The Witcher (Page 4 of 5)

I would watch the hell out of this.

What Netflix is actually streaming, I will not watch.

So would I.  And... If you look at the history of robust TV shows that stand the test of time, so do most people.

• Original Star Trek that spawned decades of IP - Was episodic (procedural), with some serial elements.  But mostly you can watch them in any order and they are self-contained.

• The X-Files was basically 'the mystery being of the week' for 11 seasons - again with a B-thread woven through it but mostly episodic/procedural.

• And we could go on and on with shows like that that just work.

But the other part of that formula isn't just about procedural v. serial; its about episode count.  The *landscape* of the show so to speak.  You can run that proven formula of procedural with a serial B-thread when you have 22 episodes a year.  You can't do it when you have 10 as we have in streaming platforms.

When you have only 10 episodes you can't afford even 1 bad episode because that means 10% of the season is bad.  Audience won't accept a 'budget saving' episode in order to have a flashy finale. And you can't run a B and C thread woven through the story when you only have 10 episodes.

10 episodes works for things like "Countdown"... where you have almost zero world building required.  Show premise: Task force assembles to take down terrorist.  Ok, done.  Audience knows all they need to know because we know what agents and cops and task forces and terrorists and current day LA is.  Virtually no time required to set up this 10 episode show.  And they limited the scope to the primary story.  Cool.  That works for 10 episodes.

But 10 episodes doesn't work when you actually need to WORLD BUILD.  The Witcher has too much building required for short seasons.  Sci-fi or fantasy in general are a problem in 10 episodes.  Current Star Trek is kinda-sorta getting away with short seasons because the world building was done over decades and people are walking in to nuTrek well aware of the landscape. You don't have to explain what a starship is, or what Starfleet is, or what a Klingon is.  But even in Trek its starting to wear off with people getting fatiqued by the new format of the shows.  24 episode seasons of TNG and DS9 work.  10 episodes of Strange New Worlds does not.

And personally, I think we're seeing the same here.  Another fantasy show requiring world building but not having the air time to do it.  So the producers are trying to shoe horn in the parts they think can't be skipped and leaving everything they can on the editing room floor.  In this specific case, its not helping that the costumes don't live up to good cosplayer quality, and the special effects are of a quality that lots of YouTubers can do it home these days. (Like those guys that do videos of "We rebuilt Tron in a weekend" and "We rebuilt the Deathstar trench flight in a day" kind of content.)

4x6

What a great episode! Best of the season so far.

s04e07
I haven't read the books and they did a shit job of explaining this in the episode.
Can someone explain this to me?

Yea, I like S2 better than S1 also.  All those flashbacks, flash-forwards were really confusing and messed with the continuity of the story.  S2 had fewer Bard scenes, yeah!

I am just now getting around to watching this series in its entirety.  Nearing the end of S2 as I write this.

Almost afraid to watch seasons 3&4 based on the ratings plummeting for those seasons.

Just saw the last episode of season 4. The brine barrel was a lovely touch to the happiest scene of the last several seasons. I'm going to call this a teaser instead of a spoiler.

Leo Bonhart  is by far the best character in the entire series, possibly including Cavil's original Geralt. A multifaceted character who is more than just his martial skills. I think I like his pickle recipe even more than his jewelry collection.

The magic and sorcery is more entertaining than the swordsmanship and killing monsters for me.  Yennefer's more prominent role in S4 was really the only thing that got me through the season.   So, the writers amnesia worked in my favor

as someone who read the books, it is not going to get better.
i like the witcher overall,  but it all goes to hell in the end of the series.
( much like how stephen kings the gunsinger series all went to hell in the end )
( at least the witcher is not even close to as bad as stephen king)
i always attributed that to the translation i read, but i think it has a lot more to do
with culture and expectations, as i get older and revisit things.

from my recall the series is keeping quite faithful to the books overall
( other then the parts that are just a mess )

people have to remember
#1 the witcher is a mutated person, think magical version of robocop. supposed to be a magical unfeeling monster killing machine.
NOT anyone's love interest, or romantic partner.
#2 Yennefer is deeply flawed and damaged
#3 the world building is fantastic in so many ways, but also flawed and not filled out in so many more ways.
#4 the entire story is not what you think it is.
#5 there is a lot of things ( ive been told) that do not translate well from the original, or from the french translations.
so we have to  live with a story told in one culture translated to another and translated yet again ( and influenced by a lot of fan translations). which leaves issues everywhere.

i am not going to say anything about the spin off movie "the rats"
they are not characters i had any interest in, any way.
i always thought of them as a overall unpleasant learning experience for ciri

I didnt write that.