Late last month, The Witcher debuted on Netflix to middling reviews. The reviews are generally a good indication of whether or not a show is a must-see or must-miss one. However, does The Witcher really warrant its mediocre score?
The Witcher Season 1 on Netflix
Eh, it depends. The Witcher followed the Netflix formula of a slow or mid-tempo start and excitement in the closing stretch. There’s a lot of build from the start towards the middle, so the pacing is nothing new for Netflix. The Witcher benefited from a fantasy background so there would have to be some action and adventure involved.
This means you’ll be sparked from when fantasy—and yes, sci-fi—gets into that dry area of spending too much time explaining the world and all the politics involved. While important to the story going forward for a series, it can bog down the pace meaning anything excitement-oriented will have to be huge. It will have to be one of the “Wow!” moments of the show.
The Witcher avoided falling into that trap. What needs to be explained is done so without raising more questions or giving answers to things most wouldn’t care about.
Visually, the show captures the Northern Kingdoms from the novels and games. The writing is solid and has enough to build on for season two when it drops. As far as cons go for this show, expectations for what it will be definitely played a role in disappointment towards the series.
Whether it was hyped viewers putting their ideas of what to expect onto The Witcher or the production team not really telling people exactly what they’re getting is another question. It could be both that dented the show in addition to coming along months after Game of Thrones ended.
Verdict: 7 out of 10
The Witcher is a dark fantasy without floating into bleak territory. It has its moments of humor, and the show captures both of these aspects. Actually, it’s a strong adaptation of the novels. It doesn’t steer too far off from what Witcher fans would expect and stays true to a lot of stuff from the novels.
Even the author of the books, Andrzej Sapkowski, felt that the show was true to his work. So you’re not walking into a situation like the film adaptations of The Vampire Chronicles. Season one runs for eight episodes so it’s not a week-long project, plus it just started. The Witcher gets a soft 7 out of 10 from me, so Check It Out.
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