Netflix’ adaptation of the book series of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher Season 1 is streaming on Netflix now. Here’s what we think of it.
Enter The Witcher
After hanging up his Superman cape, Henry Cavill takes on the mantle of Geralt of Rivia aka The Witcher, the monster-slaying mutant from the medieval fictional world known as “The Continent”.
The first season mostly focuses on how Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), and Princess Cirilla of Cintra (Freya Allan) is bound together by their interlacing destinies.
One of the greatest medieval fantasy series, Game of Thrones, ended in 2019. And now, here comes The Witcher. A show that promises to be as good (if not better) than GoT. But, is it?
A Lot to Hate…
Hmmm…
Here’s a quiz. How many times did Geralt of Rivia say “Hmmm…” in the first season of The Witcher? Well, we don’t know the answer either but it’s probably more times than he needed to. Really though, Geralt did a lot of “Hmmm-ing” in this series. At first, we loved how Henry Cavill said it (sexily). But a few episodes more into the season, and the word keeps on repeating, it becomes a nuisance.
Oh, and destiny, yes destiny. Destiny is possibly the second most spoken word of the series (annoying at times). Then again, this season was more about getting our main characters meet each other through, you guessed it, destiny!
The first season is told in a non-linear fashion and there are multiple timelines shown in the series. For us, this gets a little confusing and in some parts the plot looked incoherent although everything becomes clearer towards the end.
…But A Lot More to Love
But there’s a lot more to love here, too.
Firstly, the fight scenes. There’s a lot of doubts going in on how the show will replicate Geralt’s (sword) fighting styles and we think it’s safe to say that the fight scenes are one of the things the show got perfectly right. Well-choreographed and nothing short of astonishing. But be warned, some scenes get really bloody and gruesome even so don’t watch this with your children, please!
Also, there’s Jodhi May’s Queen Calanthe, the strongest female ruler we’ve seen on TV. And, of course, there’s Anya Chalotra’s Yennefer of Vengerberg, whose dedication in her craft and eventual transformation complimented Cavill’s brawny Geralt perfectly.
Toss A Coin To Your Witcher
Then there’s fan-favorite Jaskier (Joey Batey), Geralt’s personal singer/biographer. His song “Toss a coin to your Witcher” is still stuck in our heads, and we know it’s in yours, too. It has already sprung a lot of covers on YouTube. Go ahead, just try searching for the song on YouTube and you’ll see hundreds of covers from different artists in the search results.
The show also introduces us to some new monsters and superpowers that are unique to the world of The Witcher. And, there’s so much more to look forward to in the series considering that the first season was more like an introduction to the new characters. Here’s hoping for a grander second season.
Skip or Watch?
The first season of Netflix’ The Witcher seems to be more of a backstory rather than a complete one but there is a lot of things to look forward to. And with season 2 set to be released in 2021, The Witcher is looking more and more like everyone’s obsession in the next few years.
VERDICT: WATCH!
Here is our rating for season 1 of The Witcher.
Let us know what you think of the series by giving it your own rating or commenting below.
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