The Witcher

As a fan of the books & games, I thought the first season was decent. It's an adaptation of a multi-book short story collection with an overarching narrative. Without prior knowledge of the series, I may have required multiple views to understand the timeline and events. It has a similar feel to the stories, though, and I enjoyed it.

Season 2 had a great first episode and an okay finale, but meandered in the middle episodes. The substance of many adapted stories were altered. Parts that were main story in the book felt like filler and lacked necessary plot & character development. I'll never understand why adaptations leave out parts that are important to understanding the main plot and characters, yet add meaningless fluff & soap opera drama. Some characters that don't say ten words in the books are main POV characters now.

Season 3 was awful. Before even looking at the train wreck of the content, I wonder why NF released half the season, when the second half will be aired three weeks? Why not wait and release the entire series, or release one episode each week? Anyway, regardless of the stupid release schedule, the first half of season 3 is abysmal. The main actors who brought the characters to life in season 1 don't seem to want to be there at all anymore. The script writers are no longer even trying to follow the Witcher stories, they're just off in the weeds doing their own thing. The drop in quality this season is precipitous. I'm sorry to say it, but Netflix's The Witcher is no longer worth watching.

The one real issue i have with the show is that it doesn't do a great job of distinguishing between current and flashback scenes.

What can I say... Seasons 1 & 2 were excellent.

Solid writing with enough following to the source material.

Really good cast and acting.

Topped with some decent special effects and set design resulted in a very enjoyable dark fantasy adventure.

Then, along came season 3.

Oh dear... oh dear oh dear oh dear.

It feels as if they're trying to achieve the same as the first two seasons but with half the budget and deplorable writing.

Every scene feels cheapened and like a soap opera.

What on earth happened?

No wonder Henry Cavill left. This is nowhere near the caliber if the first two seasons and an epic disappointment.

The forth season will undoubtedly be doomed to failuref this is anything to go by.

Seasons 1 & 2 = 8/10 Season 3 = 5/10.

Wow. Season 1 was a breath of fresh air. While not completely aligned with the book, it complemented it enough to be engaging to me. Season 2 a slight drop but still a show that was engaging - albeit straying from the book more. Season 3 - glaring garbage. I see why Henry wants to leave. The writing is terrible. In fact, beyond terrible. And they are striking for more money? LMAO. They need to go back to school and learn to write. Step 1 - Stick to the book. Follow the book. Keep to the storytelling path and style. Don't try and re-invent Netflix. Your writers are not good enough. Hoping season 4 changes things but I doubt it.

Items to note: 1. I do not fault the actors - the writers are terrible at their job.

2. I fault Netflix for destroying a fantasy series similar to LOR on Amazon Prime. If your afraid to follow the books correctly - THEN DON'T MAKE THE SHOW.

3. HBO should have done this show. The only network with the guts to make a show right.

Don't usually write reviews but this 3rd season was so bad. Boring, weak soap opera, forcing narrative, been there done that garbage. The future is not bright for this show. The only bright spot was the monsters and they were few and far between.

It started as if it was going to be a great season, maybe one of the best scenes in the series but went stale instantly. Wayyyy to talky, very little action. The story was all over the place and the recaps were the only value. You can probably watch the recaps and be done with it. I'm not sure how episode 7 made it to the screen. And out of nowhere the narrative hits the bard... cmon when will this nonsense end.

Watch and you'll probably feel like you've seen everything in this season before in multiple shows and movies. Very dissatisfying and disappointing.