Despite the popularity of "The Witcher" screenwriters should have considered that there are people that never read the original novels, nor played the video games. I am one of those people, I don't know anything about Geralt of Rivia and his world. Too many things were taken for granted, and I had to do a little research online, in order to get some things straight.

Season one fails to set the fantasy world and its rules, a lot of characters are introduced and never properly developed, some of them just disappear in a whiff. I couldn't understand why someone was important and why he or she was there in the first place. Moreover, there is definitely an exposition issue, as people speak about elements that I could not quite understand, because they were never properly explained. A few dialogues are exhaustingly long and do not add anything new to the story, if not repeating concepts that the audience already apprehended in previous episodes. Another problem is the narration: there are three different story lines that seem to happen parallelly, while in reality we are seeing events in an unchronological order; I understood that halfway through. By the end of the season you have a clear picture of the entire timeline. Still while I was watching it, I felt very confused. I think that they could have done something on the editing level, in order to help the audience visualize what was set in the present and what was a flashback.

With these premises I have approached the second season with much skepticism. Fortunately, a few issues were fixed: the story is more linear, so it is way easier to follow it. I have really appreciated Geralt and Cirilla and I loved how screenwriters developed these two characters. Their relationship is deepened and the lore is expanded. Cannot say the same about the Yennefer narration, which feels very unbelievable. She is used just as a filler to hit the one hour mark per episode. Her story is just too distracting and brings me away from the plot completely. The character became even more unbearable and I lost every faith in having something decent related to her in this show. In fact, I am a bit worried for the third season, now that the paths of the three protagonists finally conjoined.

Visual effects and CGI are overall good and Netflix managed to build quite a captivating world. Fighting scenes are well executed and the photography is neat, therefore from a technical perspective the series is valid. Henry Cavill practically dragged the show on his shoulders and he was convincing. Joey Batey is a good sidekick and he gives some funny moments here and there, taking the edge off. The rest of the cast is pretty mediocre: Anya Chalotra has pretty average acting skills. Yennefer, who is supposed to be one of the strongest mages of the Continent, needs to be constantly saved by the Witcher. Moreover, most of the time she acts like a spoiled teenager that is always seeking attention from others. Freya Allan has just one facial expression that carries for the whole series. I genuinely could not understand when she was sad, happy or scared. The soundtrack is varied, there are epic instrumental tracks and a few ballads that really immersed me in the story. Songs such as "Toss Your Coin to Your Witcher" and "Burn Butcher Burn" are really amazing.

The writing quality feels very inconsistent: there are some episodes that are amazing, while others are just lame. If you had previous exposure with this franchise and you are already familiar with its world, you will probably enjoy this show more than I did. If you are a newbie, I am afraid that you may find the experience slightly frustrating.