The Witcher on Netflix: more like Dork Three Jackdaws

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1200 years before Geralt of Rivia, the worlds of monsters, men and elves merged into one, and the first Witcher came to be.

Announcing The Witcher: Blood Origin, a 6 part live-action The Witcher spin-off series from Declan de Barra and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich.

— NX (@NXOnNetflix) July 27, 2020

chonky floof (groovypanda), Monday, 27 July 2020 13:18 (three years ago) link

why am I psyched? why?

doorstep jetski (dog latin), Monday, 27 July 2020 13:56 (three years ago) link

They're doing a spinoff after only one season of the main series? That's gotta be a record or something.

Tuomas, Monday, 27 July 2020 22:47 (three years ago) link

I mean Spartacus did that, sort of, but they had a lead actor dying of cancer at the time.

the quar on drugs (Simon H.), Monday, 27 July 2020 22:49 (three years ago) link

one year passes...

Season 2 was... better, and I liked it, and will likely watch the next season, but I still get kind of a hollow feeling from the show. dialogue too functional, story elements too familiar from other fantasy. it avoids the confusion of S1, so that's a plus I guess

Vinnie, Wednesday, 22 December 2021 08:01 (two years ago) link

Watched S2E1 last night and it was a tremendous improvement on the first series which was, let's face it, a fun but confusing and undercooked mess. The scenes with Yen and Fringilla were still a bit ho-hum,
But the way they adapted Nivellen's story from the books so it included Ciri was excellent

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Wednesday, 22 December 2021 11:15 (two years ago) link

Through episode 3, not totally following the whole elf thing necessarily but it’s ok so far. Fight choreography hasn’t totally been as engaging as season 1 but also he’s basically only fought a tree and a bat so far. One hilarious moment that pulled me out of it briefly was Ciri “running” away from the monster in ep 3. Arms swinging, panting, and she’s barely moving at all. Never seen a slower run on camera. Idk made me chuckle.

Evan, Wednesday, 22 December 2021 11:25 (two years ago) link

Oh and a quick google and I stumble on the subreddit where the consensus very quickly appears to be that everyone is livid that they didn’t stick to the source material and perhaps regardless of that main gripe they all hate this season either way. So maybe it gets worse I guess I’ll find out.

Evan, Wednesday, 22 December 2021 11:30 (two years ago) link

I'm only three eps in, it seems better but also gets a bit cringey as soon as e.g elves turn up to chew scenery

They're continuing down their path of having a lot of the non-protagonist characters be turned into one-dimensional fanatics or outright morons

hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Wednesday, 22 December 2021 12:09 (two years ago) link

Yeah elves so far are overacting

Evan, Wednesday, 22 December 2021 12:59 (two years ago) link

Ciri “running” away from the monster in ep 3

Lord, she did a bad job at that. I also laughed

Vinnie, Wednesday, 22 December 2021 13:24 (two years ago) link

Fantasizing about a gif meme where a group of elderly mall walkers overtake her near that waterfall.

Evan, Wednesday, 22 December 2021 13:29 (two years ago) link

It also took me a couple episodes to figure out this show is going more for the tone of Xena than Game of Thrones.

i just started watching a few nights ago, and this was my take by the 2nd episode aswell.

FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 22 December 2021 16:35 (two years ago) link

In the middle of watching S2E2 with a slightly spinny Covidy head.

Yennefer gets kidnapped by elves - do we have to? I can't say I'm the biggest fan of Yen as a character in the game or the books - but they've done an especially bad job of depicting her in the show so far. I wonder if this is down to the script or down to the acting, but there's something especially wooden about a lot of the scenes, and Yen is the woodiest of them all.

Of course there's plenty of horrific acting and undercooked scripting in the rest of this show. The bit with the Cockney Witcher telling the anecdote about the farmhand was just... is this supposed to be a good bit? What were they going for there?

And yet I'm loving every campy minute of it
Luckily Leshen (or Leshy as they seem to be referred to in this show) are some of my favourite beasties in the game, so this should zhuzh things up a bit.

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Thursday, 23 December 2021 00:11 (two years ago) link

It might also be my watching comprehension but it's rare that I watch this show and have any more than 50% understanding of what the fuck is going on

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Thursday, 23 December 2021 00:22 (two years ago) link

OIC, Cockney Witcher is menst to be Lambert of "Lambert, Lambert, What a prick" fame

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Thursday, 23 December 2021 00:41 (two years ago) link

I mean I'm trying to follo this show but this is basically me at this point

https://frinkiac.com/meme/S09E03/541573.jpg?b64lines=IEJSSUxMSUFOVC4gSSBIQVZFCiBBQlNPTFVURUxZIE5PIElERUEgV0hBVCdTCiBHT0lORyBPTi4g

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Thursday, 23 December 2021 04:58 (two years ago) link

The monsters don't get an enormous amount of screentime in this do they? There's a lot of build up and then they're thwarted fairly easily after about five minutes. Unfortunately, because the show expects you to already kind of know who people like Eskel and Vesemir are, you don't get much of a chance to get to know them very well before they either turn into a monster or nearly get killed by one.
I had absolutely no fucking clue what was going in that Baba Yaga hut. No idea at all, and I've played the whole Witcher 3 game and the DLCs and read like one and a half of the books

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Thursday, 23 December 2021 09:10 (two years ago) link

Thats the bit I was confused by too!

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Thursday, 23 December 2021 10:32 (two years ago) link

Holy shit I 100% read that as “Baby Yoda hut”.

Evan, Thursday, 23 December 2021 11:12 (two years ago) link

From what I gather, having read all of the books or played all of the games does not particularly inoculate anybody from having no idea what exactly they're going for with this

hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Thursday, 23 December 2021 11:37 (two years ago) link

Just saw the running away scene lol

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Monday, 27 December 2021 23:56 (two years ago) link

I don't know what it is with this show, that clearly had a fair budget put into it, that the makers don't seem fussed about whether it looks like you're watching something filmed in a TV studio. Yennefer and her sorcerer pals look like they're all dressed up for a night on the raz at Pryzm. And there's one king character who looks like a middle manager who's turned up at a medieval banquet reenactment. It feels like it's being done on purpose, like some avantgarde post-Brechtian method. But it's played absolutely straight. I can't tell if it's smirking to itself sometimes:

"What do you call a Witcher with no brains?"
(Ciri walks past) "Lambert"
"Now she's funny"

I'm not expecting Tyrion Lannister in S2 Game of Thrones here, but is this meant to be a bit shit-on-purpose, or is it really the best the writers could throw together for this scene?

Absolutely loving every minute of it though. I can't lie.

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Tuesday, 28 December 2021 00:15 (two years ago) link

my sense is it’s 100% in on the joke

poster of sparks (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 28 December 2021 17:58 (two years ago) link

I'd say so. But lately I've come to feel this way about a lot of Netflix productions and it's proving to be a personal bugbear: I'm rarely immersed enough to suspend my own belief about what I'm seeing. Midnight Mass was another offender, and I know that wasn't aiming for some sort of postmodern irony, it's just that the whole thing gave off a hollow, scripted vibe. You wouldn't have got this in the last golden age of television, certainly not with peak-era Game of Thrones, which was dazzlingly well produced and scripted; or even Stranger Things, which did postmodernism very well.
There's also this production patina that covers over a lot of Netflix shows (maybe not so much The Witcher, but certainly things like Brand New Cherry Flavour, Midnight Mass etc) reminiscent of the Michael Bay Orange & Teal aesthetic of the 2000s. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it'll become very obvious when observed in retrospect in years to come: i.e. "That definitely showed on Netflix c2020"

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Tuesday, 28 December 2021 20:43 (two years ago) link

So checked the subreddit again for community consensus (I don't know how to look up stuff like that anywhere else) and found a criticism I agree with:

Every scene is written like it’s the most dramatic moment in that person’s life up until that point. No one speaks like a normal person or has a single normal conversation. Everything is either a huge life lesson, exposition or world building.

In general the level of production you mentioned dl, the acting quality etc. all does feel as Vinnie said closer to Xena with 2021 technology and a Netflix budget than anything scanning "golden age" like early-mid GoT.

Evan, Tuesday, 28 December 2021 21:02 (two years ago) link

I've never seen Xena but that's like some low budget early-evening 90s stuff isn't it? Not aiming high for a high rating Netflix show I must say.
It's also got a bit of a Lynch's Dune vibe, in every way that it is a disjointed, corny, overblown hot mess that is nevertheless charming and incredibly watchable despite it all

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Tuesday, 28 December 2021 22:28 (two years ago) link

or maybe… they’re hitting exactly the target they want to hit? you want classy, go bore yourself to death with Wheel of Time lol

poster of sparks (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 28 December 2021 23:17 (two years ago) link

Sure, sure. I have nothing against a bit of corny fun. That said, it's played so straight and the narrative is often so wilfully, deeply confusing that it doesn't code as such. But yes I'm enjoying it loads all the same, just bamboozled by it a lot of the time

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Tuesday, 28 December 2021 23:20 (two years ago) link

three weeks pass...

TUSKED PIGMAN

mark s, Wednesday, 19 January 2022 19:46 (two years ago) link

I haven't watched the whole of the series yet but I know how it ends: Geralt dies falling off a four foot wall

Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Friday, 21 January 2022 10:45 (two years ago) link

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2021 season is nominated in the ILX TV poll, with voting ending this weekend:

ILX's Best Television of 2021 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 31, 2022

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (3 minimum, 25 maximum, ranked by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail. It'll take five minutes; get to it!

i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 26 January 2022 20:57 (two years ago) link

eleven months pass...

Anyone watched/watching Blood Origin?

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 3 January 2023 05:12 (one year ago) link

delighted by the appearance of Dylan Moran in Ep3 … also by general presence of Lenny Henry who now has a late stage career as earthy “magic dude” i guess (he was also in Rings of Power)

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 3 January 2023 05:18 (one year ago) link

Watched the first two episodes and it seems ropey as fuck?

The narration is particularly bad and it's not quite sticking the fun/humour of the original so far

groovypanda, Sunday, 15 January 2023 20:00 (one year ago) link

yeahh it was a bit lackluster overall… found it hard to care abt anyone much until Meldof showed up

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 15 January 2023 20:32 (one year ago) link

six months pass...

So rumours now there might not be a season 4 after all. Poor Liam.

Meanwhile, latest season getting review bombed in the usual places (by, I assume, the usual people) but it seemed to include quite a lot of plot from the books (which appears to be their main beef). It just wasn't particularly good.

groovypanda, Sunday, 30 July 2023 20:41 (nine months ago) link

it took a while for me to get back into the first half but i’m looking forward to the new episodes now that all the place-setting is (hopefully) done

and i would much rather have NO witcher than a replacement for Cavill ESPECIALLY a fucking lameass lesser-helmsworth honestly good riddance to that stupid idea

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 30 July 2023 21:53 (nine months ago) link

like fucking spin it off with any of the other main cast members & it would still be good imo

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 30 July 2023 21:54 (nine months ago) link

Am I the only one who found it hard to give much of a shit with S3? It felt like Cavill desperately wanted out and was phoning in his lines. I continued to have no idea who the bad guys were, so found every battle scene completely confusing. I didnt actually mind the Ciri has her Job moment in the desert ep and was suprised it got such a low IMDB rating.

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, 31 July 2023 04:46 (nine months ago) link

No you weren’t the only one. The whole 3rd season just slid right off my mind like rain on a windshield

realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Monday, 31 July 2023 05:31 (nine months ago) link

yeahhhh it was definitely a bit bemusing

also between Yennefer’s airy lisping and Cavill’s growling mumbles i felt like i could absolutely not understand anythinb the two of them said to each other lol

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 31 July 2023 06:16 (nine months ago) link

Oh yeah all these shows get subbies without a 2nd thought for me (this, Foundation, Trek). Anything with mumbling or ornate language or a lot of info.

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, 31 July 2023 11:38 (nine months ago) link

We have eight budgies and the ac is running so every show gets subtitles without exception

realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Monday, 31 July 2023 13:21 (nine months ago) link

We have 2 teenagers who love to talk loudly 10 feet from the TV lol.

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, 31 July 2023 22:40 (nine months ago) link

Lol
At least with the budgies I can turn the light out

realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Monday, 31 July 2023 23:37 (nine months ago) link

Shame this show didn't work better. It does feel like a missed opportunity. I'm such an enormous fan of the game, and to a much lesser extent the books.

But I dropped off about a third of the way through S2, baffled by the constant spacetime switching, disillusioned by much of the acting, jank production values, odd pacing, and an overall feeling of hollowness through the whole thing - like it could almost definitely have been good had they made and avoided certain stylistic choices.

That said, the Nivellen episode was actually so great (it's also one of the better Witcher short stories) and it really raised my hopes for that season. But after a couple more epidosdes it started falling apart and dragging very hard.

If someone can convince me to carry on with it, I will.

But while we're talking video games with a complicated sense of time and space, I would watch the hell out of an Elden Ring TV series done in this way - mad timeline switching, slightly janky production, overwrought acting - it would all very much suit the FromSoft aesthetic and it would be fun to see a dramatised version of events leading up to the game itself

Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Tuesday, 1 August 2023 11:53 (nine months ago) link

Was nivellen the lonely animal guy in his castle? That’s what I wanted from this show.

realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 1 August 2023 13:37 (nine months ago) link

yeah that's right, Beauty & the Beast basically

Stomp Jomperson (dog latin), Tuesday, 1 August 2023 13:40 (nine months ago) link


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