The Witcher Season 4

Credit: Netflix

The first full trailer for Netflix’s The Witcher Season 4 just dropped. I’ve had grave doubts about the series since Season 2, and those doubts only heightened with the even flimsier Season 3. Even if Henry Cavill had stayed on as Geralt Of Rivia, I would have had very little hope. (And it appears they were already looking to recast Cavill while Season 2 was still filming).

But with Cavill gone, things look even more grim. This trailer is the first time we hear Liam Hemsworth’s take on Geralt’s voice and it’s quite shocking, both in terms of how different it is from Cavill’s and because of the line Netflix chooses for him to utter: “Let’s *#$)ing move!” It sounds like something a special forces soldier might say, or a Twitch streamer playing Fortnite.

Of course, the problem with the line isn’t Hemsworth necessarily. It’s the writing. The writing for this series has been abysmal for a long time and if this trailer is any indication, that trend continues into Season 4. Geralt wouldn’t say this. Geralt would say “Move.” Do the people writing this series not understand its protagonist at all?

Still, it’s jarring to see and hear Hemsworth as Geralt regardless of the bad writing. Gone is the deep, gravelly voice. The stoic demeanor. Cavill always channeled Doug Cockle’s Geralt from the video game series, though he gave the character his own spin. Both versions interpreted Geralt as rough and even-keeled. It’s not that he doesn’t have emotions – mutant Witchers are said to be emotionless, but that’s clearly untrue – it’s that these emotions are battened down. Geralt isn’t a shouter, even when he’s angry.

Other issues with this trailer:

• The music. Why? Why do fantasy and historical films and TV shows keep doing this? You have a great orchestral score at your disposal. Use that. How can we take your show seriously with whatever this dreadful pop song is playing?
• The special effects. They look cheap. The ogre Geralt is fighting looks as goofy as the ice troll from Season 1 of Rings Of Power. The magic looks cheap. Honestly, though, I could forgive all that if the script were decent.
• Yennefer. I like Yennefer as a character and I like Anya Chalotra in the part, but I’m not sure about her being either a master swordsman or a giver of inspiring speeches. Actually, the speech bugs me more than the sword fighting, simply because I can believe she’s learned how to handle a blade at the ripe young age of 100 (or so). But it feels out of character for her to give speeches in the same way it feels out of character for Geralt to shout “Let’s #(&!ing move!”
• Ciri. Why does shis show insist on making her look so done up all the time? She’s not a sorceress of the Lodge. She’s off with a band of misfits now. Let her look just a little rundown. In all fairness, it’s not as bad as the past couple seasons.
• All the stuff about “being reborn” and becoming “something new” just feels very heavy-handed and on-the-nose. Yes, Netflix, we get it. Cavill is gone. Liam Hemsworth is new Geralt.
• The swagger. Watching the trailer again and when Geralt hollers out the “move” line, he does a sort of swagger as he walks. It’s very Hollywood. It feels like we’re watching a trailer for an Avengers movie or something. Geralt doesn’t move like that. It may be nit-picking, but I think all of it contributes to the overall sense of cheapness here.

Season 4 of The Witcher drops on October 30th. There will be a fifth and final season down the road, but honestly this show basically died after Season 1. Speaking of which, here’s the Season 1 trailer so you can get a sense of just how much of a tonal shift there’s been since then:

Even here, I’d replaced the music with just the orchestral score. (Or better still, the video game’s score). But the writing is just much, much better even in the trailer. Compare our two Geralts:

Season 1: “Evil is evil. Less, greater, middling. It’s all the same.”

Season 4: “Let’s #*$&ing move!”

Sigh.