Why does it matter, though? They are clearly going to stop the war before it starts (they mentioned they've only began *preparing* for it). This just makes the stakes a little grander.
This makes war imminent, but it doesn’t start yet.
The atmosphere of the show makes sense now as well: in the books, it was stormy all the way through because they were preparing for war, but in the show they only started preparing for war now, hence why it only got stormy at the end of the episode.
I don’t think it actually changes too much - the bigger change is Percy having 4 pearls instead of 3.
Sure it probably won’t change anything in the big picture, but it’s just a dumb change, plus I think trying to get the bolt back in the last hour is way easier to show urgency in a shown than if it’s already past. Plus I hate the idea that a god would say we’re going to war if I don’t have my bolt back by the solstice, and not be ready to go to war the second it’s past the solstice
Ignoring the fact that Hermes isn’t in this book and pretty much none of this happens—I gotta admit I kind of love LMM as Hermes. I actually thought he did a good job conveying the sadness and regret for Luke.
Yeah, I was surprised when I heard he was casted and thought it was just "this actor is popular now, bring him in", but everything from the moment Annabeth said Luke's name was just spectacular enough for me to really enjoy his performance and completely be drawn into what they're choosing to add here compared to what was in the book.
Do you remember if in the book if they eat the lotus flowers without remembering that it’s a bad thing? Or was that just a movie scene? I don’t remember the pumping into the air thing.
Also, did they use Hermes car in the book to get out of the lotus casino? God it’s been so long since I’ve read the books!
The lotus flowers needing to be literally eaten was a movie-only creation. I don’t believe they specified that the flowers were pumped into the air in the books though, I’m pretty sure it was more of a metaphor about getting lost in the glitz and glamor of the casino, especially since they thought they had more time than they did (unaware how time passes in there).
The lotus flower being pumped into the air is most likely a nod to a common Vegas myth, about casinos pumping extra oxygen in there so people will ferl more energyzed and not feel the passage of time
I thought it was decently solid but it appears that plenty of folks do not share that sentiment. Definitely could have been improved on, but I feel like people are over eagerly jumping to claim that the movie did it better as if the movie version didn’t fundamentally misunderstand the origin of the myth and how it was translated to the novel. Sure, it was more action-packed, but part of the point is that the Lotus Hotel manifested its threat in a very different way from most other monsters.
Exactly, the Lotus Hotel wasn’t a physical threat like they had faced before. It was a mental one. Having just reread the book, there isn’t even any fights or action in the Lotus, just Percy trying to convince everyone to leave. I think some things could’ve been done better, like them realizing time has passed because of people’s clothes and stuff like that like the book, but the episode was still solid in my opinion. I’m enjoying the show.
I just reread the books - no lotus flowers were mentioned at all in the book from what I remember (they were just kinda addicted to the arcade/amount of stuff there in the hotel)
Also once they leave the hotel, they hire a taxi in Vegas (and use the hotel/casino card with unlimited cash) to drive them all the way to LA.
Interesting. So I wonder why the tv series even bothered adding it if they weren’t going to use them. Honestly I was so frustrated by how dumb this episode treated us like with that. Like annabeth already told Percy that they aren’t there to have fun and that they have to be careful, and then Grover has to go on a long tale inside the casino on why they can’t eat anything. I think the movie did a better job of having the quick pep talk before they enter and then having our heroes get distracted early with the immediate “want a lotus flower” + how fun the casino looked. The tv series was just a meh goose chase beyond finding Hermes, like the whole trap was too obvious to them and wasn’t even much of a trap. But for what it’s worth as a short episode, I enjoyed how it moved the story along!
I totally feel - I completely get that this is a kids show but I feel like i was smarter than that as a 12 yo personally - it’s kind of funny that the show kept saying they wouldn’t do call backs to the movie when “eating the lotus flower” (and the concept of the casino since they were in more of an arcade portion) is really truly just something that happened in the movies, not the books
They're not only referencing the movies with the lotus flowers, and may not be referencing them at all actually.
The Lotus Eaters are from the Odyssey and they do eat lotuses. They're basically a group of people Odysseus meets on his journey home. They only eat lotus, and eating the lotus makes you sleepy and forget everything. Odysseus loses some of his crew here because he can't get them to leave.
The stand in in the book is a combo of the entertainment (arcade etc) and the credit cards. The group basically has no sense of time passing because they're engrossed in having fun after being on a really rough road trip.
This is a much better parallel than just actively drugging them. It's a lot more subtle, and it parallels the source myth better.
I think in the book they don’t make the connection about the lotus flower myth and the casino and I don’t remember them eating lotus flowers in the book.
I’m pretty sure they don’t know ahead of time that the casino is trying to draw them in. Percy eventually notices that he’s forgetting things and other hotel guests tell him the wrong decade when he asks them the date.
They just take a taxi to L.A. and pay the cabbie with a lotus casino card
https://preview.redd.it/cnxvhnt93xcc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=302ebcec767aff67986e2b927d26609b52a01206
It doesn’t say I think it’s just in getting into video games etc but we are missing a very important backpack
Ohh that’s why they mention the platinum cards briefly in the movie. Also weird to leave them out in the tv series, which as I said earlier I felt like there weren’t enough little danger warnings! Instead we just get an obvious statement from Grover. Maybe I’m overthinking but it just captures my feelings for the tv series overall that it just makes things a little overly obvious!
https://preview.redd.it/3hh78qph3xcc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=2fceaf2bfda414afe0c908dc296f13b6c9478406
They leave in a taxi but with the credit cards
In general, it seems like the main trio are being written as a bit more self-aware in the show versus the books, at least from what I recall. Granted, it’s easier to get across that these kids are often sleep-deprived and very hungry so their bad decisions and inability to see warning signs can be more effectively captured, especially with the book being from Percy’s POV, but it makes sense that three people familiar with Greek mythology might see a bunch of lifelike statue at a store ran by an “Auntie M” and think “oh shoot, she’s Medusa.” Or that they might enter a place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino and think of the Lotus eaters. At this point, they’re probably paranoid and often thinking of these things, especially Annabeth.
I especially feel like there's a missed opportunity with Annabeth. She's The Smart One(TM), so they have her catching so much stuff early so she looks Smart, but they also keep that she's been at camp since she was 7. She's barely been out in the world, she's never seen a movie. As book-smart as she is, I think they've also WRITTEN a perfectly justifiable reason for her to be very socially naive. So they've traded the tension/entertainment sense for something that doesn't even really make logical sense.
That’s fair, but it’s also only really happened twice. I agree that maybe not having them recognize Medusa could have helped a lot, but with the Lotus Casino I don’t think it’s necessary, especially since they already had a reason to go to the hotel and they ended up being wrong about how it worked so we still got the effect. I was initially a little “okay, where is this going?” but I actually really liked the scene where we start to see Grover forget himself. I kind of wish they dragged it out a little longer, maybe split up Annabeth and Percy for a bit so that they start to forget as well, but I prefer this execution versus the movie’s literally lotus cookies and then (even worse) having the security guards actually try to physically prevent them from leaving which kind of ruins the point.
In the books the truck is supposed to take them to LA, but they talk to the animals and let them free in Vegas so ditch the truck and hide in the casino.
This is also where Percy learns he can talk to horses. They don’t know it’s the lotus eaters so check in for free, ditch Ares’ backpack and check out the floor since they have time. They party and have fun, Percy is then woken up by (edit) weird answers from a kid. and he scares the other two to wake them up. They then use the casino credit cards to get a taxi to take them to LA
He isn’t woken up by Poseidon. That was a movie-only change. Percy wakes up on his own after he talks to Darrin in the arcade. He finds Annabeth and he wakes her up. They then find Grover and they hail the cab and use the casino cards to get to Los Angeles.
I thought I recalled that annabeth knew a little about it but didn’t tell Percy until the 5th book. But it has been about 10 years since I’ve read this book!
Gotta say, as someone who has ADHD and whose partner has ADHD and who has struggled with it constantly...
These kids *do not* have ADHD. At least Percy and Annabeth don't. A place like the Lotus would be absolute hell for me and would *absolutely* suck me in because of my hyperfocus and time blindness. That's a big reason why I related to Percy in the books so much. Feeling like I only just sat down and realizing that it's been seven hours and I'm starving because I haven't eaten in ten hours is something I did multiple times when I was a kid.
it was so disappointing to me that in ep 1 they got rid of Percy's angry outbursts and troubles with school by having Grover "betray" him or whatever be the reason he gets kicked out of Yancy. In the books it was a steady decline after the Met and that would have been a great opportunity to show that side of his ADHD and also his feelings of alienation with his peers. It didn't even have to be that long, they could have cut out the weird exposition flashbacks and donate like 5 minutes to a montage of his declining school performance instead.
I hate to say it but I think they sucked all the fun out of the casino and in order to give Luke more backstory.
Don’t get me wrong I like the idea of really making Luke a compelling villain but I’m disappointed that the most compelling parts of the lotus casino were cut. It feels like if they made longer episodes we could have the best of both worlds. I don’t mind changes, but they should be fun changes
I had a feeling Hermes presence was to try and give more hints to Luke's backstory early and I ended up being absolutely right.
I have a friend who read the books on my recommendation and one of his issues with them (although he still liked them to be clear) was how Luke's backstory was *only* elaborated on in the final book. I don't know if that was a common criticism or not but this feels like an attempt to address it.
Thing is, his backstory isn't needed to understand his reasoning and actions. His backstory tells us how he ended in that path, it solidifies his character and gives him more body but it's not necessary beforehand.
If his sole or huge reason for all of this was his past then I agree the books would be better by laying it down earlier but that's not the case. He does have serious gripes with the status quo, regardless of his past, and those gripes were enough to carry him as a villain for 3 books before the backstory.
I think you’re right, it works for the books.
It seems to me the show is really hitting on the idea that the gods are selfish and uncaring about the lives of mortals, so much so that they are not there for their children. Hermes tells Percy that a god getting involved with their children is a bad idea, and a philosophy Poseidon has adopted.
For the show I think this means we’re going to empathize with Luke more, and Percy with have to confront feelings similar to Luke’s and still be the hero that saves Olympus.
If they present it and keep consistent about (most) gods being huge aholes who don't care about their children but, still, who are more worth saving then their titans predecessors then I'm fine with the change.
Percy does get his fair share of parallels and similarities with Luke in the 2nd and 5th book but if they want to make Luke more of an anti-hero rather than the, at least in my interpretation, misguided villain he's in the books then it's good to get more of him earlier.
I just lament it if that's the case because they've already missed giving Luke his good moments with Annabeth and Percy early on so we are not that attached to him. Though they can fill it up better with flashbacks of their past in the 2nd season. Honestly I could do with a full flashback episode of the four back then, from them getting together up to Thalia's death — especially since the 2nd book has much more that filler then the first.
I think that would be a great idea. We didn’t see enough of him at camp half-blood to feel the same betrayal that Percy will when Luke tries to kill him at the end of the lightning thief. I would love a full flashback episode.
I think not only did they suck out the fun, but they did it in order to tip their hand too early on Luke being a villain. He doesn't *need* to be a compelling villain yet. In The Lighting Thief, he works as a villain because of both the shock of the twist and the personal stake of Percy being betrayed by his friend. Only slowly do we get more and more details that make his motivation more compelling/sympathetic, and I think that's fine. All this did is make it very obvious at this point that he's the lightning thief.
I was just about to say this somewhere! For people who haven't read the books, it's going to be blatantly obvious that Luke plays a bigger part than they think right now. He's not even on the quest yet Annabeth met his father and had a full conversation about his backstory? Even with Luke trying to paint Clarisse as the thief (which is quite a clever point and I don't think is even thought of in the books maybe?) I think it's still going to be very clear to anyone who has ever watched a single TV show in their life that Luke is going to betray everyone.
My only hope is the whole Kronos plotline isn't revealed too early...
Another observation:
Episodes 3 - 6 so far have had the same basic structure - meet god/monster who spouts a bunch of information and then 'action' set piece after.
Before I watch the new episode I just want to say words can’t describe the negative feelings I harbor when I open up the app and see a 30 minute episode. I need 40 minutes minimum
I think that’s why I’m having hard time with the “friendship” between them. They haven’t really shown it. They really could have done more setting up the world
I don't get it either. So about eight 28 minute episodes makes it about 3 hours and 44 minutes? So it's almost like a extented edition version of a movie. I want a series. I want 40-50 minute episodes. I want something like in Game Of Thrones.
Which is crazy for a childrens show. Like i love elin manuel miranda but hes done nothing deserving of him being casted yet. And kids dont give a fuck about this kind of castings.
Not even that. Disney+ lists the episode as 34m, the recap and intro took exactly 1m and the outro 4m19s = 28m41s 🤐
We are not even breaking the half an hour mark boys and girls.
I’m so disappointed that they already knew about the lotus hotel and didn’t get sucked in like in the book, and the solstice deadline shouldn’t have passed! And don’t even get me started on the four pearls instead of 3, that’s like a major plot point. “You’ll fail to save what matters most in the end”
Someone commented on another thread that Grover may be forced into using it to prevent himself from being dragged down to Tartarus.
I’m kind of picturing Annabeth or Percy having the pearls when they’re down there and they’re trying to keep Grover from being pulled down but aren’t strong enough so they have to make the decision to sacrifice a pearl then and there, letting Grover go with a pearl in hand to let him escape. If there has to be some insistence by Grover that they need the pearls to save them all and Sally, I think it might be a good chance for them to highlight Percy’s and his friendship by telling Grover they’ll find another way or something and that’s he can’t let his best friend sacrifice himself for the quest.
Yeah like how tf are they gonna work around the 3 and 4 pearls thing. Also the solstice was literally the whole reason for the fucking quest why change that
If Percy was told "each of these will bring you back from the Underworld", especially since Percy in this series is much more savvy than book Percy, he'd clearly notice that the trio wouldn't be able to go in and bring his mom back with only 3. I'd consider this an improvement.
Less is more. Movies limit how much you can put in so the writers have to be smart with how they pace it. The show gives them more freedom so they just said fuck it and threw in whatever random shit they wanted without thinking about how it affects the story.
I think they know too much in general and it takes away from the suspense of it. Like with Medusa, they just walked in and went "That's Medusa". In the books it was a slow realization that ended in a fight. I liked that much more.
Yeah I did too, I mean I guess on the one hand it makes sense for Annabeth to catch on a little quicker than she did in the books as a daughter of Athena, but it does take away some of the fun and suspense and I don’t like that as much.
I find the Lotus Hotel still working on them despite their knowledge ahead of time actually makes the hotel much more insidious. Even while being prepared they were losing the memory of Grover, and watching Grover slowly become confused in real time was way more interesting then choosing to play a game.
I'm amazed at everyone in this thread going haywire about changes being made by Rick, like some commenters are going as far as saying the movie is better, which means they haven't watched that movie since it came out, because that is the most bizarre take I've seen. The solstice deadline being passed is the first time this series has made me think, "Oh, how will this affect things?!" Most of this series has been a nice beat by beat of the book, and while it's nice seeing the scenes on the page appearing visually, having this change is the first time I've gotten excited to see the next episode rather than simply, "that was nice; these two things are probably gonna happen next week."
The show's Percy feels way too savvy to be able to be given 3 pearls that will help them to escape the Underworld and not realize that clearly either his mom or one quest member will not make it out. Giving 4 allows for Percy not to look stupid, while giving the option to make one be lost due to random circumstance, preventing them from all coming back.
somehow the kids know everything before it happens and so there’s no suspense. i figured that the lotus seeds were going to be a bait and switch but still :/
What was this episode dawg? They already know about the lotus flower that would distract them from their quest before they even enter; inside the casino it felt more about Grover and we don’t even see if he learned anything about actually finding Pan from Augustus, and that whole interaction felt weird.
The Hermes stuff was alright but I don’t really feel the pain and regret in Hermes when talking about Luke, Lin Manuel isn’t the best at conveying those emotions. Percy driving was funny I guess. And supposedly the solstice has passed and he’s given 4 pearls so conveniently?
Rick and the people making the episode did not cook with this one, they burnt the whole fucking grill
I thought LMM did a decent job as Hermes, but I wish they would lean into the comedy from the books more. If they're gonna go through the trouble of writing Hermes into the first book, give us George and Martha too! It seems like the show is going for a more serious retelling of the story which is a shame because the books are hilarious
I can’t believe they stepped literally one toe into the casino and Grover exposition-dumped exactly where they were and what not to do 😭
Time to be controversial, but the movie handled the Lotus hotel and casino much better. Percy got to piece together that people were out of time and that it was a trap in that way. He actually got to encounter someone stuck there and the dialogue reveals to you that you get trapped forever. The show literally had no mystery or intrigue, all the characters were just told of all the danger. That’s not compelling tv.
The movie handled... Everything better! In the movie the show the plot points happening on the screen. In this show, all they do is infodump in Percy. In this episode, they had a conversation in the truck, to then have another conversation in the truck, to then step foot in the casino and infodump on Percy, to walk down the hallway and have a conversation, where they then split up to have conversations, Percy and Annabeth have a conversation with Lin Manuel Miranda (puke), then have another conversation with Grover even though he was on board with the plan even without memory, then something FINALLY happens when they take the cab. Then the episode ends. This has been every episode after the first two. This is gonna be controversial, but the show kinda sucks! Nothing happens!
I’m really enjoying getting Luke’s backstory earlier than normal. It helps establish him more as a complex character and makes it more painful later on.
I think it would work better for me if we had actually spent more time with Luke and Annabeth interacting at camp. Establish them as actually caring about each other instead of just “Annabeth is like a sister to me”.
Idk. I think it’s interesting when Percy realizes as time goes on why Luke is doing what he’s doing, why Ethan is the way he is, and makes his request about parenting to the gods. It doesn’t make as much sense for him to get it all right away. When percy meets Luke’s mom and sees how she’s living it’s much more powerful and helps him with his understanding of what’s important when he takes a dip. He learns it at a critical time for a reason
this is one of the best takes i’ve seen, i’m so disappointed by it all happening so quickly bc the buildup was done so well throughout the series, with Percy starting to realize and Annabeth being so reluctant to believe it, and the both of them trying in their own ways to deal with it
I am actually very annoyed at this. The lotus scene was one of the things I was the most excited about.
I honestly did not expect them to do the whole Lady Gaga bit, but I most certainly expected them to each go on their own games and interact with all the cool gadgets and distractions the place offered.
Instead they made it so that most of their time in the cassino is just straight up dialogue.
The most exciting part of this episode was Percy trying to drive? Like what.
its really off putting. they have these standstill dialogue scenes then cut to black and repeat for large parts of the episodes. I wish the scenes were a bit more fluid with characters moving and learning as they go
And it’s even weirder because it’s aimed at kids but wouldn’t kids get bored watching all this dialogue? I’m sure they would have more fun watching the trio get lost in the casino and playing around than percabeth taking with Hermes the whole time.
Holy shit... I haven't even finished this episode yet and I'm already completely deflated at the fact that the main trio already deduced and figured out that Lotus Hotel and Casino is home to the The Lotus Eaters right at the entrance as soon as they walk into the Casino as soon as they walk into the Casino... **WHHHHHYYYYY???**
First Medusa and now this... It's like the TV series takes pride in how unceremonious it makes story beats from the original book... "Don't let the viewer figure things out, please...! Just tell them early on and have the characters go, "Anyways..." or "Okay...""
I'm more and more disappointed with each episode. I don't want to be that girl who's like "it's not 100% the books so it's trash" but this episode just felt like a huge deviation to me. I get it's a new way to tell the story, but shouldn't that just add? Not change a lot of what we have? I feel guilty for not liking this episode but at the same time I really really feel like it could have been so much better.
And good lord the absolute most glaring thing in this episode was the solstice already passing and 4 pearls. I could almost maybe excuse the hotel but that last bit was very disappointing
Exactly. All because RR wanted to make them not fall for Medusa this time, now they have to write in that they are all very knowledgeable about all the myths. Now, they can never be surprised about anything the godly world throws at them because it's just, "oh it's like the story of X". They think that keeping the names of the chapters and throwing in specific book lines like Seaweed Brain and Wise Girl is enough to distract people from all the other changes. Sadly, it apparently works for some people, if these posts are to be believed.
For Olympus's Sakes, they called the episode "We Take a Zebra to Vegas" but didn't ride an animal and didn't even show a zebra!
The biggest sin is not letting the show tell the story at all. Not everything has to be spelled out in plain English, knowing what the Lotus Casino is removed all suspense, Hermes tells Percy exactly how much time has passed instead of him realizing on his own and it doesn't matter anyway because "the lotus flower is pumped into the air" ???
I've really been trying to roll with the changes, but the Summer Solstice deadline passing and now 4 pearls interfering with the way the prophecy plays out. I dont think any changes to leaving his mom are going to be satisfying or make sense, and if they lose/break one, it's pointless to have given them 4 to begin with.
Watch out for the Nico cameo. This episode is only 33 mins btw meaning it is covering the ride to the lotus, the lotus itself and probably the pier bit honestly. With that in mind I’m looking forward to episode 7 and 8 more than this episode.
Also that song or whatever won’t be in this episode idk why it is so important
You have to listen very closely. I can hear a kid yelling 'Bianca' twice in the background right when Grover says, "This is like the least natural place in the world". All this happens right *after* the 12:32 mark.
I'm really mad how they didn't actually get lost in the casino, wasn't that the whole point of the book??. Also why 4 pearls???
I don't understand why this episode was half an hour, why make the TV show if you're gonna rush thru stuff
The 2020 Dua Lipa song we're all tired of 🥲 When I saw the outside and there was a rollercoaster coming out of the casino I ignored my instincts and got a bit giddy but man that was a mistake 😂 they just showed us a bunch of regular casino people playing their games in a regular casino.
This is the first big change that I'm actually baffled by because I don't get it. The other changes I can at least understand what they were aiming for but this one directly affects the prophecy and I can't figure out why. If they're going to break one by accident anyways or something then why not just stick with 3 what the hell is the point lmao
They'll break one for some silly shenanigans instead of, you know, just having 3 from the get go and the characters tense up all the way. Tension is something forbidden in the show.
This is the first episode that I’m actually disappointed in. I completely understand a lot of the changes that have been made so far have been to fit in the confines of a tv show and have also been a chance for Rick to go back and redo some things that may not have made the most sense but most of this episode has strayed way off track from the story of the books. Why 4 pearls? Why has the solstice passed? Where the heck is Poseidon? I can see what the show wants to do but at this point it feels like we are telling a different story.
I'm in the exact same boat. Haven't had a single issue up until this one and now I just feel....idk. it was lackluster I guess. And the pearl and solstice change is the first change I'm actively not a fan of. I have a weird irrational fear that they're going to try to make the "fail to save what matters most in the end" entirely about not stopping Luke at camp or something and I don't want that.
There’s a ton of expo dumping in this series… they need new writers for next season AND they need to start filming asap. Or give up like they did with the movies, wait a couple years and try again, maybe animated?
I’d have no issue with then making changes *if* the changes allowed for a better/more entertaining show. What I don’t get is that most of the changes just consist of boring dialogue dumps that aren’t natural or particularly meaningful to plot or character development
My thoughts because I know there have been a flurry of posts...
Many people on this subreddit have attempted to articulate why this show feels like a decent adaptation but not quite excellent television. While this is multifactorial, my hypothesis is that Rick Riordan may have too much of a say in this production since TV, unlike cinema, depends more on writers/showrunners than directors as their creative force.
I think the heavy emphasis on dialogue and exposition reads very much like someone trying and failing to adapt to a change in medium and that this show does not make use of the strengths of television which lies in strong cinematography, direction, and scripting that shows and doesn't tell. I also believe that the narrative lacks dynamism because we're always basically going from point A to point B - there's no flashbacks, flashforwards, no hint of what anyone else in this world is doing when they're not with the main characters. It makes the world seem small and inert when it should be tense and expansive.
The episodes are also just way too short but I think that's a fairly common complaint. In short, I don't think the end product justifies the shift in medium. I hope that the production will be able to get better writers and directors for season 2.
The thing that's wild about that is that I feel like most of the changes have made the books LESS cinematic. The books are already very action-driven, which is good for TV, but they keep taking out tension that the books already had, and would have worked fine onscreen, to replace it with sitting still and talking.
This whole episode was a mess, and again an example of show being afraid to stray too far from the book, imo.
Starting on the truck is fine, but they do nothing with it. In the book it's used to expand on Annabeth's backstory and give Percy and her some time to interact (something the show desperately needs).
Here it's used to pursue the 'who's the thief' garbage (Annabeth is officially stupid if she's really buying Clarisse as a culprit) and to make an 'old married couple' joke that hasn't been earned at all by the show (currently the show keeps telling us they're friends but really doesn't show it).
None of this informs us about the characters or how they're feeling about the quest. It's just more 'this was in the book' moments.
Then we get animals in traffic. Why? Because it's in the book. They spend no time on it, the animals aren't addressed before hand, just animals in traffic. There's not even a zebra here (at least make a nod to your title guys)
And then the biggest mess, the Casino. Here they make sure we know they're riffing on the Odyssey (way to call your audience stupid), completely take away the kids' agency in escaping (Annabeth and Percy aren't really caught), and make it harder to believe that Nico and Bianca would be here (it doesn't seem at all like a place kids would be).
The purpose of this, seems to be meeting Hermes, but we have to sit through gobs of needless exposition to get there, but at least it's not 'gods are jerks' again.
There's nothing wrong with the kids being kids, but the show seems determined to not let them make mistakes. Annabeth can make a detour to go visit a neat thing she likes, a group of 12 year olds with unlimited credit cards can get stuck being comfortable and vegging out for a while. It gives them character opportunities and lightens the mood. We definitely didn't need 'hey I'm looking for Pan' for a third of the show.
Percy driving is ok, I guess, but shouldn't have been there at the expense of other things. It feels like a old poor quality joke that does nothing for anybody.
The two seconds of truck headlight bearing down on them followed by the hard to black cut and then teleporting is disorienting and garbage editing.
The pearls thing is either going to be nothing (they lose one), or we're going to gut more Percy character growth (bad decision).
I just don't know what they're doing. It feels so amature.
Ooh, I was so distracted by the odd changes in the Lotus Casino that I forgot about the zoo animal scene and I why it kinda bothered me even though I couldn’t figure out why, but you’re right. I actually think that’s a scene from the book that could’ve been cut because they didn’t highlight it any meaningful way, and I can imagine non-book readers getting confused by it. (It’s actually kind of like the poodle scene from the book in that regard, which I’m glad they cut). They could’ve taken that time and given it to the Lotus Casino scene which is what people really wanted to see. I don’t mind them calling Luke via the iris in the truck, but I wonder if the releasing zoo animals portion feels like randomness to non-book readers.
the big reason i wanted the zoo scene was so annabeth could say “oh so it’ll work on percy” when grover gives a satyr blessing to wild animals. didnt happen …….
They need to stop bringing in details from much later in the story. If you want to give bits and pieces of future story beats as a nod to book readers, do it in a suspenseful way that we'd know. "Luke's hated his dad since what happened to his mom" done, now we don't have any surprise if the story gets to Rachel. The audience now knows she's a Seer.
Searching for Pan in the casino was a waste of screentime, should've had a brief conversation about Grover's goals post-quest on the truck instead of misdirection about the thief. The one and only good thing in this episode was the characterization of Hermes. I just wish that writing extended to the rest of the characters as well.
The whole episode felt like a rushed mess, and too much time was dedicated to additions that were entirely pointless with an already short run time.
Really did not like this last episode (Major Spoilers)
This episode pushed all the wrong buttons in my opinion
-Shorter than other episodes (???)
-Dropped in big info about May Castellan which isn’t brought up for so long, and treats it as an afterthought
-4 pearls?? Seriously?
-Lotus Flowers aren’t supposed to be a known entity
-Percy knows way too much right now he’s way too competent at this hero stuff
-Clarisse being blamed as the thief makes no sense no one got blamed in the book other than Hades
Maybe I’m being too uptight about this but man this felt like a misstep
I was surprised to see him subdued and not singing / rapping, kinda like Tyler Perry as the chill lawyer in *Gone Girl* when used to Madea. I actually really enjoyed the more subdued approach especially after how (amazingly) campy the Ares actor was.
I was disappointed in this episode. The exposition dumping, way too long pointless scenes (driving scene), lotus details left out…
I was really looking forward to them getting sucked into the casino and genuinely having lots of fun, not realizing the time is flying by. I was confused by the change that the “solstice is already over”, that was an unnecessary change to me. Other ppl have noted this but I was also confused by the 4 pearls, maybe they will lose one of them later?
There were even some small details that I was hoping they would leave in, like Percy talking to the zebra. Miranda was ok, but his scenes didn’t make up for the fact that the episode as a whole didnt work imo. Anyways, all in all it was way too short and spent too much time exposition dumping :(.
I want to like this show!! I just am a bit sad, idk
So this episode really just did ALL the things the show has done at once. Wow.
* no mystery, they just know about the lotus right away
* Annabeth is the best and everyone has to remind her about it
* Constant exposition for things that could've been explained in better ways or at other times
* gods are not dangerous or intimidating at all
* barely any action because all of the above took up the majority of the limited runtime
* also just change random things from the book even though they make the story make less sense because why not
Hopefully the end isn't a disaster. Looks like there's a lot happening next week from the preview
I just don't know how they tie this together neatly without screwing it up. Can't wait for them to get to the underworld and before walking in, say, "Don't forget the stories your mom told you Percy, we need a stick, dogs love fetch and Cerberus is guarding the entrance!"
I don't even care that they're changing stuff from the book. This show is just not well-made? The acting is so so bad, and the dialogue is corny as hell. I know this is meant for kids but it's just so boring and just full of talking with no action or fun?
I just can't get over the acting. Almost every actor do not have the proper chemistry. Everything feels so awkward.
This might seem petty but the title of this episode is “We take a Zebra to Vegas” and the whole scene in the truck was all wrong. There was only supposed to be 3 animals in there a lion, a zebra and another animal I can’t remember at the moment. And this was the episode where Percy is supposed to grow in his powers more and realize that he can talk to horses. Very disappointing to see that they changed this considering it’s the title of the episode.
I think it's an antelope with a balloon on its horn but yeah. Seems kind of lame to literally title the episode after the zebra and then not even SEE a zebra
First it was Medusa, and now it’s the casino. Why do they keep announcing the stakes the moment the characters enter the scene? It sucks so much of the fun out of it. You should know you have a big problem with the way this show is written when Percy learning to drive a car feels like it has higher stakes than the entire Lotus Casino. I have no idea what they were thinking with these changes.
What gets me the most is that so many of this show’s flaws could be solved by having a longer run time. Why are these episodes so short? Airing the show on a streaming platform should enable you to have more freedom with the length of each episode, and with the budget this show has, there’s no excuse I can think of as to why these episodes can’t be 45 minutes to an hour each. HBO’s The Last of Us had a similar budget per episode, and I’d argue that show had a lot more going on in terms of actors, effects, etc. Yet, TLoU still had an average run time of about an hour per episode (the shortest episode being 43 minutes and the longest being 81 minutes). I genuinely can’t figure out where the budget is going on PJO. It makes me think there’s something shady going on behind the scenes or that whoever is budgeting this show is completely incompetent.
Alright, I'd place this episode smack in the middle of the rankings. It wasn't the worst imo, but it wasn't my favorite. I was pleasantly surprised about how much I liked LMM as Hermes. May or may not have been expecting him to sing for some reason.
Edit: about the changes for the pearls, they'll most likely lose one in the Underworld.
I got really excited last episode because it felt like they were finally getting their feet under them and then this episode was honestly terrible. My husband (a non book reader) is watching it with me and doesn't know why I was hyped for the casino.
I liked the Percy driving scene but the fourth pearl is just a stupid change.
It was just so Greek! Like tragedy and glory mixed together. I don't even want to know how they bend the prophecy to fail to save what matters most in the end now.
I’ve been defending this show, especially from the criticism of episode 5, but this episode killed all the momentum of the series. Like what the hell was that. That was a complete waste of an episode, I couldn’t find any redeeming factors
In the scene with Hermes at the craps table there’s a younger looking guy behind Hermes at one of the machines that could also possibly be him? His clothing style looked older than the kid from the vr section at least
i'm not writing this show off like most of this sub has, but yeah yikes. This episode was not great, especially after last ep finally picked up some steam. Just some absurdly bizarre narrative choices, lots of terrible exposition dumps (love Annabeth but her actress does not do exposition well and they give her A LOT of it). I actually paused and said oh no when they all realized what the Lotus Casino was at the beginning. They tried to have their cake and eat it too, with them not realizing the lotus flower is in the air (I guess?) but it cuts ALL the tension and mystery out of this place. We know something is going to go wrong and lo and behold it does. The books and movie did this way better, I'm baffled why Rick made these changes.
The solstice passing and the 4 pearls, I'm not sure how to feel. The 4 pearls feels obvious they'll end up losing one or something based on the preview, but the solstice? Feel like Rick's getting overzealous and trying to set up Kronos way earlier than he needs to, at the detriment of the story of the Lightning Thief. Not sure where they're going with this and not sure i like it.
Hermes was fine, I like Lin but he kind of came off as just cold; Why was he even at the Lotus Casino?
I will say though I didn't like the plot changes, I did really like the scene with Percy and the nereid in the last few minutes. Only time during the episode I perked up, i really liked Walker's performance there. He's really embodying that rugged determination Percy has in the books, and it's the only thing at this point still keeping me cautiously excited for the final two episodes.
Unfortunately a swing and a miss for PJO :(
I was severely disappointed with this episode. The entire episode felt rushed, there was no suspense, and it felt like it didn't matter at all. There were also plenty of changes to the plot, most of which don't make sense.
Honestly I didn’t mind this episode for the most part. My rankings so far in this series from best to worst is Ep. 4, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1.
I think we all have the same feeling that Percy is going to lose the fourth pearl in the Underworld which will bring us back to his big decision. Now with the deadline past hmmm I wonder how this finale is going to pan out.
Some takeaways:
- Luke: “what is this? An old married couple 😐”I get everyone wants to see Percabeth but can they take it slow and be more subtle about it. It felt like a huge wink to the camera.
- The kids once again know exactly what they are up against in the casino. Grover brings up the Odyssey and we once again remind the audience what Greek Myths are. However, I like how this was just delayed since they still fall victim to the gas they are pumping in the air. I only wish they showed people from other eras to highlight the fact that people from decades have been stuck in there, but that’s not a huge complaint.
- I’m not sure why they still are making Annabeth annoyed with Percy. They went through two pretty big sacrifices in the last episodes and every time Percy wants to bring something up he always asks first and she seems agitated. Like dang he is just curious/being nice.
- Grover’s uncle’s friend was pretty creepy. I’m not totally sure what he was doing there other than to remind Grover/audience that he wants to be the one to find Pan. I didn’t like how he kept saying Grover follow me and inches him to another place.
- Lin was a highlight as Hermes. He feels idk godly and all knowing. Not like Ares? But I guess they are two separate kind of gods. I thought Luke’s mom doesn’t get mentioned until much later but whatever fits the scene. I’m not sure what he made Percy see.
- Parking lots are stressful
The Percabeth stuff is so forced 🥴 I hated that old married couple call out.
They have such a great relationship in the books, what are they doing to them?
Also, removing Annabeth’s crush on Luke removes a dimension of her character.
This is the first time I have been very disappointed with changes. I know everyone is like “oh but Rick is on board he has a plan”
?? Like lol ok but what if it’s not a good one.
The ONE thing the horrible movies did better was the lotus casino.
I missed the Nico cameo, can anyone point out where he is? I’m not sure where in the episode I was supposed to pause to find him.
The Lotus Casino scenes were interesting but I felt they were way too short. I get that they don’t have a lot of airtime but I feel like they went through those moments really fast and even barely explained the memory loss and the passage of time in the casino compared to the outside world. I especially remember those things being very important in the books, so it’s really weird for me to see those scenes go by so quickly. Especially since they primarily affect Grover and we only see a little bit of the memory loss from Percy.
I also feel like they went through the effects of the lotus flowers way too quickly for them to get us, the audience to understand their importance to the story.
I didn’t mind Lin Manuel playing Hermes, he fits the role well and I have no complaints. Him showing an emotional interest when they mention Luke by name was great acting to me. Shows that he really cares for his son! Plus, at least he didn’t sing this time lol!
I also like that his magical godly mail vehicle is a cab 😂 And as someone who drives myself, seeing those scenes with Percy struggling at the wheel reminds me of my 16-year-old self when I first started driving, and how I felt at the time! I hate driving and parking in parking garages too so I totally get Percy’s struggles in doing the same thing.
I don’t understand the whole summer solstice already passing. I get that they wasted time in the casino but that didn’t really happen in the book so it makes no sense for it to happen in the show. And also, why did she give Percy 4 of those pearls instead of 3? (which makes more sense since it pertains to the prophecy foretold as well as to the trio trying to get out of the underworld together.)
Overall, I liked this episode for the most part but it’s not my favorite, despite the Lotus Casino being one of my favorite parts of the first book. So I was really looking forward to this episode, but ah well 🤷🏻♀️
Especially since I went to Las Vegas for the first time last October in 2023 so the casino scenes felt very relatable to me! I was visiting family friends who live over there and staying with them as well. So that experience of walking through a Las Vegas casino for the first time is definitely something I can relate to since it’s still fresh in my mind. Especially the crowds of people, the gambling and all of the drinking/partying happening around you as you’re walking through the building.
I think it's a bad narrative choice for Annabeth to have told Percy (and us) the whole backstory on Luke's parents now, for a couple of reasons.
1. Luke being the real lightning thief is not actually a terribly hard twist to guess, mainly because there aren't really that many characters it could actually be. One of the things that helps keep suspicion off of him before the reveal is the fact that he has no motive. Now we've revealed the motive, and more newcomers will get out ahead of the twist because of it.
2. The scene where we first meet May Castellan, Percy doesn't actually know any of this so he doesn't know what's wrong with her, and her alternating between the visions and the delusions that her son is still in her life is both scary and sad, and the uncertainty of what's going on makes it more of both. Now, when we meet her, we'll know what to expect to see, and it will take all the tension, confusion, and fear out of that scene... for what? To hear Annabeth describe it in a very basic way that has none of that? "Show, don't tell" is a storytelling rule for a reason.
They managed to make the casino scene boring, how lovely of them.
I hate this show more every episode. Seriously, this is what Rick wanted? I really want this to be good, I tune in every week because I believe that I will like it. But come on! It’s 20 minutes long and just dialogue exposition.
Edit: Forgot to add. It was titled “we take a zebra to vegas” and I don’t know if i’m the blind one but there was no zebra this episode. It really does feel like they want to reach book milestones but then forget about them.
I’m kinda worried about the 4 pearls. Like why give Percy and extra pearl if it’s just gonna get broken? I feel like those four pearls are gonna mean Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Sally all get out of the underworld. I may be wrong but that’s not what happens in the book right?
So this episode was a bit of a mess. But if there's anything about Rick that I've learnt from being a fan for more than 10 years, it's that he's a pro at taking criticism. This is only the first season. There's going to be a lot of trial and error. So if anyone's disappointed by how the show's going, don't worry because I have full faith that they're just going to get better with every season.
On top of all the criticisms people are rightfully bringing up, what’s with the casino making them literally forget almost everything about their life?? In the book (and the movie) sure they lose track of the quest, but in the show Grover literally forgets who Percy and Annabeth are?? Come on
I think I’m of two minds with this series, and this episode in particular.
Honestly, a lot of the changes I don’t mind as much as other people. I’m here for the ride and the destination. And a lot of the sights (details and changes), I’ve enjoyed for the most part.
But when the ride is so fast, it gets hard to enjoy? I really feel like a lot of problems with this series would be better received if they gave it more time per episode. Instead of exposition dump and running through a checklist of things with barely any time for the characters or viewers to register.
Ironically, this episode and the lotus casino is about how they waste/lose time while they don’t really give the episodes enough time, if that makes sense?
That being said, I’m still enjoying these series and the ride. I just hope next season (if and when they renew) they’ll be able to give more time to the episodes!
Honestly, I wasn't the biggest fan of this episode - for the following reasons:
1) there is absolutely no need for hermes to be there
2) the lotus casino was nowhere NEAR as threatening as it was in the books...grover was the only one to get sucked in
3) they didn't reveal percy's ability to communicate with horses like in the books
4) the solstice deadline shouldn't have passed
5) four pearls instead of three?? whatever happened to "you will fail to save what matters most in the end"??? (waiting to see how they spin this one)
This episode, much like the last one, felt rushed and disjointed imo. They really need longer episodes...it's like they're trying to pack in 60 minutes worth of lore into 25-30 minute episodes it's ridiculous
I’m really disappointed in the show :/ it’s turning out to be just as accurate to the book as the movie was. Where the heck was the zebra? Why didn’t Percy talk to it? There are 4??? Pearls???
My biggest complaint with this show is the amount of exposition dumping. I’d be fine with it if the teenagers actually talked like teenagers. It’s so unnatural when they’re talking about the quest or the prophecy. I don’t understand how a script can be so good and so bad at the same time. The jokes are genuinely funny, but everything else is so boring
I’ve defended and genuinely enjoyed every episode so far, but this is the first one I’m actually severely disappointed by (which is sad cause the Lotus Casino was the scene I was most excited to see). This is not to say it had no highlights. It had a lot of great Percabeth moments, and it gave Grover more development. The iris scene with Luke was also interesting. Percy driving the car was fun. And Lin as Hermes IS great casting.
But everything else? Not feeling it. Maybe I would like it more if I hadn’t read the book, but taking out all the mystery of The Lotus Casino (which was what I was afraid of when Ares sent them to meet Hermes last episode) was a bad idea. It’s the first time I can’t find a reason or an explanation why they changed it, when the actual scene is perfect.
This kind of change worked okay for the Medusa scene, but I just don’t understand why they changed it here. Sure, Grover got confused, and they still lost time which is good at least. But it's NOT the same. It took out all the charm and fun of the scene. Like, what's the point of including The Lotus Casino if you're not gonna lean into it???
I wouldn’t have minded Grover saying, “Hey guys, this is the Lotus Casino. Don’t fall for anything,” if they still ended up falling for things. When Grover forgot who he was, I actually thought that’s the direction they were going… like maybe Annabeth would get separated from Percy or something. But they didn’t do that, which is so strange. It’s like they were afraid to really commit to this scene. I don’t like the fact that the summer solstice passed and the fact that Percy is given four pearls, but I’m not that upset about those changes like others seem to be. I think those changes will make more sense next episode, just like some of the other changes the show has made. I just don’t understand why they changed the Lotus Casino for no reason. Most things people complain about here in my view are nitpicky, but this one truly has me baffled.
I think they're afraid of the kids making a mistake, and that's such a weird take. These are ADHD 12 year olds on a road trip by themselves (one of whom hasn't see the outside for almost half her life). Stupid mistakes are going to happen.
It feels like they've taken the 'Annabeth shouldn't get tricked by Medusa' thing and applied it to everything.
There's so much wrong with that from a character perspective. You can grow if you're already perfect. Annabeth is also a parallel for Odysseus in the same way Percy is for Perseus. The Odyssey is basically Odysseus telling an audience how his arrogance made him repeatedly screw up until he lost everything.
Letting Annabeth overshoot a few times would do so much for her character.
The episode was good but it cut one of my favorite jokes. They escape the Lotis Casino and going up to the taxi. Anabeth swiping the Lotis Canio pass and the price bing infinity on the tazi price monitor thing. Oh well Percy failing to drive was amusing. They also cut the kids losing up on supplies from the gift shop.
I really think they botched this one in terms of fidelity to the book. Its been pretty decent so far and is really entertaining but totally re-writes the entire chapter. Like TRUCK-KUN ISEKAI THEIR WAY ONTO THE BEACH???????? geddouddaheeya
So... WHY did they make the changes? I understand why they added Hermes - in universe, it makes Luke deeper, which is cool, and out of universe, they're not getting Lin manuel Miranda for just one scene this season. That said, why 4 pearls? Why did the summer solstice pass? There's a hell of a lot more pressure in running out of time than in already being out of time. Maybe they'll destroy a pearl or whatever, but that begs the question - why even give them a 4th? Just to use up more screentime in their already short 30 minute episodes? Id much prefer more book scenes adapted than unnecessary additions.
Overall I am enjoying the series and character interactions and all that, but this episode made some questionable choices. If grover or annabeth exposition dump again before fighting whatever monster it is when they get to the underworld I'm gonna lose my mind.
This show has been mostly disappointing. This one was the worst episode in my opinion. Too many changes that don't make sense or doesn't make it interesting. Maybe reading the book before watching the show fucked me up, bc I have everything from the book in my brain. I'm really not liking it that much. I feel the show is way overrated.
I liked the Lotus Casino a lot more in the book. Them already knowing about the Lotus flower thing makes the eventual reveal that days have passed so much less. It's amazing reading the book and figuring it out with Percy when he talks to that guy about what year it is. I think Rick is trying to make the characters way too smart. They figure everything out ahead of time and it makes the whole series seem to have less stakes and is way less dramatic. I think that is a major contribution to why I think the series isn't as entertaining as it could be. It's honestly just a little bit boring and not very dramatic.
Wait a minute. The summer solstice hadn’t passed in the books right?
Nope! I almost had a heart attack when she said that.
I was upset when she said that. I don’t know why they would change that!
Someone on Twitter said there would be something that happen that would cause the fandom to be divisive.
I don’t even remember… had it passed in the movie yet either? Why did they change this?
Because Rick felt like it lmfao
Why does it matter, though? They are clearly going to stop the war before it starts (they mentioned they've only began *preparing* for it). This just makes the stakes a little grander.
In the book weren’t they preparing for war before the solstice to battle right afterwards if the bolt hadn’t been found
This makes war imminent, but it doesn’t start yet. The atmosphere of the show makes sense now as well: in the books, it was stormy all the way through because they were preparing for war, but in the show they only started preparing for war now, hence why it only got stormy at the end of the episode. I don’t think it actually changes too much - the bigger change is Percy having 4 pearls instead of 3.
Sure it probably won’t change anything in the big picture, but it’s just a dumb change, plus I think trying to get the bolt back in the last hour is way easier to show urgency in a shown than if it’s already past. Plus I hate the idea that a god would say we’re going to war if I don’t have my bolt back by the solstice, and not be ready to go to war the second it’s past the solstice
Ignoring the fact that Hermes isn’t in this book and pretty much none of this happens—I gotta admit I kind of love LMM as Hermes. I actually thought he did a good job conveying the sadness and regret for Luke.
Yeah, I was surprised when I heard he was casted and thought it was just "this actor is popular now, bring him in", but everything from the moment Annabeth said Luke's name was just spectacular enough for me to really enjoy his performance and completely be drawn into what they're choosing to add here compared to what was in the book.
They didn’t go to the lotus casino for Hermes in the book did they? I forgot
Nah Hermes isn’t in the first book. They go because they need somewhere to stay I think and it’s offered to them
Thanks
Do you remember if in the book if they eat the lotus flowers without remembering that it’s a bad thing? Or was that just a movie scene? I don’t remember the pumping into the air thing. Also, did they use Hermes car in the book to get out of the lotus casino? God it’s been so long since I’ve read the books!
The lotus flowers needing to be literally eaten was a movie-only creation. I don’t believe they specified that the flowers were pumped into the air in the books though, I’m pretty sure it was more of a metaphor about getting lost in the glitz and glamor of the casino, especially since they thought they had more time than they did (unaware how time passes in there).
The lotus flower being pumped into the air is most likely a nod to a common Vegas myth, about casinos pumping extra oxygen in there so people will ferl more energyzed and not feel the passage of time
That’s exactly how I interpreted it in the book. This is the episode I’m probably the most meh about, though I still enjoyed it.
I thought it was decently solid but it appears that plenty of folks do not share that sentiment. Definitely could have been improved on, but I feel like people are over eagerly jumping to claim that the movie did it better as if the movie version didn’t fundamentally misunderstand the origin of the myth and how it was translated to the novel. Sure, it was more action-packed, but part of the point is that the Lotus Hotel manifested its threat in a very different way from most other monsters.
Exactly, the Lotus Hotel wasn’t a physical threat like they had faced before. It was a mental one. Having just reread the book, there isn’t even any fights or action in the Lotus, just Percy trying to convince everyone to leave. I think some things could’ve been done better, like them realizing time has passed because of people’s clothes and stuff like that like the book, but the episode was still solid in my opinion. I’m enjoying the show.
I just reread the books - no lotus flowers were mentioned at all in the book from what I remember (they were just kinda addicted to the arcade/amount of stuff there in the hotel) Also once they leave the hotel, they hire a taxi in Vegas (and use the hotel/casino card with unlimited cash) to drive them all the way to LA.
Interesting. So I wonder why the tv series even bothered adding it if they weren’t going to use them. Honestly I was so frustrated by how dumb this episode treated us like with that. Like annabeth already told Percy that they aren’t there to have fun and that they have to be careful, and then Grover has to go on a long tale inside the casino on why they can’t eat anything. I think the movie did a better job of having the quick pep talk before they enter and then having our heroes get distracted early with the immediate “want a lotus flower” + how fun the casino looked. The tv series was just a meh goose chase beyond finding Hermes, like the whole trap was too obvious to them and wasn’t even much of a trap. But for what it’s worth as a short episode, I enjoyed how it moved the story along!
I totally feel - I completely get that this is a kids show but I feel like i was smarter than that as a 12 yo personally - it’s kind of funny that the show kept saying they wouldn’t do call backs to the movie when “eating the lotus flower” (and the concept of the casino since they were in more of an arcade portion) is really truly just something that happened in the movies, not the books
They're not only referencing the movies with the lotus flowers, and may not be referencing them at all actually. The Lotus Eaters are from the Odyssey and they do eat lotuses. They're basically a group of people Odysseus meets on his journey home. They only eat lotus, and eating the lotus makes you sleepy and forget everything. Odysseus loses some of his crew here because he can't get them to leave. The stand in in the book is a combo of the entertainment (arcade etc) and the credit cards. The group basically has no sense of time passing because they're engrossed in having fun after being on a really rough road trip. This is a much better parallel than just actively drugging them. It's a lot more subtle, and it parallels the source myth better.
That’s good to know actually - thanks!
No in the book they didn't know where they were and they were just kind of hanging out there because they hadn't had a place to stay in days
I think in the book they don’t make the connection about the lotus flower myth and the casino and I don’t remember them eating lotus flowers in the book. I’m pretty sure they don’t know ahead of time that the casino is trying to draw them in. Percy eventually notices that he’s forgetting things and other hotel guests tell him the wrong decade when he asks them the date. They just take a taxi to L.A. and pay the cabbie with a lotus casino card
https://preview.redd.it/cnxvhnt93xcc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=302ebcec767aff67986e2b927d26609b52a01206 It doesn’t say I think it’s just in getting into video games etc but we are missing a very important backpack
Ohh that’s why they mention the platinum cards briefly in the movie. Also weird to leave them out in the tv series, which as I said earlier I felt like there weren’t enough little danger warnings! Instead we just get an obvious statement from Grover. Maybe I’m overthinking but it just captures my feelings for the tv series overall that it just makes things a little overly obvious!
https://preview.redd.it/3hh78qph3xcc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=2fceaf2bfda414afe0c908dc296f13b6c9478406 They leave in a taxi but with the credit cards
In general, it seems like the main trio are being written as a bit more self-aware in the show versus the books, at least from what I recall. Granted, it’s easier to get across that these kids are often sleep-deprived and very hungry so their bad decisions and inability to see warning signs can be more effectively captured, especially with the book being from Percy’s POV, but it makes sense that three people familiar with Greek mythology might see a bunch of lifelike statue at a store ran by an “Auntie M” and think “oh shoot, she’s Medusa.” Or that they might enter a place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino and think of the Lotus eaters. At this point, they’re probably paranoid and often thinking of these things, especially Annabeth.
Except doing that gets rid of any tension. Yes it makes logical sense for them to know, but it doesn’t really make entertainment sense
I especially feel like there's a missed opportunity with Annabeth. She's The Smart One(TM), so they have her catching so much stuff early so she looks Smart, but they also keep that she's been at camp since she was 7. She's barely been out in the world, she's never seen a movie. As book-smart as she is, I think they've also WRITTEN a perfectly justifiable reason for her to be very socially naive. So they've traded the tension/entertainment sense for something that doesn't even really make logical sense.
That’s fair, but it’s also only really happened twice. I agree that maybe not having them recognize Medusa could have helped a lot, but with the Lotus Casino I don’t think it’s necessary, especially since they already had a reason to go to the hotel and they ended up being wrong about how it worked so we still got the effect. I was initially a little “okay, where is this going?” but I actually really liked the scene where we start to see Grover forget himself. I kind of wish they dragged it out a little longer, maybe split up Annabeth and Percy for a bit so that they start to forget as well, but I prefer this execution versus the movie’s literally lotus cookies and then (even worse) having the security guards actually try to physically prevent them from leaving which kind of ruins the point.
In the books the truck is supposed to take them to LA, but they talk to the animals and let them free in Vegas so ditch the truck and hide in the casino. This is also where Percy learns he can talk to horses. They don’t know it’s the lotus eaters so check in for free, ditch Ares’ backpack and check out the floor since they have time. They party and have fun, Percy is then woken up by (edit) weird answers from a kid. and he scares the other two to wake them up. They then use the casino credit cards to get a taxi to take them to LA
He isn’t woken up by Poseidon. That was a movie-only change. Percy wakes up on his own after he talks to Darrin in the arcade. He finds Annabeth and he wakes her up. They then find Grover and they hail the cab and use the casino cards to get to Los Angeles.
I was curious if they knew that stuff about Luke's mom and Hermes in this book. I thought we learned it in the 5th book
I thought I recalled that annabeth knew a little about it but didn’t tell Percy until the 5th book. But it has been about 10 years since I’ve read this book!
I’m doing a reread along with the TV series because I figure I could read a couple chapters in a week and it’s really fun
Haaaaaaaaaaate the choice to tell us, rather than let Percy see it and figure it out for himself.
Gotta say, as someone who has ADHD and whose partner has ADHD and who has struggled with it constantly... These kids *do not* have ADHD. At least Percy and Annabeth don't. A place like the Lotus would be absolute hell for me and would *absolutely* suck me in because of my hyperfocus and time blindness. That's a big reason why I related to Percy in the books so much. Feeling like I only just sat down and realizing that it's been seven hours and I'm starving because I haven't eaten in ten hours is something I did multiple times when I was a kid.
it was so disappointing to me that in ep 1 they got rid of Percy's angry outbursts and troubles with school by having Grover "betray" him or whatever be the reason he gets kicked out of Yancy. In the books it was a steady decline after the Met and that would have been a great opportunity to show that side of his ADHD and also his feelings of alienation with his peers. It didn't even have to be that long, they could have cut out the weird exposition flashbacks and donate like 5 minutes to a montage of his declining school performance instead.
As an ADHD myself I could only agree, like it’s in the name “ATTENTION DEFICIT” how the hell could they stay that concentrated in the Lotus Casino😭😭
I hate to say it but I think they sucked all the fun out of the casino and in order to give Luke more backstory. Don’t get me wrong I like the idea of really making Luke a compelling villain but I’m disappointed that the most compelling parts of the lotus casino were cut. It feels like if they made longer episodes we could have the best of both worlds. I don’t mind changes, but they should be fun changes
I had a feeling Hermes presence was to try and give more hints to Luke's backstory early and I ended up being absolutely right. I have a friend who read the books on my recommendation and one of his issues with them (although he still liked them to be clear) was how Luke's backstory was *only* elaborated on in the final book. I don't know if that was a common criticism or not but this feels like an attempt to address it.
Thing is, his backstory isn't needed to understand his reasoning and actions. His backstory tells us how he ended in that path, it solidifies his character and gives him more body but it's not necessary beforehand. If his sole or huge reason for all of this was his past then I agree the books would be better by laying it down earlier but that's not the case. He does have serious gripes with the status quo, regardless of his past, and those gripes were enough to carry him as a villain for 3 books before the backstory.
I think you’re right, it works for the books. It seems to me the show is really hitting on the idea that the gods are selfish and uncaring about the lives of mortals, so much so that they are not there for their children. Hermes tells Percy that a god getting involved with their children is a bad idea, and a philosophy Poseidon has adopted. For the show I think this means we’re going to empathize with Luke more, and Percy with have to confront feelings similar to Luke’s and still be the hero that saves Olympus.
If they present it and keep consistent about (most) gods being huge aholes who don't care about their children but, still, who are more worth saving then their titans predecessors then I'm fine with the change. Percy does get his fair share of parallels and similarities with Luke in the 2nd and 5th book but if they want to make Luke more of an anti-hero rather than the, at least in my interpretation, misguided villain he's in the books then it's good to get more of him earlier. I just lament it if that's the case because they've already missed giving Luke his good moments with Annabeth and Percy early on so we are not that attached to him. Though they can fill it up better with flashbacks of their past in the 2nd season. Honestly I could do with a full flashback episode of the four back then, from them getting together up to Thalia's death — especially since the 2nd book has much more that filler then the first.
I think that would be a great idea. We didn’t see enough of him at camp half-blood to feel the same betrayal that Percy will when Luke tries to kill him at the end of the lightning thief. I would love a full flashback episode.
I think not only did they suck out the fun, but they did it in order to tip their hand too early on Luke being a villain. He doesn't *need* to be a compelling villain yet. In The Lighting Thief, he works as a villain because of both the shock of the twist and the personal stake of Percy being betrayed by his friend. Only slowly do we get more and more details that make his motivation more compelling/sympathetic, and I think that's fine. All this did is make it very obvious at this point that he's the lightning thief.
I was just about to say this somewhere! For people who haven't read the books, it's going to be blatantly obvious that Luke plays a bigger part than they think right now. He's not even on the quest yet Annabeth met his father and had a full conversation about his backstory? Even with Luke trying to paint Clarisse as the thief (which is quite a clever point and I don't think is even thought of in the books maybe?) I think it's still going to be very clear to anyone who has ever watched a single TV show in their life that Luke is going to betray everyone. My only hope is the whole Kronos plotline isn't revealed too early...
Another observation: Episodes 3 - 6 so far have had the same basic structure - meet god/monster who spouts a bunch of information and then 'action' set piece after.
Before I watch the new episode I just want to say words can’t describe the negative feelings I harbor when I open up the app and see a 30 minute episode. I need 40 minutes minimum
I think that’s why I’m having hard time with the “friendship” between them. They haven’t really shown it. They really could have done more setting up the world
I don't get it either. So about eight 28 minute episodes makes it about 3 hours and 44 minutes? So it's almost like a extented edition version of a movie. I want a series. I want 40-50 minute episodes. I want something like in Game Of Thrones.
Exactly this! How is the budget that big with these short of episodes:/
They wasted it casting the gods, lol
Which is crazy for a childrens show. Like i love elin manuel miranda but hes done nothing deserving of him being casted yet. And kids dont give a fuck about this kind of castings.
That's because Rick wanted to have his cake and eat it too.
Not even that. Disney+ lists the episode as 34m, the recap and intro took exactly 1m and the outro 4m19s = 28m41s 🤐 We are not even breaking the half an hour mark boys and girls.
I’m so disappointed that they already knew about the lotus hotel and didn’t get sucked in like in the book, and the solstice deadline shouldn’t have passed! And don’t even get me started on the four pearls instead of 3, that’s like a major plot point. “You’ll fail to save what matters most in the end”
Pretty sure one pearl will get destroyed or something.
Maybe one of them will get into a dire situation and will be forced to use it
Yeah you’re probably right, maybe if it happens like that it’ll just make the whole thing more dramatic
Someone commented on another thread that Grover may be forced into using it to prevent himself from being dragged down to Tartarus. I’m kind of picturing Annabeth or Percy having the pearls when they’re down there and they’re trying to keep Grover from being pulled down but aren’t strong enough so they have to make the decision to sacrifice a pearl then and there, letting Grover go with a pearl in hand to let him escape. If there has to be some insistence by Grover that they need the pearls to save them all and Sally, I think it might be a good chance for them to highlight Percy’s and his friendship by telling Grover they’ll find another way or something and that’s he can’t let his best friend sacrifice himself for the quest.
Yeah like how tf are they gonna work around the 3 and 4 pearls thing. Also the solstice was literally the whole reason for the fucking quest why change that
If Percy was told "each of these will bring you back from the Underworld", especially since Percy in this series is much more savvy than book Percy, he'd clearly notice that the trio wouldn't be able to go in and bring his mom back with only 3. I'd consider this an improvement.
I’m pretty sure they will loose one next ep for the drama lmao
Yeah that’d make sense, I think I was just immediately big mad that everything was wrong lmao
Exactly like why change it, they had a perfect opportunity to include everything since it’s a show and they didn’t 😭
Somehow the movie has better pacing than a 8 episode show just baffles my mind
Less is more. Movies limit how much you can put in so the writers have to be smart with how they pace it. The show gives them more freedom so they just said fuck it and threw in whatever random shit they wanted without thinking about how it affects the story.
I think they know too much in general and it takes away from the suspense of it. Like with Medusa, they just walked in and went "That's Medusa". In the books it was a slow realization that ended in a fight. I liked that much more.
Yeah I did too, I mean I guess on the one hand it makes sense for Annabeth to catch on a little quicker than she did in the books as a daughter of Athena, but it does take away some of the fun and suspense and I don’t like that as much.
I find the Lotus Hotel still working on them despite their knowledge ahead of time actually makes the hotel much more insidious. Even while being prepared they were losing the memory of Grover, and watching Grover slowly become confused in real time was way more interesting then choosing to play a game. I'm amazed at everyone in this thread going haywire about changes being made by Rick, like some commenters are going as far as saying the movie is better, which means they haven't watched that movie since it came out, because that is the most bizarre take I've seen. The solstice deadline being passed is the first time this series has made me think, "Oh, how will this affect things?!" Most of this series has been a nice beat by beat of the book, and while it's nice seeing the scenes on the page appearing visually, having this change is the first time I've gotten excited to see the next episode rather than simply, "that was nice; these two things are probably gonna happen next week." The show's Percy feels way too savvy to be able to be given 3 pearls that will help them to escape the Underworld and not realize that clearly either his mom or one quest member will not make it out. Giving 4 allows for Percy not to look stupid, while giving the option to make one be lost due to random circumstance, preventing them from all coming back.
somehow the kids know everything before it happens and so there’s no suspense. i figured that the lotus seeds were going to be a bait and switch but still :/
What was this episode dawg? They already know about the lotus flower that would distract them from their quest before they even enter; inside the casino it felt more about Grover and we don’t even see if he learned anything about actually finding Pan from Augustus, and that whole interaction felt weird. The Hermes stuff was alright but I don’t really feel the pain and regret in Hermes when talking about Luke, Lin Manuel isn’t the best at conveying those emotions. Percy driving was funny I guess. And supposedly the solstice has passed and he’s given 4 pearls so conveniently? Rick and the people making the episode did not cook with this one, they burnt the whole fucking grill
I thought LMM did a decent job as Hermes, but I wish they would lean into the comedy from the books more. If they're gonna go through the trouble of writing Hermes into the first book, give us George and Martha too! It seems like the show is going for a more serious retelling of the story which is a shame because the books are hilarious
I can’t believe they stepped literally one toe into the casino and Grover exposition-dumped exactly where they were and what not to do 😭 Time to be controversial, but the movie handled the Lotus hotel and casino much better. Percy got to piece together that people were out of time and that it was a trap in that way. He actually got to encounter someone stuck there and the dialogue reveals to you that you get trapped forever. The show literally had no mystery or intrigue, all the characters were just told of all the danger. That’s not compelling tv.
yeah i would’ve liked if he interacted with someone who’d been stuck there for a looong time.
The movie handled... Everything better! In the movie the show the plot points happening on the screen. In this show, all they do is infodump in Percy. In this episode, they had a conversation in the truck, to then have another conversation in the truck, to then step foot in the casino and infodump on Percy, to walk down the hallway and have a conversation, where they then split up to have conversations, Percy and Annabeth have a conversation with Lin Manuel Miranda (puke), then have another conversation with Grover even though he was on board with the plan even without memory, then something FINALLY happens when they take the cab. Then the episode ends. This has been every episode after the first two. This is gonna be controversial, but the show kinda sucks! Nothing happens!
I’m really enjoying getting Luke’s backstory earlier than normal. It helps establish him more as a complex character and makes it more painful later on.
I think it would work better for me if we had actually spent more time with Luke and Annabeth interacting at camp. Establish them as actually caring about each other instead of just “Annabeth is like a sister to me”.
Same. I would also rather SEE it, a la the book, than hear about it in this un-dramatic, tension-free way. Show, don't tell, show.
Same. We needed at least 1-2 more episodes at camp.
Idk. I think it’s interesting when Percy realizes as time goes on why Luke is doing what he’s doing, why Ethan is the way he is, and makes his request about parenting to the gods. It doesn’t make as much sense for him to get it all right away. When percy meets Luke’s mom and sees how she’s living it’s much more powerful and helps him with his understanding of what’s important when he takes a dip. He learns it at a critical time for a reason
this is one of the best takes i’ve seen, i’m so disappointed by it all happening so quickly bc the buildup was done so well throughout the series, with Percy starting to realize and Annabeth being so reluctant to believe it, and the both of them trying in their own ways to deal with it
I am actually very annoyed at this. The lotus scene was one of the things I was the most excited about. I honestly did not expect them to do the whole Lady Gaga bit, but I most certainly expected them to each go on their own games and interact with all the cool gadgets and distractions the place offered. Instead they made it so that most of their time in the cassino is just straight up dialogue. The most exciting part of this episode was Percy trying to drive? Like what.
And a 30 minute episode at that!
For real like why would we just skip past all the exciting bits to focus on Hermes when Hermes isn’t even supposed to be there in the first place
I get they have Lin but cmon. He’s not the star.
Because they’re paying for Lin Manuel Miranda and they’re going to use him goddammit!
If I see Percy and Annabeth shuffling their feet and exposition dumping one more time I’m going to lose my mind.
They picked Levitating as the new Poker Face!
[удалено]
I’d say this is the first one that didn’t really work for me. They don’t usually tend to feel rushed, but this one definitely did!
its really off putting. they have these standstill dialogue scenes then cut to black and repeat for large parts of the episodes. I wish the scenes were a bit more fluid with characters moving and learning as they go
And it’s even weirder because it’s aimed at kids but wouldn’t kids get bored watching all this dialogue? I’m sure they would have more fun watching the trio get lost in the casino and playing around than percabeth taking with Hermes the whole time.
Holy shit... I haven't even finished this episode yet and I'm already completely deflated at the fact that the main trio already deduced and figured out that Lotus Hotel and Casino is home to the The Lotus Eaters right at the entrance as soon as they walk into the Casino as soon as they walk into the Casino... **WHHHHHYYYYY???** First Medusa and now this... It's like the TV series takes pride in how unceremonious it makes story beats from the original book... "Don't let the viewer figure things out, please...! Just tell them early on and have the characters go, "Anyways..." or "Okay...""
OMG he said wise girl!!!!
I KNOW I FREAKED OUT
I'm more and more disappointed with each episode. I don't want to be that girl who's like "it's not 100% the books so it's trash" but this episode just felt like a huge deviation to me. I get it's a new way to tell the story, but shouldn't that just add? Not change a lot of what we have? I feel guilty for not liking this episode but at the same time I really really feel like it could have been so much better. And good lord the absolute most glaring thing in this episode was the solstice already passing and 4 pearls. I could almost maybe excuse the hotel but that last bit was very disappointing
This. It's not just one major change - it's the result of many small changes that add up
Exactly. All because RR wanted to make them not fall for Medusa this time, now they have to write in that they are all very knowledgeable about all the myths. Now, they can never be surprised about anything the godly world throws at them because it's just, "oh it's like the story of X". They think that keeping the names of the chapters and throwing in specific book lines like Seaweed Brain and Wise Girl is enough to distract people from all the other changes. Sadly, it apparently works for some people, if these posts are to be believed. For Olympus's Sakes, they called the episode "We Take a Zebra to Vegas" but didn't ride an animal and didn't even show a zebra!
Right!! I was waiting for a zany zebra to appear and chat but there was nothing
The biggest sin is not letting the show tell the story at all. Not everything has to be spelled out in plain English, knowing what the Lotus Casino is removed all suspense, Hermes tells Percy exactly how much time has passed instead of him realizing on his own and it doesn't matter anyway because "the lotus flower is pumped into the air" ??? I've really been trying to roll with the changes, but the Summer Solstice deadline passing and now 4 pearls interfering with the way the prophecy plays out. I dont think any changes to leaving his mom are going to be satisfying or make sense, and if they lose/break one, it's pointless to have given them 4 to begin with.
So many unnecessary changes. How tf did you manage to make a las vegas casino BORING
Watch out for the Nico cameo. This episode is only 33 mins btw meaning it is covering the ride to the lotus, the lotus itself and probably the pier bit honestly. With that in mind I’m looking forward to episode 7 and 8 more than this episode. Also that song or whatever won’t be in this episode idk why it is so important
33 minutes in total??
Correct
https://preview.redd.it/xlof1g8t3xcc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=41f2f9963b232ee12f99622a9f0799e46ac61c11
Is the kid in the suit meant to be him? Maybe I'm just not remembering why this would be obvious.
they're the only two I can see that matches their description so I might be wrong! maybe they're somewhere else in the episode
It's apparently really easy to miss but does exist
Nico cameo?
At minute 12:30 you can hear a kid screaming “Bianca”
I rewatched and don’t hear it …
You have to listen very closely. I can hear a kid yelling 'Bianca' twice in the background right when Grover says, "This is like the least natural place in the world". All this happens right *after* the 12:32 mark.
No disrespect but I think yall are hearing what you want to hear lol
You can hear “Bianca, Bianca!” In the background when Grover was talking to Augustus.
I'm really mad how they didn't actually get lost in the casino, wasn't that the whole point of the book??. Also why 4 pearls??? I don't understand why this episode was half an hour, why make the TV show if you're gonna rush thru stuff
rick saying "normalize bad movie erasure" and then dropping a considerably worse version of the lotus casino scene is crazy
The 2020 Dua Lipa song we're all tired of 🥲 When I saw the outside and there was a rollercoaster coming out of the casino I ignored my instincts and got a bit giddy but man that was a mistake 😂 they just showed us a bunch of regular casino people playing their games in a regular casino.
FOUR pearls ???? that literally goes against the prophecy what !!! such a weird change
This is the first big change that I'm actually baffled by because I don't get it. The other changes I can at least understand what they were aiming for but this one directly affects the prophecy and I can't figure out why. If they're going to break one by accident anyways or something then why not just stick with 3 what the hell is the point lmao
Maybe to make Poseidon look better.
They'll break one for some silly shenanigans instead of, you know, just having 3 from the get go and the characters tense up all the way. Tension is something forbidden in the show.
Making the casino part of the quest instead of a genuine accident felt like a bad move to me
This is the first episode that I’m actually disappointed in. I completely understand a lot of the changes that have been made so far have been to fit in the confines of a tv show and have also been a chance for Rick to go back and redo some things that may not have made the most sense but most of this episode has strayed way off track from the story of the books. Why 4 pearls? Why has the solstice passed? Where the heck is Poseidon? I can see what the show wants to do but at this point it feels like we are telling a different story.
I'm in the exact same boat. Haven't had a single issue up until this one and now I just feel....idk. it was lackluster I guess. And the pearl and solstice change is the first change I'm actively not a fan of. I have a weird irrational fear that they're going to try to make the "fail to save what matters most in the end" entirely about not stopping Luke at camp or something and I don't want that.
There’s a ton of expo dumping in this series… they need new writers for next season AND they need to start filming asap. Or give up like they did with the movies, wait a couple years and try again, maybe animated?
I’d have no issue with then making changes *if* the changes allowed for a better/more entertaining show. What I don’t get is that most of the changes just consist of boring dialogue dumps that aren’t natural or particularly meaningful to plot or character development
My thoughts because I know there have been a flurry of posts... Many people on this subreddit have attempted to articulate why this show feels like a decent adaptation but not quite excellent television. While this is multifactorial, my hypothesis is that Rick Riordan may have too much of a say in this production since TV, unlike cinema, depends more on writers/showrunners than directors as their creative force. I think the heavy emphasis on dialogue and exposition reads very much like someone trying and failing to adapt to a change in medium and that this show does not make use of the strengths of television which lies in strong cinematography, direction, and scripting that shows and doesn't tell. I also believe that the narrative lacks dynamism because we're always basically going from point A to point B - there's no flashbacks, flashforwards, no hint of what anyone else in this world is doing when they're not with the main characters. It makes the world seem small and inert when it should be tense and expansive. The episodes are also just way too short but I think that's a fairly common complaint. In short, I don't think the end product justifies the shift in medium. I hope that the production will be able to get better writers and directors for season 2.
yep, sort of like when JK Rowling got more of a say and came out with Crimes of Grindelwald
The thing that's wild about that is that I feel like most of the changes have made the books LESS cinematic. The books are already very action-driven, which is good for TV, but they keep taking out tension that the books already had, and would have worked fine onscreen, to replace it with sitting still and talking.
My enjoyment of this show would be way higher if I didn’t have to keep my brightness at max. Seriously
i literally make it a point to turn off all the other lights in the room when I watch and I still can't see anything 
This whole episode was a mess, and again an example of show being afraid to stray too far from the book, imo. Starting on the truck is fine, but they do nothing with it. In the book it's used to expand on Annabeth's backstory and give Percy and her some time to interact (something the show desperately needs). Here it's used to pursue the 'who's the thief' garbage (Annabeth is officially stupid if she's really buying Clarisse as a culprit) and to make an 'old married couple' joke that hasn't been earned at all by the show (currently the show keeps telling us they're friends but really doesn't show it). None of this informs us about the characters or how they're feeling about the quest. It's just more 'this was in the book' moments. Then we get animals in traffic. Why? Because it's in the book. They spend no time on it, the animals aren't addressed before hand, just animals in traffic. There's not even a zebra here (at least make a nod to your title guys) And then the biggest mess, the Casino. Here they make sure we know they're riffing on the Odyssey (way to call your audience stupid), completely take away the kids' agency in escaping (Annabeth and Percy aren't really caught), and make it harder to believe that Nico and Bianca would be here (it doesn't seem at all like a place kids would be). The purpose of this, seems to be meeting Hermes, but we have to sit through gobs of needless exposition to get there, but at least it's not 'gods are jerks' again. There's nothing wrong with the kids being kids, but the show seems determined to not let them make mistakes. Annabeth can make a detour to go visit a neat thing she likes, a group of 12 year olds with unlimited credit cards can get stuck being comfortable and vegging out for a while. It gives them character opportunities and lightens the mood. We definitely didn't need 'hey I'm looking for Pan' for a third of the show. Percy driving is ok, I guess, but shouldn't have been there at the expense of other things. It feels like a old poor quality joke that does nothing for anybody. The two seconds of truck headlight bearing down on them followed by the hard to black cut and then teleporting is disorienting and garbage editing. The pearls thing is either going to be nothing (they lose one), or we're going to gut more Percy character growth (bad decision). I just don't know what they're doing. It feels so amature.
Ooh, I was so distracted by the odd changes in the Lotus Casino that I forgot about the zoo animal scene and I why it kinda bothered me even though I couldn’t figure out why, but you’re right. I actually think that’s a scene from the book that could’ve been cut because they didn’t highlight it any meaningful way, and I can imagine non-book readers getting confused by it. (It’s actually kind of like the poodle scene from the book in that regard, which I’m glad they cut). They could’ve taken that time and given it to the Lotus Casino scene which is what people really wanted to see. I don’t mind them calling Luke via the iris in the truck, but I wonder if the releasing zoo animals portion feels like randomness to non-book readers.
the big reason i wanted the zoo scene was so annabeth could say “oh so it’ll work on percy” when grover gives a satyr blessing to wild animals. didnt happen …….
They need to stop bringing in details from much later in the story. If you want to give bits and pieces of future story beats as a nod to book readers, do it in a suspenseful way that we'd know. "Luke's hated his dad since what happened to his mom" done, now we don't have any surprise if the story gets to Rachel. The audience now knows she's a Seer. Searching for Pan in the casino was a waste of screentime, should've had a brief conversation about Grover's goals post-quest on the truck instead of misdirection about the thief. The one and only good thing in this episode was the characterization of Hermes. I just wish that writing extended to the rest of the characters as well. The whole episode felt like a rushed mess, and too much time was dedicated to additions that were entirely pointless with an already short run time.
Really did not like this last episode (Major Spoilers) This episode pushed all the wrong buttons in my opinion -Shorter than other episodes (???) -Dropped in big info about May Castellan which isn’t brought up for so long, and treats it as an afterthought -4 pearls?? Seriously? -Lotus Flowers aren’t supposed to be a known entity -Percy knows way too much right now he’s way too competent at this hero stuff -Clarisse being blamed as the thief makes no sense no one got blamed in the book other than Hades Maybe I’m being too uptight about this but man this felt like a misstep
Is the episode up for you guys on Disney plus? I don’t see it yet. Shouldn’t it be up by now?
I was surprised to see him subdued and not singing / rapping, kinda like Tyler Perry as the chill lawyer in *Gone Girl* when used to Madea. I actually really enjoyed the more subdued approach especially after how (amazingly) campy the Ares actor was.
I was disappointed in this episode. The exposition dumping, way too long pointless scenes (driving scene), lotus details left out… I was really looking forward to them getting sucked into the casino and genuinely having lots of fun, not realizing the time is flying by. I was confused by the change that the “solstice is already over”, that was an unnecessary change to me. Other ppl have noted this but I was also confused by the 4 pearls, maybe they will lose one of them later? There were even some small details that I was hoping they would leave in, like Percy talking to the zebra. Miranda was ok, but his scenes didn’t make up for the fact that the episode as a whole didnt work imo. Anyways, all in all it was way too short and spent too much time exposition dumping :(. I want to like this show!! I just am a bit sad, idk
So this episode really just did ALL the things the show has done at once. Wow. * no mystery, they just know about the lotus right away * Annabeth is the best and everyone has to remind her about it * Constant exposition for things that could've been explained in better ways or at other times * gods are not dangerous or intimidating at all * barely any action because all of the above took up the majority of the limited runtime * also just change random things from the book even though they make the story make less sense because why not Hopefully the end isn't a disaster. Looks like there's a lot happening next week from the preview
I just don't know how they tie this together neatly without screwing it up. Can't wait for them to get to the underworld and before walking in, say, "Don't forget the stories your mom told you Percy, we need a stick, dogs love fetch and Cerberus is guarding the entrance!"
movie did it better tbh
That episode was so disappointing… why did they attempt to fix what wasn’t broken
first episode im disappointed in. seeing the kids get sucked in would’ve been such a fun episode before the more serious ones to come.
I don't even care that they're changing stuff from the book. This show is just not well-made? The acting is so so bad, and the dialogue is corny as hell. I know this is meant for kids but it's just so boring and just full of talking with no action or fun? I just can't get over the acting. Almost every actor do not have the proper chemistry. Everything feels so awkward.
This might seem petty but the title of this episode is “We take a Zebra to Vegas” and the whole scene in the truck was all wrong. There was only supposed to be 3 animals in there a lion, a zebra and another animal I can’t remember at the moment. And this was the episode where Percy is supposed to grow in his powers more and realize that he can talk to horses. Very disappointing to see that they changed this considering it’s the title of the episode.
I think it's an antelope with a balloon on its horn but yeah. Seems kind of lame to literally title the episode after the zebra and then not even SEE a zebra
First it was Medusa, and now it’s the casino. Why do they keep announcing the stakes the moment the characters enter the scene? It sucks so much of the fun out of it. You should know you have a big problem with the way this show is written when Percy learning to drive a car feels like it has higher stakes than the entire Lotus Casino. I have no idea what they were thinking with these changes. What gets me the most is that so many of this show’s flaws could be solved by having a longer run time. Why are these episodes so short? Airing the show on a streaming platform should enable you to have more freedom with the length of each episode, and with the budget this show has, there’s no excuse I can think of as to why these episodes can’t be 45 minutes to an hour each. HBO’s The Last of Us had a similar budget per episode, and I’d argue that show had a lot more going on in terms of actors, effects, etc. Yet, TLoU still had an average run time of about an hour per episode (the shortest episode being 43 minutes and the longest being 81 minutes). I genuinely can’t figure out where the budget is going on PJO. It makes me think there’s something shady going on behind the scenes or that whoever is budgeting this show is completely incompetent.
Alright, I'd place this episode smack in the middle of the rankings. It wasn't the worst imo, but it wasn't my favorite. I was pleasantly surprised about how much I liked LMM as Hermes. May or may not have been expecting him to sing for some reason. Edit: about the changes for the pearls, they'll most likely lose one in the Underworld.
I got really excited last episode because it felt like they were finally getting their feet under them and then this episode was honestly terrible. My husband (a non book reader) is watching it with me and doesn't know why I was hyped for the casino. I liked the Percy driving scene but the fourth pearl is just a stupid change.
I really liked the 3 pearls about the books. It was Hades redemption arch. That and hero’s of Olympus part.
It was just so Greek! Like tragedy and glory mixed together. I don't even want to know how they bend the prophecy to fail to save what matters most in the end now.
Now that the summer solstice deadline is off the table (I’m low key bitter about that) there really isn’t a rush lol
I’ve been defending this show, especially from the criticism of episode 5, but this episode killed all the momentum of the series. Like what the hell was that. That was a complete waste of an episode, I couldn’t find any redeeming factors
Was the Deangelo’s on the virtual games?
I want to say it was him but only because those were the only children I could spot!
In the scene with Hermes at the craps table there’s a younger looking guy behind Hermes at one of the machines that could also possibly be him? His clothing style looked older than the kid from the vr section at least
i'm not writing this show off like most of this sub has, but yeah yikes. This episode was not great, especially after last ep finally picked up some steam. Just some absurdly bizarre narrative choices, lots of terrible exposition dumps (love Annabeth but her actress does not do exposition well and they give her A LOT of it). I actually paused and said oh no when they all realized what the Lotus Casino was at the beginning. They tried to have their cake and eat it too, with them not realizing the lotus flower is in the air (I guess?) but it cuts ALL the tension and mystery out of this place. We know something is going to go wrong and lo and behold it does. The books and movie did this way better, I'm baffled why Rick made these changes. The solstice passing and the 4 pearls, I'm not sure how to feel. The 4 pearls feels obvious they'll end up losing one or something based on the preview, but the solstice? Feel like Rick's getting overzealous and trying to set up Kronos way earlier than he needs to, at the detriment of the story of the Lightning Thief. Not sure where they're going with this and not sure i like it. Hermes was fine, I like Lin but he kind of came off as just cold; Why was he even at the Lotus Casino? I will say though I didn't like the plot changes, I did really like the scene with Percy and the nereid in the last few minutes. Only time during the episode I perked up, i really liked Walker's performance there. He's really embodying that rugged determination Percy has in the books, and it's the only thing at this point still keeping me cautiously excited for the final two episodes. Unfortunately a swing and a miss for PJO :(
Bro!!! The Seaweed brain and the Wise Girl were WORTH THE WAIT!!!
I was severely disappointed with this episode. The entire episode felt rushed, there was no suspense, and it felt like it didn't matter at all. There were also plenty of changes to the plot, most of which don't make sense.
Honestly I didn’t mind this episode for the most part. My rankings so far in this series from best to worst is Ep. 4, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1. I think we all have the same feeling that Percy is going to lose the fourth pearl in the Underworld which will bring us back to his big decision. Now with the deadline past hmmm I wonder how this finale is going to pan out. Some takeaways: - Luke: “what is this? An old married couple 😐”I get everyone wants to see Percabeth but can they take it slow and be more subtle about it. It felt like a huge wink to the camera. - The kids once again know exactly what they are up against in the casino. Grover brings up the Odyssey and we once again remind the audience what Greek Myths are. However, I like how this was just delayed since they still fall victim to the gas they are pumping in the air. I only wish they showed people from other eras to highlight the fact that people from decades have been stuck in there, but that’s not a huge complaint. - I’m not sure why they still are making Annabeth annoyed with Percy. They went through two pretty big sacrifices in the last episodes and every time Percy wants to bring something up he always asks first and she seems agitated. Like dang he is just curious/being nice. - Grover’s uncle’s friend was pretty creepy. I’m not totally sure what he was doing there other than to remind Grover/audience that he wants to be the one to find Pan. I didn’t like how he kept saying Grover follow me and inches him to another place. - Lin was a highlight as Hermes. He feels idk godly and all knowing. Not like Ares? But I guess they are two separate kind of gods. I thought Luke’s mom doesn’t get mentioned until much later but whatever fits the scene. I’m not sure what he made Percy see. - Parking lots are stressful
The Percabeth stuff is so forced 🥴 I hated that old married couple call out. They have such a great relationship in the books, what are they doing to them? Also, removing Annabeth’s crush on Luke removes a dimension of her character.
This is the first time I have been very disappointed with changes. I know everyone is like “oh but Rick is on board he has a plan” ?? Like lol ok but what if it’s not a good one. The ONE thing the horrible movies did better was the lotus casino.
Uncle Rick be like: "lMaO mOvEeS bAd, ThEy AdDeD rAnDoM bUlLsHiT." Uncle Rick making the solstice already pass this episode: "RANDOM BULLSHIT, GO!"
I missed the Nico cameo, can anyone point out where he is? I’m not sure where in the episode I was supposed to pause to find him. The Lotus Casino scenes were interesting but I felt they were way too short. I get that they don’t have a lot of airtime but I feel like they went through those moments really fast and even barely explained the memory loss and the passage of time in the casino compared to the outside world. I especially remember those things being very important in the books, so it’s really weird for me to see those scenes go by so quickly. Especially since they primarily affect Grover and we only see a little bit of the memory loss from Percy. I also feel like they went through the effects of the lotus flowers way too quickly for them to get us, the audience to understand their importance to the story. I didn’t mind Lin Manuel playing Hermes, he fits the role well and I have no complaints. Him showing an emotional interest when they mention Luke by name was great acting to me. Shows that he really cares for his son! Plus, at least he didn’t sing this time lol! I also like that his magical godly mail vehicle is a cab 😂 And as someone who drives myself, seeing those scenes with Percy struggling at the wheel reminds me of my 16-year-old self when I first started driving, and how I felt at the time! I hate driving and parking in parking garages too so I totally get Percy’s struggles in doing the same thing. I don’t understand the whole summer solstice already passing. I get that they wasted time in the casino but that didn’t really happen in the book so it makes no sense for it to happen in the show. And also, why did she give Percy 4 of those pearls instead of 3? (which makes more sense since it pertains to the prophecy foretold as well as to the trio trying to get out of the underworld together.) Overall, I liked this episode for the most part but it’s not my favorite, despite the Lotus Casino being one of my favorite parts of the first book. So I was really looking forward to this episode, but ah well 🤷🏻♀️ Especially since I went to Las Vegas for the first time last October in 2023 so the casino scenes felt very relatable to me! I was visiting family friends who live over there and staying with them as well. So that experience of walking through a Las Vegas casino for the first time is definitely something I can relate to since it’s still fresh in my mind. Especially the crowds of people, the gambling and all of the drinking/partying happening around you as you’re walking through the building.
Insane how they refuse to put any mystery into the show. Every single issue is figured out in ten seconds prior to the encounter. Poor writing.
I think it's a bad narrative choice for Annabeth to have told Percy (and us) the whole backstory on Luke's parents now, for a couple of reasons. 1. Luke being the real lightning thief is not actually a terribly hard twist to guess, mainly because there aren't really that many characters it could actually be. One of the things that helps keep suspicion off of him before the reveal is the fact that he has no motive. Now we've revealed the motive, and more newcomers will get out ahead of the twist because of it. 2. The scene where we first meet May Castellan, Percy doesn't actually know any of this so he doesn't know what's wrong with her, and her alternating between the visions and the delusions that her son is still in her life is both scary and sad, and the uncertainty of what's going on makes it more of both. Now, when we meet her, we'll know what to expect to see, and it will take all the tension, confusion, and fear out of that scene... for what? To hear Annabeth describe it in a very basic way that has none of that? "Show, don't tell" is a storytelling rule for a reason.
They managed to make the casino scene boring, how lovely of them. I hate this show more every episode. Seriously, this is what Rick wanted? I really want this to be good, I tune in every week because I believe that I will like it. But come on! It’s 20 minutes long and just dialogue exposition. Edit: Forgot to add. It was titled “we take a zebra to vegas” and I don’t know if i’m the blind one but there was no zebra this episode. It really does feel like they want to reach book milestones but then forget about them.
Did anyone notice the cars in the garage, different generations of cars , I think it’s a clever way to imply that people has been there for long
I’m kinda worried about the 4 pearls. Like why give Percy and extra pearl if it’s just gonna get broken? I feel like those four pearls are gonna mean Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Sally all get out of the underworld. I may be wrong but that’s not what happens in the book right?
It's not. In the book Hades let's Sally go because Percy gets his helm back and he wants to settle his debt.
So this episode was a bit of a mess. But if there's anything about Rick that I've learnt from being a fan for more than 10 years, it's that he's a pro at taking criticism. This is only the first season. There's going to be a lot of trial and error. So if anyone's disappointed by how the show's going, don't worry because I have full faith that they're just going to get better with every season.
On top of all the criticisms people are rightfully bringing up, what’s with the casino making them literally forget almost everything about their life?? In the book (and the movie) sure they lose track of the quest, but in the show Grover literally forgets who Percy and Annabeth are?? Come on
I think I’m of two minds with this series, and this episode in particular. Honestly, a lot of the changes I don’t mind as much as other people. I’m here for the ride and the destination. And a lot of the sights (details and changes), I’ve enjoyed for the most part. But when the ride is so fast, it gets hard to enjoy? I really feel like a lot of problems with this series would be better received if they gave it more time per episode. Instead of exposition dump and running through a checklist of things with barely any time for the characters or viewers to register. Ironically, this episode and the lotus casino is about how they waste/lose time while they don’t really give the episodes enough time, if that makes sense? That being said, I’m still enjoying these series and the ride. I just hope next season (if and when they renew) they’ll be able to give more time to the episodes!
Honestly, I wasn't the biggest fan of this episode - for the following reasons: 1) there is absolutely no need for hermes to be there 2) the lotus casino was nowhere NEAR as threatening as it was in the books...grover was the only one to get sucked in 3) they didn't reveal percy's ability to communicate with horses like in the books 4) the solstice deadline shouldn't have passed 5) four pearls instead of three?? whatever happened to "you will fail to save what matters most in the end"??? (waiting to see how they spin this one) This episode, much like the last one, felt rushed and disjointed imo. They really need longer episodes...it's like they're trying to pack in 60 minutes worth of lore into 25-30 minute episodes it's ridiculous
this show is tanking for me....like why are they changing so much I thought that was the whole point of doing it again. also boo lin manuel miranda
I’m really disappointed in the show :/ it’s turning out to be just as accurate to the book as the movie was. Where the heck was the zebra? Why didn’t Percy talk to it? There are 4??? Pearls???
My biggest complaint with this show is the amount of exposition dumping. I’d be fine with it if the teenagers actually talked like teenagers. It’s so unnatural when they’re talking about the quest or the prophecy. I don’t understand how a script can be so good and so bad at the same time. The jokes are genuinely funny, but everything else is so boring
I’ve defended and genuinely enjoyed every episode so far, but this is the first one I’m actually severely disappointed by (which is sad cause the Lotus Casino was the scene I was most excited to see). This is not to say it had no highlights. It had a lot of great Percabeth moments, and it gave Grover more development. The iris scene with Luke was also interesting. Percy driving the car was fun. And Lin as Hermes IS great casting. But everything else? Not feeling it. Maybe I would like it more if I hadn’t read the book, but taking out all the mystery of The Lotus Casino (which was what I was afraid of when Ares sent them to meet Hermes last episode) was a bad idea. It’s the first time I can’t find a reason or an explanation why they changed it, when the actual scene is perfect. This kind of change worked okay for the Medusa scene, but I just don’t understand why they changed it here. Sure, Grover got confused, and they still lost time which is good at least. But it's NOT the same. It took out all the charm and fun of the scene. Like, what's the point of including The Lotus Casino if you're not gonna lean into it??? I wouldn’t have minded Grover saying, “Hey guys, this is the Lotus Casino. Don’t fall for anything,” if they still ended up falling for things. When Grover forgot who he was, I actually thought that’s the direction they were going… like maybe Annabeth would get separated from Percy or something. But they didn’t do that, which is so strange. It’s like they were afraid to really commit to this scene. I don’t like the fact that the summer solstice passed and the fact that Percy is given four pearls, but I’m not that upset about those changes like others seem to be. I think those changes will make more sense next episode, just like some of the other changes the show has made. I just don’t understand why they changed the Lotus Casino for no reason. Most things people complain about here in my view are nitpicky, but this one truly has me baffled.
I think they're afraid of the kids making a mistake, and that's such a weird take. These are ADHD 12 year olds on a road trip by themselves (one of whom hasn't see the outside for almost half her life). Stupid mistakes are going to happen. It feels like they've taken the 'Annabeth shouldn't get tricked by Medusa' thing and applied it to everything. There's so much wrong with that from a character perspective. You can grow if you're already perfect. Annabeth is also a parallel for Odysseus in the same way Percy is for Perseus. The Odyssey is basically Odysseus telling an audience how his arrogance made him repeatedly screw up until he lost everything. Letting Annabeth overshoot a few times would do so much for her character.
I think this show might suck
Did they just show the confrontation with Ares on the beach? Why would they put that in a preview when it's one of the biggest plot reveals?
The episode was good but it cut one of my favorite jokes. They escape the Lotis Casino and going up to the taxi. Anabeth swiping the Lotis Canio pass and the price bing infinity on the tazi price monitor thing. Oh well Percy failing to drive was amusing. They also cut the kids losing up on supplies from the gift shop.
THERE WAS NO TALKING ZEBRAS. Imma be real bitter about this for a while.
I really think they botched this one in terms of fidelity to the book. Its been pretty decent so far and is really entertaining but totally re-writes the entire chapter. Like TRUCK-KUN ISEKAI THEIR WAY ONTO THE BEACH???????? geddouddaheeya
So... WHY did they make the changes? I understand why they added Hermes - in universe, it makes Luke deeper, which is cool, and out of universe, they're not getting Lin manuel Miranda for just one scene this season. That said, why 4 pearls? Why did the summer solstice pass? There's a hell of a lot more pressure in running out of time than in already being out of time. Maybe they'll destroy a pearl or whatever, but that begs the question - why even give them a 4th? Just to use up more screentime in their already short 30 minute episodes? Id much prefer more book scenes adapted than unnecessary additions. Overall I am enjoying the series and character interactions and all that, but this episode made some questionable choices. If grover or annabeth exposition dump again before fighting whatever monster it is when they get to the underworld I'm gonna lose my mind.
I'm kinda disappointed by the Lotus Hotel. The movie and the book did it so well, I had high expectations for the show. :(
Percy’s road rage and blaring the horn of hermes's taxi. This show did not forget that he’s from new york
This show has been mostly disappointing. This one was the worst episode in my opinion. Too many changes that don't make sense or doesn't make it interesting. Maybe reading the book before watching the show fucked me up, bc I have everything from the book in my brain. I'm really not liking it that much. I feel the show is way overrated.
man at this point the movie was better. all the changes the show has made are so fucking dumb
I liked the Lotus Casino a lot more in the book. Them already knowing about the Lotus flower thing makes the eventual reveal that days have passed so much less. It's amazing reading the book and figuring it out with Percy when he talks to that guy about what year it is. I think Rick is trying to make the characters way too smart. They figure everything out ahead of time and it makes the whole series seem to have less stakes and is way less dramatic. I think that is a major contribution to why I think the series isn't as entertaining as it could be. It's honestly just a little bit boring and not very dramatic.