'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' Season 1, Episode 1 Breakdown
Breaking down easter eggs and differences in Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO) 1.01 vs the books so you don't have to (and because it brings me immense joy)!
“Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood…”
Disney+ was kind enough to give me an early birthday present (yes, the 20th is actually my birthday, thank you unnamed production gods and Uncle Rick) in the form of dropping the first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians a few hours early!
The first two episodes, “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher” and “I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom,” are now out, and I (among a legion of other fans) am absolutely ecstatic! This production has been nearly four years in the making, with the series’ official pickup announcement made back in May 2020. I have to say, as a long-time fan, the wait has been worth every agonizing second so far because it seems like we’ve finally gotten the adaptation that the series and its fans rightfully deserve.
My review of the first two episodes will be coming soon and linked, but what I really wanted to do in this article (and subsequent ones of the same nature) is explore the differences that the on-screen version has implemented compared to the books. While there are quite a few more changes than I was expecting according to the early reviews, the alterations are subtle and add exposition and context that are necessary to keep the show running at an acceptable pace in a format that doesn’t have the time nor bandwidth to allow book-level amounts of backstory and informational tidbits. The few “bigger” changes that I’ve seen so far (and I put that in quotations because the bigger changes have still not been significant enough to note them as major deviations from the source material) have only added to the pacing or bringing out the subtext. Without further ado, let’s first get into one of the most anticipated aspects: the easter eggs!
EASTER EGGS
Pegasus sighting: Coming in hot, there are SO many Easter eggs within the first few minutes of the show. The first being the appearance of a black pegasus. This is obviously a reference to Blackjack’s appearance and subsequent dedication to Percy in Sea of Monsters — though if the creature was in fact Blackjack roaming around freely, will this have an implication on his entrapment on the Princess Andromeda? A question for another day (season, really). And how can we forget Percy’s little notebook entry about how a magic horse had wings and talked to him? Absolutely adorable.
Rhino automaton: Though automatons appear in every book of the series, the first thing that leaped into my mind when I saw this mean not so lean automated machine was Daedalus’ appearance in Battle of the Labyrinth — though I may be biased, seeing as that’s one of my favorite storylines.
Percy’s notebook: Filled with creatures that Percy has presumably seen throughout his life (which everyone around him has dismissed as the result of the overactive imagination of a troubled boy), a few of the drawings depict monsters that Percy will be facing in the future! A few that I recognized after a quick perusal are Medusa, Cerberus, and Hydra amongst many other beasts. If I’m deciphering the drawings right, the Sphinx as well as a gryphon make an appearance as well (and the classic grade school S logo — which is apparently a universal experience that extends to even this cinematic universe).
Mythomagic card: An obvious reference to the future appearance of Nico D’Angelo, Mythomagic is making an early appearance here as a pastime (and inadvertent training module) for Percy and Grover about all things monster while at Yancy. While this is a clear reference to our favorite misunderstood child of the Underworld, Nico, another neat detail to consider is that Rick and Becky Riordan actually named their production company Mythomagic! So double whammy reference there.
Tidy whities: The appearance of these bad boys on the Minotaur painting was a delight to see, and even more delightful when they showed up on the real thing. That one always gave me a laugh in the books.
Mr. Kane: At one point, when Percy and Grover are pondering on how to deal with Nancy Bobofit, Grover suggests that Percy should make an appointment with “Mr. Kane.” While this could just be a throwaway line, I took it as a reference to one of Rick Riordan’s other series, The Kane Chronicles!
Rick Riordan cameo: It’s not explained why the unnamed man in a suit needed to sit in on what became Percy’s expulsion meeting, but the man the myth the legend himself did in fact plant himself in the corner for this scene (and left me looking like a passing imitation of that one Leonardo DiCaprio meme). Iconic, really.
D’Angelo’s restaurant - This felt like a rather random one to throw in, but. it was fun nonetheless. Who doesn’t need a good sandwich every now and again? Wait… was that supposed to be a reference to how the di Angelos are Italian? An Italian sub shop?
End credits: The beautiful art showcased in the end credits have so many nods to myths and events that happen in the future of the series. You could seriously spend all day picking it apart, but I’ll just leave it with make sure not to skip them!
Did your discerning eye catch any easter eggs that missed? I’d love to hear more about your observations in the comments! A reminder that you can find me over on Twitter @TheReelScoop or on my personal account, @KenediLynch.
DIFFERENCES
Medusa’s portrayal: It’s been revelaed from the press tour that Medusa’s character will be getting explored in greater depth than her one-dimensional portrayal as. a villain in the books, which I think the show has already started setting up here. The flashbacks to young Percy and his mom looking at the Met’s replica of Perseus with the Head of Medusa and the commentary about what constitutes being a hero or a monster seems ot be leading in that direction. I, for one, am super excited, because while in Percy’s story Medusa is undoubtedly a villain, the legend is much more nuanced and multifaceted than her being cursed by Athena for getting caught with a Poseidon in the temple and being an evil gorgon forthmore.
Grover’s bullying: I’m sure Aryan was thrilled that he didn’t have to get peanut butter and ketchup sandwich stuck in his precious curls by Nancy Bobofit, but I have to say getting slapped in the face by a piece of cheese was infinitely funnier (sorry Grover).
Nancy flying into the fountain: A minute detail that was likely for practicality and logistics sake (I know a wire stunt when I see one), but in the books, Percy seems to be confused on how the water grabbed Nancy and pulled her into the fountain after he confronts her. Nonetheless, I enjoyed seeing that little redhead get the dunking she deserved (Olivea Morton seems so sweet in real life though).
Alecto’s attack: Mrs. Dodds fight scene is a tad different, taking place out in the open instead of her luring Percy back into the Met. Mr Brunner also doesn’t confiscate the pen back at the end, which will come in handy later in the episode. One new addition that I thought was really cool is that Riptide seems to react to the presence of monsters. That’ll definitely be coming in handy rather soon.
Ms. Kerr: After Mrs. Dodds goes poof, an unnamed lady does escort Nancy away from the puddle — presumably Ms. Kerr? If that is her, it’s never explicitly stated that she’s the mist’s replacement for Mrs. Dodds after Percy accidentally vaporizes her, it’s just shown that no one remembers her or even saw her transform into Alecto.
Grover’s “betrayal”: This scene really made Grover look like an opp, but we know better. I think the change from Percy not getting invited back to Yancy the next year in the books to Grover actively getting him kicked out early by snitching was a good change to expedite the plot. It shows Grover taking a more active role in being Percy’s protector, which I don’t think would have been able to be adequately translated from the pages to the screen in other ways. In the books, Grover and Mr. Brunner’s actions were very hush hush and how evasive they were about how they had been moving behind the scenes to protect Percy, and that would have been hard to communicate without Percy’s internal dialogue/narration.
Smelly Gabe: I personally feel like it’s a crime that we didn’t get to hear him called Smelly Gabe onscreen, but that’s just me. Gabe Ugliano’s character was actually one of the most baffling changes so far for me. More thoughts on that in the section below, but I will say I was expecting the actor to be more bald. It was kind of funny that instead of just not doing his job well, he actually doesn’t have a job and jus tplays poker all day in the show.
Eddie: Tying in with Smelly Gabe is Eddie the building super! I thought it was a cute nod to the books that he was included. I liked that he was portrayed as more of an ally for Percy than one of Gabe’s gambling drinking/buddies in the books (though he was sympathetic to Percy in the books as well).
Blue Foods: No explanation provided, but if you know you know. This beloved tradition started as a way to stick it to Smelly Gabe after an argument surrounding if foods could be blue or not, but it’s turned into one of fans’ favorite traditions concerning the series. The blue candy is a reference to Sally’s job at the candy shop trying to make ends meet (a nod to the sadder aspects of her backstory).
Montauk: When Percy gets kicked out in the middle of the semester instead of at the end, the annual trip to Montauk becomes a spontaneous endeavor rather than a planned out trip. Another change is that Percy didn’t know the backstory about Sally meeting his dad at the cabin and the reasoning behind its significance as a special place. Since he doesn’t have the knowledge, the conversation about his dad never seeing him before he left didn’t occur either.
The dreams: The Kronos foreshadowing is strong. The raspy voice, the desolate landscapes. A big bad is coming, folks!
How much Sally/Percy Know Reveal: In the books, Percy doesn’t tell his mom about the weird incidents at Yancey, not wanting to worry her. In the show, he seems much more open to letting her in about his problems, which I think goes hand in hand with the difference in the portrayal of Percy’s mindset concerning his learning and attention problems (he seems much more inclined to believe he’s broken in the show, my poor baby). Likewise, Sally ends up revealing her godly tryst and Percy’s status as a demigod at the cabin rather than Percy kind of having to figure everything out once he finally gets to camp. I think this was a great choice in terms of moving the plot forward because it both strengthens Percy and Sally’s relationship and cuts right to the chase about what’s going on. There isn’t time on screen to draw these things out like they are in the book, and these changes keep the pace rolling.
Grover’s Case of Mistaken Identity: This scene is really not significant, but I always found it funny. In the books, when Grover is helping explain everything to Percy on their tumultuous drive to CHB, it’s revealed in the car that he’s a Satyr (that’s when Percy sees his legs rather than in the on screen version’s reveal in the cabin). However, Percy originally mistakes Grover for half donkey — which Grover is quite offended by. I’ve always wanted to know what a bleat of indignation sounds like. Oh well.
Grover’s age: 24 in the show (Percy choosing to simply ignore that fact when it was presented was hilarious), 28 in the book version of The Lightning Thief.
Minotaur fight: The minotaur scene is probably the biggest chunk besides the cabin scene with the most alterations from the book, though I suppose those two could be lumped together. In the book Grover is unconscious during the entire ordeal and Sally helps Percy carry him away from the wreck. Sally taking the coat and performing the bullfighting stunt also is a slight alteration, as we skip the original dodge to the side strategy (also, in the book Percy is the one that has the idea to lure the Minotaur in with his red coat). In the show, Percy also has Riptide at the beginning of the fight, while in the book, “Mr.. Brunner” confiscates it again after the fight with Alecto. At the end of the fight scene, the pair also doesn’t cross the camp boundary of Thalia’s tree (which we haven’t yet seen to my knowledge), but we do get our first glance (albeit real fuzzy) at Annabeth and Chiron’s true form. Overall, I think the way it played out on screen was super exciting and again cut down on how much time it would take to play out every single detail of what is a really long passage in the book. We still get to see Percy gank the monster in his true chaos demon glory, Minotaur horn in hand, which was the main thing I wanted out of this iconic fight. One last thing… is it just me that always imagined the Minotaur with human legs in the tidy whities? Just me? Okay.
Like I stated earlier, while the changes that did occur were more numerous than I expected based off of the commentary from the screeners, they were all pretty minor. Moreover, they worked to drive the plot forward while making the exposition more digestible for general audiences without having the info dump that comes with reading the book. Overall, I think it was very well done. My only real complaints…
THINGS I WISH WE WOULD HAVE SEEN
The Fates: This isn’t necessarily an important scene considering it doesn’t really get called back to until the end of the series, but I was actually really disappointed that they didn’t include this. With Percy getting kicked out of Yancy early and subsequently not taking the bus back into the city with Grover, it makes sense that they cut it for the on-screen version, but assuming the show gets to progress through all 5 books, this would have been such a great payoff scene at the end for those truly dedicated and invested fans.
The REAL Gabe Ugliano: Back to the smelliest guy in town. I think there’s a nuanced conversation to be had here about the changes that the production team chose to make. After rewatching the first episode, this grew into my only genuine gripe so far. While I get this show is For The Kids™, the books were too and still managed to broach difficult subjects. Watering down the things Sally went through to protect Percy from having monsters discover him felt like a bit of a disservice to the amazing mother and character that PJO fans know and love. While I don’t want to see Sally having to suffer abuse on-screen (and I think it was a good choice to not show that), I also think that not alluding to the things that she endured to keep her son safe really takes away from the magnitude of her sacrifices for Percy. The show neglected to mention Gabe’s physically abusive tendencies and opted to portray him as more of an annoying, hyper-controlling bum than anything. While I think the hyper-control over Sally’s life (controlling her personal phone, limiting her financially, etc.) IS supposed to be a facet of his abuse here, I don’t think it translated well on screen. That’s not to say that Gabe won’t be explored more in depth in the coming episodes, but at first glance it makes his character feel a lot tamer than in the books. Additionally, while I love seeing Sally be more of a spitfire in the show, her relationship with Gabe comes across as almost playfully antagonistic? There still seems to be a current of some connection between them. Without even the mention of how his scent keeps the monsters at bay, there seems to be no real use for him in the storyline at this point in time in my opinion.
On the other hand, a message can be abstracted from the change that women aren’t defined by what happens to them at the hands of men, which is important. Sally doesn’t need to suffer trauma to be a courageous, fiercely loving mother. However, even then, I feel like so much of Sally’s character development later on in the series is linked to her finally being able to break free of Gabe’s influence when she no longer has to worry about Percy’s safety and start creating the life for herself that she always wanted (pursuing her dreams of writing, marrying Paul, etc.). It all just rubbed me the wrong way a bit. I don’t think Sally was ever limited in the books to being a victim because of her circumstances, and what she endured was an important part of setting expectations for how she would refuse to compromise for a greater life going forward in her storyline. I think there’s room for her to be the more vocal version of herself here in the on-screen storyline while still staying true to how her story develops over time. Logistics-wise, I’m also confused about how they’ll justify Sally petrifying Gabe with Medusa’s head without these aspects of his character being displayed in a stronger fashion, because at the moment it would seem like an extreme overreaction for her to make what is hands down one of THE ballsiest moves in the entire series… We’ll have to wait and see how this unfolds throughout the rest of the season, but I really hope this isn’t a one-and-done in terms of storylines to touch on.
NOTES AND GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
Narration: A significant chunk of the opening scenes are narrated by Percy, and while it isn’t quite word for word, it’s pretty dam close (see what I did there?). Did anyone else get chills hearing classic lines like “Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood”?
Right kind of pen: Look, I love Logan Lerman’s “This is a pen” as much as the next girl, but it always deeply bothered me that in the movie it was a fancy retractable pen rather than a disposable ballpoint pen. But let’s be real, there were many things to be bothered about in those films as book-to-movie adaptations. Anaklusmos is here in her full glowing plain-penned glory and I can’t wait to see more of her in action as Percy matures into the battle demon we know and love.
Dyslexia portrayal: We got a sneak peek in the show’s trailer (see my previous breakdown of that here) on how the young demigods’ brains are hardwired for ancient Greek through the intercalation of Greek letters into the Camp’s signage (shown in episode 1.02). I’m glad to see that the show made explicit efforts to showcase Percy’s dyslexia through the assignment in the Met because the neurodivergence that makes demigods “different” outside of camp (ADHD, dyslexia, etc) is such a big plot of the books’ core messages on how anyone can be a hero and your perceived differences are what make you who you are. The show didn’t really go into how the neurodivergence of demigods relates to their battle and strategy skills, but the important takeaway that it’s okay to be who you are no matter your difficulties and differences was definitely infused, which I appreciate.
“Logical”: Silly side note, but rumors had been floating around that an Olivia Rodrigo song was included in the first episode, and the rumors were true! Thank you Disnsey+ for continuing to confirm my theory that she is becoming what Lorde was in the 2010s in terms of soundtracks because she’s seriously collecting franchises at this point!
Overall, this was a fantastic first episode, and while I do wish the episodes were a bit longer (I’m honestly surprised they managed to cover 5 chapters worth of information in 33 minutes - kudos to them) I think they’re a good length to hold childrens’ attention speans (you know, the real target audience of the show and source material, not all of the 20-somethings who have been deeply obsessed with this franchise since childhood). I think the premiere is setting a good foundation for the rest of the season and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
I’ll be breaking down each episode of the show in depth like this, so be sure to hit subscribe, follow me over on Twitter @TheeReelScoop, and stay tuned for more PJO analysis!