After I watched the first three episodes when they came out, I decided I would rather binge them all at once. I anxiously awaited the week when the eighth episode came out, planning my food and avoiding spoilers. When the big weekend came, I finally got my show and my celebration. What better way to celebrate Percy Jackson than with blue food?

 

Breakfast

I went easy on this one, pancakes mixed with blue food coloring. It sounded easier, and more appetizing than making blue eggs. I whipped everything together, added food coloring until I saw a pretty light blue, and saw… green. Shit.

 

 

I went back to the drawing board (added more food coloring) and made another batch. These turned out… slightly less ugly green. The third time is the charm. I made the batter a deep blue and finally ended up with three almost entirely blue pancakes.

 

In hindsight, waffles might have been a better move. Maybe they would’ve browned a little less and the blue would’ve shown more. I also considered gravy for those brave enough, but my dad told me my ancestors would roll in their graves, so pancakes it was.

 

 

Lunch

I skipped lunch and made an early dinner — sorry guys.

 

Dinner

For dinner, I made blue Alfredo Pasta. The recipe was simple to follow and made a perfect result… then I put the blue food coloring in. It still tasted good, but you definitely had to get over the hue first. I had no reservations about the pancakes, but something about blue cheese changed my mind…

 

 

Full disclaimer, this was not my idea. I stole it from another blog called The Rose Table I found on Pinterest (Land of Wonders). While she wrote her blog post for Marvel fans, I’m repurposing her Kree Blood Pasta recipe into Sally Jackson’s Pasta. The recipe itself is delicious so if you try it I recommend giving her a shoutout on her blog!

 

Alas, dinner was made and my roommate and I turned on the TV to binge-watch all of the episodes. The color was soon forgotten because I was fixated on the show depicting Percy Jackson coming to life. So what did I think? Well…

 

Conclusion — A Dish Best Served Plain

The pancakes were super fun, but the pasta wasn’t something I’m into. There’s something about blue cheese that doesn’t sit well with me. Instead, I would probably have dessert as blue M&M’s or Rice Krispy Treats and let cheese be cheese colored. The recipe was delicious though, and it tasted amazing as long as I closed my eyes. I still think Sally and Percy Jackson would be proud.

 

 

My Review — Take Your Seats

I like to judge book-to-movie adaptations by more than just how well they adhere to the book. Some things are hard to translate visually, they might run out of time for all the scenes or any other number of things. I break it down into three categories: actors, faithfulness to the plot, and opinions about changes made. There are tons of other ways to judge things, but these are the things I care about.

 

Actors

To all those raging in the back, I get it, the characters don’t look exactly like they do in the book. I don’t personally believe book-to-movie adaptations have to keep the characters the same due to some restrictions, such as having to find real people. Sometimes the best actor just doesn’t have the right hair.

 

What the casting directors did do, is find the best actors. I can’t imagine anyone else playing these characters as well as these kids. Walker Scobell had the best side-eyes, delivered the lines perfectly, and completely convinced me he was Percy Jackson. Aryan Simhadri was hilarious. He was the right amount of goofy and harmless, while also showing how he is brilliant when it comes to his empathy (the Ares scene anyone?).

 

Leah Jeffries, holy shit. She was amazing. The first scene with her was amazing, and she convinced me she was Annabeth Chase by the second scene. She embodied the weird 12-year-old with one goal and a refusal to let anything get in her way. Her hubris, her fatal flaw, was completely convincing. She’s the smartest in the room, it’s not bragging if it’s true.

 

Annabeth’s growth was perfectly shown. Her reluctance to hug Percy and finally giving in when she thought he died (for the third time). Her face watching Percy get covered in gold convinced me she was not the girl who started this quest. Say whatever you want about how she looks, but she had Annabeth’s spirit, and that matters to me more than blonde hair.

 

Faithfulness to Plot

This was my biggest gripe about the movies; they completely changed the plot. The TV series, however, did well. I can’t think of any major plot points that they missed or changed because the writers think they know better than the book.

 

The only plot point I can pick is the gods believing Kronos is rising, instead of brushing Percy off. I don’t know how this will affect the show for the next book, or if it even will, but I can see why they did it. It seems ridiculous not to believe the guy who just came back from the underworld looking for the bolt you lost.

 

No major complaints here.

 

The Changes Made

Rick Riordan did go on Twitter and explain some of the changes made, and honestly, it helped. Understanding why some changes were made helped me be more forgiving of why some things weren’t possible. The spiders in the Tunnel of Love scene were a production nightmare, so they changed the scene to something more feasible while keeping the main purpose. Most of the changes were fair play, nothing that bothered me too much.

 

There was one recurring issue that stood out to me though. The trio always knew what they were fighting before they fought it. For every single monster, every single time, they gave a little exposition on ‘Oh this is Medusa her hair will turn us to stone.’

 

Half of the tension in the first book is no one knew what the hell they were fighting until halfway through. Figuring it out was the fun of it. With the new changes in place, it felt boring, like there was nothing to make me hold my breath. I understand doing this a couple of times, sometimes the scene just has to move faster, but for every monster? I can’t find a reason why they would do it.

 

There were some new things they added that I did enjoy. The scenes between Sally and Posiedon were a lovely break. It showed their relationship was more than ‘a random one-night stand.’ Poseidon cares about her, even if he has to stay away to protect her.

 

I also loved the scene between Ares and Grover. Watching Grover use his empathy to outsmart the God of War was hilarious, and completely in character. Seeing Ares get so worked up and accidentally letting things slip was also completely in character.

 

Closing the Curtain

I have such mixed feelings. The actors were amazing, they made me fall in love with each character all over again. The directors added some scenes with the other characters that added to their arcs rather than everything being about Percy Jackson. It was endearing to watch and they did it in such as way that it didn’t remove from the plot but added to it.

 

The only thing to complain about was the tension. What would’ve been otherwise great scenes were drained of their energy and the expositions about the monsters would’ve been better if they happened after, or even during, the fight. Having the trio know everything before the scenes even started made the whole journey feel easy.

 

Overall, I enjoyed getting to watch my childhood ‘friends’ go on their journey together. It was fun to watch and made me smile a lot and cry a couple of times. The show has officially been renewed, and I can’t wait to watch it again next year! Maybe I’ll have some different blue food ready for you all…

 

What did you think? Did your childhood dream come to life, or another nightmare to watch eight episodes of? Will everyone be watching season two? Let me know in the comments! Stay brave!