If you’re anything like me, you’ll remember the first time that you read the Percy Jackson books. You’ll remember the feeling of excitement, anticipation, and awe. You’ll recall the feeling of turning the pages and not wanting to put the books down until you were done. They are a series of books that you wish you could read for the first time, every single time you read them (and you will read them several times) and wonder what will ever give you that feeling back.
This adaptation will.
Yes, I know – that’s a bold statement, but it’s been a long time since I have felt the excitement over a book by watching an adaptation. It’s been a long time since I have felt the excitement and the awe and the wonder. It’s been a long time since I just wanted to watch something over and over again.
But this show I do.
I am not going to apologize that my fangirl flag is about to fly, because Percy Jackson and the Olympians is my personality now. If I don’t make sense, I don’t care. All I want to do is write 1000 times that this show is the Percy Jackson that we deserved all along.
Percy Jackson and The Olympians tells the story of Percy (Walker Scobell), Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries) and Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri) as they go on a quest to find Zeus’s lightening bolt. The bolt has been stolen and the gods, in their picky attitudes, assume that Percy’s at fault, so you know they’re going to make sure that this quest isn’t easy.
While the show will get there, in the first episode, we’re no where near there. The world is being set up and we’re learning just who Percy Jackson is. He’s awkward and feels out of place. The kids at school are mean to him. He feels like he’s broken, but he’s not. Only when you’re a kid, can anyone convince you that you aren’t what you feel you are? Nope.
One of the best things about this series is the cast. Yes, we know we’ve felt that before we saw an episode. When you watch this episode though, you won’t be able to deny that Walker Scobell was meant to play this part. He was meant to be Percy Jackson. From his sandy blonde hair to his voice and the way that he carries himself, it just feels like the Percy that you imagine reading the books has made it’s way out of my brain and onto the television screen.
Walker Scobell is not just going to be a child star. He’s going to be a star that we see for a long time, in movies and on television.
It’s seeing Percy and Grover (Aryan Simhadri) together on the screen that you can’t help but know that this show is on the right track. There is no shame here in saying that I actually cried, because this is the Percy Jackson that we all have wanted and we all deserved. This is the Percy Jackson that gives you the same giddy feeling that you would have had reading the books.
From the lunch tables to the steps of the Met, Grover and Percy have a friendship that at first you’re like oh cute, look at the buds. And then when they are in the principals office and Grover helps to get him expelled, had I not read the books, I woulda been like you little traitor.
At The Met, Percy is really confused. He’s not understanding what is happening – how words are discombobulated, and then how he’s being bullied – it’s too much. Even he’s confused when he ends up tossing his school bully into the fountain without even touching her. He’s attacked by Ms. Dodd’s – who is straight up cray. No one claims to see it, making Percy feel even more like he’s lost his mind.
I can’t even imagine how frustrating it must feel to be that alone. Yes, sure, I probably went through it, but I have blocked preteens out.
Percy is lucky because he does have a Mom who loves him more than anything. She’s not mad that he was expelled. She believes him. The conversations that the two are able to have – even if a little bit cray at times – it’s the way that everyone I know wishes that they could talk to their Moms. Virginia Kull, who plays Sally Jackson is an absolute delight.
Sally Jackson has protected her son with everything that she has and would give everything that she has to make sure that her son is always protected. Virginia brings Sally to life flawlessly and finds a balance between being a strong Mom and one that is completely vulnerable. She’s willing to take on a minotaur in order to save her son.
Trying to explain everything that is happening to Percy is not an easy thing. He’s a teenager and isn’t going to want to hear things. He’s set that there is something wrong with him versus thinking that maybe there is something great about him. What’s the fun of being like everyone else? There isn’t any.
Percy Jackson doesn’t realize what is happening to him, but who does at that age? No one. Walker Scobell makes you invest in Percy as a character. He’s a versatile actor, where one moment he can have you screaming at the television to believe in yourself and the next moment you’re cheering him on when he’s kicking ass, and the next moment you want to jump in front of a minotaur and protect him.
Especially when his Mom is saying her goodbyes and telling him that he needs to go to camp where he’s safe. All of this is a lot to take in for one night. How does one come to terms with the fact that their life has been a lie? How does one come to the realization that their Mom was willing to die by the hands of a minotaur to protect you? It’s definitely a lot.
But it’s Percy’s love for his Mom that drives him. Hell, when his Mom goes to dust, he takes that beast on as if it’s nothing.
From the acting to the CGI to the script and everything in between, I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher, is the perfect opening to this series. It sets up the series and in a beautiful way. They’ve found a way to introduce us to Percy and Grover in a way that you can’t help but fall for these characters.
You want them to excel.
You want them to win.
You want the next episode right away.
If episode one is any indication, this series is going to blow us away and I for one, can’t wait.