I love The Witcher games and books. So I was expecting a television series that invited other people to love this universe as much as I do. This isn't it. If you're anticipating sitting down with a significant other and inviting them into the world of the Witcher by watching a show, you will be disappointed, they will be confused to the point of annoyance.

If you haven't read a book or played a game, the show makes it painful to be a part of the universe by episode one, refusing to give viewers a map until almost 80% of the way through the series. In episode one characters are already discussing armies and nations fighting...again, if you've never been a part of the Witcher universe, where are these nations? Who are these nations, what do they stand for? These aren't touched on until far later in the story.

In shows like Game of Thrones or Harry Potter, the audience usually learns along as the children are being taught (Arya/Sansa for Game of Thrones and since Harry is a muggle we learn all about the wizarding world with him.) No such effort is given to viewers for Netfix's The Witcher. All of the reviews giving it a 10/10 are likely people who are diehard fans and would buy a steel cast model of Henry Cavil's face just because it said "Witcher" etched on the back. There are several storytelling issues and issues with the show in general:



There were good parts of this show!



In short, even as an enthusiast of the series, it would be difficult for me to sit through this a second time. Maybe I just had too high of expectations, but if you make a stand alone show, you shouldn't have to force your audience to sit through 30-40 hours of audiobooks (yes, books, plural) to follow along. Even fans of the Wild Hunt will be confused unless they are constantly firing up google between scenes. This isn't a great show BY ITSELF, and that's what reviews on IMDB are for.