Junk-Food TV: The Witcher S02

 

Image: Netflix

The Witcher is one of those rare occasions where the games actually do it better than the on-screen adaptation. 

Full disclosure, my comparisons are limited to the games as I haven't read the books. But even putting aside everything witcher for a moment, it has become abundantly clear that this show isn't made for anything beyond fluff, surface-level entertainment. 

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The first season of The Witcher remains the only show I have, and ever will, binge-watch in my entire life. I came out of it tired, groggy and with a headache. I have no idea how bingeing has become so popular the world over and all these media outlets push 'new shows to binge this January.' I remain convinced that binge-watching is the new smoking.

But I digress. While the first season felt a tad bit convoluted for no good reason, surprisingly enough stripping the show of that factor and forcing it into a linear storyline feels like a steep drop in terms of quality. 

The Writing 

I wouldn't call it atrocious, but it borders on the ludicrous at times, and not in the good way. For some reason, the writing team thought it would be hilarious to refer to an antagonist simply as 'fire fucker.' But this is done in all seriousness by the cast, without a hint of underlying humour. 

The Witcher throws all logic out the window with this second season, and a lot of sequences are simply there to set up what I call the saviour moment. You know, the scene where someone magically shows up to save the day with a throwaway explanation for how they got there in the first place, while common sense turns in its grave. 

Image: Netflix

'Why don't you lighten up some?' you say. 'It's okay to take things at face value and just enjoy the show at times.' 

And that I would be perfectly fine with, were the show not trying to so hard to pitch itself as the new hit mature fantasy on the block.

Every single action serves to move the narrative forward; in the right hands, this is a good thing of course. But here, it seems bland and boring. The cliffhangers at the end of each episode feel forced, a desperate plea from the showrunners to not miss out on the next episode. 

Compare this to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The writing was leagues better than the show. Narrative and character development were handled in a nuanced way, and the game made a great deal of the fact that everything in the world of The Witcher is painted in shades of gray. There were no good/evil binaries there, every character's actions were born out of their own complex motivations. 

The Characters

While the show tries to mimic this last part, it barely manages to scratch the surface. Ciri wants to be a witcher as she craves safety in a dangerous world and revenge against those who destroyed Cintra. Yennefer is taunted by the Deathless One after losing her powers, and would apparently go to any lengths to get them back. Geralt has found a daughter in Ciri and would do anything to keep her safe.

Nothing further is explored as to who these people are, and how their beliefs affect their interactions with the people around them and the world at large. I believe that good TV prioritizes the people at its core, and then crafts their actions and storylines based on who they are. In the world of The Witcher, all characters are driven by little more than singular aims established early on. 

Though these two shows are nothing alike, watching The Witcher made me realize what mastery the Mad Men writing team had at their craft to keep me enthralled with the life of a philandering ad man in the 60s. When it comes to writing believable, fleshed-out humans, the care with which the characters are breathed life into is in sharp contrast with the shallow exploration in The Witcher. That's a shame considering the wealth of lore they have at their disposal. 

Image: AMC

The Cinematography

One of the few parts of the show that I genuinely appreciated were the aerial cinematic shots, from Kaer Morhen to Aretuza, that perfectly captured the aesthetic of this world as I have come to imagine it.  

Image: Netflix

Conclusion

The junk food of fantasy TV. You know they cut corners making it, but it doesn't matter because it looks good and takes little to no effort ingesting. Skip it if you're short on time and would rather prefer to watch something thoughtful and well-written. I hear Station Eleven is good, so expect a review sometime in the future.