It doesn’t matter if you’re on the low end of the social totem pole or the son of a powerful Greek god: The first day of camp is always rough.

So learns Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old whose day goes from awful to traumatic as he’s kicked out of yet another school, learns that his father is part of the Greek pantheon and loses his mother in a flash of light all before finding himself at a camp full of other kids just like him. It’s a wild 24 hours.

The early episodes of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” which is based on author Rick Riordan’s immensely popular 2005 novel “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” and began streaming on Disney+ Dec. 20, have no qualms about throwing you into the deep end; the pacing is oddly breakneck. (Disney provided the first two episodes for review.)

It takes just 72 minutes to pivot from Percy (Walker Scobell) dealing with the trials of middle school (the horrors!) to learning of his father’s identity (absent fathers are a running theme here), being accused of stealing Zeus’ master bolt amid a deadly intrafamily squabble and being chosen to go on a cross-country quest to save the world from said squabbling (only slightly more terrifying than middle-school bullying). Compared to the 2010 movie “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” (a guilty pleasure film of mine), somehow the movie feels like it spends more time fleshing out the first act, despite the series being eight episodes long.

Even with the lightning-quick pacing, though, “Percy” has plenty going for it. Visually, it’s a gem. From lashing storms to creative monster designs and the show’s focus on natural spaces, “Percy’s” world is a character all its own.

And the characters sparkle with charm. While we don’t see much of the series’ other two principal characters (Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena; and Aryan Simhadri as Grover Underwood, Percy’s best friend and a satyr) early on, both get quick, striking moments to leave an impression — Annabeth’s quick wit and Grover’s sense of duty, in particular.

And Percy’s mom Sally (a soulful Virginia Kull) is bound to capture attention, especially considering her plight serves as a major plot thread in “Percy.” And it’s her deep connection with her son that anchors Percy’s motive (and the audience’s empathy): “Who’s Sally Jackson?” a god derisively asks Percy as he’s being demanded to embark on a quest in his long-absent father’s name. Percy’s righteous rage quickly follows: “She’s the one who cared enough to call herself my mother.”

It’s a mesmerizing scene, and one that reminds us that, while Percy is a great many things — a resolute hero, a fiercely loyal friend, a powerful demigod — at his fundamental core, he is his mother’s son, a worthy trait that will hopefully carry him through the perilous journey ahead.