The Witcher

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Dec 20, 2019
Season #: 4, 3.5, 3, 2, 1
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2682 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,028 out of 2682
  2. Mixed: 201 out of 2682
  3. Negative: 453 out of 2682

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  1. Angar
    Aug 3, 2023
    1
    I was too dumb to understand plot, please dumb it down more. +1 point because of Henry Cavill still beeing Geralt.
  2. Rethar
    Nov 3, 2022
    0
    Horrible parasitism on books. Some canonical stories are just for show. The Queen wishes everyone beer and terribly ridicule the ambassadors. Humor gave way to a huge amount of pathos. Yen Mary Sue, Ciri Imba, for which you do not worry... There are many logical inconsistencies even for the original work.
  3. RichSpider
    Dec 22, 2021
    0
    This is the key for me. If you are going to adapt award-winning source material that's beloved by many fans, whatever changes you make better have either A) a great reason behind it or B) improve the story.

    So far I've watched The Expanse incredibly faithfully adapt the novels to TV as best as they can and why is that show so beloved? The quality of the story is extremely high. For the    This is the key for me. If you are going to adapt award-winning source material that's beloved by many fans, whatever changes you make better have either A) a great reason behind it or B) improve the story.

    So far I've watched The Expanse incredibly faithfully adapt the novels to TV as best as they can and why is that show so beloved? The quality of the story is extremely high. For the non-book readers that in of itself is great. But for the book readers, they know the quality is so damn high because the quality of the novels is so damn high and so the showrunner and writers room (including the book's authors) faithfully adapted it to preserve that high-quality storytelling. I have also watched Game of Thrones in earlier seasons where they were largely faithful adaptations of award-winning novels and how beloved were they? Intensely. Even Dune recently was made highly faithfully and the book readers have loved it.

    I haven't finished this season yet (almost there) but I'm scared seeing how many are saying the last two episodes are the worst of all. But so far, as someone who has read the books twice, loved them but isn't above adaptations taking a different spin (if it improves the story) I am really disappointed. Not by the visuals, the acting, or anything like that. It is entirely due to the showrunner and writer's decision to make changes needlessly that make the story WORSE, not better. Why do they feel the need to add their twists and their own touch? Likely fear or ego. They don't feel creatively excited about translating a story from one medium to another they want to make it "their own." The hubris of that when the source material is award-winning and they're just TV writers is incredible.

    It sucks because I could overlook some shakey acting here and there or a bad costume or average CGI, but when the story is what I have a problem with and it's a story that requires certain things in order to result in other things down the line, it makes watching the show so tough. I end up just feeling bad for Henry who considering what he's said in multiple interviews, just wishes the show was a faithful adaptation from the novels to the screen like The Expanse has been.    … Expand
  4. JavaSquirt
    Dec 20, 2021
    0
    Ждал сериал про вселенную ведьмака, получил киноиспражнение про лгбт, негров эльфов, негров дриад(с арбалетами, дриады, сука, с арбалетами, черные), нереально страшные актрисы, ЙЕн индуска, Трисс негр. Обычные славяне в деревнях тоже негры кста.Ждал сериал про вселенную ведьмака, получил киноиспражнение про лгбт, негров эльфов, негров дриад(с арбалетами, дриады, сука, с арбалетами, черные), нереально страшные актрисы, ЙЕн индуска, Трисс негр. Обычные славяне в деревнях тоже негры кста.
  5. jautja
    Dec 20, 2021
    2
    Просто отвратительно. На оригинал плевать, декорации - крашеный картон, доспехи ведьмака убожество (нильфгардские доспехи из первого сезона курят), эльфы - люди бомжи, все смешано в одну кучу, цири стала БОТЕКСНОЙ дурой, Весемир тупой и т.д.

    It's just disgusting. Don't care about the original, the decorations are painted cardboard, the witcher's armor is squalor (Nilfgard armor from the    Просто отвратительно. На оригинал плевать, декорации - крашеный картон, доспехи ведьмака убожество (нильфгардские доспехи из первого сезона курят), эльфы - люди бомжи, все смешано в одну кучу, цири стала БОТЕКСНОЙ дурой, Весемир тупой и т.д.

    It's just disgusting. Don't care about the original, the decorations are painted cardboard, the witcher's armor is squalor (Nilfgard armor from the first season is smoking), the elves are homeless people, everything is mixed in one heap, ciri has become a BOTEX fool, Vesemir is stupid, etc.    … Expand
  6. tehJo
    Dec 18, 2021
    3
    Yet another atrocity. They really loosely used books. Changing the meaning of stories, added more and more. The script is really bad, dialogs are horrible, characters are butchered. Season one was really bad and due to changes made to the story, they are going deeper and deeper into the world of terrible confusion and at the same time feeding us horrible experiences. Dialogs are writtenYet another atrocity. They really loosely used books. Changing the meaning of stories, added more and more. The script is really bad, dialogs are horrible, characters are butchered. Season one was really bad and due to changes made to the story, they are going deeper and deeper into the world of terrible confusion and at the same time feeding us horrible experiences. Dialogs are written once in the tones of fantasy and in other times modern talk. The political correctness that changed the plot and characters in season one now just makes it unwatchable. The story of Ciri was a story of a child and clearly here she is a woman. I do not see redemption for this series. I like Henry but he should know better not to be part of this atrocity.… Expand
  7. metacritiqueur
    Sep 2, 2020
    0
    Redhead lives matter ! That cast... seriously Netflix, throw away your political agenda for God sake.
  8. belchegors
    Jun 14, 2020
    0
    A spit on european / slavic folklore and culture. It's all cheap, battles are terrible. Horrible cast and storytelling itself. It's an insult to fans. Just a badly written fanfiction with some book stuff sprinkled here and there. It's not worth your time if you are a fan of the books and you want a loyal adaptation.
    Henry is great. Unfortunately, that is not enough. Looks like Netflix    A spit on european / slavic folklore and culture. It's all cheap, battles are terrible. Horrible cast and storytelling itself. It's an insult to fans. Just a badly written fanfiction with some book stuff sprinkled here and there. It's not worth your time if you are a fan of the books and you want a loyal adaptation.
    Henry is great. Unfortunately, that is not enough. Looks like Netflix plans to destroy the magnificent story.    … Expand
  9. FreeAndCritical
    May 15, 2020
    2
    All the fantasy and sci-fi TV series from recent years that I've tried watching during the COVID-19 lock-down have suffered from the same thing: misandry. Yup, the elephant in the room. This is making them very predictable and therefore boring. It's as though they're all being written using the same formula of stereotyping, one-way physical and verbal abuse etc to the point where you canAll the fantasy and sci-fi TV series from recent years that I've tried watching during the COVID-19 lock-down have suffered from the same thing: misandry. Yup, the elephant in the room. This is making them very predictable and therefore boring. It's as though they're all being written using the same formula of stereotyping, one-way physical and verbal abuse etc to the point where you can predict the outcome of a scene based on the genders involved.

    Andrzej Sapkowski's books are, for better or worse, classic sword-and-sorcery fare but the TV series is very much a feminist take on them. The Witcher isn't among the worst - I was very surprised to see Geralt head butt a woman - but it's still enough to make it a predictable tick-box yawnfest. Non-cannon music and contemporary phrases really don't help the immersion either.

    Related to immersion, the source material (in which I include the video games) draws heavily on Polish and other European folklore. I have to be careful here, but imagine a fantasy series based on African folklore (which would be awesome!) with 'Caucasian' actors throughout. It would feel jarringly 'off'. Some of the casting choices, including Yennefer, Triss and the bard I think of as Dandelion, feel way off after the excellently portrayed characters of the video games.

    Not popular opinions, I know, but it would be nice to see these TV series' mix it up a bit. This one, sadly, doesn't stand out from the crowd for me.    … Expand
  10. PowerfullPlayer
    May 15, 2020
    0
    Black villagers? Black elves? OMFG I just imagine that this **** doesn't exist.
  11. wayrez
    May 14, 2020
    2
    The only positive thing about this series is the actors' game. This series is suitable only for those who are not familiar with the universe of the Witcher. The writers just didn't care about the original source. The biggest disappointment of the year for me :/
  12. Ivanchik
    Jan 21, 2020
    0
    Пофиг на актеров. Пофиг на толерастию. Но сюжета ноль. Съемка рваная. Диалогов вообще нет, просто базар вокзал не о чём. Декорации дешёвые какие то. Общих планов съемки нет. Вообще не объясняют кто такой ведьмак. Я играл во все части и потом прочитал Книги. А вот сериал как будто сделан учениками киношколы, которые прогуливают занятия. Если сравнивать с другими сериалами, то этот всегдаПофиг на актеров. Пофиг на толерастию. Но сюжета ноль. Съемка рваная. Диалогов вообще нет, просто базар вокзал не о чём. Декорации дешёвые какие то. Общих планов съемки нет. Вообще не объясняют кто такой ведьмак. Я играл во все части и потом прочитал Книги. А вот сериал как будто сделан учениками киношколы, которые прогуливают занятия. Если сравнивать с другими сериалами, то этот всегда будет позади, с каким не сравни.… Expand
  13. Scroodjke
    Jan 13, 2020
    1
    Terrible work, absolutely revolting.
    -.Misscasting
    - Not canonical
    This show does not deserve a 2nd season.
  14. Frek
    Jan 12, 2020
    2
    My background knowledge going into this was that i played the first chapter of Witcher 3. I didn't make it through episode 5 when I lost all interest. My 3 biggest complaints:
    - Why is this called "The Witcher"? Clearly the main character is Yennifer.
    - What is going on? One minute queen lady is dead, the next shes talking to the Witcher. - Unpopular opinion: Most of the sexualized    My background knowledge going into this was that i played the first chapter of Witcher 3. I didn't make it through episode 5 when I lost all interest. My 3 biggest complaints:
    - Why is this called "The Witcher"? Clearly the main character is Yennifer.
    - What is going on? One minute queen lady is dead, the next shes talking to the Witcher.
    - Unpopular opinion: Most of the sexualized content was just there for the sake of "hey we have boobies in our show and it makes us edgy and cool".

    What I did like:
    - the combat scene in episode 1, there should be more of that
    - the character development of Yennifer, (I have no idea why the Witcher didn't get the same treatment from the get go)
    - I like the epic setting but this clearly is not made for people that aren't experts in the lore.    … Expand
  15. Tiberiy
    Jan 9, 2020
    3
    The series average. A lot of empty chatter about the unfortunate elves, the palette of the world is very gray, the graphics are not always at the level. One of the advantages of good fight scenes. Who played the game will be disappointed. But that's only in the first two series.
    However, by the middle of the series accelerates and becomes not bad.
  16. Yurchik
    Jan 7, 2020
    0
    I didn't read books or play games. I decided to watch the show... I didn't understand anything! Even the final season of Game of Thrones didn't upset me as much as - the Witcher!
  17. sub-madara
    Jan 2, 2020
    3
    Okay so I give it a 3 because near the end or in the end its a little fixed, I hope they improve. You know game of thrones had a bad ending, hope this one( witcher) starts bad ends good. But no enviroment and no atmosphere. Two persons I liked was jaskier and tissaia. Geralt was meh.
  18. ICETouch
    Jan 2, 2020
    1
    Too goddamn much of colored washing. there is position what fit in story. but much of blacks and yellows in the European Medieval fantasy? How dare you? just let whites's-story be as it followed from origin. also yellows's-story or blacks's and the other something like's too.
    World being messed up by ugly PC's twisted idea. we should stop. stop the mud competition and find own color and    Too goddamn much of colored washing. there is position what fit in story. but much of blacks and yellows in the European Medieval fantasy? How dare you? just let whites's-story be as it followed from origin. also yellows's-story or blacks's and the other something like's too.
    World being messed up by ugly PC's twisted idea. we should stop. stop the mud competition and find own color and keep their nature what it already have.    … Expand
  19. Orion8725
    Jan 1, 2020
    3
    I neither believe in 0's nor 10's unless a show or game has a great impact on the genre. The books were enjoyable and on par with the Sword of Truth or GoT books. The Witcher 3 ruined RPG games for me. By that i mean I cannot think of another RPG that comes close to it and now find all others rather boring. That being said, The Witcher 3 for me was a 10 with the books being a high 7 or 8.I neither believe in 0's nor 10's unless a show or game has a great impact on the genre. The books were enjoyable and on par with the Sword of Truth or GoT books. The Witcher 3 ruined RPG games for me. By that i mean I cannot think of another RPG that comes close to it and now find all others rather boring. That being said, The Witcher 3 for me was a 10 with the books being a high 7 or 8.

    The more invested you are in the books and especially the games, the less you will find this show enjoyable. Casting, like others have mentioned, is poor for several characters. Henry does a good job, but he is not enough to save this series for me. I really wanted this show to shine but it simply falls short of expectations from missed opportunities with story to odd changes to the story that adds nothing to the show.

    if you have no clue what you are getting into, you will find this probably a 6 out of 10. If you read the books, perhaps a mid to high 4 or perhaps even a 5. If you are a huge fan of the games, you are looking at a 3 or lower. In a perfect world, HBO would have picked this up and contracted with some of the CD Project Red writers. Instead, we are left with something that is simply mediocre and not a TV series that I will watch a second time.

    A great review of the show can be found by someone I consider an even larger fan than myself, Witcher George on YouTube, who did a great job of revealing the issues with this series. For all the gamers out there, we still have Cyberpunk coming soon. For book fans, perhaps HBO will pick up The Sword of Truth and we can finally have our fantasy escape many of us are looking for after the end of GoT (excluding the last season) and whatever this is trying to be.    … Expand
  20. Bulletsponge69
    Jan 1, 2020
    2
    It’s like Game of Thrones ;but without all the good acting and storytelling getting in the way of juvenile jokes and contemporary references and language that seem out of place in a setting that seemingly takes place in the past.
  21. Gulla1
    Dec 30, 2019
    3
    First episode was good. The rest are lowering your hopes for the next one. The technology in making is good - but the manuscript lacks pace and smartness.
    Sorry to say this is a great opportunity gone bad.
  22. AthanasiosT
    Dec 29, 2019
    1
    TV writers never fail to disappoint me. They always manage to take prime material and transform it to sh...t. All main characters' stories are twisted beyond recognition and chronically mixed together. Geralt's adventures, which take 20 and more pages in a book, are shortened to half an episode's duration, resulting in incomprehensible stories. The medieval epoch is polluted with modernTV writers never fail to disappoint me. They always manage to take prime material and transform it to sh...t. All main characters' stories are twisted beyond recognition and chronically mixed together. Geralt's adventures, which take 20 and more pages in a book, are shortened to half an episode's duration, resulting in incomprehensible stories. The medieval epoch is polluted with modern phrases. The bard's songs have rock'n'roll riffs. The elves live in caves instead of their forests. Etc,etc. 1 point for Henry Cavill, his acting and his honest and apparent efforts to stay loyal to Geralt of Rivia. The rest get a zero.… Expand
  23. Discorder
    Dec 29, 2019
    1
    Чёрные дриады с копьями и арбалетами!?Трисс цыганка !?Фрингилия - обезьяна!?Нильфгардская броня...
  24. Kalcired
    Dec 29, 2019
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This show fails under every aspect.
    It's not a show for someone who doesn't know about the witcher because it lacks in background, still it's not for fans because there are too many mistakes.
    The actors are dogs mainly Henry performs a poor Geralt always with that grin.
    Mistakes on customization, mistakes in characters (black Triss is just unbelivable sad), errors of regia between scenes, poor special effects and fights...    … Expand
  25. Graand04
    Dec 28, 2019
    0
    **** this TV show just failed under tolerated laws of western world. Slovak person should be white. I am Belarusian I know what I am talking about.
  26. ChocoPotatoe
    Dec 28, 2019
    2
    It's a good fantasy show, but a very bad adaptation. Netflix wanted to push their ethnic quota on The Witcher, and replaced several established white characters in the book with actors of colour. It took away all the immersion we could have had. If you read the books, you'll know that making Fringilla black doesn't make sense in the story. Dark elves don't exist in the world of TheIt's a good fantasy show, but a very bad adaptation. Netflix wanted to push their ethnic quota on The Witcher, and replaced several established white characters in the book with actors of colour. It took away all the immersion we could have had. If you read the books, you'll know that making Fringilla black doesn't make sense in the story. Dark elves don't exist in the world of The Witcher. Even Zerrikanians should be of arabic ethnicity, which makes sense, but not black.
    Why do they always ruin a good story by pushing political correctness? This show is literally The Witcher in America.

    Even the dwarves are a joke. They should be strong, small, but big. But in the show, they're literally human dwarves who can't even carry a sword.

    They've made the world of "The Witcher" totally inconsistent. I'm a big fan of the books, I didn't play the games, but I'm really disappointed in the show. It doesn't do justice to the books at all.    … Expand
  27. Falorin1999
    Dec 28, 2019
    0
    I expected a lot more from the series. He expected that he would narrate the book well, or at least close to it.
    Instead, I got a disgusting plot, disgusting scenery and disgusting actors who do not know how to play their roles. It was necessary to shoot a normal series, and not to shoot a series in which they are trying to please someone. I am disappointed
  28. V0X_Populi
    Dec 28, 2019
    2
    Плохая экранизация книг. Всё переиначили и не в лучшую сторону. Логика местами вообще покидает данный сериал. Единственное что радует так это сам Геральт.
  29. mad851
    Dec 28, 2019
    2
    This is one of the worst adaptation ever made, really disappointing TV show, nothing like the books, forcing diversity (blackwashing characters) in a polish European fantasy is horrible! Bad CGI, bad writing, bad acting, they didn't followed the chronology of the books, it's not the mature dark Fantasy that we want it's more like XENA level of tv show than game of thrones. Too bad
  30. StephanL
    Dec 27, 2019
    3
    Perhaps this show is drawing in people who love soap opera's posing as fantasy and thus the discrepancy between viewers comments and critics. I love fantasy, and good storytelling. This is poorly made. Henry Cavill is great but miscast here. Sets too clean and boring. My disbelief was not suspended. Racial inclusiveness is important but at the cost of good storytelling? Poor choice in showrunn
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Most Discussed TV Season of 2019
77
#77 Most Shared TV Season of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
53

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 17
  3. Negative: 3 out of 17
  1. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Nick Hilton
    Jan 3, 2020
    40
    The Witcher is a messy tangle of plotlines in a world underdeveloped to the point of obscurity.
    Read full review
  2. The Telegraph
    Reviewed by: Ed Power
    Jan 3, 2020
    60
    As a mindless fantasy rollercoaster, Geralt’s journey is five stars all the way to tea-time. Sadly, for those who like brains with their brawn, it may be more of a slog.
    Read full review
  3. Time
    Reviewed by: Judy Berman
    Dec 20, 2019
    30
    It takes a while for viewers to learn how these characters are connected, via an exasperating Westworld-esque narrative knot that takes much of the season to unfurl. ... The Witcher heightens our confusion by fumbling details that would have helped it set a cohesive tone. Dialogue vacillates, from line to line, between theatrical fantasy-speak and modern colloquialisms (“Dragons are, in fact, a thing!”).
    Read full review
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