Enough with the cheap shock. 10 things Netflix has to Improve in The Witcher S2

Adam Zechenter

Enough with the cheap shock

I don't mind intense scenes, but I like them to serve a purpose. Meanwhile, The Witcher is often pointlessly edgy, as if the authors wanted to show something gruesome just for the hell of it.

Fringilla Vigo becomes a sadistic murderer, like an absurd, vile, chaotic villain from a comic book. Her colleague eats a piece of skin of the dead queen Calanthe, and then Ms. Vigo picturesquely rips the guts out of the unfortunate individual to locate Ciri. Later, the witch transforms her subordinates into magical shells for trebuchet, in the last episode. The creators probably wanted to show how dark and violent the world is. Yeah, totally inconspicuous.

There are also moments when the series tries to nod at the fans of Game of Thrones, repeatedly ridiculed for senseless nudity and soft-porn sex scenes that introduced nothing in the story. Does Yennefer have to be naked when fighting the jinn? It's apparently advisable. Do we need a massive orgy in the same episode? I understand, it looks quite spectacular, and has potential to spread through whisper marketing, but I'd prefer the developers to be more focused on good scenes, rather than cheap shots like that.

CHANCES FOR IMPROVEMENT?

I'm skeptical. Intense, edgy scenes, should appear in the coming seasons because this sells, even to the detriment of logic.

Author: Adam Zechenter

He started in GRYOnline.pl in 2014 as a specialist in mobile and free-to-play games. Then for many years he worked in editorials, and since 2018 he has been serving as the deputy editor-in-chief. Currently, he leads the video department and hosts the GRYOnline.pl podcast. Studied classical philology and history (where he became the head of the Scientific Circle); earlier he created a fan page about Tolkien. Loves action games, RPGs, shooters, and strategies. Loved Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, but today he most often plays on PS5 and prefers a controller over a mouse and keyboard. The most hours he spent (nearly 2000) in a game was in World of Tanks. A book and history enthusiast, sometimes plays squash, also tries not to eat meat.