It's been a long time since I have done a review on this blog and I think that it is time that I changed that. I ended up marathoning the newest season of The Witcher this weekend and I figured I could review it even though I never did the same for the first season. There will be spoilers in this review.
First a few comments about my relationship with the series. Like many, I was introduced to the series via the video games, more specifically The Witcher 3. I got it on sale on Steam and bought it for like $10 and it was the best $10 I ever spent. It was seriously one of my all time favorite games and I recommend it to anyone who has even a passing interest in video games.
While I was working my way through the video game I purchased the book series. They are on average pretty good, with the two short story books being a bit better than the later novels. They are good fantasy novels, which isn't a genera I usually read.
About this time the 1st season of The Witcher was released. I had mixed feelings about the series when it came out. It really was a mixed bag of actually decent TV and mediocracy. The casting was a mixed bag with Henry Cavil being the absolutely perfect Geralt of Rivia, but the rest of the cast either being fairly miscast. The worst probably being Fringilla. In the books Fringilla was noted for having pale skin to the point it got annoying hearing about it every time the character came up. Plus she was noted to being similar looking to Yennifer, which she isn't. Nothing against the actress cast in the role but it seemed to be purposely going against what was in the book and video games.
That's just one example of the series being greatly hurt by wokeness . The fact is that the series is so bent on checking off diversity marks that it actually distracts from the narrative. Whatever you think of diversity, doing it in a way that makes sense narratively is a lot better than just shoehorning it in there. I know the games were criticized for being lily white but there are ways to change that in a way that doesn't look silly and they did not do that.
What about Season 2 though? It was a mixed bag at best. Again, Henry Cavil blew it away as Geralt and I have to say that it's obvious that he cares greatly about the series. Freya Allen had an improved performance as Ciri. The rest of the cast was at least decent, though the casting issues remain. I do have to say that it did help immensely that they fixed Anna Shaffer's hair in the 2nd season. Her casting wasn't as bad as others but making her dye her hair red and growing it out made her more similar to the book and video game version of Triss Merigold.
I also think that there was a major increase in production value in the 2nd season. Gone were the stupid armor for the Nilfgardian military, replaced by something that actual resembles armor. The special effects were greatly improved as well. Compare the monsters in season 2 to the somewhat embarrassing dragons in season 1 and you will agree. In general, everything just looks better. My guess is the budget got increased, which makes sense given how big of a success the show was for Netflix.
I also have to say that it was nice that they toned down the sex scenes this season. I have never been a huge fan of sex scenes and nudity in TV regardless as it usually ads very little to the narrative. Sure, sometimes it's nice to look at but in general it's not needed. I know that people actually complained about this compared to season 1 but I was not one of them.
There was a lot I didn't like this season though. One of the biggest sins they did is that they keep killing off characters that are still alive in the books and games. Last season it was Mousesack and this time it was Eskel. And they did my boy Eskel dirty. Not only did they kill him off, they kind of destroyed his character. Indeed, they seemed like they mixed him up with Lambert, Geralt's other witcher friend, which is odd because Lambert was there with his original personality. Eskel was a jerkass in this season to the point where it limited the emotional impact when he died. Since Eskel was always a nice guy in the books and games it's kind of sad that they made him into a creepy asshole in the series that barely lasts more than an episode.
The biggest problem with the second season is that the pacing was way off. In short, the plot did not advance at all. The entire season was going through the book Blood of Elves but it never really got to the point. Indeed, the 2nd book had a perfect place to end the season, the wizard revolution, but we never even got close to that point. And the actual end of the Blood of Elves, was largely passed over. The only reason I can think of that they did this is because they want to stretch out the series.
This meant a lot of the 2nd season was filled with filler plots, most of which were new to the franchise. The entire story about the demon, Voleth Meir, was original, and I think that was a major problem with the season. It did not add much to the plot, other than adding characterization to the relationship between Geralt, Yennifer and Ciri. At least the monsters in that part of the season were cool looking.
I also have a major problem with the portrayal of the elves in the 2nd season. This was my biggest fear of the 2nd season and it has come to pass. In the books, the elves started fighting with the Northern Kingdoms largely because they were racist as well. Nilfgard helped them but it was something they wanted to do in the first place. Indeed, the original short story Edge of the World was all about how the elves were persisting in their racism even though it would lead to their destruction.
Again, this is where the wokeness of the showrunners hurt the point of the series. If I got anything out of the book series it was that racism is universal and is bad for everyone. Just because the elves had been treated badly in the past, it shouldn't excuse what they do in the present. But that's the opposite of what happened in this season. The Northern Kingdoms started their pogrom in response to the elves killing everyone, but in the series it was the exact opposite. To be fair they did show the elves doing nasty things but only in response to provocation.
This is one of the worst things about current media. There isn't any room for grey morality. The books were a lot less cut and dry about who was in the right and who was in the wrong. Both the elves and the Northern Kingdoms had points in their conflict and there were good and bad people on both sides. But now it seems like the elves are getting a free pass.
Still, the series is watchable at least. If you aren't a fan of the books or the games it's probably good enough. The production values are good enough and Henry Cavil is so good in the role of Geralt of Rivia that it's worth watching based on that alone. But I do think that the series could have been so much better than it actually is. I will probably watch Season 3 when it comes out but I do wish that the showrunners understood the series a bit better.
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