The Witcher

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.

Pretty much only kept watching for Cavill and Jaskier. They both did an amazing job, especially Cavill as the Witcher, his scenes and acting were perfect. Its too bad he was surprisingly only in about third of the scenes. Found myself bored with scenes without him and just wanting to skip ahead. Many of the other characters lacked charm and interesting sub plots and felt they had too much attention paid to them and that they were overall lacklustre. Would have liked more attention paid to Cavill and monster hunting. Really disappointed that Henry will not continue with the show since he single-handedly made it worthwhile to watch. Here's hoping the new actor can do the role justice.

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.

Netflix has once again released a series that has incredible potential, but has been undermined by horrible writing and extremely weak casting choices. Henry Cavill was an inspired choice as Geralt of Rivia, and obviously brings a lot of knowledge and fondness to the role. He gives the series a luster that is unfortunately quickly dimmed by the horribly dimwitted writing. Eels??? What is with the Eels??? Note: that didn't need a spoiler alert. If you've seen the series, you'll know what I am talking about, and if you haven't, you will know when you witness that silly travesty.

The sets are lush and well done, the costumes are good, and the music fits well with the setting. The exception to the music is when Dandelion goes from Medival to something akin to "Pop Harp". Grating doesn't even begin to describe it. I did like the action scenes, as Henry Cavill is very believable as a athletic monster slayer.

So overall, I give a 9 to Cavill and the great atmosphere of the series. The supporting cast are sporadic and generally weak, and rate no more than a 5 or 6. The writing, and in particular the scenes added to the script that were never in the original books, was extremely weak, and garnered no more than a 2 or at the most 3. I gave the show a 6. Mildly entertaining, but falls far short of the original books and the three Witcher games.