Why are the first 5 episodes of The Witcher season three such a disappointment?

Before the third season began, fans of the series were divided into two camps – one worried that Henry Cavill would no longer be returning to the role of Geralt of Rivia, and the other hoped that the actor’s final season would be better. than the previous two

Unfortunately, we can now say that hopes were in vain. The average rating of the five episodes published on IMDB is only 6.4 points. Only the first series received a good rating (7.1), and the following series did not exceed “seven” in the rating. Another downside is that fans will have to wait almost a month for the final three episodes of the season – their release was only announced on July 27.

Why doesn’t The Witcher live up to expectations? The main reasons identified:

bad job of writers

Almost the entire third season of the viewer is accompanied by a complete disorientation – who are these people on the screen, why are they doing this, where were we and where are we now? Is this a flashback or a gift? The writers hardly care how comfortable the audience is with the show, trying to fit everything and more into screen time. That’s why we have an unbalanced narrative, a jagged rhythm of the series, and a desire not to linger with anything, just not to listen to the dialogues in the series: – “I don’t like him”, – “Yes. , you love him”, – “Yes, I love him”.

The characters also look frozen and see no reason to improve – only Anya Chalotra, who plays Yennefer, can be chosen from all of them. As if Anya has finally gotten used to her character and is pushing the series forward on her own, at least somehow, her motivation becomes clear. Buttercup turned from a cheerful womanizer to a gloomy emo with unacceptable behavior on the territory of the Russian Federation, Ciri suffers from puberty, Cahir walks uncertainly with an extremely serious face, and elves are so human that it is even embarrassing. The intriguing Dijkstra, talentedly portrayed by Graham McTavish, and the new character – Prince Radovid (Hugh Skinner), look like forgotten diamonds in a pit against their background.

Slow motion? in 2023?

But Henry Cavill in The Witcher is valued not for his talent but for his muscles and battle scenes – which, admittedly, has ceased to be entertaining. Cutting off heads and bleeding in slow motion? Really?

wrong post

Many copies have been broken on the internet in discussions about The Witcher’s uncertain cast. Almost all key characters are not like the original characters described in Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. And of course, racist arguments aside, then the fact is that castemasters don’t make up a cast that works like a single organism and has chemistry. The show looks like a disjointed utility performance of people with varying degrees of talent.

same monsters

Maybe all the money went to Cavill’s fee, otherwise we can’t explain in any way that all the monsters are the same gray thing spilling green slime. And those rare original creatures, not original at all – you can revisit the Human Centipede, for example.

Modernity and the Middle Ages

It also seems very strange how the obvious Middle Ages tried to flirt with the audience from the screen to the present. Now you have a message, followed by musicians who look more like One Direction than bards, then heroes begin a long psychotherapy. I remember the word about the panties and the cross, which I wanted to remind the entertainers.

So what’s so good about it?

Unfortunately almost nothing. But this:

— Yennefer of Vengerberg and her development

– A new costume designer that brings them to a fundamentally different level of quality

– Henry Cavill’s tight pants

– The hope that The Witcher will take on a new meaning with the new protagonist.

Speaking of which, appointing Liam Hemsworth doesn’t seem like such a bad decision – perhaps it will ease the burden of Cavill’s The Witcher fan off the writers’ shoulders. And there, you see, it will allow you to breathe new life into the project, which is dying under the weight of unfair expectations. True, removing the other half of the players from the roster wasn’t bad for that. But it’s something we dream about.