The Witcher has been a huge success for streaming service giant Netflix, second only to the ultra-popular Stranger Things in 2019. But while the show has proven to be a hit with viewers, critics were less favorable, giving the show negative scores that gave it an overall "rotten" Rotten Tomatoes score. However, more reviews have been submitted for The Witcher season 1 since then, and they were apparently favorable enough to bump its Rotten Tomato score to "fresh" territory.
Right now, The Witcher Rotten Tomatoes score is 60%, which makes it just "fresh" in the eyes of the review aggregate website. By comparison, The Witcher audience score on the same website is an impressive 93% with nearly 15,000 user scores and reviews having been submitted since the show's December 2019 premiere.
Many negative reviews for The Witcher season 1 were aimed at the show's dialogue and pacing. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich wanted to introduce the popular character Ciri as early as possible, but the only way she was able to do that was by having the show set in three different timelines. Everything comes together by the time The Witcher season 1 comes to a close, but even so, it's easy to see how the strange narrative structure threw some critics off.
The Witcher season 2 premieres in 2021, and so that should give Hissrich and her team plenty of time to address complaints about the first season and deliver something that's well-received by fans and critics alike. Many agree that The Witcher Netflix series has a lot of the ingredients to make a great show, but that it sometimes struggled in its execution. Addressing the cheesy dialogue and having a more linear story while retaining things like Henry Cavill as Geralt and high-quality action sequences should go a long way in making sure The Witcher season 2 is a step above season 1.
The Witcher season 2 will likely introduce some other popular characters from the novels, which should please hardcore fans. One possibility is that Geralt's trainer and father figure Vesemir will be added to the cast. Nothing official has been announced, but there's been interest in seeing Mark Hamill play Vesemir in the series, which seems like a casting choice that would be well-received by fans.
When The Witcher season 2 does finally arrive, it will be interesting to see if its Rotten Tomatoes score is better than season 1's rating.
The Witcher is available to view now, exclusively on Netflix.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes