Kody Pelton

Final Review after watching entire first season: I'm a huge longtime fan of The Witcher series, having read the books and played the video games. It is a very strong, lore heavy fantasy universe that we've been waiting to see hit TV or the big screen for a long time, and now it's finally here! The acting and the cinematography is very very strong in this series, and there's also something with the cameras they chose that makes it look ultra high definition. It's almost weird watching it it's so good looking. It's definitely something that takes some getting used to at first but it's very nice once it sets in. Henry Cavill absolutely nails Geralt's character. In fact I would go as far as saying that he is the perfect actor to portray Geralt. The actresses for Ciri and Yennefer are also very well-chosen and the cast overall is very very strong. Superb acting and superb screenplay. This first season appears to be taking place mostly in what we would see in the two short story books that take place before The Blood of Elves, which is when the saga actually begins. I was not expecting that, but I think it was a very good move in order to really establish the characters and their backgrounds first. However, because of the fact that it is going over a lot of the short story and back story content, many of the episodes appear to be very fragmented and almost change too quickly in between the difference scenes. Even as someone who has a firm background in the books, the games, and the overall lore, it was even hard for me to keep up with the TV show at times. My wife was thoroughly confused at points and we had pause it so that I could attempt to explain what was happening. I think moving forward, that it would be a very wise idea for Lauren to not be afraid of annotating certain scenes and taking just a little bit more time to establish what's actually happening, WHEN it's happening, and why it's happening. It's not going to take away from the story, and in fact I think you could only lend to the overall weight of the TV show. There's so much lore and timeline here that it's asinine to not go into it. It's as if they were afraid to. Maybe a lack of confident writers? Idk. Definitely needs improvement in this area, hands down. The establishment into each episode was barely there and it was confusing trying to keep up. Really, the only thing about the show that is just outright off-putting is the ton of female nudity that is scattered throughout in the first season. That doesn't really seem like Netflix's thing, and I get it that they're trying to make this show their answer to Game of Thrones, but I don't really think the show needs this much nudity and sexual content in it. Yes the games and the books have some of it, but it's never been a really heavy oversaturated thing. I think that moving forward it would be a good idea for Netflix to tone down the sexual content quite a bit, while still not being afraid to have it when it's actually called for and necessary. So, Netflix, tone down the sexual content and don't be afraid to annotate certain scenes and transitions so that newcomers aren't quite as confused, and episodes can be more cohesive between themselves individually. Slow down. Slooooowwww down. Let the story mature. These are the only reasons the show doesn't get a full 5 star rating. I'm actually a little underwhelmed compared to what I was expecting. Not bad but not fantastically amazing, either.