Pointless subplots, overused clichés, drawn-out scenes, soppy dialogues, irrational decisions, stupid motivations... How did it come to this? How did it come to such awful, lazy, uninspired writing? This season was so bad it's a fucking insult to the audience.
Been a fan of the graphic novels since my younger days and never thought I would actually see it in live action. I do have some nitpicks but as a whole it's a well-crafted season. Hope we get more and see the story in its entirety. I'm particularly looking forward to Season of Mists (Volume 4) and Ramadan (one-shot short story).
On a pure technical level, by which I mean everything that has to do with telling a story on screen, this season as a whole fails spectacularly. Bad writing, amateur directing, bland cinematography, messy editing, cheap effects, uninspired soundtrack. All the money in the world won't do a thing if you lack vision and/or basic knowledge on storytelling and filmmaking. This is my main gripe with this season and everything else stems from it.
Soulless is how I'd describe it. I simply don't feel the passion behind this project. It doesn't make me feel invested in this world or care about the people in it. It doesn't convey any kind of emotion through the screen. For contrast, in one episode of The Witcher's second season, I shed a couple of tears when Roach received a fatal wound and Geralt had to put her out of her misery. For a horse I barely knew ffs! WoT on the other hand doesn't make me feel anything at all; be it sadness, joy, anger, or anticipation. It comes off as hollow and sterile.
Acting is another issue. EF5 already suffers from bad writing and they don't have good acting chops either which makes their scenes cringy to watch. Seasoned actors/actresses do generally better but even Rosamund Pike doesn't seem fully invested in her character and every now and then gives a "wtf am I doing here" vibe.
On a semi related note, I really don't like the direction TV/streaming has been going for the past five years or so. I grew up on shows with 20-ish episodes per season which gradually got lesser over the years and here we are now stuck with bite sized shows specifically tailored and produced for binge watching/fast consumption. Don't get me wrong, it does work well for certain genres/stories, and I know WoT was released weekly but still, 8 episodes per season is nowhere near enough to properly adapt an epic fantasy story.
With all that said, I'm kinda curious to see whether or not the team will manage to fix the issues of the first season and where things will go from here story wise so I'll likely watch the second season as well.
Random tidbits:
- My favourite characters so far are Moiraine and Nynaeve followed by Lan and Thom.
- I'm a sucker for elemental magic so seeing fireballs and lightnings on screen is awesome.
- Aes Sedai, their politics and other similar conflicts in the wider world intrigue me more than EF5 youngsters.
- I already knew before watching who the dragon reborn was.
- This season made me lower my expectations for the upcoming Middle Earth show but who knows, it may just turn out amazing. Fingers crossed!
All that supernatural stuff aside, it was interesting to see how this guy affected those around him. I wonder where the story will go in the second season.
This was a fantastic season. Writing was top-notch. Great performances from everyone. And the story was wrapped up nicely. I hope they don't screw up in the second season.
My main issue with this season is the writing. I liked the different timelines converging at the end, but 1. Yennefer's arc was way too rushed and Ciri's arc was way too slow. 2. Geralt and Yennefer's relationship wasn't convincing. They met for the first time in episode 5 and were all lovey dovey in episode 6. We never saw them bond. There's a reason why the rule "show, don't tell" exists. 3. Geralt and Ciri's meeting at the end didn't have any emotional weight. Had they met in Brokilon for the first time, the hugging at the end would have been effective. And Ciri's first words to Geralt shouldn't have been "Who's Yennefer?" which was absolutely ridiculous. Geralt's "something more, much more" speech would have been perfect, but why they scrapped that despite naming the last episode "much more" is beyond me.
That being said, I enjoyed watching this season and am looking forward to the second one. It also made me want to read the books and play the games, so there's that. In fact, I installed and started playing the first game and will get the books as soon as possible.
Loaded with clichés and stereotypes. Misunderstandings, miscommunications, stupid decisions and motivations (or lack thereof) abound.
The first half of the season looked promising, but the second half went in a completely different direction. It was too much drama for drama's sake.
Kat grated on my nerves more often than not. Serena's actress clearly lacks acting skills, which made every scene she was in cringeworthy. Dasha was such a delight to watch. She's easily my favourite character and the actress did a great job.
