Bait and switch. A term most will be familiar with. I can't help but think this is what has happened here.
We, the poor viewers, were baited in with a major star, the promise of action, adventure and monster hunting and then, after throwing some token bones to us, the switch happened!
Out went action, adventure and monsters, and in came politics, talking and dullness. Out went the major star, and in came the focus on other characters who are not the Witcher.
Given what I've read of the comments by the production team, I'm pretty certain this was planned out right from the start. It's almost like they thought we wouldn't notice the drop in quality, or the focus on unimportant side characters to the detriment of the main character.
It never ceases to amaze me, in this "new age" of movie and TV production, just how wrong these people get it. The worst part of it all is that they absolutely never learn anything from their failings. It's always the viewers fault, not theirs. Or in this case, a "difficult" star. They keep doing the same things over and over expecting that, next time, things will be different. But it never is. It never is.
So, The Witcher became The Witches. A plot focused on a side story to The Witcher tale that no one asked for, or wanted. So is it any good?
Well, no. I suspect the showrunners were hoping to make the next Game of Thrones with their faction strife and politics, but they didn't manage that. Game of Groans, more like. Increasingly dull machinations between the sorcerors and mages, whilst the looming, and more interesting, threat of Nilfgaard is mostly sidelined.
Speaking of sidelined... Poor old Henry Cavill. Season 3 has him mostly do absolutely nothing. It has him beaten in a fight by a mage with a stick. Beaten so badly in fact that he spends the last two episodes lying around moping in a bed. It has him cry at one point and erm... yeah. Like I said, not a lot else.
You know, after watching The Witcher: Blood Sausage, I consoled myself that at least The Witcher couldn't ever get that bad. Now, I'm beginning to think that I was wrong.
Along with the bad story choices (a whole episode is devoted to Ciri wandering around in a desert) the editing is pretty janky. Either that, or I micro-napped through a scene transition and missed something, but characters seem to be all over the place. It makes little sense.
I also really don't know why they bothered to hire Liam Hemsworth to replace Geralt because I doubt he'll have much to do if the current production staff have anything to say about it.
So now the wait for season 4...in 2025! Is anyone still going to care about this show that far out? Will anyone have even a faint chance of remembering what was going on? Does it matter? Not really, because I suspect it won't get to season 4.
Netflix will can it and everyone will wring their hands, blame the writer's strike, and the fans, and whatever other form of copium they huff to get them through the day and no doubt all involved will get promotions and move on to mess up some other IP.
So long Witcher, we barely knew you.
SUMMARY: Went downhill faster and more clumsily than Eddie the Eagle. Not so much The Witcher as The Witches now. At least we'll always have the books and games. This effort, honestly, is best forgotten.
We, the poor viewers, were baited in with a major star, the promise of action, adventure and monster hunting and then, after throwing some token bones to us, the switch happened!
Out went action, adventure and monsters, and in came politics, talking and dullness. Out went the major star, and in came the focus on other characters who are not the Witcher.
Given what I've read of the comments by the production team, I'm pretty certain this was planned out right from the start. It's almost like they thought we wouldn't notice the drop in quality, or the focus on unimportant side characters to the detriment of the main character.
It never ceases to amaze me, in this "new age" of movie and TV production, just how wrong these people get it. The worst part of it all is that they absolutely never learn anything from their failings. It's always the viewers fault, not theirs. Or in this case, a "difficult" star. They keep doing the same things over and over expecting that, next time, things will be different. But it never is. It never is.
So, The Witcher became The Witches. A plot focused on a side story to The Witcher tale that no one asked for, or wanted. So is it any good?
Well, no. I suspect the showrunners were hoping to make the next Game of Thrones with their faction strife and politics, but they didn't manage that. Game of Groans, more like. Increasingly dull machinations between the sorcerors and mages, whilst the looming, and more interesting, threat of Nilfgaard is mostly sidelined.
Speaking of sidelined... Poor old Henry Cavill. Season 3 has him mostly do absolutely nothing. It has him beaten in a fight by a mage with a stick. Beaten so badly in fact that he spends the last two episodes lying around moping in a bed. It has him cry at one point and erm... yeah. Like I said, not a lot else.
You know, after watching The Witcher: Blood Sausage, I consoled myself that at least The Witcher couldn't ever get that bad. Now, I'm beginning to think that I was wrong.
Along with the bad story choices (a whole episode is devoted to Ciri wandering around in a desert) the editing is pretty janky. Either that, or I micro-napped through a scene transition and missed something, but characters seem to be all over the place. It makes little sense.
I also really don't know why they bothered to hire Liam Hemsworth to replace Geralt because I doubt he'll have much to do if the current production staff have anything to say about it.
So now the wait for season 4...in 2025! Is anyone still going to care about this show that far out? Will anyone have even a faint chance of remembering what was going on? Does it matter? Not really, because I suspect it won't get to season 4.
Netflix will can it and everyone will wring their hands, blame the writer's strike, and the fans, and whatever other form of copium they huff to get them through the day and no doubt all involved will get promotions and move on to mess up some other IP.
So long Witcher, we barely knew you.
SUMMARY: Went downhill faster and more clumsily than Eddie the Eagle. Not so much The Witcher as The Witches now. At least we'll always have the books and games. This effort, honestly, is best forgotten.