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