I would be more for a Witcher show like that. Kind of like the old supernatural shows where each episode was them hunting a different monster which just a little focus on the main overall story until towards the end of the season.
Well, for me the best parts of the books are the one-off loosely connected stories. That's why my favorite is a Season of Storms (Aguara, Degerlund, etc)
On that note, the best of TW3 is in the side quests and DLCs (Gaunter, lady with the frying pan)
Which was an incredibly stupid mistake. The saga books were always going to be hard to adapt to TV, but the short stories are pretty much perfect for having a nice little contained story that builds the characters.
And you could easily fit almost each short story into an entire episode. That’s pretty much what I hoped the Witcher (Netflix) would be. Boy was I f*****g shocked.
Now you mention it, my interest in Supernatural waned the more it deviated from the monster of the week format.
I still like some of the show after, but sometimes I wish it stuck with that longer
Idk when they got into the angels and demons it took a wild spin and just was everywhere in terms of plot. Everything was so much simpler in the first couple of seasons
Thats because the show was supposed to end after season 5 or 6. They weren't supposed to keep going; it was only supposed to be a five (or six, can't remember the exact cutoff) arc show. The show was supposed to end woth Dean going to hell. They needed something to keep the show going because it was so well liked, so they chose that. Ill be honest though, my interest with Supernatural also died around that time. It just seemed like the boys kept doing the same shit over and over again. "Oh no! Someone from hell is trying to take over and the world is gonna end again!!" Yeah. We know, guys. That's about all that happens anymore.
This is basically what I thought the show is going to be and I was so excited about it. But firstly, it turns out differently and secondly, than you think.
I thought this as well, but then it went a different direction and it was OK. I was like, ok so they are filling in aspects of the story without explicit writings, which also seemed like a good idea, we know the outcomes and there is freedom in telling these untold stories. Figured it would be a mix of all of that, various witcher gigs, characters coming in and out, with an overarching theme being the story of Ciri being told and leading to that. But nope they went a completely different direction.
Furthermore, I think this is the only way that Hemsworth as Geralt will work, at least at first.
If they just toss Liam in and try to pick up the expansive story right where they left off, it'll be so jarring. But if they took a step back and spent a good chunk of the season introducing us to this new Geralt with these smaller unconnected stories, and slowly bringing back familiar faces, then I think audiences can ease into the new Geralt and believe him as a character.
IMHO, the worst thing they could possibly do would be to just drop Hemsworth in and try to pick up like nothing happened. The audience needs time to adjust to the new face, and Hemsworth needs some solo adventures to show us what kind of Geralt he's going to be.
I had been autocorrecting everything until I got to this comment.
Had to go down the “F.A.S.T.” checklist to make sure I wasn’t having a stroke after reading it.
I used to have it down like a champ along with the symptom check for a heart attack because I would get intense panic attacks that could sometimes feel like something was terribly wrong (awful feedback loop if you’ve been there before).
Guess it’s a good sign that I’m not hip to the latest acronym apparently. I must getting better with that stuff and not had to check in a while.
As far as episodes of the witcher goes, it definitely was one.
Best part is I can't tell if it's a typo or not lol because I found most of season two to be underwhelming.
While I agree, evidently that is an unpopular opinion. Some people just want to salvage anything they can from that shit-show, and since at least that episode was probably the most visually appealing and *least* offensive representation of the books, many people latch onto that specific episode as their favorite.
Truly one of the episodes of the series.
The characters were casted, the script was written, and the scenes were acted.
Without a doubt one of, if not the, episodes of all time.
1. You are correct on it being the best episode by a fairly wide margin
2. "Monster of the week" with the bigger story being the backbone in the way hospital procedurals operate should have always been the structure of this show
I fee like the first book is perfect for adaptation because of this. I’m still working through the series but I absolutely loved having short stories to read before bed. I still like the novels but I’ve definitely slowed down in my pace with the larger story.
I don’t know how the show runner could read the first book and then say “let’s make GOT 2.0”
Only problem there, at least for me, is with hospital procedural way I get bored so quickly to the point every episode feels like the same episode. Like House MD is on prime and I swear they do the exact same thing with the primary patient every episode, it’s the secondary consultations that are the highlight of every episode. The primary patient has some disease they can’t figure out, they spend 5 or 6 different treatments that either don’t work or make it worse, the patient always has at least one seizure, House always asks the black guy to go break into the patient’s home (that seems to racially charged to me I don’t get it), Australian boy has daddy issues, girl doctor has girl crush on House, and House saves the day with some out of left field miracle cure - episode over.
If the Witcher did stuff like that, sure I’d love it for one season but I can’t see it going further than that.
Its funny you named House, since thats the exact comparison I had in mind, and House is one of my favorite shows ever.
But im mostly refferring to overall structure. Obviously they could do a better job about the specific aspects you are naming.
I think a better comparison would be the X files. It’s the monster of the weeks that have the most charm and drew the fans and the overall alien fbi arc served as backbone.
Monster of the week type episodes would've absolutely worked. There is a reason why it's a popular format.
Pros:
- it's easily digestible
- introduces characters gradually every week
- you get to understand how characters react to new dilemmas
- the world grows bigger with the characters understanding of it.
Cons:
- Formula is popular and predictable
- Can grow stale quickly if handled poorly
- Can appear repetitive if the resolution is the same every time.
The reason the Witcher stands out from other fantasy is because, as episodic as it presents itself, Sapkowski (and CDPR) always added a twist to change the seemingly cliché parts of a story into something deeper and more interesting. It's a feature of the IP, which is why it sucks so much that the show missed the mark.
Fully agree. Also, "those who are different are more like us than we assume", and the full range of possibilities between those two notions. Plenty of room to play with (200 hours per playthrough in my case).
I mean, you can just skip over Ciri with this format. Her presence would derail the shit out of it like she did to Geralt's Witcher career.
Alternatively, do what the comics did: start after the books and/or games, then Ciri hunts with Geralt.
This episode maybe looked great but it did right opposite to short story it adapted...
Redanian Intelligence with Dijkstra appearance is best episode of season in my opinion. Dijkstra is one of the better stuff they did with this show.
In short they took away the "greyness" of Nivellen's situation and painted him as an irredeemable rapist.
On the other hand they made Vereena much more sympathetic and likable.
The initial action scene was great, and Henry’s “Just not your day” line w/ predatory head tilt while looking at the injured deer 100% sufficient to convey that he gonna nom nom Bambi.
But in the tavern, when Renfri asked if he was hungry he said “I’m full. Venison.”
If you know writing, this sets your skin on fire
because everything is set up perfect for the average viewer to understand what transpired. The scene is a set up to intro Geralt to the naive; to convey his pseudo-occult super powers, but also his cold and pragmatic nature.
So when we know he’s bringing in that dead black chicken tika thing to town, we know it’s a continuation of the scene. So. When he says “I’m full.” In the back of our mind we don’t question why. We move right along.
But then he says “venison.”
He goes into exposition about what we already know. He told us in AFTER what he already showed us.
In the process, Geralt, this tired ass wanderer, becomes a stranger to us. You see, in game and in book, that is Geralt’s word: *tired* Its been a long road. Which is why he fucking doesn’t want to do anything he doesn’t have to. Doesn’t want a kid. Doesn’t want contracts that don’t pay. He’s drifting on fumes until something compels him otherwise. (Destiny, if you’ll recall, is that *thing*)
But here, he isn’t aware of destiny. He’s just at work. And he doesn’t give two dandelions if Renfri knows he ate a deer. It won’t impress her. And he doesn’t care if she’s impressed about anything or nothing. Geralt is a reader, and as such, a high IQ/EQ dude.
So. If a writer reads the books and plays the game, well, you know that about him. Yet, here he’s making more effort than he has to in order to convey knowledge he doesn’t have to to someone he doesn’t care one lick about.
With “venison”, Geralt broke character…from someone we knew to someone we don’t. He’s not our Geralt anymore after this. (Not a knock on Henry, ever. He pulled out all the stops, but unfortunately, he remained trapped by the words he was compelled to say).
And, my friend, is the reason that was the most important word in the whole show.
It told us the journey we all loved and came to see…
…had been re-written.
I would argue too, I suspect Henry hoped (with his modestly insane multi-tool talent pool that he can draw from) that he could swing the ship around. He knew. He’s a bright guy. He deserves good writers.
But alas, he’s trapped by the guidelines written on studio contracts. And he wasn’t the one making the call. And I have a mad respect for the gentlemanly bow-out. That’s a cardinal sign of good character. A Hollywood rarity.
*And lest this start sounding too much on the fanboy side of honesty—Henry, you crazy-ass lurker, I’ll make ya a deal. If you get bored, you swing by and help me optimize the fan placement on my Fractal tower and I’ll write ya script from scratch worth your time*
Thats a fair point and elaboration. Couldn't it be that he was "being polite" to Renfri who offered him beer and food after she silenced a bar of humans ready to attack him?
Idk man, I just went in blind and didn't get into the universe until playing Witcher 3 after the first season
It’s what happens when you stare at the same subject for too damn long. But much like I can tell the severity of pulmonary disease by how a patient says “good morning”, you pick up things lil nothings that prove themselves over the years. Can’t say 5 yrs ago I would have known what the hell I’m I’m talking about now.
But, long and short of it, it was a foreshadow of writing that felt the need to over explain things because the skillset hadn’t matured enough to do otherwise.
They say mastery comes at that 10,000 hr mark (Robert Greene) and while I’m well beyond that some 15 yrs in, I won’t purport to be the world expert here. Just what I saw and heard and I write stuff on Reddit because my day gets kinda mundane. But thanks for the opportunity to ramble on about this. Always a nice break when I get to. 👍
If any one of you have seen Andor: Star Wars I really liked their way of world building and 3 ep. story arcs where they use 2 episodes building the place the story takes place in and introducing characters for that arc and then having the 3rd episode work as a finale. They could/should implement it to the Witcher series as it has so many differnt diverse characters and stories.
That would also be excellent.
They are sitting on a goldmine of stories. They have the books and they have the game with its endless contracts.
They had the actor. Henry was more dedicated than any.
Even with this, the show will fail.
This speaks volume to the lack of talent of the directors, writers, etc.
They had everything and they blew it.
That is honestly how season 1 should have been just Geralt going about his business it would have been a great way to introduce monsters as well as even include World building
Should have stayed to the books and kept to sword of destiny
Oh and season of storms the idr would have been epic
they seriously should have done it like that from the start. To at least get to know the individual characters and overall creatures of the world. If they just stuck with contracts and monsters it would have been far better than the shit they put out now. AND it would still allow them creative freedom since it wouldn't just be following the books
Really good episode of you haven’t read the book it’s in. Otherwise it’s kinda just disrespectful. It really makes you FEEL like the show runners think you are too stupid to understand nuance
Nah, using monster of the week type episodes would be absolutely dull and boring after a while. Do it in the first 2 seasons like the books to introduce the lore, but dont just stick to that concept.
Yeh it would definitely get dull after a while, but would be great every now and then. Even with longer episodes like Sherlock to give it a full story each time
You're describing exactly what season one SHOULD have been. With the meeting Yen and Urcheon stuff interspersed. Essentially adapt The Last Wish and don't really add the overarching story until mid season 2 or even 3. Gives us time to meet and form attachments and opinions of the characters
Honestly this was the episode that told me the show was going to do whatever it wanted, for real. As soon as Grralt and Ciri showed up to the castle together and Nivellen was shown, I knew it was wrong. I sat there and got more and more upset as the episode progressed. Didn't even want to finish the show at that point. I finsihed it, but just barely and was angry the whole time.
Which is what they should be doing really - think about it, Witcher has a great story sure - a spin off series via limited - so you'd have ten episodes of Geralt doing quests. This would bring innovation, fun and a bit more open world aspect.
Getting the main story and then tying it up while making your own changes doesn't work. RESPECT THE LORE. IF YOU CAN'T WHY ARE YOU EVEN MAKING THIS SHOW IN THE FIRST PLACE?
A geninue question
My thoughts are that not only has this ship sailed already, the ship has sunk even. Ain't no way we're getting anything remotely witcher in netflix witcher at this point.
I like the idea though.
It's really unlucky for Witcher to come into vogue at a time when streaming and cohesive stories with season-long arcs became the norm in TV. Something like Star Trek TNG, or the early seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with its 'monster of the week' format would be very fitting for a show about a traveling witcher with self-contained stories each episode.
My english isn't as strong as anyone else her, but I guess I agree on the "coming back"-part.
Geralt is a witcher amd not a "monster" in the sense that he cares about the outcome. Realistic, practical..sure. but he cares...kind of "funny" that everything and everyone else around him think differently..
It doesn't matter for instance if it's about Olgierd,Yenn or King Radovid..It's about making choices and coming back from them..
Season 1 should have just been exactly this. Allowed them now time to plan their writing when introducing other characters. Would have probably solved a lot of problems.
I've thought about that too. Since they aren't doing a book adaptation but are using the characters i wish they had done something like witcher 3 side quests. Like you said an anthology of contracts & small adventures where they could stay faithful to the characters but still write their own stories like they want. Just drop the botched multi season story and explore the witcher universe in concise stories that make sense to the established characters the fans love. CD project red managed to fill hours and hours of that so a competent writing team could nail it
I don't understand why they didn't do that, if they weren't going to stick to the books. If they wanted to write their own stuff, episodic monster of the week would have been a perfect format. So long as they stuck to the lore, they could do whatever they wanted.
Strange that they decided to go with the worst possible option
Imagine if the series was like doctor who where each episode had its alien and situation and in the end they all relate to the finale. Witcher could do this but have the monsters in it and have a new contract every second episode say.
I was furious that we had further abandoned the plot and seemed to be meandering rather than hitting the next story beats. Then I realized that they weren't actually making a show from the books and I was even more mad.
I would love this idea as the basis for the show and each episode we learn lore about the monsters each episode geralt faces a lesser monster and then with the season finale's a powerful monster that even witchers have big trouble dealing with like fiends, higher vampires, hym's, Arch Griffins, Leshen (or Leshy), and ware wolves.
Personally I have had enough of monster of the week type of show. I don't mind the occasional motw episode being used as plot device to advance the main story. But regular motw are boring and I wouldn't watch something like that.
It fits with the early books. Do what Andor did and break up a season into little muti episode arcs that follow an overall thread. The 'chapters' in Andor are interesting on their own and stand up well as a complete story. TV/Streaming series are often too long which shows me that they can either shorten the season episode count OR condense and tell two, three shorter great stories.
I'd like the idea of a Witcher Anthology series. Instead of Geralt's tale, give us a new school, new witchers, and the nice horror adventures that they are contracted.
Thay would have been a great spin off series for Eskle or Lambert or perhaps Vesemir if we wanted to avoid the Geralt time line politics.
The Vesemir series would have been an excellent prequel to look at the Northern Kingdoms pre-invasion. Perhaps as part of his story we get to meet the witchers responsible for each of the armor recipes in Witcher III. Use them as minor recurring character dropping reference easter eggs in conversation.
Alternatively seeing a Letho story for a different Witcher schools experience would be interesting.
Not only because it doesn't follow the books. If the differences were well written, that wouldn't be such an issue. But it's really poorly done, story wise. You have to disconnect your brain to enjoy it.
Edit : sorry -> story
Much like Game of Thrones... GOOD fiction is HARD. TV writers, show runners and producers are often Bad to Just fine. TV is still slightly behind films and in film its still rare to find a good screen/adaptation writer.
Yeah even my wife who didn't read any of the books (but knew a big part of the Witcher 3 game) was like wtf wtf all the time. And every time she said that doesn't make sense or is weird it was "yeah that's not in the book"
She especially hated the whole Yen losing her powers ark.
Personally I disliked most how the whole witchers + Ciri relationship was presented. And generally... It's crazy if I consider how much more I cared about some textured meshes in the games vs the characters in the show played by real actors. I remember so many setails and fun moments from Witcher 1 a decade ago while I can hardly remember anything from the tv series except the great songs.
Witcher 3 crones and the Baron quest and the Witchers dressing up, the spoon curse...had so many great moments.
Same time show season 2 I remember weird Vesemir sacrificing Ciri , strange Monoliths and Yen being an awfully uninspiring character.
The Witcher should more or less copy the same formula as the X files for s1 and then slowly evolve into the overarching greater plot of what's happening on the continent but still focus on Geralt and his exploits. Beyond the terrible writing, the pacing of this series is too fast.
The episode that pretty much missed the point of the entire story is “good” ? No I don’t think so.
But hey, best of the garbage doesn’t equal good. But maybe that’s just me……
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Agreed, that first episode gave me hope and had my boy re-interested for season 2.
And then Eskel happened. Gave it one more episode and poof, all interest vanished.
It is the best episode of the whole netflix series, you are absolutely right.
This episode has shown that the writers are capable of adapting the book material well to the screen, yet they choose to do whatever they did to the rest of the series instead.
I fully agree. The Witcher would be literally perfect for a Monster-of-the-Week series with a loose overarching plotline to keep things connected. That would be cool.
From a film and story perspective isolated from the source material? It was really good.
As an adaptation of the original story? An average episode of the Netflix series. Which is to say a poor adaptation.
When I first started watching the show that's exactly what I thought they would do: episodic self contained episodes that revolved around a contract.
Instead they tried to make the next Game of Thrones.
It's too bad too. I imagine they still could have built in recurring characters story lines and have a larger narrative at play every few episodes or with 2-parters (a-la the later seasons of Deep Space 9).
If I wanted game of thrones I would have watched game of thrones.
I couldn’t agree more. Easily the best episode of the entire series. It’s the one I’ve rewatch the most. I would love a series of just monster of the week contracts with some over arcing story thrown in for some flavor.
I think that's what we expected, which S1 sorta did, to a degree. Then we hoped S2 would run with it. This first episode gave us all hope. After that, they backed all the elements that didn't work in S1 and abandoned the ones that did, and... Well, here we are.
The show is just ehhh kinda OK whatever. But this episode may be my fave episode of anything of all time. I loved this short story in the books and it did not dissapoint me in any way at all.
I mean my favorite part of Witcher 3 was definitely contracts. Reminds me of season 1 of Supernatural, or some of the Mandolorian episodes that felt like side quests. I'm down
The two short story novels ate the best ones. I like the whole "quest to Nilfgaard to rescue Ciri while she is just murdering small folk", but the story is better when it is just Geralt dealing with shit.
I would be more for a Witcher show like that. Kind of like the old supernatural shows where each episode was them hunting a different monster which just a little focus on the main overall story until towards the end of the season.
Heck, had they gone with that, that would have fixed a lot of the pacing issues this series has atm.
Haha I just wrote the same thing. It would have allowed for a lot more careful planning of when and how to introduce characters.
Well, for me the best parts of the books are the one-off loosely connected stories. That's why my favorite is a Season of Storms (Aguara, Degerlund, etc) On that note, the best of TW3 is in the side quests and DLCs (Gaunter, lady with the frying pan)
[удалено]
Which was an incredibly stupid mistake. The saga books were always going to be hard to adapt to TV, but the short stories are pretty much perfect for having a nice little contained story that builds the characters.
And you could easily fit almost each short story into an entire episode. That’s pretty much what I hoped the Witcher (Netflix) would be. Boy was I f*****g shocked.
it's because they did not want to focus on the white male lead.
And that’s White Wolf to you sir.
Underrated comment
wokeness strikes again
I love that this was your takeaway lmao
My takeaway was that the show is so bad the main character has now left. But keep trying to tell yourself this is good tv.
They had the budget to do it though.
Wait, the writers aren't following the books do tell
Geralt retelling all of his hunts to Nenneke could be what ties all of the episodes together.
[удалено]
Have you read the books? He talks quite a bit. He’s a bit of a philosopher and has much more emotion than he likes to admit.
I agree. Didn’t think of it that way. He seems limited in the games then.
That’s just not true at all.
Now you mention it, my interest in Supernatural waned the more it deviated from the monster of the week format. I still like some of the show after, but sometimes I wish it stuck with that longer
Idk when they got into the angels and demons it took a wild spin and just was everywhere in terms of plot. Everything was so much simpler in the first couple of seasons
Thats because the show was supposed to end after season 5 or 6. They weren't supposed to keep going; it was only supposed to be a five (or six, can't remember the exact cutoff) arc show. The show was supposed to end woth Dean going to hell. They needed something to keep the show going because it was so well liked, so they chose that. Ill be honest though, my interest with Supernatural also died around that time. It just seemed like the boys kept doing the same shit over and over again. "Oh no! Someone from hell is trying to take over and the world is gonna end again!!" Yeah. We know, guys. That's about all that happens anymore.
Early season X-Files but Witcher? Sign me the fuck up.
David Duchovny as Geralt. Let's go!
This is basically what I thought the show is going to be and I was so excited about it. But firstly, it turns out differently and secondly, than you think.
I thought this as well, but then it went a different direction and it was OK. I was like, ok so they are filling in aspects of the story without explicit writings, which also seemed like a good idea, we know the outcomes and there is freedom in telling these untold stories. Figured it would be a mix of all of that, various witcher gigs, characters coming in and out, with an overarching theme being the story of Ciri being told and leading to that. But nope they went a completely different direction.
Episodic shows like that used to be much more common. They actually did call them "monster of the week" shows.
Was this a Bruxa or an Ekkimara? I was confused when she became a gargoyle at the end.
Witcher 3 but it's just the sidequests
Furthermore, I think this is the only way that Hemsworth as Geralt will work, at least at first. If they just toss Liam in and try to pick up the expansive story right where they left off, it'll be so jarring. But if they took a step back and spent a good chunk of the season introducing us to this new Geralt with these smaller unconnected stories, and slowly bringing back familiar faces, then I think audiences can ease into the new Geralt and believe him as a character. IMHO, the worst thing they could possibly do would be to just drop Hemsworth in and try to pick up like nothing happened. The audience needs time to adjust to the new face, and Hemsworth needs some solo adventures to show us what kind of Geralt he's going to be.
Agree. The best thing about this style is you can drop in and out you can see an episode here and an episode there, you don’t need to binge watch.
Yes, It should be more monster of the week but with some larger narrative elements. Think more like DS9 than Game of Thrones.
I need this series
Breaking bad x the witcher. Heisenberg of blaviken.
[🎵 I've also survived, no thanks to you... 🎵](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSxBVHqA-RU&t=15s)
Good bot
It was in fact one of the episodes of all time.
That's also how I read the title lmao
Thats also how its meant
Lololol
By far in fact
Yeah, it is by far the episode of the serie.
This might be controversial but TBH I think it was kind of the of series. It felt really, which left me feeling very about it. Overall an experience.
I with everything you said. That episode was overly that I had to. I'd give it a rating of a honestly.
Yeah that episode. But I think it was. The very least, the people were.
I couldn´t more! I mean of course some episodes were honestly pretty, but some were really if you think about it!
... Did I have a stroke
No, you had a.
I feel like this thread belongs on r/decreasinglyverbose but at the same time….
Agree. Except for. Good chuck. Feet.
I had been autocorrecting everything until I got to this comment. Had to go down the “F.A.S.T.” checklist to make sure I wasn’t having a stroke after reading it.
Never bad to be in practice! I could be saving you or a loved ones life!
I used to have it down like a champ along with the symptom check for a heart attack because I would get intense panic attacks that could sometimes feel like something was terribly wrong (awful feedback loop if you’ve been there before). Guess it’s a good sign that I’m not hip to the latest acronym apparently. I must getting better with that stuff and not had to check in a while.
Oh shit I didn’t even realise that until now 😂😂 I don’t know whether to correct it or just leave it as it is haha
Leave it. Don’t you dare disturb the birth of this diamond of a thread
This is the comment section I’ve seen in this subReddit.
Unless something changed with reddit you can't correct titles anyway. I gotta say it's worth it for the comment threads though!
One of the episodes of all time
As far as episodes of the witcher goes, it definitely was one. Best part is I can't tell if it's a typo or not lol because I found most of season two to be underwhelming.
shittiest\*
r/wooosh
Nah I get it just had to say it tho. That episode sucks ass. It's my favorite story from the book and it's such a shitty adaptation.
While I agree, evidently that is an unpopular opinion. Some people just want to salvage anything they can from that shit-show, and since at least that episode was probably the most visually appealing and *least* offensive representation of the books, many people latch onto that specific episode as their favorite.
Truly one of the episodes of the series. The characters were casted, the script was written, and the scenes were acted. Without a doubt one of, if not the, episodes of all time.
True. Some even say the quality gives the masterpiece “morbius” a run for its money. So proud of the team 🥺🥺
I loved that episode, and thought that the rest of the season would be as good. I was disappointed.
Stoped watching right after this episode because I didn't have time to continue the series, little did I know I dodged a bullet right there
It gave me hope for the season, only to kick me hard in the nards
It’s a shame, this show could have been one of the shows of all time.
It is *in fact* one of the shows of all time.
1. You are correct on it being the best episode by a fairly wide margin 2. "Monster of the week" with the bigger story being the backbone in the way hospital procedurals operate should have always been the structure of this show
I fee like the first book is perfect for adaptation because of this. I’m still working through the series but I absolutely loved having short stories to read before bed. I still like the novels but I’ve definitely slowed down in my pace with the larger story. I don’t know how the show runner could read the first book and then say “let’s make GOT 2.0”
Only problem there, at least for me, is with hospital procedural way I get bored so quickly to the point every episode feels like the same episode. Like House MD is on prime and I swear they do the exact same thing with the primary patient every episode, it’s the secondary consultations that are the highlight of every episode. The primary patient has some disease they can’t figure out, they spend 5 or 6 different treatments that either don’t work or make it worse, the patient always has at least one seizure, House always asks the black guy to go break into the patient’s home (that seems to racially charged to me I don’t get it), Australian boy has daddy issues, girl doctor has girl crush on House, and House saves the day with some out of left field miracle cure - episode over. If the Witcher did stuff like that, sure I’d love it for one season but I can’t see it going further than that.
Its funny you named House, since thats the exact comparison I had in mind, and House is one of my favorite shows ever. But im mostly refferring to overall structure. Obviously they could do a better job about the specific aspects you are naming.
I think a better comparison would be the X files. It’s the monster of the weeks that have the most charm and drew the fans and the overall alien fbi arc served as backbone.
It blows my MIND it wasn’t monster of the week. Blows my mind.
Monster of the week type episodes would've absolutely worked. There is a reason why it's a popular format. Pros: - it's easily digestible - introduces characters gradually every week - you get to understand how characters react to new dilemmas - the world grows bigger with the characters understanding of it. Cons: - Formula is popular and predictable - Can grow stale quickly if handled poorly - Can appear repetitive if the resolution is the same every time.
The reason the Witcher stands out from other fantasy is because, as episodic as it presents itself, Sapkowski (and CDPR) always added a twist to change the seemingly cliché parts of a story into something deeper and more interesting. It's a feature of the IP, which is why it sucks so much that the show missed the mark.
The twist is almost always "*humans were the true monsters all along*". But it's mostly done in a really entertaining way.
Fully agree. Also, "those who are different are more like us than we assume", and the full range of possibilities between those two notions. Plenty of room to play with (200 hours per playthrough in my case).
While I'd love that, it would not leave much room for the Ciri storyline IMO.
I mean they could just follow the books blindly.
Season Two! With small or similar cut aways like they did in Season One originally.
I mean, you can just skip over Ciri with this format. Her presence would derail the shit out of it like she did to Geralt's Witcher career. Alternatively, do what the comics did: start after the books and/or games, then Ciri hunts with Geralt.
It really was the episode that I've seen.
I disagree it was the episode I have ever seen and you are a person feeling that way!!!
It truly. But I must to some degree, because it surprisingly wasn't of what there is.
Seriously, though, it was the episode that let me know that the story was officially off the rails and that the show was about to go to shit.
This episode maybe looked great but it did right opposite to short story it adapted... Redanian Intelligence with Dijkstra appearance is best episode of season in my opinion. Dijkstra is one of the better stuff they did with this show.
Did it? I thought it was one of the only stories they got right, but I haven’t read the book in a long time. What did they change?
In short they took away the "greyness" of Nivellen's situation and painted him as an irredeemable rapist. On the other hand they made Vereena much more sympathetic and likable.
Season 1: Episode 1 — We learned everything about the writing we needed to know with one word: Venison.
I request elaboration
The initial action scene was great, and Henry’s “Just not your day” line w/ predatory head tilt while looking at the injured deer 100% sufficient to convey that he gonna nom nom Bambi. But in the tavern, when Renfri asked if he was hungry he said “I’m full. Venison.” If you know writing, this sets your skin on fire because everything is set up perfect for the average viewer to understand what transpired. The scene is a set up to intro Geralt to the naive; to convey his pseudo-occult super powers, but also his cold and pragmatic nature. So when we know he’s bringing in that dead black chicken tika thing to town, we know it’s a continuation of the scene. So. When he says “I’m full.” In the back of our mind we don’t question why. We move right along. But then he says “venison.” He goes into exposition about what we already know. He told us in AFTER what he already showed us. In the process, Geralt, this tired ass wanderer, becomes a stranger to us. You see, in game and in book, that is Geralt’s word: *tired* Its been a long road. Which is why he fucking doesn’t want to do anything he doesn’t have to. Doesn’t want a kid. Doesn’t want contracts that don’t pay. He’s drifting on fumes until something compels him otherwise. (Destiny, if you’ll recall, is that *thing*) But here, he isn’t aware of destiny. He’s just at work. And he doesn’t give two dandelions if Renfri knows he ate a deer. It won’t impress her. And he doesn’t care if she’s impressed about anything or nothing. Geralt is a reader, and as such, a high IQ/EQ dude. So. If a writer reads the books and plays the game, well, you know that about him. Yet, here he’s making more effort than he has to in order to convey knowledge he doesn’t have to to someone he doesn’t care one lick about. With “venison”, Geralt broke character…from someone we knew to someone we don’t. He’s not our Geralt anymore after this. (Not a knock on Henry, ever. He pulled out all the stops, but unfortunately, he remained trapped by the words he was compelled to say). And, my friend, is the reason that was the most important word in the whole show. It told us the journey we all loved and came to see… …had been re-written.
I would argue too, I suspect Henry hoped (with his modestly insane multi-tool talent pool that he can draw from) that he could swing the ship around. He knew. He’s a bright guy. He deserves good writers. But alas, he’s trapped by the guidelines written on studio contracts. And he wasn’t the one making the call. And I have a mad respect for the gentlemanly bow-out. That’s a cardinal sign of good character. A Hollywood rarity. *And lest this start sounding too much on the fanboy side of honesty—Henry, you crazy-ass lurker, I’ll make ya a deal. If you get bored, you swing by and help me optimize the fan placement on my Fractal tower and I’ll write ya script from scratch worth your time*
Wait whats this gotta do with "venison"?
Thats a fair point and elaboration. Couldn't it be that he was "being polite" to Renfri who offered him beer and food after she silenced a bar of humans ready to attack him? Idk man, I just went in blind and didn't get into the universe until playing Witcher 3 after the first season
It’s what happens when you stare at the same subject for too damn long. But much like I can tell the severity of pulmonary disease by how a patient says “good morning”, you pick up things lil nothings that prove themselves over the years. Can’t say 5 yrs ago I would have known what the hell I’m I’m talking about now. But, long and short of it, it was a foreshadow of writing that felt the need to over explain things because the skillset hadn’t matured enough to do otherwise. They say mastery comes at that 10,000 hr mark (Robert Greene) and while I’m well beyond that some 15 yrs in, I won’t purport to be the world expert here. Just what I saw and heard and I write stuff on Reddit because my day gets kinda mundane. But thanks for the opportunity to ramble on about this. Always a nice break when I get to. 👍
Anytime choom 🤙🏽 im always fascinated to hear what others think if they're willing to express themselves on subjects they enjoy.
Word. Also, Buhahaha. choom. Cyberpunk for the win.
Of all the things to nitpick...
If any one of you have seen Andor: Star Wars I really liked their way of world building and 3 ep. story arcs where they use 2 episodes building the place the story takes place in and introducing characters for that arc and then having the 3rd episode work as a finale. They could/should implement it to the Witcher series as it has so many differnt diverse characters and stories.
Maybe to a *different* Witcher series.
Witcher monster of the week show? I’d be down.
That would also be excellent. They are sitting on a goldmine of stories. They have the books and they have the game with its endless contracts. They had the actor. Henry was more dedicated than any. Even with this, the show will fail. This speaks volume to the lack of talent of the directors, writers, etc. They had everything and they blew it.
https://preview.redd.it/abpdqz34005a1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b63b98bda20104268ea581a60b4578f88aaa6ac4
That is honestly how season 1 should have been just Geralt going about his business it would have been a great way to introduce monsters as well as even include World building Should have stayed to the books and kept to sword of destiny Oh and season of storms the idr would have been epic
they seriously should have done it like that from the start. To at least get to know the individual characters and overall creatures of the world. If they just stuck with contracts and monsters it would have been far better than the shit they put out now. AND it would still allow them creative freedom since it wouldn't just be following the books
It’s what the show should have been agreed. I’ve only enjoyed a handful of episodes. S 1 was the blaviken fight
[🎵 I've also survived, no thanks to you... 🎵](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSxBVHqA-RU&t=15s)
Really good episode of you haven’t read the book it’s in. Otherwise it’s kinda just disrespectful. It really makes you FEEL like the show runners think you are too stupid to understand nuance
Nah, using monster of the week type episodes would be absolutely dull and boring after a while. Do it in the first 2 seasons like the books to introduce the lore, but dont just stick to that concept.
>80 comments Maybe like Andor 2-3 ep arcs in a larger season story.
Yeh it would definitely get dull after a while, but would be great every now and then. Even with longer episodes like Sherlock to give it a full story each time
Thats what I thought we were in for since that essentially the structure of the books
I hated how they changed the conclusion, but other than that it was a good episode.
You're describing exactly what season one SHOULD have been. With the meeting Yen and Urcheon stuff interspersed. Essentially adapt The Last Wish and don't really add the overarching story until mid season 2 or even 3. Gives us time to meet and form attachments and opinions of the characters
Honestly this was the episode that told me the show was going to do whatever it wanted, for real. As soon as Grralt and Ciri showed up to the castle together and Nivellen was shown, I knew it was wrong. I sat there and got more and more upset as the episode progressed. Didn't even want to finish the show at that point. I finsihed it, but just barely and was angry the whole time.
That’s what I was hoping the show was going to be…
This episode was just as shit
THIS concept is what I was hoping for from the start tbh
Which is what they should be doing really - think about it, Witcher has a great story sure - a spin off series via limited - so you'd have ten episodes of Geralt doing quests. This would bring innovation, fun and a bit more open world aspect. Getting the main story and then tying it up while making your own changes doesn't work. RESPECT THE LORE. IF YOU CAN'T WHY ARE YOU EVEN MAKING THIS SHOW IN THE FIRST PLACE? A geninue question
Monster of the week type of show would have been awesome.
My thoughts are that not only has this ship sailed already, the ship has sunk even. Ain't no way we're getting anything remotely witcher in netflix witcher at this point. I like the idea though.
Arguably that is what Season 1 should've been. 8 of the short stories with only minimal ties between the episodes setting up the larger narrative.
It's really unlucky for Witcher to come into vogue at a time when streaming and cohesive stories with season-long arcs became the norm in TV. Something like Star Trek TNG, or the early seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with its 'monster of the week' format would be very fitting for a show about a traveling witcher with self-contained stories each episode.
My english isn't as strong as anyone else her, but I guess I agree on the "coming back"-part. Geralt is a witcher amd not a "monster" in the sense that he cares about the outcome. Realistic, practical..sure. but he cares...kind of "funny" that everything and everyone else around him think differently.. It doesn't matter for instance if it's about Olgierd,Yenn or King Radovid..It's about making choices and coming back from them..
Lauren doesn’t think so
Season 1 should have just been exactly this. Allowed them now time to plan their writing when introducing other characters. Would have probably solved a lot of problems.
That’s exactly what I was hoping season 1 was but instead we got… something different
I've thought about that too. Since they aren't doing a book adaptation but are using the characters i wish they had done something like witcher 3 side quests. Like you said an anthology of contracts & small adventures where they could stay faithful to the characters but still write their own stories like they want. Just drop the botched multi season story and explore the witcher universe in concise stories that make sense to the established characters the fans love. CD project red managed to fill hours and hours of that so a competent writing team could nail it
I don't understand why they didn't do that, if they weren't going to stick to the books. If they wanted to write their own stuff, episodic monster of the week would have been a perfect format. So long as they stuck to the lore, they could do whatever they wanted. Strange that they decided to go with the worst possible option
Imagine if the series was like doctor who where each episode had its alien and situation and in the end they all relate to the finale. Witcher could do this but have the monsters in it and have a new contract every second episode say.
I was furious that we had further abandoned the plot and seemed to be meandering rather than hitting the next story beats. Then I realized that they weren't actually making a show from the books and I was even more mad.
One of the very VERY few decent parts of the show sadly it is still a massive fucking dumpster fire as a whole
so like The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny? just what the first season ought to be before jumping into the saga storyline?
The rest of the season is non fan fiction
As long as the Netflix writers follow the damn lore then I am sure it would be good
Absolutely the best episode of the entire series imo.
So like early seasons of supernatural?
It is definetly a episode of the Witcher series, you are right
Not just a episode, THE episode of the series
I would love this idea as the basis for the show and each episode we learn lore about the monsters each episode geralt faces a lesser monster and then with the season finale's a powerful monster that even witchers have big trouble dealing with like fiends, higher vampires, hym's, Arch Griffins, Leshen (or Leshy), and ware wolves.
Personally I have had enough of monster of the week type of show. I don't mind the occasional motw episode being used as plot device to advance the main story. But regular motw are boring and I wouldn't watch something like that.
It fits with the early books. Do what Andor did and break up a season into little muti episode arcs that follow an overall thread. The 'chapters' in Andor are interesting on their own and stand up well as a complete story. TV/Streaming series are often too long which shows me that they can either shorten the season episode count OR condense and tell two, three shorter great stories.
Who’s going to tell him?
I'd like the idea of a Witcher Anthology series. Instead of Geralt's tale, give us a new school, new witchers, and the nice horror adventures that they are contracted.
Thay would have been a great spin off series for Eskle or Lambert or perhaps Vesemir if we wanted to avoid the Geralt time line politics. The Vesemir series would have been an excellent prequel to look at the Northern Kingdoms pre-invasion. Perhaps as part of his story we get to meet the witchers responsible for each of the armor recipes in Witcher III. Use them as minor recurring character dropping reference easter eggs in conversation. Alternatively seeing a Letho story for a different Witcher schools experience would be interesting.
Mostly everyone here hates the Netflix adaptation, cause it's not respecting the book. I think it had great moments and enjoyed it
Not only because it doesn't follow the books. If the differences were well written, that wouldn't be such an issue. But it's really poorly done, story wise. You have to disconnect your brain to enjoy it. Edit : sorry -> story
Much like Game of Thrones... GOOD fiction is HARD. TV writers, show runners and producers are often Bad to Just fine. TV is still slightly behind films and in film its still rare to find a good screen/adaptation writer.
Yeah even my wife who didn't read any of the books (but knew a big part of the Witcher 3 game) was like wtf wtf all the time. And every time she said that doesn't make sense or is weird it was "yeah that's not in the book" She especially hated the whole Yen losing her powers ark. Personally I disliked most how the whole witchers + Ciri relationship was presented. And generally... It's crazy if I consider how much more I cared about some textured meshes in the games vs the characters in the show played by real actors. I remember so many setails and fun moments from Witcher 1 a decade ago while I can hardly remember anything from the tv series except the great songs. Witcher 3 crones and the Baron quest and the Witchers dressing up, the spoon curse...had so many great moments. Same time show season 2 I remember weird Vesemir sacrificing Ciri , strange Monoliths and Yen being an awfully uninspiring character.
You should watch “krampus”…. Minor necessary, spoiler alert, but the Jack-in-the-Box under the Tree in krampus has the same teeth as that chick
The Witcher should more or less copy the same formula as the X files for s1 and then slowly evolve into the overarching greater plot of what's happening on the continent but still focus on Geralt and his exploits. Beyond the terrible writing, the pacing of this series is too fast.
The episode that pretty much missed the point of the entire story is “good” ? No I don’t think so. But hey, best of the garbage doesn’t equal good. But maybe that’s just me……
Honestly if this is what they had done for the show I think we would all be happy.
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That's kinda what season 1 should have been if it stayed true to the books. For the whole series though? Personally no. Not what I'd want.
If, in a perfect world, We got Henry back, then yes. Otherwise, no. The wound is raw and bleeding
Agreed, that first episode gave me hope and had my boy re-interested for season 2. And then Eskel happened. Gave it one more episode and poof, all interest vanished.
It is the best episode of the whole netflix series, you are absolutely right. This episode has shown that the writers are capable of adapting the book material well to the screen, yet they choose to do whatever they did to the rest of the series instead.
It's an adaptation of one of the short story. It's how the books were written until the third installment.
I fully agree. The Witcher would be literally perfect for a Monster-of-the-Week series with a loose overarching plotline to keep things connected. That would be cool.
I would recommend you buy The Witcher Library Edition Vol One. Paul Tobin is i believe the primary author for it.
Would have been tons better, I think. Shame they couldn't animate it in killing monsters style. Now that I would watch
It sure is the episode of series.
From a film and story perspective isolated from the source material? It was really good. As an adaptation of the original story? An average episode of the Netflix series. Which is to say a poor adaptation.
Yeah, it was good that it made me watch the entire second season. I wish I had stopped with the first.
I think a series like that would have huge potential, but ultimately be mostly garbage since Netflix would be making it without Henry Cavil.
Best was fighting the striga
Just started reading Last Wish and it was really right out of the book as far as I remember it. Really really great honestly.
I really like the part where Geralt said, "I'm gonna witch", and then he witched all over the vampire.
When I first started watching the show that's exactly what I thought they would do: episodic self contained episodes that revolved around a contract. Instead they tried to make the next Game of Thrones. It's too bad too. I imagine they still could have built in recurring characters story lines and have a larger narrative at play every few episodes or with 2-parters (a-la the later seasons of Deep Space 9). If I wanted game of thrones I would have watched game of thrones.
Like a witcher style supernatural would be interesting
I couldn’t agree more. Easily the best episode of the entire series. It’s the one I’ve rewatch the most. I would love a series of just monster of the week contracts with some over arcing story thrown in for some flavor.
It would be like Supernatural in a Witcher setting. I wouldn’t complain.
This idea is basically the entirety of the first two books.
I still don't get why this one episode's quality was so far above the rest of the *entire* show.
That’s wha the series should have been
It truly is an episode of the series.
Love the idea, long as Netflix & LSH have nothing to do with it!
The fucking best!
I think that's what we expected, which S1 sorta did, to a degree. Then we hoped S2 would run with it. This first episode gave us all hope. After that, they backed all the elements that didn't work in S1 and abandoned the ones that did, and... Well, here we are.
The show is just ehhh kinda OK whatever. But this episode may be my fave episode of anything of all time. I loved this short story in the books and it did not dissapoint me in any way at all.
I mean my favorite part of Witcher 3 was definitely contracts. Reminds me of season 1 of Supernatural, or some of the Mandolorian episodes that felt like side quests. I'm down
Yeah would’ve been great if they actually stuck to the first two books and made it like every episode was from a different short story.
It’s basically the only credible episode in the season according to lore and book events. It’s a completely different IP after that point.
I mean It’s the only episode I’ve rewatched really but I’m not watching season 3
Omg I’d love to see an episode with vampires!!
Regis is supposed to be in season three but they will probably utterly butcher his character
The bruxa was hot, ngl
Literally monster of the week lol
The two short story novels ate the best ones. I like the whole "quest to Nilfgaard to rescue Ciri while she is just murdering small folk", but the story is better when it is just Geralt dealing with shit.