The Witcher season 4 has fared worse than any other season of the fantasy adventure series with TV critics, but the audience reviews have been absolutely scathing. Fans of the franchise have reacted with unprecedented scorn to the latest instalment of the Netflix show, which is releasing its first new episodes in almost two and a half years.
This season of The Witcher has some new characters, and a completely fresh take on its title character from new lead actor Liam Hemsworth. It also diverges from Andrzej Sapkowski’s literary source material even more significantly than previous seasons of the show.
In the view of many fans, these changes to The Witcher are far from welcome. The Netflix series is undoing the good work of earlier episodes, including one of the best opening scenes to any fantasy show in the history of television.
As long as the show is clocking streaming hours, we’ll likely see a fifth season, through which producers will hope to regain some credibility among devotees of The Witcher. But for now, things aren’t looking good, so it’s worth examining what exactly has caused such a serious backlash to the fourth season of the series.
Henry Cavill’s Departure Is a Major Loss To The Witcher
Henry Cavill left The Witcher ahead of season 3’s release, amid rumors of creative differences between the actor and those helming the show’s trajectory on Netflix. In reality, it seems as though Cavill had other irons in the fire, which was the main reason he couldn’t commit to season 4 of the show.
However, we shouldn’t rule out the suggestion that creative differences were a factor. Given how successful The Witcher’s previous seasons have been, the idea that he wouldn’t commit to a fourth season should itself set alarm bells ringing about the direction of the show.
This theory is also borne out by an interview Cavill gave to Philstar Global in December 2021, in which he described pushing for changes to The Witcher season 2, so that the series would better reflect the books it was based on. One way or another, it’s likely that something wasn’t right between Cavill and those running the show.
Now that season 4 has been released, it’s clear how big a loss Cavill’s departure is to The Witcher. He’s the actor who brought Geralt of Rivia to life on screen, inhabiting the character like no one else could, from his gravely vocal delivery to his piercing glare. It just isn’t the same without him.
Season 4 Is A Diverges Massively From The Witcher Books
While attempting to adapt The Witcher books in chronological order, more or less, those behind the TV show have taken enormous liberties with their source material, as season 4 evidences like no other before it. The results this time around are distinctly mixed, with those who cherish both Andrzej Sapkowski’s books and The Witcher video games in uproar.
Firstly, the show tries to blend Sapkowski’s third and fourth novels of the series, Baptism of Fire and The Tower of the Swallow, into one coherent timeline. This way of telling the story proves quite challenging, because the events of the two books take place at different times.
Secondly, the main characters in the story are kept separate for almost all of The Witcher season 4. In the books, Geralt has already been reunited with Yennefer before the events of season 4, and they spend a considerable amount of time together. By contrast, in the show they’re only briefly reunited at the end of The Witcher’s fourth season.
Liam Hemsworth’s Geralt Didn’t Win Over Everyone
It’s an understatement to say that Liam Hemsworth’s version of Geralt didn’t compare well to Henry Cavill’s for most fans of The Witcher. Hemsworth was always going to be up against it, taking over from an actor who’d made this TV role his own from the very start.
But even he couldn’t have predicted the wrath his performance has faced from followers of the franchise. While Cavill was lauded for his trademark Witcher voice and droll delivery of cutting one-liners, as well as his ability to inhabit his character fully, Liam Hemsworth has been described variously as bland, robotic, and having a vocal delivery that’s just too high.
Netflix imagined that they could simply superimpose one action hero into the place of another and no one would bat an eyelid. As it is, things have turned out very differently. It’s looking like fans will draw a dividing line between The Witcher’s seasons in years to come. Those featuring Cavill will be considered a cut above the Hemsworth episodes.
The Witcher Season 4 Feels Incredibly Rushed
Perhaps the writers of the series will be reflecting on The Witcher season 4’s 18% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes as we speak, admitting that certain aspects of the story could have been told differently. It’s hard not to feel that the season’s scripting and production was overly rushed.
There’s a sense that The Witcher’s latest episodes are simply trying to cram as much story as they can into too little space, with little room for worthwhile character development or appreciation for key moments in the plot. It comes across as though this season just had to happen for the good of a money-spinning franchise.
| The Witcher Seasons | Rotten Tomatoes Reviewers Score | Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 68% | 88% |
| Season 2 | 95% | 54% |
| Season 3 | 72% | 20% |
| Season 4 | 56% | 18% |
If this is the reason The Witcher season 4 was produced, then it’s no wonder fans of the books, video games, and even the earlier season of the show are turning away in disgust. It’s to be hoped that the producers and writers had more noble aspirations, and just missed the mark in terms of executing their ideas.
The Season’s Visual Spectacles Can’t Mask Poor Storytelling
It’s fair to say that The Witcher season 4’s recasting exacerbated pacing problems which already existed in the series. In fact, Liam Hemsworth’s perceived shortcomings as Geralt have magnified every major failing of the show’s production. While the visual effects still pop, they can’t hide what isn’t there anymore.
The problems with plotting, character development, and pacing are just too significant to ignore in this latest season. What’s more, without Henry Cavill’s irresistible central performance, they’re painfully obvious for the majority of viewers. The Witcher appears to be past its best, and many fans just want the series to be put out of its misery.
Many Feel That The Witcher Should Have Ended After Season 3
When it comes to ranking The Witcher’s seasons, most of the show’s audience place season 3 comfortably below its first two outings on Netflix, alongside the miniseries spinoff Blood Origin. In reality, it’s been on a downward trajectory since season 2. However, for many viewers, season 4 is simply beyond the pale.
The reaction has been so strongly against it that season 3 looks like it received rave reviews by comparison. The opinion that The Witcher season 4 should never have been made is already widespread, and it would be understandable if the future of the series on Netflix was cast into serious doubt as a consequence.
Nevertheless, the likelihood is that Netflix will look to finish what they started. The suggestion that it was always the plan to do five seasons of The Witcher gaining traction.
The reason why there’s been such a huge fan backlash to this new season of the show is because a lot of people have still watched it. As long as that’s the case, there’s no reason for Netflix to cancel The Witcher anytime soon.
- Release Date
-
December 20, 2019
- Network
-
Netflix
- Showrunner
-
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
- Directors
-
Stephen Surjik, Charlotte Brändström, Edward Bazalgette, Loni Peristere, Louise Hooper, Bola Ogun, Alex Garcia Lopez, Gandja Monteiro, Sarah O’Gorman
- Writers
-
Haily Hall, Clare Higgins, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Jenny Klein, Tania Lotia
-
-
Anya Chalotra
Yennefer of Vengerberg
