Mateo Rull Garza

The Witcher Netflix, not without flaws (and many at that) reached every expectation set for them in this immense, complicated and exhilarating universe. The show is masterfully shot and acted, although the script left some to be desired. At the best times, conversations are subtle, smart, and it is easy to miss on the many rich details of the short stories this season was inspired upon. At the worst times, redundancy and unfitting over-explanations leave the most veteran audience members feeling as if the writers underestimate us, and the newcomers feeling a sense of cheesiness that takes away from the veracity of Sapkowsky's world. As for the pacing, consistency is key and sometimes missing in-between or within episodes. Some scenes that ought to be slow, methodical and emotionally stirring are unfortunately compressed, and other scenes and conversations that should have been brief extend unnecessarily. Another problem in the narrative are the interludes of romance, drama and long conversations between characters that, if you're not familiar with the source material, we have no reason to care for. The biggest sin of The Witcher is, perhaps, its assumption that a TV audience cares as much as book audience does about a story's intricacies. This is, I think, related to the issue of turning the lens of the story from mostly Geralt to the three main characters we see in the show. Yennefer's arc was interesting and compelling, if slightly slow. Ciri's arc is, I think, where more problems arise... Beyond this, I have nothing but praise for this amazing show. A little geographical orientation for newcomers is much needed, but as for the show's structure, it is simply wonderful: the accents, costumes and set design are impeccable (although these generic medieval towns need some diversity), the monsters are perfect, and the mix of fantasy, hilarious and spot-on humor, horror, violence, sex, and drama does justice to the wits of Andrezj Sapkowsky. The Witcher Netflix is not perfect. Critics hate it, veteran audiences love it, and newcomers are confused but attracted by it. In the same way CD-Projekt Red sided with their audiences to create a game for the fans, The Witcher's strategy seems to rely on creating a show for the veterans of this cross-platform franchise. With a little tinkering, this strategy can be successful to recruit new fans the same way The Witcher 3 did. If improved upon its mistakes from this season, The Witcher Netflix will become the hallmark of dark fantasy television in post GOT era. PS: My mother, who I convinced after many tribulations to watch the first episode, turned the TV off after 1 and a half minutes of Geralt's fight with the kikomora. The reason? The pond was DEFINITELY not deep enough for them to be completely submerged. Netflix, please fix.