THE WITCHER (S:1): Satisfying And Well-Told

The people demanded a few things: honesty, a new father for the orphans left after Game of Thrones, blood, sword-swinging, and heroism. We’ve got that – I could exclaim, but this shout is certainly less powerful than I assumed. The first season of The Witcher from Netflix turned out to be a satisfying, well-told series, but I would rather point out right away: the emotions do not jump like during the best episodes of the aforementioned HBO production.

It is dense, atmospheric, and engaging, but at the same time, one can feel that this new hero of screen pop culture still needs to mature a bit. To wander around the world, tell us more about his past, and make us fall in love with him just like the book and video game versions did. The production, although not without flaws, gives hope that soon, when we think of Geralt of Rivia, we will have only this version in mind.

The plot throws us deep into a world of magic and monsters, yet it feels surprisingly familiar, as it is a combination of stories from the saga and the games. What had to be added to the tale is kept in the atmosphere of the original, and what was taken directly from it impresses with its scope, as if all the elements omitted (and even silenced) in earlier adaptations were given a second chance.

At some point, when the threads from the saga, familiar monsters, and characters pass across the screen, we realize that this series walks on very steady legs. They may not yet be the legs of a giant, but the calves are solid. For example, the characters of Yennefer and Ciri gain not only new faces and backstories but are simply as important to the plot as the titular hero.

And this is where the writers’ craftsmanship lies, because they managed to create a story that contains all the tropes that made Sapkowski’s book a great piece of travel literature, but also leads us, after the third episode, into previously uncharted territory. Sometimes it works excellently on screen, especially when we visit places not generated by computers. There are, however, moments when the vision would require slight corrections. Not only in terms of making the action more dynamic (which sometimes drags), but also in the computer graphics.

For a series in which a lot of fighting and traveling happens (and which also jumps a bit in the chronology of events), we have here a surprisingly large amount of calm, sincere conversations, and relationship-building that can truly resonate only in serial form. I am satisfied with the choices of time and setting, as well as the fact that the showrunner and directors wanted very much to show off the diversity of the created universe, but it is pleasant to see elements that differ slightly from other representatives of the genre.

The Slavic atmosphere, so much demanded by the fans, is interestingly suspended between Western dark fantasy and the series Vikings, yet there are moments when we can see that stylistically, the series was also inspired by Slavic mythology. In terms of the created world, The Witcher seems at least coherent, and that’s exactly the point.

The biceps of Henry Cavill, who clearly understands his character, are not a cheap armor meant to hide a lack of depth. It must be said that his Geralt is competent, tough, but also sensitive. Cavill had not previously played such characters, so it’s good to see that he understands what this time is about.

Geralt is a tank and a virtuoso of the sword, but we get to look into his soul a few times, so the directions his development might take are intriguing. Beside him stands an equally important Anya Chalotra, portraying a modernized, more dangerous, younger version of Yennefer. Her slowly built relationship with Geralt is deliberate but has nothing clichéd about it.

The Witcher is thus a successful series, without major aspirations, but with great potential for improvement. It seems very interesting to see where this story will go in the near future, as the main core of the plot smells of pages from Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels. Geralt walks this path, but slowly, gaining autonomy with each passing minute. And it is precisely this full revelation of autonomy that I am waiting for.