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S2:E12 Part 1 - Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief (Series)
29 Plays27 days ago
For this week’s episodes of Based on a Book and to wrap up April Adventures, we’re launching a special three-part series diving into The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan–along with its 2023 Disney+ TV adaptation and the 2010 movie version.
In Part 1, we’ll be breaking down how the first four episodes of the Disney+ series stack up against the original book.
Hosted by Keri with co-hosts Lindsey and Crystal.
Books & Adaptations Mentioned:
- The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
- Percy Jackson & The Olympians Disney+ TV Show
- A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Percy Jackson and the Olympians
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Intro/Outro Music - Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!)
Thanks for listening to Based on a Book - see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(1:56) Let’s Talk Ratings
(8:49) Book vs. Series Breakdown (SPOILERS)
(11:53) Episode 1
(25:27) Episode 2
(37:21) Episode 3
(46:47) Episode 4
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Based on a Book'
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome to Based on a Book, the podcast for all things heroic, magical, and sometimes a little bit messy. I'm Carrie, your friendly neighborhood demigod and companion for this week's quest. I'm Lindsay, daughter of chaos and questionable book choices.
00:00:22
Speaker
And I'm Crystal, 100% pure-blooded coward. And I say messy because this is our second time trying to record this.
Exploring the Percy Jackson Series
00:00:32
Speaker
On our last stop for April Adventures, we are dipping our toes into the complicated waters of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
00:00:40
Speaker
Because nothing says it adventures like diving into The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and its TV show movie adaptations. Since we have so much content to cover, this episode we've brought to you in three different parts where we will be covering the first season of the 2023 TV show, parts one and two, and the 2010 movie and overall insights in parts three.
00:01:01
Speaker
So whether you're a longtime fan or newbie, we hope you join the journey as we witness Percy's first encounter with Greek gods and how this series is brought to life on screen.
'The Lightning Thief' Overview
00:01:10
Speaker
And if you haven't heard of this series before, this world is large and full of plenty of spinoffs, but the core book series that the show and movie revolve around is Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, which contains five main books.
00:01:25
Speaker
The entire series is all about Greek mythology and is in the perspective of 12 year old boy named Percy Jackson. The first book is The Lightning Thief, which is what the first season of the show and the first movie follows.
00:01:40
Speaker
This book is basically Percy's introduction to the world, his family history, and his first quest with two friends that involve confronting monsters, mythical creatures, gods, prophecies, and more.
Ratings and Thoughts on 'The Lightning Thief'
00:01:54
Speaker
So we're just going to immediately get into it and get into book ratings. So let's start with who do I want to start with? I to start Crystal since you've read this already. but i have. I have. It's your second time reading it.
00:02:08
Speaker
it is. i read it the first time probably only like a year after it originally came out. I read it. with Really? Yeah. So like I in it from the get go. i was in it from from the get-go And I but I hadn't read it since then.
00:02:25
Speaker
And so what I remember reading and what I just read are a little different. um I think I had i legit I had just forgotten a huge chunk of this book that I thought I remembered.
00:02:40
Speaker
But because this is a lot of like mythology retelling, and because there are an epic crap ton of mythology retellings out there, in my head, I must have gotten confused about what was in what.
00:02:56
Speaker
And so it was really fun to reread this and not find the parts that I thought I really loved because turns out that wasn't this book. yeah And also to find parts that I had forgotten were in this one.
00:03:10
Speaker
ah so it was really enjoyable and I give it four lightning bolts.
Audiobook Narration Style Discussion
00:03:17
Speaker
Okay. And you listened to the audio, right? I listened to the audio. I did not enjoy the audio, the narrator.
00:03:23
Speaker
yeah like ok so like this is a kid's book. It's written for kids. It is somewhat, like, I don't want to say simplified because there's a lot of complex issues happening, but the language is simplified.
00:03:40
Speaker
um to Because the target audience is children. Yeah. Having said that, the narrator narrated it like he was reading to children and that was annoying to me. Yeah.
00:03:51
Speaker
But I'm an adult. I'm not the target audience. You
First Impressions of Percy Jackson
00:03:53
Speaker
know what i mean? so I'm not going to sit here and say he did a bad job. I just didn't enjoy it. Yeah, I kind of touched into the audio book a little bit just to get what the experience would be.
00:04:05
Speaker
right And I did not love it either. I totally agree with you. It's just, I mean, it's not necessarily for me, but I get why they choose a narrator. That's kind of why I kind of struggle with listening to like um young adult fantasy books because they yeah sound so young which yep duh because they are young characters so it's just it's not my favorite either so I totally get that what about you Lindsay this was my first time reading it which I'm really surprised because I love Greek mythology but with that being said I gave it four drachmas you took my rating I knew it
00:04:47
Speaker
I gave it four drachmas as well. So we all gave it the same rating. That's just so rare. And I love it when it happens, especially when we all like it that this
Complex Issues in the Book
00:04:57
Speaker
much. Yeah. i I'm just like having such... i mean, I keep saying this every single time we do this, but I'm having such a good time reading these middle grade books. This was my very first experience reading Percy Jackson.
00:05:11
Speaker
I've always heard so much about this series. It's like this iconic series that everybody loves and adores. I'm not super into Greek mythology. I mean, it definitely took a little bit of research going into it because I wanted to get all the clues.
00:05:26
Speaker
into the story. And when I was doing all the research and reading it as a doll, I'm like, Oh my gosh, like this book is so smart. This book is crazy smart.
00:05:37
Speaker
Yep. Yep. And I'm just like, Oh my gosh, I'm having like Lily the best time. And I feel like I'm also learning so much at the same time. And it's nonstop adventure, nonstop action.
00:05:49
Speaker
Like you just want to keep turning the pages. It's super fun. And I love how even though it is targeted towards kids, it really hits on a lot of complex issues.
00:06:02
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Right? Inclusion for disabilities, you know, educational disabilities, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities. It hits on you know,
Emotional Responses to 'The Lightning Thief'
00:06:12
Speaker
found family. It hits on you know, non-traditional family structures and abusive and toxic family structures. And like there's so...
00:06:24
Speaker
many heavy topics in here, but in a very digestible way. Yeah. Yeah. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not really sure why I didn't give it a five.
00:06:35
Speaker
i would probably maybe say like, you know i base my ratings off like vibes and just feelings. So like they're there is like something that's like... My five stars like have like this like super emotional connection I have to the book.
00:06:52
Speaker
Maybe as I continue in the series... I would go back and give this a five, you know, as I'm like continuously connecting with these characters and falling in love with them.
00:07:02
Speaker
So who knows? So I have read the whole series. And as I mentioned, my memory of this is not...
Series Progression and Themes
00:07:11
Speaker
necessarily reliable.
00:07:13
Speaker
um However, i remember that it gets even better. it it grows in a really great way. i really loved that the way that the whole overall theme of the story continues the whole, you know, with the same kind of like prophecies and found family and discovering themselves while just, you know, like, it all kind of continues. And it's really, really good.
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it's, i I think I didn't give it a five because it didn't quite, I feel like the language is a little dumbed down. i think it probably needs to be for the audience, but also...
00:07:58
Speaker
Maybe not. Like, I always hate it when somebody underestimates their audience. Does that make sense? Mm-hmm. So I think that's the only reason I probably didn't give it the full five is because I felt like there was just a little something more that could have been there and then wasn't.
00:08:12
Speaker
i don't know. Yeah, I can understand that. I think... Because
TV Show Adaptation and Production Insight
00:08:17
Speaker
it's middle grade. Right. know Exactly. Yeah. It's like kind of difficult to, you know, kind of get to that five star. But then I just like read The Wild Robot. I just was like, so emotionally connected to like every second of that book. So, you know.
00:08:35
Speaker
I don't know. I'm excited to continue in the series because I definitely want to keep reading in the series. So I'm curious how I'll still feel later. So I'm excited about that. But I really want to get into our book versus TV show breakdown.
00:08:51
Speaker
So let's get into all of the spoilers. So this is your warning. If you haven't yet ventured... This is a threat. This is your warning. you haven't yet ventured into the world of Percy Jackson and don't want to be spoiled, turn back now because we are about to dive into the heart of this quest.
00:09:10
Speaker
Since this is part one... We will be talking about the first four episodes of the TV show and the book, but there's always a chance that we may slip up and bring up stuff that happens in later episodes because we love to yap.
00:09:24
Speaker
Okay? We love to yap. Sure do. So we may spoil other stuff.
Author's Role in Show Production
00:09:29
Speaker
So this is just a warning. But I kind of want to get into like the TV show background a little bit.
00:09:36
Speaker
Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV show was created by the author and Jonathan Steinberg for Disney+. plus and The author is very involved in this project. I recommend watching making of the Percy Jackson documentary. It's also available on Disney+. plus um There are a lot of great insights behind how and why this show was made, including the author stating he only kind of want to make wanted to make this adaptation for the fans. Like, this was for the fans.
00:10:03
Speaker
He wanted a faithful adaptation for his fans because the book itself, the story itself started as like a bedtime story for his son. He turned this into this incredible world that fans want to see on screen. So it was very important to him for this adaptation to be faithful to the story.
00:10:24
Speaker
That was his highest priority. And I honestly think my personal opinion on this TV show nailed it.
Percy's School Life and Mythology Introduction
00:10:32
Speaker
For real, nailed it. like It was actually kind of insane.
00:10:36
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And I just watched the movie last night. And honestly, different right yeah, wait till that part three, everyone, because we are going to be getting into that.
00:10:48
Speaker
Oh, no yeah. And he you know, the author had no control over that movie adaptation. Nothing. No control. So he did not want that to happen to in for this circumstance, for this TV show, and became an executive producer.
00:11:04
Speaker
They even have their soundtrack with Bear McCreary. And you know when Bear McCreary is on there? who That show is about to be bomb.com. Okay? He's a bad dark mom is about to nail that. All right?
00:11:19
Speaker
Outlander, Rings of Power. You're about to be crying your eyes out in that show. Okay? True, true, true. If he's up in there. So be prepared. So when starting The Lightning Thief, we are immediately introduced to our main character, Percy, who's known as a kid who finds himself in a lot of trouble or weird circumstances from encountering bullies or trying to convince everyone he's seen a Pegasus on the roof of their school building.
00:11:46
Speaker
He talks about struggling with school, being dyslexic, and having a difficult time
Museum Visit and Greek Gods
00:11:51
Speaker
paying attention. He's been pushed around different schools and is now at Yancey Academy, where episode one begins.
00:11:58
Speaker
It is called I Accidentally Vaporized My Pre-Algebra Teacher, which is the title of the first chapter of the book. And they are on a school field trip at a museum looking at statues of Greek gods where we are also introduced to his close friend Grover and teachers, Mr. Bruner and Mrs. Dodds.
00:12:22
Speaker
And as they are learning about these Greek gods and being asked questions during this field trip, Mr. Bruner is paying a attention extra attention to Percy and being like, you need to know the stuff for your future. And Percy is like, okay, what?
00:12:34
Speaker
It's like classic trope of like, everyone knows something that I don't as the main character. yeah Like everyone is aware something going on. I don't know what's going
Urban Fantasy Setting
00:12:45
Speaker
on.
00:12:45
Speaker
And this is like an urban fantasy where things are not as it seems and humans don't know what's actually going on around them. That is the vibe. this This book and the even the movie and this series in particular do such a great job. I love like urban ah stories like this that specifically have specific places in it especially like ones where they travel across the country because like If you've ever been to these museums, you know exactly what they're looking at. You've seen it before and you feel a little bit closer to the story. Yes. And any of the places they stop, it's kind of the same thing if you've ever been there before or if you've you know heard of it before. like It feels a little bit more real. It's a little bit easier to immerse yourself
Percy's Supernatural Heritage Revealed
00:13:34
Speaker
in it then. And so I love this. So and them being at the museum and looking at like the statues and the busts and the artwork that is actually there was really kind of cool.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yeah, it makes it, like you said, like makes it more fun. like Exactly. And I'm imagining reading this as like a kid. and Yep. And if you've ever been yeah you know to any of the places that are mentioned, and there's a lot of places mentioned, you know or if you have family there or whatever, that like you can kind of feel a little bit more, i don't know. It's it's just it's it's immersive. that's it's and it's really awesome.
00:14:15
Speaker
Yeah. Percy is dealing with a bully at the academy and she makes her appearance at the field trip and Percy gets fed up after she picks on Grover and Percy attacks the girl.
00:14:27
Speaker
And the way Percy attacks the girl reveals that he is not human. and She's pushed and he doesn't even touch her. And Mrs. Dodds sees this and reveals her true form, which just want to say, Mrs. Dodds- Megan Mullally. Megan Mullally is the best. Yep.
00:14:47
Speaker
She is married to Nick Offerman, and they're both in the Umbrella Academy, and they are so good. I love them.
Family Dynamics and Quest Initiation
00:14:56
Speaker
Anytime they appear together, you know- No, it's going to be amazing. Nick Offerman isn't in this. I'm hoping he shows up in season two. Fingers crossed. That would be so good. Wouldn't it Yeah, she plays Electa, which is um a Fury disguised as a human. And Furies are from the underworld who serve Hades.
00:15:16
Speaker
And like we said, this is our first encounter with a you know... A character from Greek mythology in the TV show. And, you know, when you see, like, in fantasy shows, like, the first time you're encountering, like, a fantasy character, it's like, this is going to set the bar of what we're about to see in this show.
00:15:38
Speaker
Yeah. And seeing this, and I'm always, like, imagining, like, and don't know how to describe this, but, like, when you're taking as an author and you have to take a retelling of something, right? Mm-hmm.
00:15:51
Speaker
what Whether you're like incorporating mythology or just a retelling
Camp Half-Blood Introduction
00:15:55
Speaker
of like a story in history or something like that, and you're creating and adding it to your new world, but you it's like you have to modify it a little bit.
00:16:03
Speaker
like You don't always make it exact, but you modify it to adjust it to your story. Right. And like what they make her look like in the show was like really cool.
00:16:15
Speaker
Yes. I loved how she looked in the show. And I love the morphing between her like human form and her like monster for her true form. Yeah. like The way they kind of morph those back and forth in some different scenes is really so well done. It doesn't look campy or cheesy. It doesn't it like it it looks like a legit fury straight from...
00:16:40
Speaker
you know, from hell. Like, it's it's really kind of, it's really awesome. And yet, somehow, Megan Mullally still looks really good. Yes, she does. Yes, she does.
00:16:51
Speaker
Yes. And Electo attacks him, or attacks Percy, and Percy's like, what the hell is happening? but has some natural instincts to protect himself. And he has a pen that was given to him earlier by the other teacher, Mr. Bruner, and he saves his life when the pen turns into a sword for him and makes a Electo turn into dust when he stabs her with it.
00:17:13
Speaker
And he kind of like comes back to reality after this whole situation happens. And he's starting to be like gaslit by everyone because they all say that there's no such thing as
Book vs. TV Show Differences
00:17:22
Speaker
Mrs. Dodds. So we find out later that this whole situation happens where everyone doesn't know what he's talking about. It's called is known as the mist.
00:17:32
Speaker
and This is a force that is pushed amongst humans that allow monsters to be hidden from a mortal sight. It's like everyone is being compelled to believe that they did not just see what just happened. and and that's how I'm okay with that.
00:17:45
Speaker
yeah don't want to see it. Yeah. And you know, like as a kid, you're like reading that you're like, oh my gosh, like what do I not know? You know what I mean? It could be anywhere. it could be anyone.
00:17:57
Speaker
But Percy is eventually kicked out of the Academy due to the incident pushing the girl. Grades are dropping because he's so distracted by what the heck he just went through. And um he ends up back home with his mom and his garbage stepdad, Gabe.
00:18:12
Speaker
Whose last name is Uglyano. Yeah. i Gabe Uglyano. Yeah. Oh no, Uglyano's here!
00:18:24
Speaker
Oh no, Gliana's here. oh Lord. a when
Camp Half-Blood Structure and Demigod Dynamics
00:18:30
Speaker
I, cause I did not remember that part. And I just cackled the first time I heard that last name when I was reading it, I was like, Oh, I forgot. it's so perfect. It's so perfect.
00:18:43
Speaker
Oh my gosh. It was so funny. In the book, we get a lot more traveling during this time. We even encounter the fates. Whenever Percy is trying to get back to his house to his mom. But we encounter the fates much later in the TV show.
00:19:00
Speaker
so like Sorry, right off the bat though. In the book, the one thing that I hate most they changed about Percy in the series is that Percy's a little shit to his mom in the series.
00:19:17
Speaker
He, like, you always leave me at these boarding schools and why don't you want me around? and but But in the book, he's like,
Percy's Godly Parentage Challenges
00:19:25
Speaker
my mom works really hard and I know that she's struggling to make sure that I have the best that I can get since I have these learning disabilities.
00:19:33
Speaker
And, like, he's like – He's that classic kid of a single mom who feels like he has to, in some ways, parent the mom, too, and take care of him. like do like He doesn't get to be a kid in the book, and he recognizes it.
00:19:49
Speaker
Whereas in the series, he's just like... she's always leaving me here and i you know like she's always just trying to get rid of me and and like hates his dad in the book like doesn't even know who his dad is and is you know he abandoned me or in the series he's he abandoned me but in the book he's like i have these warm fuzzy feelings about my dad but my mom says he was lost at sea you know what i mean so like there's this is right away he is super Oh, what's the the phrase for it when like, he he just doesn't like authority at all in the series. But in the book, he's really respectful of his mom and the position he's in.
00:20:29
Speaker
Yeah, he like adores his mom. He worships his mom in the book.
Zeus's Master Bolt Quest
00:20:34
Speaker
And, you know. Right off the bat, whenever he gets home, he's like dealing with Gabe and stuff. His mom decides that after dealing with getting kicked out from another school and dealing with his crap stepdad for two seconds because he's terrible.
00:20:49
Speaker
um She wants to take him away for the weekend. And they are in a house on the water in Long Island when she takes him away because they live in New York City. And in the book, Percy's kind of thrown, this is a little different between the book and the TV show. Percy's kind of thrown in the book into the deep end of things.
00:21:08
Speaker
He has a moment with his mom. And all we know about his dad, like you said, he's lost his sea. And in the show, his mom starts revealing things about his life. It's very much like, you're a wizard, Harry.
00:21:21
Speaker
Like, all the stories are true. Like, from Shadowhunters, where they're like, all the stories are true. and it's like, his mom says, the Greek gods are real. Your father is a god. The monsters are real.
00:21:32
Speaker
You know, and there's called for yeah and they're coming for you right now. And you need to go to like this camp or something. And, you know, person's like, on what the hell? And also kind of revealing, like, you've been told these stories like your whole life. The stories that I've been talking to about you are like telling you your whole life.
00:21:50
Speaker
Those are all true. And, you know, in the book, he's not, you know, exposed to any of that.
Life at Camp Half-Blood
00:21:56
Speaker
Like his whole life. He has no idea what any of this means. And Grover eventually shows up. Remember Grover, the friend in the beginning, shows up to the house and reveals that he is a satyr and has always been there as Percy's protector.
00:22:12
Speaker
And his mom even knows Grover, like is familiar with Grover. Mm-hmm. And at this point, i'm like thinking about the casting. I'm like, okay, casting and the TV show. Because, we you know, we just had the mom who's Virginia Cole, I think. We have the we have Grover. We've got Percy, the two boys. I'm like, okay, the casting.
00:22:34
Speaker
I'm loving the casting. The casting is good. in my opinion. i love that they cast kids. Yes. For a kid's role. We'll get into the movie.
00:22:47
Speaker
Yeah. like and But I feel like we need to almost point that out. Like, the children in the story are 12 years old. Like, this is Percy is 12.
00:22:59
Speaker
Yes. In the series, Percy looks like he's probably 12. Yes. I think he was 12 or 13. Yeah. Like, he it looks very realistic.
00:23:12
Speaker
and which I love that. I do too. I really love that. But I think it's important to remember that in the book too. Like, this story is about middle school aged kids.
00:23:24
Speaker
Yep. Children. Yep. yeah that's Yeah. Except Grover, who apparently is like 28 years old, but looks like a 12 year old. Right.
00:23:35
Speaker
Because he's satyr. Yeah. they But they do cover that in the book. Like yeah they mature differently. And so like he's basically been in middle school for seven years or something like that. Can you imagine being stuck in like the beginning stages of puberty for like 15 years?
00:23:52
Speaker
I'd die. It's like Edward Cullen where he's like goes to high school like 800 times. Oh my god. He keeps graduating with his 800 graduation caps. Not me reading Midnight Sun.
Emotional and Identity Struggles
00:24:05
Speaker
perfect timing so Percy doesn't know what the heck is going on and Grover's like we got to get out of here and he just has to go with the flow and they're attacked by another monster the minotaur and they go on a big car chase with the minotaur to a location that his mom only touches on for a second but it is like a farm like from what they that's the only thing that they know But, yeah, they touch on for a second, but it's supposed to protect them from the monsters, just protect Percy and Grover.
00:24:39
Speaker
But he finds out that the mom can't cross into this area that's going to protect them. And this whole part had me crying, man. Had me crying in the book. Got me crying in the show.
00:24:51
Speaker
I'm crying. Because you can tell his mom. Was protecting was protecting him. From this for a really long time. yep And you know. like And this was like her final last resort.
00:25:03
Speaker
To do this.
Oracle's Prophecies and Quest Approval
00:25:04
Speaker
like She didn't want to do this. And. and The Minotaur grabs her. mom vanishes when she's like in the clutches of him.
00:25:14
Speaker
And Percy like witnesses this. Percy attacks him. Rips off the Minotaur's horn. Stabs him with it. And Grover gets him to the location which we find out is Camp Half-Blood.
00:25:27
Speaker
And that's kind of where episode one of the show ends. And then we move on to episode two. Called I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom. We will find out what that means.
00:25:41
Speaker
And the material in episode two and moving on throughout the lightning thief is Percy's introduction to camp half blood and what it is to be. What he soon finds out is demigod, which is what he is and what everyone at or most of them at camp half blood is.
00:26:02
Speaker
And it's
Journey with Annabeth and Grover
00:26:03
Speaker
revealed that Mr. Bruner that we saw earlier is a centaur. I'm looking at you both like, did I say that correctly? You said it right. Good job.
00:26:16
Speaker
You did it. There's so many Greek words. and but ordinary Greek words, any of these mythology words, like they're hard to pronounce. It's okay. Nobody's going mad about it.
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah, nobody come for me. like It's okay if you come for me. It's okay. And his name is... Chiron? Yep. Chiron, okay. um I'm doing it, I'm doing it.
00:26:41
Speaker
He's the teacher of heroes.
Encounter with Medusa
00:26:43
Speaker
At this Camp Half-Blood. And we're also introduced to Mr. D, the camp director, who is Dionysus.
00:26:52
Speaker
Oh my gosh, I forgot to write down the guy who plays him. Jacob Manzoukas. There you go. Yes. was Zeus's son. He is Derek from The Good Place.
00:27:06
Speaker
Uh-huh. Yeah. It's so f freaking funny. he is Rexplosion in Invincible. yeah He's so freaking funny. He's as perfect as Dionysus. It was kind of lovely. Yeah.
00:27:18
Speaker
And we also meet Annabeth, who is the child of Athena. I always, you know, going into the series, I always hear would hear about Annabeth all the time. And who Annabeth had helped nurse Percy back to health when he was injured in the camp.
00:27:35
Speaker
Percy gets another speech about how Greek gods exist.
Interpretations of Medusa's Story
00:27:39
Speaker
And then Chiron gives him the tour of the camp, which is really cool seeing going from page to the screen.
00:27:48
Speaker
Yes. In the TV show. Each house in this camp represents a Greek god or goddess parent. So basically what this is, is that whoever's parent you have,
00:28:01
Speaker
Because each of the kids in the camp is a demigod and their parents are a god or goddess, including Percy. And whatever house that you're staying in, that's the house that your parent is. And it's themed for that god.
00:28:18
Speaker
I don't know if I explained that in any kind of coherent way.
Medusa's Story Complexity in the Show
00:28:23
Speaker
Unless you're not claimed. yeah and Yeah. There is like an unclaimed house. think just Hermes. Yeah.
00:28:31
Speaker
And I love that they address this in the series as well as the book because, again, we get to sometimes not all parents are good parents.
00:28:42
Speaker
And they don't necessarily want to deal with the responsibility of having a child. And then you become an unclaimed kid. and you have to stay in Hermes cabin because Hermes is like the welcoming spirit. He's the God of travelers. Right. Yeah.
00:28:56
Speaker
And i I think it's awesome that they mentioned this in the, in the book. I think it's awesome that they kept it in the series because there's a crap ton of kids out there who feel like they are unclaimed kids in real life who and to be represented And still have the opportunity to become a hero. Still have the opportunity to do something right. still have the And still have the right to be mad that your parent isn't doing the right thing.
00:29:27
Speaker
That is a really awesome thing to just put out there and discuss with kids. you know Again, in in a i in a digest digestible way. Yeah.
00:29:38
Speaker
Yeah, totally.
Challenges and Self-Discovery
00:29:40
Speaker
And honestly... I was like, whenever I got to this point in the book, and I was thinking about this like Camp Half-Blood, and I'm thinking about all these kids, and they're describing how they're you know their parents are all these gods and goddesses, and they're kind of talking about who, like, which kid is from, which parent, things like that.
00:30:06
Speaker
And I was having, if you're a Shadowhunters fan, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Where I was like, I'm going to need a family tree because I'm getting a little nervous.
00:30:18
Speaker
I'm getting a little nervous. Because if you're a Shadowhunters fan and you look a little too close to that family tree, if you know what I'm talking about, it's looking sometimes a little crossover, a little incest-y.
00:30:32
Speaker
But that's how all mythology is. All of I know. Greek, Norse, Roman, but whatever. It's all like that. Yeah. I was literally thinking that and I was thinking about this Percy Jackson series because obviously, I mean, I have not touched on any of the spinoffs, but I'm just thinking of all these spinoffs and I'm thinking if somebody had a family tree, I'm sitting here, I'm like, I don't want to look too close to a family tree. They're all first and second cousins because they all the same grandparents or great grandparents.
Visions, Dreams, and Water Connection
00:31:03
Speaker
Also, like we're going to get into it more of them being stuck at some of them are not allowed to leave. yeah this camp half-blood and I'm sitting here like as they get older and I'm like this feels like a recipe for disaster sure it I'm like yeah but I was just having this moment as like I said similar to shadow hunters where I'm like I'm just gonna step away from that i'm gonna pretend like that doesn't exist and move on
00:31:36
Speaker
moving on
00:31:40
Speaker
I really was. I was stuck on it for too long and I was like really getting into it. I was like, okay, no, no, no. Nope. Anyways, because don't know who Percy's dad is, he has to, like we said, stay in Hermes' house, which is the god of travelers and meets Hermes' son, Luke, who teaches him a lot about the camp and trains him.
00:31:58
Speaker
He's undetermined, but there is speculation he's part of the big three, which is Poseidon, Hades, or Zeus. And this, the, having a child from any of the big three is forbidden. And it is forbidden because they, the big three had to, I'm going summarize this really quick, is they had to make like
Mythical Battles and Growing Powers
00:32:23
Speaker
a pact amongst them where they weren't allowed to have any children due to the amount of power that they, their children could have.
00:32:33
Speaker
So they had to make a pact amongst themselves to not have kids, basically. And there were were moments where one of them was having a kid where they weren't supposed to. Like, um I believe her name was Talia, think.
00:32:47
Speaker
And the story of Talia was Zeus's kid, you know, broke that pact. You're not supposed to have the kid. And she was- She got turned into a tree. It's fine.
00:32:59
Speaker
Yeah. Like, somehow i we're supposed to look past the fact that Zeus had a kid because he turned her into a tree. Yeah. so yeah yeah We're not going to worry about it. And so Annabeth very aware of Percy because she was told a prophecy that she would get to lead her own quest once, quote, the one arrives and she thinks that's Percy.
00:33:19
Speaker
And, you know Percy continues to learn about the world, like Hades torturers are called kindly ones. And he learns that most demikods, which is what all the kids are called, you know, half god, half mortal, have ADHD because their instincts are not those that align with humans. And they are dyslexic because they naturally have the ability to read ancient Greek.
00:33:40
Speaker
Yep. Because rumors are going around that Percy may be part of the big three and he's carrying around this minotaur horn. He has
Water Control and Identity as Poseidon's Son
00:33:48
Speaker
some enemies, including Clarice, which is the daughter of Ares, god of war.
00:33:53
Speaker
Eventually, Clarice tries to attack him and he drowns her in toilet water. Hence the title of the episode. And he like the toilet toilet water attacks her like and he's like doesn't do anything about it. He's like, what the hell just happened?
00:34:09
Speaker
At this point, the book is building up to who the hell is Percy's dad. And thankfully, we get a reveal in this book. Because I didn't know if this was going to be a big storyline throughout the entire series. now i was like, can we not do this, please? I need to know.
00:34:23
Speaker
Right. But it is revealed after a game of Capture the Flag. And the in the book, he is attacked from a hellhound, which is, like, really bad because there's not supposed to be monsters yeah on the camp unless it is summoned by someone in the camp.
00:34:40
Speaker
So, like, there's, like, a traitor in the camp, basically. and But in the show... This, um it's revealed when Clarice push or attacks Percy and Annabeth pushes um Percy into the water.
00:34:58
Speaker
And it shows that his dad is Poseidon. um And this is really bad because it's a violation to the oath that was made between the big three.
Reflection on Adaptation and Cultural Significance
00:35:06
Speaker
Cry during the show when this happened.
00:35:09
Speaker
Is anyone else, was anyone else emotional in the show? Is it just me? Just you. Lindsay. Lindsay. just Just you. Really? I know you're all like Crystal Shirley to God. Crystal cried. Nope.
00:35:22
Speaker
Oh my god. I'm so emotional lately. my gosh. I'm such a baby. i'm not gonna lie. I felt like really invested and really proud to see these kids come to life on screen and portrayed so well.
00:35:39
Speaker
But I did not cry. Honestly, I was looking at this camp thinking to myself... if the If there's 12 Olympian gods and three of them are not supposed to be reproducing and there's like 200 freaking kids in this camp, that means those other nine stay busy.
00:36:00
Speaker
And that was freaking me out. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I keep thinking about that. I'm sorry. I can't help it. I can't because, like, okay, because they these are not, like, tiny children in the camp. These are not kids' kids. These are middle schoolers to high schoolers. So, like, I would think that, like...
00:36:17
Speaker
10 to 17 ish range. So there's seven years in there. And some of these cabins had like 30 plus kids in them. You're telling me over seven years, you were able to produce 30 freaking kids and you do that on the regular. Like what?
00:36:35
Speaker
Come on. These, these, these Olympian gods is too much. It's too much. Doing too much. They're procreating. like see like They could just i just think you just populate the earth without humans at all. like just Seriously, i'm I'm over here like, this ain't right. yeah yeah After this reveal, Percy is sent on a quest to, lo or assigned a quest to locate Zeus' master bolt because Zeus believes Percy stole it and they believe Hades has it and they must get it back to Zeus before before the summer solstice in 10 days.
00:37:16
Speaker
Also, Percy has his own intentions to go on this quest, which is to retrieve his mom from the underworld. And then it moves on to episode three, and which is We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium.
00:37:29
Speaker
in which we will figure out what that means in a minute. Percy visits the Oracle to confirm he can go on this quest and gets his prophecies. His prophecies are, you shall go west and face the God who has turned.
00:37:46
Speaker
You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned. You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend and you shall fail to save what matters most in the end.
00:37:58
Speaker
and then they go to Los Angeles. Of course. They must travel to Los Angeles because that's where the underworld is, of course. And all they have is Chiron's magic sword called Riptide.
00:38:12
Speaker
Luke's flying sneakers. 20 gold drachmas. $100. $100. dollars Right? That bothered me the entire, the whole season, the whole book. $100 to travel to Los Angeles?
00:38:29
Speaker
What the hell am I going to do with $100? How am I going to get it anywhere with $100? And Grover's Read Pipes, where he's playing So Yesterday by Hilary Duff.
00:38:40
Speaker
On repeat. On repeat.
00:38:45
Speaker
And at this point, it's nonstop traveling in action. For the rest of the book. And the rest of the TV show. As they're continuously attacked by different monsters or gods. Electo is back attacking with the Furies as she senses them on a bus.
00:39:00
Speaker
They have to constantly keep their heads on a swivel. And I love Annabeth. You know, Annabeth, I was like, don't know how I feel about you at first. You know? don't know how I feel.
00:39:11
Speaker
weren't supposed to. like Yeah. I don't think. And then I fell in love. I fell in love with Annabeth because I just love her bossing them around, keeping the boys in line, which does a great job at.
00:39:23
Speaker
She does a great job in the show, in the book. I love it. She's so Hermione-coded. Yes. She is so Hermione-coded. it's it's intense.
00:39:35
Speaker
But these books were also written at like the height of the Potter mania that was happening. and And so there's a lot that you could kind of fit into that like hero's journey, you know, path.
00:39:55
Speaker
So there's a lot of of crossover, I think. but yeah But also really stands alone and stands out from that too. yeah Yeah, definitely.
00:40:06
Speaker
They then encounter Medusa, where they eventually behead her. And I kind of want to dive a little bit into this Medusa stuff.
00:40:17
Speaker
Okay? Yes, please. This literally makes me a little emotional. I'm not going to lie. If you notice, in the book book versus the show...
00:40:30
Speaker
There is a completely different feeling when encountering Medusa. But I think that's because of when the book was written and when the show was created. There is more purpose and intention when...
00:40:49
Speaker
you encounter Medusa in the show. Because in Greek mythology, Medusa is a symbol of something much more sinister where some interpretations say her encounter with Poseidon was non-consensual and that is kind of hinted at in the TV show.
00:41:07
Speaker
The story still continues with her being decapitated as following the demigod story of Percy Jackson's namesake. But it also kind of touches on a quote from Percy's mom where she says, not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero.
00:41:28
Speaker
And not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster. Mm-hmm. I love that they put this. Yes. In the series. I love that it was...
00:41:40
Speaker
And i I love that they touch on that with the Medusa story. Specifically since just general public and and society awareness of the Medusa story has shifted so much in the last 20 years that, you know, even when I remember being taught the Medusa story way back in high school, you know, a middle school 30 And it was the more,
00:42:05
Speaker
and it was the more the look closer to the story that we get in the book, And then in the last, I would say like 10 to 15 years, that's really started, that narrative has started to shift more towards Medusa being the victim in this in this story.
00:42:23
Speaker
And I love that they portrayed it in the series with both sides of the story because we see Annabeth saying, no, my mom punished you because of what you did. And she says, or did she give me a gift because of what happened?
00:42:39
Speaker
And I really kind of love that they told both sides of that story. Yeah. actually I actually, read an article about this on the purpose behind changing this.
00:42:54
Speaker
And Steinberg said in a quote about doing this scene and when she is saying her story and how it talks about the original myth, well, you know, trying to still keep it age appropriate. Right. and he said, if you know what she's talking about, you know what she's talking about.
00:43:10
Speaker
If you're too young to be in that conversation, it won't bother you. You're just in a scene about this woman who seems complicated and everyone's got an opinion about what went down. There's no version that is the version.
00:43:24
Speaker
if Athena and Poseidon were in that room, you'd get three different versions of the story. And then the author also had a quote like about what...
00:43:36
Speaker
about that scene. And ah he said, there are many versions from ancient times of what happened in that temple with Medusa and Poseidon and Athena. Who's to blame? Who's the abuser? Who's the real story? It's fiction, but it certainly is important to acknowledge acknowledge that there is abuse involved in here, abuse of power.
00:43:55
Speaker
So there is a lot of intention. They show her energy in the costume design, in her voice. It's very like, just like the beige costume design. Her voice is very soothing. It's just, it was just so interesting. It was different. It was, you could tell like immediately the second it started, i could tell there was just intention behind what was happening. Yep.
00:44:17
Speaker
And I loved it. love that. was really well done.
00:44:22
Speaker
And also with the original mythology, like in what, how do you pronounce his name? Perseus? Yeah. perseus perse Perseus's quest in mythology for Medusa, which I thought this was like an interesting thing.
00:44:40
Speaker
Aided by when he went on his quest, he was aided by the gods and was given items including winged sandals from Hermes and a helmet of invisibilities from Hades, which is funny because Annabeth has this a hat that helps her make her invisible whenever they're going on this quest. So I thought that was a little interesting touch.
00:45:02
Speaker
I wanted to say Hermes wing sandals were a gift from Hephaestus and Maya was the name of his mother.
00:45:13
Speaker
So he when he says Maya to make oh the wings flap on the sandals, it was Hermes' mother. Oh, okay. See, I love all these connections. Like, it's so good. It's so good.
00:45:27
Speaker
But the story still continues like as, you know, the lore is where in the book they immediately, you know, it still continues where Medusa's head is cut off.
00:45:39
Speaker
And they act in the book, they immediately ship Medusa's head to Olympus. And in the show, was like, damn. We were getting so emotional about the Medusa. Okay, they ship her head to Olympus.
00:45:54
Speaker
Damn. love this. Yeah. And Annabeth's like, they're going to think you're impertinent. And he's like, I am. Yeah. Yeah, he don't care. Like, all good. Yeah.
00:46:06
Speaker
In the show, they actually use her head to get rid of Electo because she's stalking them and they ship Medusa's head to Olympus where episode three ends with Lynn, Manuel, Miranda going up in an elevator with the box to Olympus.
00:46:28
Speaker
We don't know who I, I mean, you can't really tell who his character is yet. must be Greek mythology. And then, yeah, you can kind of guess in immediately. right i was like, oh, okay. and we can all guess it's Hermes.
00:46:41
Speaker
Mm hmm. Then it continues in, we're continuing in, still continuing in Lightning Thief, but to episode four titled I Plunge to My Death, similar to the title of chapter 13 in the book.
00:46:54
Speaker
Percy, Grover, and Annabeth continue traveling to Los Angeles, still wondering how they have enough money to do this. how Where are the funds? How do we still have enough funds? I still don't know.
00:47:07
Speaker
Percy's having weird nightmares about the Master Bolt and someone is talking to him. It's like scary thing from Courage to Cowardly Dog that's like swaying outside. Return the slab. know what I'm talking about? know That episode.
00:47:21
Speaker
I still think about that episode. Tell me that's not the thing that he's literally dreaming of. It looks exactly like that. Yep. I was like, that, hello? Okay.
00:47:32
Speaker
like Lily looks like Return the Slash. That's what he looks like. I'm scared. Had none of my covers. Yeah. So then they are attacked.
00:47:45
Speaker
The three of them are attacked by the mother of many monsters. Echidna. Echidna and Chimera. Chimera. Oh. I know. Chimera.
00:47:56
Speaker
Chimera. I love echidna. That's probably my favorite of all of the like Greek myths is the echidna myth. like I just love it. Yeah. yeah This was very scary.
00:48:10
Speaker
This was scary and creepy. But I loved how the chimera. There you go. Chimera. got it. I got it. The CH messed me up.
00:48:20
Speaker
It does. I liked how the chimera looked in the show, but the sequence of our events are a little different between the book and the show. The attack starts on a train in the show.
00:48:35
Speaker
In the book, it starts at the gateway arch, um but eventually Percy has to jump off the arch to save himself from the chimera attack and into the water. And this is another one of those like instances where this is a tangible place.
00:48:51
Speaker
tons of people have been. yeah when you're reading this book or watching the series, you can like there's a chunk of the population that can be like, oh, I've been there. I've seen that. it feels that much more real and exciting to them.
00:49:03
Speaker
I've been there like a thousand times that even like the Museum of Westward and expansion underneath there that they were looking at when Grover was like, this is... this is not a good place.
00:49:14
Speaker
like i Like I've been there. That's exactly what it is. And so it was really cool to be like, I've been there. I've been there. I know that place. You know what mean? It's exciting. yeah And then the author had the chance to correct his mistake and explain how Percy made it into the water.
00:49:31
Speaker
Yes, because the water does not flow under the arch. Okay, so if you fall out of the arch, you're going to hit the pavement with the concrete. Yeah, so Poseidon saves him by helping his fall into the water by having the water, like, catch him. that's So a water spout comes out and grabs him. yeah Yeah, so when he falls, and he is visited by...
00:49:53
Speaker
I believe it kind looks like his mom. Yeah, I think so. Under the water. But I don't know exactly what that is. It's not his mom. I just assumed it was like water.
00:50:04
Speaker
A dryad or water spirit. Yeah. Yeah. So it kind of looks like his mom who's telling him just to breathe. Yeah. And that's how he finds out he can breathe underwater. And that is what his mom used to tell him all time. it's like, just breathe, just breathe. and Which is a cliffhanger for episode four and our cliffhanger our episode right now.
00:50:28
Speaker
and on Quick thoughts, vibes so far? what are we feeling? How do we like the show until this point? love this is going so well with the book. like Yes. it's it's not It's not perfect. It's not going to But it lines up so nicely with the book.
00:50:47
Speaker
I think it's so well done. so well done So exciting. Literally so good. like i don't even know. don't know how they are able to do this. like You can just tell there's time taken here. yeah There's a lot of effort here.
00:51:02
Speaker
the acting is so good. i loved it. I can just like, it literally brought the book to life. Like it brought it to life. Knowing that the actor who plays Percy Jackson was actually filming those scenes underwater.
00:51:19
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. That's mind blowing. Yep. And yeah, a lot, all the producers and everything, they say the actor who plays Percy Jackson I can't think his name right now. Walker something. i don't remember his last name. Scoble something.
00:51:34
Speaker
he is so hardworking and also read the series as a kid, loved it as a kid, but so many times was obsessed with it.
00:51:45
Speaker
A lot of like the actors have like similar feelings about the series. I believe ah Virginia Cole, who plays the mom, there she had an emotional story about how whenever she...
00:51:57
Speaker
auditioned for it she was like talking to like a niece or nephew and was saying that hey i auditioned for the series um to play in it and they were literally so emotional about it because this series impacts kids impacts them and knowing that there's time taken to Do such like a good adaptation and take the time to do such a good adaptation. I'm just imagining if you've grown up with the series, like this is so exciting for you and you know, and it brings new people, new fans to try it.
00:52:33
Speaker
So that's amazing. Walker Scoble. I was right. Look at me. Oh, there you go. All right. bad with names. I know. We've reached the end of today's adventure.
00:52:47
Speaker
Before you go, remember that the quest doesn't end here. Parts two and three will have more content about the book, TV show, and movie adaptations. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate, review, and subscribe.
00:52:59
Speaker
And don't forget to hit us up on social media where we post bonus content and any schedule updates. Until then, stay sharp and avoid unclear prophecies. We will catch you in the next chapter Based on a Book.