#but I find Scobell's acting fine

[fryeswiththat]

With all the grief I've heard about Disney+'s Annabeth not fitting her book description, not once have I seen those same people bemoan about Percy "black hair and seafoam eyes" Jackson being cast as a BLOND kid.

[squijim]

some initial thoughts on the pjo premier!!

[SPOILERS AHEAD FOR EP. 1&2]

Overall rating for the premier: 7/10

a lot of the departures from the original text felt unnecessary to me:

GABE — like most people have said, this version of gabe feels... benign. the book does a great job of setting the scene for percy's home when he comes home from Yancy: a bunch of greasy men, farting and burping and insulting each other watching a game, surrounded by trash, on a sofa. gabe demands money for the taxi and insults percy ("i wouldn't act so snooty, brainboy") to his face, before percy goes into his bedroom and sees old magazines, empty beer cans, dirty sneakers, and general misuse of his space due to gabe. this gabe feels harmless? the fact that he has control over tv!sally's phone is an interesting new detail, but this angle is glossed over almost immediately.

the most impactful part of gabe's character is that sally made the sacrificing of withstanding verbal, emotional, financial, AND physical abuse (percy talks about gabe's "guy secret" i.e. punching his lights out if he doesn't pay him, him realizing gabe probably hits sally) to protect percy, but given that tv!sally argues back, does not compromise to appease him, doesn't help the audience understand that relationship right away. in some ways, i feel like movie!gabe was more accurate in this way; he slaps sally's ass showing a blatant disrespect for her, and has a more aggressive relationship with percy, which while maybe more extreme, is more accurate to book!gabe and percy's confusion and indignance at their relationship. as far as current tv!gabe, it doesn't feel like the medusa head is an appropriate, measured response nor does it feel like the only tool at sally's disposal to escape.

GROVER — Grover betraying Percy feels so unneeded? Grover, later on in the episode, says he needed to expel Percy from Yancy to protect him from more monsters finding him... but this foundation hasn't been laid for it to feel real. Not only does Grover not know this information, but it feels disingenuous considering we've never seen any other indications that monsters are actively hunting percy aside from Mrs. Dodds; the books mention a snake slithering into his crib, a cyclops stalking him on a playground, but pjotv omits this entirely... so Grover's warning doesn't add up. The tv show, in my opinion, could've left this play out exactly as it did in the book... which leads me to my next point:

SALLY — Women don't have to be sassy to be strong. That is not who Sally is. Sally is described in the book as someone who Percy has never heard say a mean word to anyone, and while she is motherly, it again diminishes the sacrifice she made to be with Gabe and just feels unrecognizable as a character. I thought the acting was fine, but maybe it's different coming as someone who knows the book intimately. It just feels like Percy encouraging Sally to finally stand up for herself and choose the path best for her for once is less impactful if she's already been standing up for herself against Gabe's character for years, especially while Percy has been away...

PERCY HIMSELF — Don't get me wrong, Walker Scobell is a GREAT choice for Percy. The Kraft Mac'n'Cheese commercial alone is proof of that. But where is that naturally sassy performance in these first two episodes? The only thing hinting at a sarcastic Percy is the throwaway cafeteria joke ("hey kids, wanna talk about the monsters in my head...?"), but this Percy (so far) lacks impertinence. There are so many opportunities in first few chapters alone that TV!Percy could've incorporated— ditching Grover at the bus station, talking back to Gabe ("kick you in your soft spot, make you sing soprano for a week"), talking back to Mr. D, talking back to Clarisse after the bathroom explodes, etc. While Walker has definitely leaned into the confused Percy character, which is very real, I feel like one of the most important aspects of Percy is his sarcasm and pessimistic humor, which is weirdly absent. He gets kicked out of Yancy originally not for pushing Nancy into the pool, but because his failing grades, bickering with teachers, and general misplaced anger. This is important!! This parallels what happened to Luke after he comes back from his quest, it foreshadows why Percy alone can see Luke for who he is (not solely evil or solely misguided), and it is why Luke tries to convert him to the army initially, because they are foils.

MR. D — The Gods have to feel untouchable because that is one of the recurring themes and sources of resentment for Kronos's army throughout the books. Despite Mr. D's proximity to the campers, book!Percy has to toe the line of respect with him because of his sheer power. Mr. D being played as humorous rather than repugnant diminishes this effect, because it's not yet clear to the viewers why Percy has to respect him, or why Percy would want to disrespect him. Jason's characterization feels a bit more awkward, less developed than it could be with his acting chops, and like a regular counselor making an inappropriately-timed joke rather than an asshole the campers must begrudgingly respect. He even treats Grover and Percy much more kindly than the book one ever would, so I'm curious to see how this will play when Tantalus comes into the picture in season two.

This is just some initial thoughts! I thought Annabeth, Clarisse, and Luke were pretty great, and I like the introduction of Chris Rodriguez earlier on in the story, it sets up his importance pretty well. I wish we had gotten to see Percy flourish more in Cabin Eleven so that his loneliness in Cabin 3 is more poignant; same goes for the gaslighting period at Yancy which could've been emphasized more since it really fucked with him. I think the film location for Camp Half-Blood is gorgeous and I'm so excited to see the new locations the group goes to.