![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
It’s no secret that Hollywood’s take on Rick Riordan’s hit YA fantasy series “Percy Jackson & The Olympians” hasn’t been the most pleasant experience. The two-part movie series that came out in 2010 and 2013 starring 2010s heart-throb Logan Lerman was everything but accurate with the books, earning the disapproval from Riordan himself. So, when Disney came out with news that they were doing their own take on the book series, a more accurate one per say, the expectations were set high for the fifthgrade girl inside of me that read every book in less than a month.
The idea started out with a bang when the casting list revealed 14-year-old Walker Scobell was cast to play 12-year-old Percy, and Riordan was set to be a producer of the show. The anticipation kept building from there until the show was released on Dec. 19.
The first episode begins just as the books, with Percy struggling from school to school with bullies and his learning disabilities. Then, with some help from his beloved mother, the show jumps right to it and reveals Percy is a Demi-God and his father is actually the Greek God of the ocean, Poisiden. Oh, and his best friend Grover is half goat and a satyr sent to protect Percy.
One thing I liked about the show right off the bat was not only the accuracy, but also the pace. No shimmer and shine, just straight to the point of the plot. The ‘big secret’ is revealed by Sally Jackson, Percy’s mother, at the end of the first episode, which immediately gravitates you towards watching the second episode.
In the second and third episode, we see Percy’s life completely unravel as he loses his mom to the ‘Underworld’ with Hades, and he is thrown into Camp Half-Blood, a place where he is protected along with many other Demi-God children. There he meets Annabeth, daughter of Athena and Luke, son of Hermes. He faces issues of fitting in, once again, until he discovers and is claimed by the power of his father during an event of ‘Capture the Flag’. Then, it is revealed that Percy has been called upon to go on a quest to find Zeus’ lightning bolt as his father has been accused of the one stealing it, however he was falsely accused. If Percy doesn’t return the bolt by the summer solstice, war will break out among the innocent people.
With the help of his chosen companions, Annabeth and Grover, Percy embarks on a troubling quest throughout the rest of the series.
Now, I won’t spoil what happens the rest of the way in Percy’s journey, because I did enjoy the show and I believe you should watch it instead of reading about what happened. But, let’s just say he meets some friends and foes along the way, such as the stone-cold Medusa and his cousin Ares, as well as Luke’s father Hermes who is played by everyone’s favorite founding father, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Overall, the show does a really good job of telling you the story as Rick Riordan intended for it to be told, but I do believe it was rushed at times. It felt as if there was obviously too much for an eight episode series, and the writers did not necessarily know how to pace it all. So the show probably would have benefited from being a 10 episode series rather than eight, but that’s not much of a complaint as much as a suggestion.
My only minor complaint against “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is you could tell, at times, the acting was immature. It wasn’t always perfect, but I feel as though that is appropriate for a show that is supposed to be about middle schoolers rather than fully grown adults portraying teenagers in high school. Walker Scobell did a job well done portraying Percy, and he has captured the hearts of many teenage girls on the internet as well. Leah Jefferies, who played Annabeth, poured much emotion into her character and the on-screen chemistry with Scobell paid off. Besides the couple of dull moments, the acting and storytelling overall was really well done.
Overall, I give “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” 7.5 out of 10 stars. It was a little rushed, and the acting fell short a few times, but overall did justice to Riordan’s books. The show has already been renewed for a second season, which obviously means I recommend you should immediately watch the show, then read all the books in the series (maybe again if you already have) and then immediately start counting down the days for season two. Hopefully, a season that will deliver just as much as the first.
