HELLO and welcome to my rant about the PJO TV show
in honor of season 2 being announced, here is everything i loved and everything that needs to change.
i would like to preface this by saying that while my overall rating for the season was 7.5/10, the rating of each individual episode vary WILDLY, and there are reasons. even so, i still loved the show and cannot wait for season two.
THE CASTING <3 <3 they have my whole heart all of them.
percy and sally's relationship
the little allusions to future books
episodes 1-3 *chefs kiss*
the design of the world and the monsters they looked SO GOOD
the changes to the conflicts and interactions, especially medusa and the tunnel of love
the poseidon and sally scene. you know the one.
the gods speaking ancient greek YES
the fact that poseidons mom is proffessor mcgonnegal lmao
oh golly, the roads gettin bumpy cause i got me some friends--
"i am impertinent" DIRECT BOOK QUOTE HELLO
"guess i'll lose my dessert privileges" DIRECT BOOK QUOTE PT. 2 ALSO CLARRISSE?????
the ares fight. i thought it would be cheesy but nope. massive W
the fact that this is my favorite book series <3
okay. now that that's out of the way.
the main problem was the directing.
series that use multiple directors (different ones for different episodes) are never good imo. when you're building a world u can't have clashing perspectives on what that world looks and feels like. bc of this, most of the season just felt empty. the riordanverse is set in our world, yes, but theres such a specific tone and vibe of this world in the books that was entirely absent in the show. the only time i even slightly felt it was in the first two episodes, and, what do u know, those were both directed by James Bobin, a veteran director of kid and teen shows.
on top of that, the structure was entirely too stiff. each episode was obvious: here is a monster, we know exactly who it is, this is why they're bad, and this is how we defeat them (usually with no fight scene, might i add, even tho there were multiple fights in the book). there was no SUSPENSE. every episode felt exactly the same, even though each monster is supposed to give us a different feeling. the first time i truly noticed this was in episode 5. the lotus casino felt SO flat. i was really disappointed, since that situation offers so many feeling and conflicts, and those were all ignored. AND THE BIGGEST MOMENT IN THE SEASON, the luke betrayal, THERE WAS NO BETRAYAL? percy just FIGURES IT OUT??? the fight was great, but that did not sit right with me.
2) why is this written by millenials omfg (and the characterization was off)
dude. percy jackson saying "period" in a serious context is NOT HOW THAT WORD IS COLLOQUIALLY USED. same thing with "i think we're going to have to be detectives here 🤓". These kids are supposed to be gen z in the show. Did they not get ANY gen z readers? or even just longtime fans to approve that yes, these characters are speaking how they're supposed to? im a gen z kid, and this pained me. this leads into my bigger issue with how the characters were depicted. lets talk abt it shall we!
tell my why annabeth chase wasn't a know it all. shes supposed to be the smartest girl in the room, always trying to prove it, not just to other people but herself too, that she comes off as a bossy know it all in the first book and we love her for it. so WHY was percy the one explaining EVERY SINGLE MYTH. go back and watch it. annabeth doesn't explain a single monster, or myth, or situation, or ANYTHING. i LOVE leah sava jeffries and i know she knows what she's doing, but the writing is entirely against her. tell my why the only times i really felt like annabeth's personality was written into the scene was the candy scene, the "are we under arrest", and at waterland. every other little piece of her was offered by leah, not the writers, so THANK YOU to leah sava jeffries and nobody else.
on the flip side of that, percy knew way too much, and they somehow made him clueless about the wrong things? he explained nearly every myth and monster, but couldn't understand that other people also have a bad relationship with their godly parents. like, he was surprised by annabeth and luke when he found out that the gods didn't care, which makes zero sense since he's so angry about his own dad not being in his life? it's really supposed to be the other way around-- clueless about the myth world but sure about parental relationships. i guess i can sort of see how this character change contributes to the plot, but i don't like it.
meanwhile grover has now been diminished to a comedy relief. the only times he did anything substancial was when he tricked ares, and the conclusion of which turned out to be wrong anyways, so there wasn't even any point. (also the getting percy kicked out of school part, which i don't have any critiques of). justice for grover man.
3) why. why is percabeth like this.
i love percabeth. i think the kids nailed it. i'm loving the slowburn. but why are they changing the relationship trajectory???? again, a writing issue.
one of the biggest and most important scenes, which is even alluded to in later books, is the oreo scene in the Kindness international truck. Missing. annabeth saying "because you're my friend, seaweed brain, anymore stupid questions?" gone. the suspense of not knowing anything about each other and still choosing to protect each other? not the same at all, because annabeth tells him her entire life story in episode 4, and for what? WRITERS, WHY ARE YOU MESSING WITH PERFECTION.
on top of that, some of the other relationships were just not developed enough. i ADORED the sally and little percy flashbacks-- sally percy relationship is on point. but luke and annabeth? annabeth struggled for the whole series with her brother-like figure, who she did everything for, and the understanding that he's now evil. that's a plotline that's super important to me specifically, and we had almost zero buildup of their relationship. and again, for what? that could have been fixed in ONE scene, just one where they're alone and talking to each other (and also, that could have been where we the audience learn a little about annabeths past, instead of changing her character, who's supposed to be very guarded, so tell percy her whole life story after knowing him for like a week). and THEN, the fact that they just skipped from the betrayal to percy leaving? no emotions? no discussion with chiron?? no annabeth realizing she's lost her brother??? i don't understand it.
also, percy and grover. we didn't see enough of their bromance. i don't have specific recipts for this one, just a feeling. i missed their friendship.
MY FINAL STATS FOR PJO SEASON 1:
Episode 1: 9.5/10 (would be 10, but gabe wasn't right)
writing this was exhausting. if you're still here, tysm, love u
janainaart
origamiaround
germansingergirl
2087
blakekathryn
jacobvanloon
jbbartram-illu
