Netflix’s The Witcher

A very promising start…

Since the last review I made was of the Witcher game series, I thought that I would finally cover the Netflix show. I am admittedly very late to review this; however, I was reminded how much I love this series while re-watching with my dad. As a big fantasy nerd, I have been starved of content from films and TV for a long while. Once you get into the fantasy genre, it doesn’t take long to watch all the big films and shows and have nothing left. Sure, there are lots of urban fantasy shows and Sci-fi, but for that doesn’t quite scratch the itch. So, I was stoked when Netflix released the Witcher, as I cannot get enough of swords and magic. Spoilers will be frequent from this point on.

This series tries to do quite a few things, and I would say that despite a lot of mediocre reviews from more snobby people, it manages to do them successfully. It pays light homage to the game series without borrowing ideas, adapts much of the tone and plot of the book series while avoiding aspects that might make it come off too ridiculous, and succeeds in creating its own style and tone separate from the Game of Thrones trend. Of course, people still compare it to that show, because apparently there is only one fantasy show out there, and everything else is copying it.

To start with, the acting across the board is great. Henry Cavill, a fan of the source material, puts a lot into his role and manages to get across Geralt of Rivia’s inner humanity and kindness with as little dialogue as possible. My only real complaint about his characterisation is that he is too mean to his companion Jaskier. Speaking of the Bard, he is a highlight for the entire show. He brings a lot of high energy, several good jokes and a unique take on a character that otherwise could have come off as a complete sleaze. He also has a great singing voice (yes, toss a coin is an amazing song). Anya Chalotra is given much to work with, as Yennefer’s backstory is greatly expanded on and it is very interesting to get such an insight into her character. Chalotra does a smashing job of showing us the emotional journey Yen goes on to form the character we are more familiar from in the books and games. Freya Allen is decent as Ciri, and I have a feeling we are going to see a lot more memorable moments from her as her character develops.

The structure of the series is interesting. Rather than adapting the first full length story of the book series, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich chose to adapt the collection of short stories set before the start of the books. This was confusing to me at first, but once enough context clues are dropped it becomes obvious that each of the characters are in their own timeline. By halfway through the series we have a firm grasp that only Ciri’s story is set in the present time of the show. While this feels a little strange it gives the characters a chance to go through development that was otherwise only hinted at in the books, and makes the series less about one character and more of a trio of protagonists. This change in focus gives the audience more opportunity to engage with different characters and take in some of the world building, and I really enjoyed it. Of course, the timelines converge in the final episode and so next season will undoubtably all be set at the same time, but it was a fun way to include the short stories and not burn through all the books too quickly.

The soundtrack for the show is incredibly well put together. While many of the musical themes and leitmotifs are reminiscent of the game series, they don’t simply copy them. Rather they both come from a similar inspiration. There is a good amount of Slavic chanting and singing, as well as a focus on folk style. Many of the songs are in universe creations by Jaskier, that he sings himself. The music has a unique tone which goes a long way to giving the Witcher its own feel, apart from other shows in the genre.

The action choreography is superbly done and very visually entertaining. Geralt fights in a very acrobatic way, using the reflexes his mutations provide. There are a number of excellent set pieces that demonstrate his skill and limitations. The sorcerers all get to do a lot of very creative magic. The effects might be limited in the first season, as is usually the case, but they manage to look mostly pretty cool. The design of the monsters and creatures are really creative, leaning heavily on the horror aspect of the story. Some of the creatures are legitimately terrifying. The striga in particular is a horrible highlight. The only criticism I would raise about the production design is the costuming. While I love the style of most of the outfits, there is a strange trend in fantasy shows to use mostly black and grey clothing, which really saps the series of a lot of colour. I love colours, why do costume designers hate them? This, when added to the colour graded of the footage, which seems to ramp up the contrast and adds a gritty filter to everything, makes a lot of the show murky and dark. It is sometimes hard to see what is going. The only exception seems to be when magic is performed, in which case the colour is heightened. That might be to draw attention the difference between mundane reality and magical illusion, but it leaves the rest of the show feeling drab.

However, that minor quibble aside, this show is a godsend. It provided me with that rare fantasy fix, and as it seems to have been very popular it will hopefully encourage a lot more fantasy TV in the future. The writing is enjoyable, the acting fantastic and the music special. Add all that together and you have a show that has started out very strongly indeed. I can’t wait for season two. Eventually.