#I love that she “Drives” in this episode but Sally herself doesn't know how to drive | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

femmedefandom · 3 months

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so I finally got around to watching the PJO show and to be honest, I'm kinda disappointed by the pilot, so much so that I debate even trying later episodes. I understand that changes are always made in adaptations (even when it drives book readers crazy because all you have to do is follow the plot RIGHT THERE but I digress) and with RR on board I fully expected them to be minor or even slight improvements and yet...it seems like these changes in the first episode alone detract more than they benefit the characters or the story. be warned, rant incoming with no particular coherence.

Percy is told all about mythology by his mom throughout his entire life? (while it is sweet to hear how Sally tells Percy about the origins of his name, the idea that Percy is already a mythology expert will probably impact how he interacts with the godly world later on and it could even impact his relationship with a young Annabeth who prides herself on knowing everything in their world.)

Percy gets weird vibrations from Riptide before the big reveal? (I thought Percy wasn't supposed to even know about Riptide until "Mr. Brunner" tosses it to him in the midst of battle; why would a sword with no personal connection him be resonating like that yet?)

Dodds approaches him instantly, out in public? (the big battle between Percy and a Kindly One, instead of being dramatically held in the empty museum hall surrounded by evidence and history of their world, is shown in a showdown that didn't build any tension or confusion but instead was over in seconds without seeing Percy even do anything! seriously, all it looked like was that Percy fell down and Mrs. Dodd's accidentally impaled herself on a sword she didn't even notice him holding when she tackled him.)

Percy gets disciplined for the Nancy thing and Grover throws him under the bus!? (Grover, our best boy, great loyal friend, in Percy's POV, betrays him in the face of authority by telling a lie. WHY? was it because they didn't want to show the rest of the school year of the whole school gaslighting him? didn't want to show him stressing over finals and overhearing the conversation between Grover and "Mr. Brunner", or listening to Chiron's truly awful "it'll be alright" speech, or even him worrying about bullies and Grover the next year? so instead of just having Percy stick to his story and being summarily expelled...they have Grover LIE, make Percy feel isolated by his only friend, and miss out on more of his dynamic with Brunner which fuels how connected he is to Chiron as a mentor. so now it will seem like any bond between them is manufactured from almost nothing.)

Percy doesn't take the bus home with Grover (duh!), doesn't get the Half Blood Hill card, and has zero interaction with the Fates and seeing the string cut? (this is hugely plot relevant and I'm not sure if it will come up later, but what was the reasoning in removing the Fates scene?)

There's some kind of casual repartee between him and Gabe? (instead of rage or frustration or anger, Percy just looks like he's dealing with a spoiled toddler that he's too annoyed to be bothered with; granted neither of them look like best buddies but there is a stunning difference between this and the outright hostility that was present in the book. it'll be hard to truly buy into his desire to kill Gabe later on instead of just telling his mom to divorce him or something.)

Sally isn't there to welcome him home? (so first of all, Sally was not forced to work by Gabe on the day that her baby boy came home and you're telling me that she chose to have Percy make his own way home and be greeted by Gabe while she waited outside just chilling in the rain with melodic music??? what have you done with my Sally Jackson??? this is not the mother who worries about her little boy or is scared of Gabe and how he treats him)

Sally shows much more dominance in her relationship with Gabe? (I don't love that Sally shackled herself to the human garbage can that is Gabe Ugliano in the books, but the show certainly adjusts their dynamic in a way that changes quite a lot: when Percy expresses his fear over what's been happening mythology wise, Sally yells for Gabe to summon him from the other room...and he comes immediately...to which he is one-sidedly informed that she and Percy are going to Montauk, no permission needed. Sally and Gabe then proceed to have a silly argument about sandwiches in which Sally holds all the power and Gabe caves. I didn't get the sense that Sally was afraid of Gabe's reaction at all. He is the required but not appreciated partner on a necessary group project at best, not an abusive husband that she fears and suffers from for her son or that she or Percy truly have a reason to hate him to death.)

Percy opens up, unprompted by Sally, about what happened on the field trip and she uses the same over dramatic prompts and weighted pauses that every fantastical movie or tv show does in order to reveal or extract important information and that PJO eschewed so expertly until now.

Sally gets him to talk and then tells him her knowledge of what happened. (She also takes the time to tell Percy that they come to the cabin because it's where she met his father....didn't he already know that??? Apparently instead of it being a regular story, this is the first time Percy is hearing anything about his father??? Sally tells him his father is a god, and about halfbloods??? It was agreed that Sally explains things? If that was the plan and not a sudden decision then why does she suck at it? She's so vague and confused and unprepared!)

Apparently the Mist blocked GROVER, a satyr, from seeing things? (so instead of Sally breaking away and escaping to Montauk, delaying Grover in tracking her down, which is a reasonable explanation...it's now that a mythical creature is blocked by the thing that exists to block mortal beings from seeing they mythical?)

No line about donkey vs. goat? (granted, this isn't a big deal, but it's great characterization to have Grover and Percy bicker, learn more about Satyrs, and have poor Sally pull the mom voice from the front seat all while in a high stakes race)

The lightning didn't hit their car and Sally battles a Minotaur with the car instead of her wits? (...I don't even know, minor changes that take away from the brilliance that is Sally Jackson.)

Everything is so poorly lit that I literally can't tell what's going on. (do moons not exists in movies anymore? why does ambient light never play a role? I'm sure Artemis would've been curious to look down on a boy who chose to protect his satyr friend and mother over rescuing himself!)

Grover is totally conscious so that Sally can get an oath of protection from him for Percy? (even though it is his literal job to be a protector of halfbloods and Percy specifically? there was no narrative need for this change; maybe they wanted Grover to look better, but him getting knocked unconscious because of Zeus' lightning bolt is hardly something he could've controlled! getting rid of that part for this oath is so pointless)

Percy...chooses...to separate from his mom? (Percy doesn't need to part with her because he's carrying Grover up the hill...and he is somehow convinced to voluntarily leave his mom behind in a dangerous monster-ridden forest while he crosses the border safely? instead of them all trying to get up together?)

Percy fights with Riptide???? (A sword he should not have yet? Instead of his bare hands, pure rage, and water enhanced abilities alone? again, no narrative need for this yet)

GROVER carries PERCY across the border? (and is welcomed by a whole group of people who were, what, just chilling by Thalia's Pine and watching this all play out?)

#pjo show #pjo show critical #percy jackson #this is nothing against the actors #only the script writers and the lighting directors

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