Samhi C.

Features Editor

skc5098@psu.edu

Credit: Disney

I have mixed feelings. 

I never read the “Percy Jackson” series. The most I knew about it was that it was about some guy named Percy Jackson and had something to do with Greek gods. That is all. 

So, going into the first episode on Saturday night on… whatever streaming platform I decided to watch it on… I figured I would encounter mystery, intrigue, and finally be pulled into a world that has become mainstream to the point of being mundane, giving it the credit that it became mainstream for a reason. 

Moreover, because I had never read the books, I was not going to be in the mode of “Did they translate the story, the settings, the characters the way I pictured them in my head?” i.e. the reason I usually never watch film/TV versions of books if I have read the books and the reason I never read books upon which the films/TV shows that I watch are based. I would enjoy this. 

I did. And yet…

It was so goddamn predictable! I promise you I am not giving you any spoilers when I say the entire first episode is “boy finds out he is a demigod which the viewers already knew for the last half hour from a mother who disintegrates ten minutes later”. Right from the flashback with a voiceover narration to the getting knocked out, seeing a black screen, then his eyes slowing opening to display a centaur on screen, I could predict it all. From a writerly perspective and from a directorly perspective. 

And here is why: the introduction voiceover. 

It was completely unnecessary. Not only did it not have any particular value to add to the episode, I think it detracted from the potential. 

I think that the show’s creators designed the project as one meant for an audience that was already familiar with the plot. For them, the thrill would come not from plot suspense but from the excitement of finally being able to see the story painted across the screen for the second time after the discontinuance of the two-film series. Which I understand. But even to that regard, the show could have done better. By no means was the on-screen experience terrible but it was just… okay. Nothing terrific about it either. 

With all this being said, while the overall plot was predictable and direction was just okay, there was one aspect of the show that makes it worth the watch: the humor. 

The dialogues and the details in some of the scenes are just…

My favorite in particular is the scene in which Grover just shows up the Percy and his mother’s vacation home with no explanation and Percy, in his confusion just keeps saying “Grover, Grover, Grover” over and over until he finally gets Grover’s attention to ask why he has goat legs. The first couple of “Grover’s made me think “oh, I know where this is going” but the fact that Percy has to say his name seven times in order to finally get his attention in between his monologue is what was unexpected. In this way, what is a cliched method of humor in film is translated into a nuanced version of itself, one that amplifies the humor in the scene, even for those of us who are accustomed to such comedy devices.

It was, I am not going to lie, a little weird to see someone who was very clearly of Indian origin trying to pass for someone of Greek origin. But… Aryan Simhadri is obviously a terrific actor and suits the character so… we will pretend. 

But I suppose that is part of the art of cinema and theater. Sometimes, we just have to pretend that something makes sense even though it really does not. 

I am looking forward to watching the rest of the season and I will be back with more thoughts. 

Until then, go ahead and start your own journey with 2023’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”. I promise the laughs are worth it.