There was such a long wait for the second season of The Witcher that I had rewatched the first one many times over, yet was still a bit hazy on the plot. Thankfully it begins with a recap to help catch us up on the highlights. Covid has screwed a lot of TV productions over. With the limitations on budget and the amount of extra effort shooting during a pandemic requires, not to mention rewrites and reshoots when a cast member is ill, it’s actually a miracle that they managed to produce the show at all. But not only did they achieve this, I believe that they also managed to improve almost every aspect from the first season.
The writing is more coherent, especially the story pacing, now that the action is all taking place in the same timeline. It is a lot easier to follow the plot right away, and there is a stronger focus on a core storyline, with many threads running alongside. Geralt and Ciri’s relationship takes centre stage and gets plenty of time to develop. By the end it was a constantly heart-warming aspect of the show. The dialogue can be slightly clunky at times, and personally the amount of modern swearing in a fantasy show can get a bit jarring, but otherwise there are a huge amount of standout moments. Many of the scenes feel emotionally weighty and seem destined to end up on YouTube compilations very soon. There are some choices for characters which will piss off fans of the games, like what happens to Eskell, but as someone who hasn’t read the books, but played the games I can say that I appreciate the show isn’t trying to be carbon copy of either. That would lead to a worse experience that would leave no-one happy. The books, especially the short stories, make for a strange pace for a TV show, and it’s inevitable that things need to be altered and moved around.
The costuming is much stronger this season. Much like the Wheel of Time, it feels like the showrunners realised that colour existed. Suddenly characters wear reds, purples and greens instead of every shade of black and grey. The wigs are much more convincing and Nilfgaardian armour no longer looks strange and wrinkled, but golden and glorious. On top of this, some of the composition this season is much more varied. The colour grading is less murky than season 1 and it is easier to see what is going on. The location shooting features much more interesting scenery and shots. Kaer Morhen in particular is an excellent set, that evokes the imagery of the games but has enough of its own character not to be a poor copy.
The direction of the show seems greatly improved. There were some great set pieces in the first season, but a lot of the camera work seemed a bit too static. Now the camera seems to move much more organically, especially when following the point of view of monsters. The added light also means that much more of the shots are easy to see, so the camera work is no longer hidden under a darker filter. Even though the story has stayed as dark and dangerous, the show feels much more vibrant and less bleak than before.
The musical score is a bit more mixed. There are some really well scored scenes that lend dramatic weight, but other than the main theme which is still really strong, it feels a little underwhelming at times. There seemed to be less Slavic inspired sounds in the tracks this time. I’m not saying the score was bad by any means but I definitely preferred season 1. However, Jaskier’s new songs were a perfect addition, and I hope they find reasons to have Joey Batey sing every season from now on.
Speaking of the cast, Joey Batey was a highlight as he was last season. He manages to be a compelling character with a lot of empathy and a never-ending source of humour at the same time. Each moment he is on screen he brightens the mood. His singing also provides the show with a lot of personality. Henry Cavill was born to play Geralt. He understands the character intimately and seems to live and breathe the life of a Witcher. The writing also allows him to soften up Geralt quite a bit as he cares for Ciri and reconciles with both Jaskier and Yennefer. He has much more dialogue, and even cracks a smile on occasion. Anya Chalotra continues to be amazing as Yennefer, embodying the perfect mix of vulnerability and abrasive strength. This season gives Freya Allen a much stronger arc for Ciri, and allows us to see her really make the character her own. Freya is a very talented actor and the struggle Ciri goes through this season to deal with her dark side and fear allows for a lot of powerful moments. Allen rises to the occasion. The many additional side characters introduced this season are all strong choices, although some need more scenes to really shine in the future. Kim Bodnia provides an interesting take on the old witcher Vesemir; he seems weary of the deaths of his younger charges and almost as if he is struggling with depression. Overall, the cast is stronger than ever.
My impression finishing this season was that everything felt more confident. The actors felt more confident in their roles, the story choices seemed bolder, the visuals were massively improved. If it continues like this for each season, I’m excited. A show that gets better and better is infinitely preferrable to one that starts out perfect and slowly gets worse (cough, Game of Thrones). The wait for the second season of the Witcher was well worth it, and I’m eager for the next one. Hopefully it’ll be a shorter wait.
Major Cinephile 