Witcher (Netflix)

[Mercurius]

I tried watching the 1st episode of season two last night and had no memory of what was going on. This tells me what I already knew: that, for me, the Witcher is thoroughly forgettable. I really found the first season meh. Or to put it on the "fantasy show spectrum":

Great: Game of Thrones
Good: Wheel of Time
Meh: Witcher
Bad: Shannara

 

[Argyle King]

I tried watching the 1st episode of season two last night and had no memory of what was going on. This tells me what I already knew: that, for me, the Witcher is thoroughly forgettable. I really found the first season meh. Or to put it on the "fantasy show spectrum":

Great: Game of Thrones
Good: Wheel of Time
Meh: Witcher
Bad: Shannara

Fair enough.

Different people have different tastes.

For me, I'm struggling to get through the first few episodes of Wheel of Time. In contrast, I found the first season of Witcher to be even more enjoyable during a second watching.

I haven't watched Shannara, so I can't comment on that.

I agree with Game of Thrones. (Though, I also agree with others that the last few seasons showed a noticeable drop in quality.)

This was mentioned earlier in this thread, but I laughed at the Witcher (season 2) episode in which Jaskier (the bard) gets into a debate about his songs with a sailor. It's the show making fun of itself a little bit while also poking fun at people on message boards which criticized season 1.

 

[Ryujin]

I haven't watched Shannara, so I can't comment on that.

I tend to think of it as "Elfstone: 90210."

 

[DeviousQuail]

I tend to think of it as "Elfstone: 90210."

I seem to hold Shannara in higher regard than most but this is the truest thing anyone has ever said about it.

 

[TheSword]

See I think the Witcher is brilliantly done, because it nails the three things that Wheel if Time struggles with.

1. All the main characters are likeable… Geralt, Yen, Ciri, Vesimir, Jaskier, Triss, Yarpen. Even a lot of the antagonists are likeable - Fringilla, Cahir, Tissaia, Stregobor, The elf king, etc. Even though it’s a grim and gritty world, it doesn’t mean everyone whose in it is an ass.

2. It’s funny. Genuinely funny. Jaskier is hilarious, And Geralts One liners are perfectly timed. This breaks up the tension and stops the show disappearing up its own ass as Wheel of Time does sometimes. What would the Lord of the Rings films be without Merry and Pippin lightening things. humour is needed.

3. The overall story is relatively simple. The short story framework of the original books fits a series well. So while they weave the series wide elements through it, you do get satisfying conclusions to events as they happen. They can get into the myth and world building by foreshadowing and revealing tidbits of information that build on each other. World building doesn’t just come out of no-where then disappear like Wheel of Time.

NB. Also Jaskier’s takedown of the guard fan who has some feedback on his songs is brilliant. Delivered so well!

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

See I think the Witcher is brilliantly done, because it nails the three things that Wheel if Time struggles with.

1. All the main characters are likeable… Geralt, Yen, Ciri, Vesimir, Jaskier, Triss, Yarpen. Even a lot of the antagonists are likeable - Fringilla, Cahir, Tussaia, Stregobor, The elf king, etc. Even though it’s a grim and gritty world, it doesn’t mean everyone whose in it is an ass.

2. It’s funny. Genuinely funny. Jaskier is hilarious, And Geralts One liners are perfectly timed. This breaks up the tension and stops the show disappearing up its own ass as Wheel of Time does sometimes. What would the Lord of the Rings films be without Merry and Pippin lightening things. humour is needed.

3. The overall story is relatively simple. The short story framework of the original books fits a series well. So while they weave the series wide elements through it, you do get satisfying conclusions to events as they happen. They can get into the myth and world building by foreshadowing and revealing tidbits of information that build on each other. World building doesn’t just come out of no-where then disappear like Wheel of Time.

NB. Also Jaskier’s takedown of the guard fan who has some feedback on his songs is brilliant. Delivered so well!

Yeah, my main complaint is the confusing Time-Skip in Season 1. Otherwise, I liked it and the new season a lot. I do think the Second Season is better, but I still liked the 1st season and its episodic format of short stories that it took from the books. It worked really well, IMO.

 

[TheSword]

Yeah, my main complaint is the confusing Time-Skip in Season 1. Otherwise, I liked it and the new season a lot. I do think the Second Season is better, but I still liked the 1st season and its episodic format of short stories that it took from the books. It worked really well, IMO.

I agree. Season 1 really rewards a second watch through which is nice as you pick up on much more stuff. Particularly as I didn’t know the books beforehand.

 

[Stalker0]

See I think the Witcher is brilliantly done, because it nails the three things that Wheel if Time struggles with.

1. All the main characters are likeable… Geralt, Yen, Ciri, Vesimir, Jaskier, Triss, Yarpen. Even a lot of the antagonists are likeable - Fringilla, Cahir, Tissaia, Stregobor, The elf king, etc. Even though it’s a grim and gritty world, it doesn’t mean everyone whose in it is an ass.

2. It’s funny. Genuinely funny. Jaskier is hilarious, And Geralts One liners are perfectly timed. This breaks up the tension and stops the show disappearing up its own ass as Wheel of Time does sometimes. What would the Lord of the Rings films be without Merry and Pippin lightening things. humour is needed.

3. The overall story is relatively simple. The short story framework of the original books fits a series well. So while they weave the series wide elements through it, you do get satisfying conclusions to events as they happen. They can get into the myth and world building by foreshadowing and revealing tidbits of information that build on each other. World building doesn’t just come out of no-where then disappear like Wheel of Time.

NB. Also Jaskier’s takedown of the guard fan who has some feedback on his songs is brilliant. Delivered so well!

I don't find number 3 too relevant to WOT so far. I get that the story in the books is 14 books long filled with crazy plot, but the plot of the tv show is actually very very simple. 5 chosen ones....one of them is the super chosen one. Got to figure out which one to kill the big bad, or the world ends.

Number 1 and 2 I definately agree with, especially 1. My biggest beef with WOT so far is that the acting is wooden, I don't really feel any chemistry between the characters, hell I just watched the first season and I still have trouble remembering their names. If Rosamund Pike wasn't there to take it up a notch every so often, it would be really bland at times.

Witcher on the other hands, the acting is wonderful. Yenn and Geralt have great chemistry together, and now so do Geralt and Ciri. there are some great moments between Jaskier and Yennifer in this season, and Vessemer brings a great presence.

 

[payn]

Season 1 of Witcher for me was meh, but season 2 moved it up to good. WoT is firmly in the meh category, but maybe it can get to good with a better paced season with better character development next time around.

 

[BrokenTwin]

Season 2 definitely feels stronger than season 1. Which I think is mostly due to the groundwork and necessary backstory stuff has all be laid at this point, so the show can just focus on giving us a strong story.

Also, Jaskier is great.