THE LIGHTNING THIEF: PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS

EPISODE 1

First off, I love that they started the show with the monologue or whatever you wanna call it right from the start of the book. I thought the whole backstory thing of him as a kid was kinda cute, but nonetheless it wasn’t in the book. In the book he kinda just mentions that there were always things he thought he saw/experienced as a kid that were odd. I did find the whole Mrs. Dodds' thing to be anticlimactic in the show though, I thought it was an epic moment in the book. Next, I would like to point out in the book he didn’t technically get kicked out of school, he was just not welcome back the next year. He got to finish out the year and go home when everyone else did. I was starting to wonder if he was actually gonna kill the minotaur in the show here, good news he does, but not exactly how it’s done in the book. But hey, maybe I am being picky here. This episode ends with Percy arriving at camp half-blood. We shall see where episode 2 takes us.

EPISODE 2

This episode begins with Percy’s introduction to camp which is slightly different from the book, but what they have changed doesn’t really matter to the story. Mr. D’s character in the TV show does seem like he is gonna be pretty funny whereas in the book he was just kind of grumpy/serious to me. I will say I have no idea who the forest lady is that Grover was meeting with/talking to and what that was all about, because Grover had no idea that Percy’s mom was still alive but the show is making it seem like he is the one who figured it out. Also, I don’t think I like how in the show they have Percy thinking that his dad was supposed to be at camp and is now basically obsessed with being “claimed” and forcing his dad to acknowledge him. And where is Annabeth?? Oh good news, she just showed up, a day late and a dollar short if you ask me. I feel like they are cramming a lot of information into this one episode making a lot of it be brushed over quickly. I do acknowledge that is kinda what you have to do for TV shows/movies because there are time restraints. They did change the whole capture the flag thing: how he ended up in the water, found out that it healed him, and had Poseidon claim him. I don’t understand why they didn’t just stick to how the book had it play out. They also changed how he was presented with his quest and all that jazz, which I didn’t appreciate. Here in the TV show they were basically forcing him to go whereas in the book it’s almost like Chiron didn’t want Percy to go on this quest.

EPISODE 3

I feel like Annabeth is coming off way ruder/entitled in the show than in the book. They are also taking some liberties on the bus attack scene, and I feel like it isn’t as epic as it was in the book. I am starting to think my reading imagination is just too high of a standard for this show to meet. And what is this business with Medusa? They did not instantly know who she was and just willingly hang out with her. In the book they thought she was just some kind lady offering to feed them and then, wham, bam, oh no it's Medusa, run!

EPISODE 4

I don’t know why the show is making the effort to film scenes in each location that the book mentioned but they change what happens in each of these scenes. For example: in the book they don’t get chased off of the train, they decide to go exploring while the train is stopped at the train station, the Gateway Arch is not a shine to Athena, it is simply a tourist location they would like to see, and Percy doesn’t fall through a broken floor, he jumps out into the water hoping his Dad will save him. Another thought is that this show is really making all of these kids quite angry/moody, I didn’t catch that vibe from the book.

EPISODE 5

Let's start at the top of this episode: the Fates finally make their appearance… A little late if you ask me. And these kids must have walked pretty fast to make it from St. Louis to Colorado, because you know in the book they don’t run into Ares until they are at a diner in Colorado… just saying. And what is with Ares making Grover stay behind while Percy and Annabeth go to the amusement park? You know he is supposed to be the one that saves their butts with the flying shoes, but no, Percy and Annabeth go and there's this magical chair that  Percy has to sit in in order for them to get the shield. It turns Percy to gold and then Detective Lassiter from Psych, I can’t remember which God he is supposed to be, is moved by Annabeth's speech and turns him back into a boy. Then Ares sends them off in the semi-truck, which does happen in the book, but tells them to find Hermes in Las Vegas whereas in the book they are supposed to ride the truck all the way to LA but get distracted in Vegas when they let the animals out.

EPISODE 6

This episode definitely took some creative liberties: first off, they know what hotel to go to and are looking for Hermes…that’s not how it goes in the book… and then once inside the hotel Grover is all “don’t eat the lotus flowers or you will start to forget things”…once again they didn’t know they would start losing time in the hotel and also they didn’t forget anything in the book… and then they steal Hermes’ taxi to get to California instead of just taking a regular taxi and paying the guy in gold to take them there. Once in California, Percy goes into the sea and is told by the water lady that time’s up and to go home which, once again is not how it went in the book. Time was not up. They still had a day to go to the underworld and get the lightning bolt back to Zeus.

EPISODE 7

This episode was fine I guess. I mean, they hit the major plot points to keep the story going but also changed the finer details as they went. I wonder if they are setting it up for the next book/season of the show with all the underworld stuff and talking about Kronos to Hades but it has been so long since I read the second book I am not sure.

EPISODE 8

Well this episode pretty much followed the path of all the episodes before it… the same main points were covered, just slightly different than in the book. I did think the ending was quite funny where Percy refers to Kronos as his Grandpa, because you know he is…

CONCLUSION

Overall, I could take or leave the TV show. I didn’t hate it but I also didn’t love it. It took me about two weeks to get through the eight episodes. I found that as each episode ended, I didn’t feel the need to watch the next one right away. Now that could be because I did just read the book so I pretty much knew what was going to happen. I did feel like the TV show let me down in the “action” moments. I do realize that not all things can be brought to life on the big screen, but we have come a long way in special effects and I feel like they kinda took the easy way out for most of the action scenes. Or maybe perhaps I just have an overactive imagination when I am reading… So the moral of the story here is that this show is: okay. I can’t speak for anybody else, but I imagine you wouldn’t regret watching it. But also, you aren’t missing out by not watching it.