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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User Reviews

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  1. Par2iva1
    Jan 1, 2020
    9
    Liked it a lot. It's not perfect but very very good. The acting was great, especially liked Henry's Geralt and Yennefer :)
  2. Cesium06
    Jan 1, 2020
    5
    I'm a huge fan of the Witcher. I play Gwent regularly. I've read the some of the books. I've played all of the games. However, this show is still pretty mediocre. Odd pacing. Most parts fairly unenjoyable and unnecessarily drawn out. Anytime Geralt is on the screen it's an enjoyable adventure. I found myself skipping ahead to get back to the parts with him in it.
  3. TwiTu
    Jan 1, 2020
    5
    Its watchable. But not that great.
    The virtue signalling undertone is very present and destroys this fantasy with politics from the real world. Thats that. But even if you ignore that, the casting and actors arent that great either, mostly very bad actually. The actors playing Yennefer and Geralt are the best, yet they cant really save this series from mediocrity, and even if they are    Its watchable. But not that great.
    The virtue signalling undertone is very present and destroys this fantasy with politics from the real world. Thats that. But even if you ignore that, the casting and actors arent that great either, mostly very bad actually. The actors playing Yennefer and Geralt are the best, yet they cant really save this series from mediocrity, and even if they are good actors, they were still badly cast. Geralt simply doesnt look like He-Man, like this actor does.

    The writing is bad, too. You feel as if youre dropped into a hot pot of stuff you have to know but dont know. Especially if youre not great with names this will confuse you a lot at the start.

    You never get a feeling of epicness like in the games or books. It feels childish and cheap, best comparable to Hercules or Xena. Even though it uses a lot of nudity and gore. They think (judging from the sad music) that you feel for this or that character, that this or that character dies, yet you dont feel anything for them, because the series never establishes their character well and makes the dialogues very weird and awkward, unnatural. Its worse than on The Walking Dead. The story feels extremely rushed, as if they try to explain the whole Witcher universe in just a few hours. Maybe it should have had 24 episodes instead of just 8. But I guess thats just signs of the time. Characters and their personalities arent important anymore, because we live in a very anti-social time because people are mostly sitting at home, not having much social interaction anymore - and thats me saying, who isnt really the biggest social interactive person either.

    The jokes are unfunny, mostly because you cant really build up a relationship to the characters because of the reasons I already mentioned.

    People comparing this to Game of Thrones have obviously never watched Game of Thrones. I cried like a baby many times when people died in GoT or something bad happened to them. Here I dont even flinch.
    Its like comparing a Lada to a Maybach.
    I get that some people are starved for a fantasy series after the end of GoT, but this is in no way a substitute.

    Oh yeah, and the excessive use of colored contact lenses (sometimes they wear them, sometimes they dont, sometimes they are not centered, sometimes they are) also add to the childishness of this series. It looks completely unbelievable. Directors should know that in the age of 4K resolution.    … Expand
  4. Anejayatin
    Dec 31, 2019
    10
    Witcher is next GOT but it is more successful and good than GOT.You must watch it and give ratings on basis of what you think?
  5. PlacidDragon
    Dec 31, 2019
    6
    Its a season with a lot of promise of what might be at some future point, but Netflix is not there yet. At this stage, its mostly a jumbled mess. Acting is a.. ,mixed bag, CGI is also a very mixed bag. Some of what they did looks very good, other things looks like it came from a computer game in 1995 (that the very first moments of the series, the Kikimora fight has terrible CGI doesn'tIts a season with a lot of promise of what might be at some future point, but Netflix is not there yet. At this stage, its mostly a jumbled mess. Acting is a.. ,mixed bag, CGI is also a very mixed bag. Some of what they did looks very good, other things looks like it came from a computer game in 1995 (that the very first moments of the series, the Kikimora fight has terrible CGI doesn't exactly sell the series to the random watcher)..

    The fight choreography is very good, and i'll omit the story entirely to avoid spoilers :)    … Expand
  6. SWEEPtheLEG175
    Dec 31, 2019
    8
    Lots of good stuff in this series. Superman is perfect as Geralt. The actress who plays Yennefer is rad, she pulls it off. It seems like most of the really bad reviews for this series (users score) has to do with casting and that the show isn't white enough, ya I am not kidding. FYI, I only played about 5hrs of Witcher 3(RPG isn't really my cup of tea) and have not read the books yet.Lots of good stuff in this series. Superman is perfect as Geralt. The actress who plays Yennefer is rad, she pulls it off. It seems like most of the really bad reviews for this series (users score) has to do with casting and that the show isn't white enough, ya I am not kidding. FYI, I only played about 5hrs of Witcher 3(RPG isn't really my cup of tea) and have not read the books yet. Hopefully they cast Mark Hamill for season 2 to play Vesemir.… Expand
  7. Slothonmeth
    Dec 31, 2019
    9
    The Witcher season 1 was an interesting ride if you ask me. Of course, some parts would leave you wondering. You can't understand some parts of the series. You literally can't understand most of the plot going on unless you had prior knowledge of the continent. Most would say to read the books, but maybe season 2 would clear things up, who knows?

    And for all those who are comparing it the    The Witcher season 1 was an interesting ride if you ask me. Of course, some parts would leave you wondering. You can't understand some parts of the series. You literally can't understand most of the plot going on unless you had prior knowledge of the continent. Most would say to read the books, but maybe season 2 would clear things up, who knows?

    And for all those who are comparing it the Game of Thrones, just stop. Just because you love Game of Thrones it doesn't mean that you have to hate The Witcher. I was not that dragged into Game of Thrones after watching it's first few episodes.

    Some also commented on how terrible it is when compared to the book. I never read any of the books but this series seems quite nice to me. Maybe when you compare this to the books, this might seem as absolute garbage.

    Without having played the games and without having read the books, I can honestly say that The Witcher was pretty interesting from the start.    … Expand
  8. Gowthe
    Dec 21, 2019
    9
    Creo que se están pasando con las malas críticas, algo que tiende a pasar con demasiado frecuencia en lo que toca a los shows de Netflix o ciertos blockbusters (Star Wars, etc); Probad a verla y juzgad por vosotros mismos. A mí me tiene enganchado. Recomendable.
  9. Nemo1342
    Dec 30, 2019
    7
    I'm not normally a 'down with professional critics' guy. I have a lot of respect for criticism as a profession, but I think enough critics got this one plain wrong that I needed to speak up. This is a good show. Not an amazing show, but a solid one. I actually really liked what they did with different time periods in the storytelling. It creates a little confusion, but in myI'm not normally a 'down with professional critics' guy. I have a lot of respect for criticism as a profession, but I think enough critics got this one plain wrong that I needed to speak up. This is a good show. Not an amazing show, but a solid one. I actually really liked what they did with different time periods in the storytelling. It creates a little confusion, but in my experience a good kind of confusion that eventually leads to an 'A-ha!' of realization. The only criticism there is that the writing does sometimes struggle to convey not the time period, but the passage of time, leading to some whiplash as we move through each character's story.

    Cavill's depiction of Geralt is really good. I was skeptical of his casting, and really skeptical after seeing early promotional set photos, but in the end I was really impressed. Of the two other key roles, I thought Anya was pretty good in the early parts of the story where Yennefer is still unsure of herself, but struggles to muster the charisma of peak Yen. Freya as Ciri does a solid job with what she is called on to do, but her part isn't as demanding so far. Of the rest of the cast, I thought the real standout was Jodhi May, really knocking that character out of the park at different parts of her story.

    Other things that spring to mind are that the CGI is pretty 'meh' throughout, occasionally threatening to derail the experience. Dialogue writing is competent throughout, and better than that in places. Fight choreography seemed like a solid B+ to me. Cinematography was consistently very good, often striking without foolishly trying to reproduce Wild Hunt's amazing visuals.

    On the whole, I found it to be very compelling, and solid across the board, despite being a very ambitious show.    … Expand
  10. Kamanakai
    Dec 30, 2019
    10
    I am a big fan of the game. I really loved the season! Henry Cavill was fantastic as Geralt! I can't wait for season two! :)
  11. Grampus
    Dec 22, 2019
    10
    This is wonderfully entertaining. Great casting. My god Yennefer is gorgeous. I would really like to thank Henry Cavill for taking this so seriously and committing to the role. Toss a coin to your Witcher” is literally my favorite song at the moment. This might have me more excited than any other Netflix series in their history. Having played the games makes this one of the most enjoyableThis is wonderfully entertaining. Great casting. My god Yennefer is gorgeous. I would really like to thank Henry Cavill for taking this so seriously and committing to the role. Toss a coin to your Witcher” is literally my favorite song at the moment. This might have me more excited than any other Netflix series in their history. Having played the games makes this one of the most enjoyable watches of a lifetime.… Expand
  12. 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.
  13. JesterTRT
    Dec 30, 2019
    9
    This is the best show I've watched in 2019. And by far the best thing on Netflix. Netflix did good picking up this. However, they need to be careful with their casting. Trying to be diverse and pulling away from the original characters has proven distasteful for them every other time. Stick true to the story characters and lore. So far it's not so bad. But be weary.
    As of now, this is a    This is the best show I've watched in 2019. And by far the best thing on Netflix. Netflix did good picking up this. However, they need to be careful with their casting. Trying to be diverse and pulling away from the original characters has proven distasteful for them every other time. Stick true to the story characters and lore. So far it's not so bad. But be weary.
    As of now, this is a great addition to Netflixs library. And I can't wait for season 2!    … Expand
  14. OrthoStice
    Dec 30, 2019
    10
    This show far exceeded my expectations. The three main characters are all interesting and well-written and acted, even if they follow familiar archetypes. The show treats you like a grown up and leaves you to piece together the various timelines, which does require a bit of patience. There are parts that are funny, bizarre, and thrilling. Given the generally positive audience feedback,This show far exceeded my expectations. The three main characters are all interesting and well-written and acted, even if they follow familiar archetypes. The show treats you like a grown up and leaves you to piece together the various timelines, which does require a bit of patience. There are parts that are funny, bizarre, and thrilling. Given the generally positive audience feedback, I'm hopeful for a second season.… Expand
  15. Marcinus
    Dec 30, 2019
    10
    Great show! I'm a big fan of both the books and games and have to say that this show rules!! Casting is great, CGI and monsters are top, music, costumes and general aura of the whole thing is as it should. Well done!! I think for newcomers the plot might be a little chaotic but it will all work out later when they will get to work with the main story from the saga. Fingers crossed for 8 toGreat show! I'm a big fan of both the books and games and have to say that this show rules!! Casting is great, CGI and monsters are top, music, costumes and general aura of the whole thing is as it should. Well done!! I think for newcomers the plot might be a little chaotic but it will all work out later when they will get to work with the main story from the saga. Fingers crossed for 8 to 10 seasons, we have a good one here :)… Expand
  16. Metacook
    Dec 29, 2019
    10
    Didn't expect much after seeing the reviews but it turned out to be one of my favourite shows of the year.
  17. Gamed2long
    Dec 29, 2019
    7
    The Witcher TV show has a hard task of pleasing both fans of the books, fans of the video games, people like me who've encountered both. In addition to the many many people who don't know either. No matter which group you come from, some elements of this show will disappoint you. Henry Cavill did a great job as Geralt. There was a large focus on Anya Chalotra as Yennifer and her roll wasThe Witcher TV show has a hard task of pleasing both fans of the books, fans of the video games, people like me who've encountered both. In addition to the many many people who don't know either. No matter which group you come from, some elements of this show will disappoint you. Henry Cavill did a great job as Geralt. There was a large focus on Anya Chalotra as Yennifer and her roll was really well acted. She has leading lady stuff. Joey Batey as Jaskier (or Dandelion) was just annoying and kinda miscast. There was a lot of noise about Anna Shaffer being miscast as Triss. She is a different interpretation of the character. You don't really see enough of her to know either way.
    Overall if it was a new property, everyone would be raving about how good it is, and how it clearly has the potential to get better. I'd say it's just pretty good. I agree it has potential to improve.
    Two elements really stuck out to me. Occasional "modern" dialogue thrown in, to appeal to the audience (jarring. Fail). Also the characters relative ages over time. Ignoring that was annoying.
    Overall though the main thing is they just didn't trust the audience to stay around. So all the stories feel rushed. They would be better if the show was longer and the stories were allowed to breath more. That one is on the directors and the show runners. Hopefully they've learned their lesson by next season.    … Expand
  18. 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
  19. DPtdryste
    Dec 29, 2019
    7
    My review coming up, but first, the first-two paragraphs are to contextualize this as a Witcher 3 game fan, not as one of the many butthurt reactionaries 0-voting because Triss is Hispanic & Dandelion isn't wearing a hat (he should be wearing a hat, though). Sometimes I feel like I enjoy stuff more than the "anti-woke/gamer" crowd because I'm not holding these "probably not gamers,My review coming up, but first, the first-two paragraphs are to contextualize this as a Witcher 3 game fan, not as one of the many butthurt reactionaries 0-voting because Triss is Hispanic & Dandelion isn't wearing a hat (he should be wearing a hat, though). Sometimes I feel like I enjoy stuff more than the "anti-woke/gamer" crowd because I'm not holding these "probably not gamers, probably not Witcher-book reading" production teams and actors to incredibly high standards. Not excusing the boring parts, there are some of those, but I just came for a story set in a world where there are monsters, where the men are sometimes worse than the monsters.. and our friend Geralt of Rivia, of course:

    The people mad at the show for "not being true to the books" or "being too diverse/woke..." I mean, SURE, whatever, there's some stuff I didn't like too about the casting, but judge them on their performances, not their race. I still really enjoyed binge-watching this though. Though I was sometimes confused about stuff because timeline/plot jump without context sometimes. 0-voting because you hate "woke" & "diversity" can feel like projection from crybabies sometimes. And it's tough adapting "complex on paper" to "more simple on screen," and plus, c'mon folks, it's the FIRST SEASON, JFC..

    Critiquing story/plot in the sense that this was probably never ever going to be 100% true to the books is fair, but people need to let up on bashing Netflix just for adding some diversity. I understand that people want to "see themselves" on screen, and that's fair, even if not "accurate." I DO care about the cast being good though, and some people were just kinda alright. Anyways, just letting the reader know ahead of time that tons of the mad people are just being children that wish everything were THEIR conservative, purist tastes.

    Played W2 & W3, and a bit of W1, and read only a bit of the first book. I think the professional critics are rating this too low, but there are definitely some things I did not like. Here are things I liked first though:

    -Superman as Geralt
    -The actresses that played Renfri, Yennefer & Solaia
    -Geralt & Yen scenes
    -Good dialogue, often funny
    -The show's "graphics" are pretty tasty
    -Great atmosphere
    -Some scenes are perfect
    -Feels like good fan-service
    -Magic is mostly cool in this show

    Okay now what I don't like:

    -ONLY 8 EPISODES?! I NEED MY FIX.
    -What's with all these NON-GERALT OF RIVIA SCENES? I'M HERE FOR MY BOY!
    -Lots of random ass characters getting elevated storywise at the expense of Geralt of Rivia scenes. If you're going to take me away from Geralt of Rivia it should be for Ciri, Yennefer, Triss, Vesemir, etc (the Gang, so to speak), and even then I would rather you quickly come back to Geralt.
    -IDK how I feel about the actress that plays Triss. Maybe it's because she looks nothing like the video games though.
    -Actually, many characters don't look like how they are depicted in the games, which is gonna annoy people.
    -I don't think this is too "new user" friendly. Would recommend this only to the already-initiated.
    -Why so much focus on "Nilfgaard bad?"
    -Not sure if Yen's main motivation is what it is in the books, but feels kinda random and makes her seem more "traditional" at the expense of her JUST being a powerful woman.
    -Yennefer's dress with the cages on the shoulders makes her look skinny, Yennefer is already more of a full-bodied woman in the games
    -Not sure if Geralt would ever yell at Dandelion, but that definitely hurt my soul :(
    -Ciri's scenes are just awful sometimes, not the actor's fault, but her arc is just kinda boring,
    -"NO" GERALT IN SEASON FINALE
    -Some of the characters act stupid, in ways that undermine previous behaviors or just change attitude drastically at certain points.
    -Some scenes are kinda bad, ngl, I love CDPR & I'm HEAVILY anticipating next season but yeah, it's rough sometimes.    … Expand
  20. Embear
    Dec 29, 2019
    10
    This is the first show since Game of Thrones that has captivated me to the point of obsession. It’s wonderfully character driven with round conflicted characters. Henry Cavill as the Witcher is perfect! Stoic with a wry sense of humor. I’ve started reading the books and believe Cavill captures Geralt’s personality perfectly!
  21. JFalcon
    Dec 29, 2019
    10
    It is way better than my expectations. I really loved the earlier episodes in particular.
    The sword fight at the end of the first episode was splendid. I liked acting, cinematography and environments
    However, my wife is not familiar with the concept and the Witcher world thus it was difficult for her to comprehend what is going on around. I surmise that transitions were quite fast so it    It is way better than my expectations. I really loved the earlier episodes in particular.
    The sword fight at the end of the first episode was splendid. I liked acting, cinematography and environments
    However, my wife is not familiar with the concept and the Witcher world thus it was difficult for her to comprehend what is going on around.
    I surmise that transitions were quite fast so it was easy to lost interest. Hope that they would take care of this issue in season 2.    … Expand
  22. ExdreamJ03
    Dec 29, 2019
    9
    Great show! Reminded me of GOT. Won’t spoil the story, and highly recommend.
  23. Discorder
    Dec 29, 2019
    1
    Чёрные дриады с копьями и арбалетами!?Трисс цыганка !?Фрингилия - обезьяна!?Нильфгардская броня...
  24. Ixniyevonn
    Dec 29, 2019
    9
    Good fantasy series, original and special. I have never read books by Sapkowski and I didn't like the CDProject's game unlike many people, but this creation dragged me and I watched it entirely in two days. I kept one point because Jaskier's music is too modern and pop if you will. Also one point because Cavill is cutest chick in this series and plus one point because of the same reason :*
  25. AzraelBR
    Dec 29, 2019
    9
    A série é muito boa para uma primeira temporada, acredito que nas próximas com verbas maiores é maior experiências dos atores vai melhorar ainda mais
  26. 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
  27. Reeder1984
    Dec 29, 2019
    9
    Great series, faithful adaptation of book series. Central cast are all magnificent. Only gripes would be slightly convoluted plot and pacing problems. Season could have done with being 3-5 episodes longer.
  28. Kopacha
    Dec 28, 2019
    10
    A bit confusing in the begining - the non-linear approach of combining and ADAPTING "The Last Wish" , "Lesser Evil" , "Sword of destiny", "A matter of price" and some others,with the mainline Ciri stories, might be a confusing approach - i agree.
    But i think the writing team, did an amazing job, even though i understand why might not be completely clean and clear for a newcomer viewers ,    A bit confusing in the begining - the non-linear approach of combining and ADAPTING "The Last Wish" , "Lesser Evil" , "Sword of destiny", "A matter of price" and some others,with the mainline Ciri stories, might be a confusing approach - i agree.
    But i think the writing team, did an amazing job, even though i understand why might not be completely clean and clear for a newcomer viewers , who are no familiar with the books and/or the games. On that note - read the books and the initial short stories, one - you're gona catch up on a good writing and stories, but also feel the show much more fleshed out.
    Speaking of - again to re-iterate - amazing work stiching different source material, from the Witcher verse into a non-linear, but yet still cohesive well adapted for TV, story line. Can't wait for the second season    … Expand
  29. THISISNOTADRILL
    Dec 28, 2019
    9
    I really enjoyed it. Of course, there were some minor flaws but overall it was such a great first season. I would recommend it. The story was captivating and every time an episode ended i wanted to watch the next one as soon as I could. The cast was amazing too. Can't wait for Seasons 2.
  30. grassyspot
    Dec 28, 2019
    9
    Enjoyed the cast and performances. Like the stories of each character and different timelines coming together. Hope it gets more than 2 seasons.
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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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