Season 1: (7/10) You have to go into this series without expectations. I was anticipating a dark horror series with impressive monsters and special effects so felt let down by the monster-of-the-episode format and poor monster design and special effects. Also it turned out to be more of a dark take on classic fairytales (I'm not a fan of retellings) but I did appreciate that the story had high fantasy elements (I love fantasy).

The story was both more complex than I was expecting because of the multiple timelines while at the same time being a fairly straight forward supernatural monster-killing fest without very clear world-building. I was often confused by character names and locations (a Game of Thrones-style opening credits featuring a map of the world would have been extremely helpful).

The performances are really what kept me engaged. Geralt is my favorite character by far and I am impressed by Henry Cavill's dedication to the role. I also enjoyed Yennefer's storyline. Unfortunately Ciri didn't have much to do in the season.

My biggest complaint is the disproportional amount of female nudity, usually there for no reason other than the showrunners shamelessly copying one of my least favorite elements of Game of Thrones.

Monster-of-the-episode format isn't as interesting to me as a season-long arc. However having seen and enjoyed season 2 I have decided to do a season 1 rewatch and am enjoying it much more than I did the first time around and am actually impressed with the story structure and easter eggs set up as early as episode 1.

Season 2: (8/10) Season 2 of The Witcher is a vast improvement over season 1 by having a more focused plot and exploring the humanity of Geralt through his relationship to Ciri. I loved everything involving Dad Geralt. Henry Cavill gives a great performance, showing off not only his weapons and fight training but also his acting chops, with some very emotional moments. Where I felt Ciri's storyline was lacking in season 1 she was much more of a central character this season and I really enjoyed her fight training and interactions with Geralt's "brothers". Jaskier is given a meatier role while still allowing him to bring much-needed comic relief and lightness to this very dark world. Yennefer didn't have as much to do this season as season 1 but I did get the most laughs from some of her one-liners and felt like hers was a more internal arc than some of the other characters by the very nature of her predicament. The special effects were much better this season, especially the creatures in the finale. I feel much more excited about Netflix's expanding Witcher universe, with Blood Origins coming out in 2022 and season 3 at some time in the future.