Why Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 uses Mariah Carey instead of Dean Martin - EP breaks down the change

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2, like its the first one, makes some changes to the source material. Some of the changes are consequential, and some are not that much. One of these inconsequential changes is in the second episode, "Demon Pigeons Attack". This change has to do with the needle drop in the episode, which the EP claimed was because of Mariah Carey's voice.

The first episode ended with Percy informing Annabeth about the Golden Fleece, which could heal Thalia's Tree, which was poisoned in the same episode. The second episode opens with Percy and Annabeth noticing Stymphalian Birds trying to attack the camp, kept at bay by the Thalia's Tree's magical protection. However, the birds attack the camp later, which Percy and Annabeth thwart using music.

EP Craig Silverstein reveals the reason for the change in Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 Episode 2:

The cast and crew of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 gave multiple interviews to different outlets after its Wednesday premiere. One of these interviews was between TVLine and Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 EP Craig Silverstein. In this interview, Silverstein addressed the needle drop change.

For those who don't know, the second episode features two major events from the books: the Stymphalian birds' attack and Percy deciding to leave Camp Half-Blood in an unsactioned quest to rescue Grover. It is the Stymphalian birds' attack part that features a minor change. In both the book and the second episode, the demonic Stymphalian birds attack the camp.

Just like in the book, Percy and Annabeth drive the birds away using music. However, in the book, they play Chiron's Dean Martin music on the boom box to make the birds retreat. However, the show swaps in Dean Martin for Mariah Carey's 1991 hit "Emotions". Craig Silverstein addressed this change in the TVLine interview:

"In the books, it's Dean Martin because that's what Chiron listens to," Silverstein says. "We started thinking about other music Chiron might listen to, because we really wanted to get this idea of the high-pitched noises, and we didn't know if [a Dean Martin song] would really translate on screen. ... I remember listening to ['Emotions'] as a kid and just being shocked when she hit that high G above C, whatever that note is. Once the song was chosen, it was just a matter of waiting to find out if the show could use it. As Silverstein says, "It's usually the case that when you decide on something like that, you kind of screw yourself over and you don't get it, and we didn't have a back-up. But it all worked, we got it, and I'm very happy that we did."

While this wasn't a major change, it still has fans discussing. They see this change as another example of the Disney+ show making some unnecessary changes. For example, the show changes the poisoning of Thalia's Tree, the inciting incident of The Sea of Monsters, the book that Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 is adapting.

In The Sea of Monsters, Luke poisons the tree before the book's first chapter "off-screen". The poisoning of Thalia's Tree is why Chiron is fired by Zeus in the book. But the season 2 premiere changes it to Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson seeing Luke poison the tree. Moreover, Chiron is fired before the poisoning, because of the discovery that he is also Kronos's son.

So, for many fans, this needle drop in Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2's second episode is just another change that the show opted.

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The first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 are available on Disney+.

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