The Witcher

:

Season 2
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Dec 20, 2019
Season #: 4, 3.5, 3, 2, 1
User Score
3.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 803 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 231 out of 803
  2. Mixed: 106 out of 803
  3. Negative: 466 out of 803

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User Reviews

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  1. PickleRickBaby
    Jan 1, 2022
    2
    OK, I admit I'm a huge fan of the original book series. I loved the games too. But I'm not judging the season just on its differences vs. the source material. I understand that you can't simply take several pages of dialogue from the book and insert it straight into a movie material. I can also accept some alterations to the main storyline to make it more "compact" or "robust" (althoughOK, I admit I'm a huge fan of the original book series. I loved the games too. But I'm not judging the season just on its differences vs. the source material. I understand that you can't simply take several pages of dialogue from the book and insert it straight into a movie material. I can also accept some alterations to the main storyline to make it more "compact" or "robust" (although after timeline magic confusing to people not knowing the original books I wouldn't say the show creators cared about it much).
    But my problem (and not only mine - my wife who knows only some of the first short stories agrees with me completely) lies elsewhere. The writing is so absurd and chaotic that you scratch your head and murmur "wtf?".
    The first season parasited on the source material and pushed woke culture on us but at least the main characters had _some_ character.
    In season 2 the writing is so off that you no longer know what the hell is going on, who's where and where this where is, characters meet at random and noone knows why... the list goes on and on. It's no longer the original saga based on greatly written characters - there's almost none of that left. It's not even a hack and slash show. It's some weird GoT wannabe written probably by some interns.
    The only thing I liked about the show was the visuals. I liked the cyan-yellow colour range, I like the lighting in most of the shots. It was pleasing to watch. But that's all.
    I didn't like Geralt's new contact lenses!    … Expand
  2. triumphtinltcdg
    Jan 5, 2022
    2
    I have a big grudge against the creators of this series, the source material was treated by them without respect and understanding, there are no emotions between the characters, only pompous lines spoken to each other...no world building... they took the easy way and made a generic fantasy series without the depth of source material
  3. smolny1
    Jan 8, 2022
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Show is unlogical, have for the most part nithing to do with book. Changes made (Emhyr reveals that Ciri is his daughter, Yennefer kidnapping of Ciri etc) makes impossible to comeback to main plot of book and force writers to continue making up their own week story.… Expand
  4. busiek
    Jul 3, 2023
    2
    I watched second season - it was bad, but Henry Cavill still was good as Gerald.
  5. admad
    Jan 8, 2022
    1
    This is pure crap. The new story is just boring and stupid, it might be acceptable if it weren't for the original stories which are there for the taking, but they decided to go their own way which is very bad. You had one job Netflix, and you failed.

    The only way season 3 might recover from this is that the season 2 was just a nightmare that Geralt was having, he wakes up and says    This is pure crap. The new story is just boring and stupid, it might be acceptable if it weren't for the original stories which are there for the taking, but they decided to go their own way which is very bad. You had one job Netflix, and you failed.

    The only way season 3 might recover from this is that the season 2 was just a nightmare that Geralt was having, he wakes up and says "Damnit, what a nightmare" and the life goes on from season 1 as per the books.    … Expand
  6. DexEngineer
    Dec 24, 2021
    1
    This is not Witcher. It has its title, that's it. Producers missed the opportunity chance to create great experience. Henry tried, kudos to him. Him alone couldn't save the show. Moving forward.
  7. Steyraus
    Jan 2, 2022
    1
    There was one thing that Made The Witch Season one good, Henry Cavil as Geralt , every gruff word, every sword fight ,was compelling and entertaining. Henry gave his all for the performance and pulled of The Witcher perfectly.. The show was riddled with other issues , but Henry made it great.
    SOOOOO what do they do in the Second season??? Focus of the female side characters!!!! It is 2021    There was one thing that Made The Witch Season one good, Henry Cavil as Geralt , every gruff word, every sword fight ,was compelling and entertaining. Henry gave his all for the performance and pulled of The Witcher perfectly.. The show was riddled with other issues , but Henry made it great.
    SOOOOO what do they do in the Second season??? Focus of the female side characters!!!! It is 2021 after all , we cant have nice things..
    Henry is still great, but his great performance is interlaced with boring Stories about the female sides characters that are nothing like the books or games. Yenifer in this show is just an embarrassment to the Franchise here, she is nothing like the Character from the books or Games.    … Expand
  8. White_Bear
    Dec 24, 2021
    1
    It is quite difficult to watch if you read the book. Main characters are missing depth and motivation for their actions. The main story from the book is simplified but idiotic new story is introduced. What is Baba Yaga doing here? She is from Russian tales, probably they read the wrong books by mistake.
  9. ScienceAdvisor
    Dec 20, 2021
    1
    Witcher in name only. This does not have anything to do with the books or games. The intersectional feminism and bad CGI duel for being the worst part of the show, but are just elements of the entire team making this. They chose to corrupt a great story just for their own person agenda like a cultural cancer.
  10. Lekhter
    Dec 23, 2021
    1
    That's not witcher. Plot is f***ed. Miscast and no books atmosphere. Netflix, please, change showrunners.
  11. leviathanarg
    Jan 4, 2022
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I loved the Witcher 3 game and I liked Season 1 (although I am not fan of black-washing characters).
    Season 2 is bad. Save for episode 01. Also for Geralt and Ciri, both actors fill their roles perfectly.
    My two cents, the series is called The Witcher, so put more witcher in it. Also, there is no need to censor boobs in a TV show not aimed for children. Finally, the author of the books and the developers of the games wrote interesting stories, why don't you bring those to the screen.    … Expand
  12. willerkiller
    Jan 16, 2022
    1
    Feels like a bad fan-fiction. Only, the writers of this show evidently aren't fans of the original source material. Just turn your brain off while watching to laugh at what it is: More woke trash from Netflix.
  13. OlivierPiel
    Dec 21, 2021
    1
    Season 1 was fun and light, Season 2 is utterly badly written/dumb and the most convulated and stupid story I have seen on screen in a long time. Bye Witcher! I dropped after 3 episodes
  14. Kunray
    Mar 30, 2023
    1
    I’m really hoping they keep the good quality going and explain more of the lore eventually. I loved the characters and how human they are despite their fantastic powers. Here’s to season 2!!
  15. LeandroB
    Dec 26, 2021
    1
    Terrible decisions all over the season, it completly departures from the books, kills beloved characters just to subvert expectations and so much more...
    Its was a very disappointing season after a very good season 1.
  16. Arcello
    Dec 23, 2021
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It’s just bad. I read all book and payed games long before the series. Creators told us about books but the series has nothing to do with them. Terrible attitude of the authors. Many illogical moments in the script. Very bad graphics. The death of Eskel, constant teleports of the characters over long distances, the loss of Yennifer's magical abilities, and so on, much can be said. I am very sorry that my favorite universe was destroyed in Netflix’s creation. After watching the eighth series I was extremely disappointed and there was only one thought “Just how? How?”. Only people that didn’t read books or played games can barely enjoy the series. But even as a stand-alone product it’s awful. Of course 140 million views (2 minutes of watching counts as view already lol) is an indication of good job (no). Funny that nothing will change and they will continue to make another strange things in their series.… Expand
  17. ay1908
    Dec 26, 2021
    1
    Practically unwatchable. Not only I was incapable of making it to the end of the season, I did fast forward several scenes as they were too embarrassing to watch. As if stripping the books of all their polishness to make a generic American woke fantasy series with no flavour wasn’t enough, they even messed up the story and the characters. Contrary to the books, they created an incoherentPractically unwatchable. Not only I was incapable of making it to the end of the season, I did fast forward several scenes as they were too embarrassing to watch. As if stripping the books of all their polishness to make a generic American woke fantasy series with no flavour wasn’t enough, they even messed up the story and the characters. Contrary to the books, they created an incoherent world filled with shallow characters. The writing and pacing is terrible. The show is all over the place as they try to squeeze in as much as they can in too few episodes instead of focusing on the main aspects of the story. It results in cheap shortcuts, lack of character development, lack of context of many scenes, superfluous side stories that don’t make sense when it’s not straightforward butchery of the books and characters. I understand taking liberties from the source material when you adapt a book to make a tv show but here is it done very poorly and it doesn’t make sense.

    The only decent thing in this show is Cavill’s acting.

    I stopped watching before the end of ep. 4    … Expand
  18. WreckWren
    Dec 22, 2021
    1
    I enjoyed the first season enough to re watch several times. Sure, it was a bit hard to follow at first, but otherwise the quality was just barely enough.

    This is nowhere near that "good". The casting is somewhat better but the acting has dropped through the floor Metacritic's mobile site is as bad as this season, so I can't finish that sentence. I can't add any more below this either,    I enjoyed the first season enough to re watch several times. Sure, it was a bit hard to follow at first, but otherwise the quality was just barely enough.

    This is nowhere near that "good".
    The casting is somewhat better but the acting has dropped through the floor

    Metacritic's mobile site is as bad as this season, so I can't finish that sentence. I can't add any more below this either, also because their site is as bad as this season.
    2/10 at best.    … Expand
  19. V0X_Populi
    Dec 19, 2021
    1
    Ещё дальше уходят от книг в погоне за бредом и у них это получается. За Эскеля особенно обидно.
  20. xbudx
    Dec 20, 2021
    1
    cons - another show that suffers from being too woke. the writing in witcher seems like they just tossed out everything great about the books and asked a 4-year-old what an encounter between fantasy characters might be. (fire **** this fire **** that mixed with the bards cringe commentary) this show also decided to include classic Disneyesque quick quips that are so lame it makes me wondercons - another show that suffers from being too woke. the writing in witcher seems like they just tossed out everything great about the books and asked a 4-year-old what an encounter between fantasy characters might be. (fire **** this fire **** that mixed with the bards cringe commentary) this show also decided to include classic Disneyesque quick quips that are so lame it makes me wonder if the creator isn't 4 but is actually a 55-year-old suburban woman ripping from big bang theory. Netflix likes to "consult the algorithm" and see how many random demographics they can attract while making the show just good enough to be not good but passable. you would think with GoT being so huge and LotR being the best trilogy of all time they'd actually hire someone who isn't a dullard to make the show. some of the acting is so bad my head hurt as I thought I was in some sort of distorted mental hell but realized this is just the current state of tv. they should have just given geralt blue hair, made him trans, and then cast anyone from a google search of "woke actors" and called it complete because they're not far off. dummy bird brain **** for little guys.

    pros - cool monsters    … Expand
  21. kycapuk1
    Dec 20, 2021
    1
    Is not problem when you adjust plot of books, you can't create tv-show exactly the same like books. It's problem when your aim to show people oppression of the elves and how Jasker fell in love with Geralt. The atmposhere of Witcher was destroyed
  22. pikan
    Dec 21, 2021
    1
    Разочарование года, снимали 2 года и вышел кал в продакшен. Актеры не выразительны, моменты с наиграностью актеров, а драки это просто показуха какая-то просто нужно было вставить и все. 1 сезон лучше намного раз чем этот. Я молчу уже про каст актеров, сцены с цири просто скипал ибо вызывала отвращение, рвоту и уныние.Разочарование года, снимали 2 года и вышел кал в продакшен. Актеры не выразительны, моменты с наиграностью актеров, а драки это просто показуха какая-то просто нужно было вставить и все. 1 сезон лучше намного раз чем этот. Я молчу уже про каст актеров, сцены с цири просто скипал ибо вызывала отвращение, рвоту и уныние.
  23. oneofmany
    Dec 27, 2021
    1
    I enjoyed The Witcher games, the books, even enjoyed Season 1 of this show. Season 2 however feels like a huge disappointment. It's like the showrunner, writers and netflix asked what the true fans of the books and games like about them and changed 70% of that just to "capture a wider audience". The sad part is I would not mind changing the story if the changes they made were good, but theI enjoyed The Witcher games, the books, even enjoyed Season 1 of this show. Season 2 however feels like a huge disappointment. It's like the showrunner, writers and netflix asked what the true fans of the books and games like about them and changed 70% of that just to "capture a wider audience". The sad part is I would not mind changing the story if the changes they made were good, but the writing and execution was very poor.… Expand
  24. OmerKaya
    Dec 20, 2021
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Creator be like I would like to kill Eskel and Roach for some reason...
    Tissaia be like Yen is like a daughter to me for some reason...
    And people be like I like this show for some reason...
    Eskel maybe but what did you want from Roach you monsters :(    … Expand
  25. Hekke
    Dec 19, 2021
    1
    I'm huge fan of witcher universe. First I read all books (in summary six times now) then I played all 3 games, each of them on the premier day. 1 season of the Witcher has a lot of flaws but they managed to show the roughness of the world and a bit of dry humor similar to that found in Andrzej Sapkowski's prose. In Season 1, the stories were very flat, but it stuck more or less to theI'm huge fan of witcher universe. First I read all books (in summary six times now) then I played all 3 games, each of them on the premier day. 1 season of the Witcher has a lot of flaws but they managed to show the roughness of the world and a bit of dry humor similar to that found in Andrzej Sapkowski's prose. In Season 1, the stories were very flat, but it stuck more or less to the source material.

    All what was good in season 1, season 2 is lacking. Yes few things improved like CGI, costumes but that is all. After 1 episode of season 2 i was exited, yes they change a lot but it felt ok and I was hoping for more. However, the following episodes were some kind of misunderstanding. All characters except Geralt and Jaskier depict completely different characters that have nothing to do with Sapokowski's prose. The same goes for the story, the writers stick to the overall frame of the story, but at the same time turn everything else into empty and weak stories. When Henry Cavill who is a huge fan of the witcher world, in interviews says that he had to intervene in order to smuggle more Geralt from book, you should know that something is going wrong with the show. If in subsequent seasons they continue to maintain the level of departure from the source material and a simultaneous misunderstanding of it, the series will be a disaster or another weak Netflix adaptation.    … Expand
  26. Pietrazsko
    Dec 23, 2021
    1
    I have very negative emotions after watching the season. The plot is completely broken. The main messages are displaced. The characters are not revealed. There are a lot of bloopers throughout the entire series.
  27. Koderwj
    Dec 27, 2021
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A lot has changed this season, but you need to choose the main one. The series began to revolve around Tsiri, I certainly understand everything, but what the hell if the name of the series is The Witcher? Tsiri and Yenefer studied magic for a long time and it didn't take long for her to see here "You are strong, you are a WOMAN, you can believe me" and you build a bridge and teleport to the other end of the world. Geralt needs a second somewhere only 2 m?… Expand
  28. Stefanobed
    Jan 7, 2022
    1
    Another slow and boring series, wrong . Brooks and game are so many funny and Deep but this telefilm Is focused on Henry canvill. No ,wrong transposition
  29. Zhilkata
    Dec 18, 2021
    1
    Giving a 1 simply because Henry Cavill keeps this **** somewhat intact. Can't afford to give more though - dipped in wokeness, you're constantly hit with "progressiveness" you can't ignore. Even with the politically correct agenda aside, there simply isn't anything worth the time to watch this show - extremely poor casting choices for 95% of the actors, the script tries to change stuffGiving a 1 simply because Henry Cavill keeps this **** somewhat intact. Can't afford to give more though - dipped in wokeness, you're constantly hit with "progressiveness" you can't ignore. Even with the politically correct agenda aside, there simply isn't anything worth the time to watch this show - extremely poor casting choices for 95% of the actors, the script tries to change stuff around, succeeding by completely losing the point of the characters and the world they live in, music is forgettable, effects are admittedly better, but still not breathtaking for the $15+ million-an-episode budget. An expected disappointment for every fan of the real Witcher story and atmosphere.… Expand
  30. outsider2000
    Dec 24, 2021
    1
    смотреть эту naPawу с c_HerPaMu, если хоть чуть шаришь в лоре и играл в игры, себя не уважать. Блин слить Эскеля, гениально. Я просто похлопаю.
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Most Discussed TV Season of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Polygon
    Reviewed by: Joshua Rivera
    Jan 6, 2022
    80
    The show has earned a sizable amount of goodwill in an impressively short time, and even if we can no longer see the destination, The Witcher still feels like a hell of an adventure.
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  2. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Ben Travers
    Dec 19, 2021
    67
    Watching the foundation get laid isn’t always exciting, but it does feel like showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is building toward rousing sequences and cares about each of the characters equally. Whether you feel the same doesn’t really matter. “The Witcher” is in it for the long haul, and even if Season 2 feels longer than it should, you won’t regret the ride.
    Read full review
  3. RogerEbert.com
    Reviewed by: Brian Tallerico
    Dec 17, 2021
    50
    “The Witcher” constantly struggles to balance its dialogue-driven scenes with pushing the plot forward. It can be an exhausting show in terms of pace—every single episode feels longer than it actually is.
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