Season 4 of The Witcher is set to return to the best book stories

Netflix’s The Witcher approaching another turning point. The series has gone through many changes over the years, but it’s about to face its biggest yet: Life According to Henry Cavill, starring Liam Hemsworth as Geralt in season four. And it’s an opportunity to return to what made the show a success in the first place.

The Witcher had a successful start as a series that used monster encounters and fantasy techniques to create compelling episodic television that supported the larger world it was building. Sure, there was a bigger story, but Geralt’s early stories (and those of Yen and Ciri) were notable for the dangerous encounters and gnarly creatures they had to overcome in each episode.

Then the second season of the series approached game of Thrones

imitation and sacrificed part of the episodic monster hijinx in favor of the broader story it wanted to tell. And the third season, unfortunately, fully followed that direction, dwelling heavily on Witcher Lore and obscure political conspiracies replace the simple joys of Geralt snarling at and then slaughtering some creepy foes.

Image: Netflix

Of course, season three also has moments when monsters clash: the flesh monster stands out, as does the attack on the ship later in the season. But these seem like sparse moments of punctuation within the less compelling larger story of The Witcher Season 3, and not climaxes within an episode devoted to the suspense and mystery surrounding the monster’s existence and menace.

While I’m generally in the camp of We have too many feature length films masquerading as TV shows and we should return to more episodic televisionI don’t think that’s the only reason The Witcher should use the upcoming reset as an opportunity to change gears. The show itself then becomes a lot more fun and enjoyable: rewatch the great Season 2 premiere or the Dragon Hunt episode “Rare Species” from Season 1. You will be reminded that this is monster hunting episodic television The Witcher

made you even more immersed in the world by having Geralt interact with people who needed his help.

It also allowed Cavill, one of the series’ greatest strengths, to just do his thing, moan, grunt (either effortlessly or sarcastically), and use the considerable work he put into his swordfight to flex with determination (and usually a…) beating a way through conflict with a touch of anger). Plus, the veteran production team was able to design spooky, thrilling ghouls (which would then be cut to pieces).

Photo: Jay Maidment/Netflix

Most importantly, the episodic structure allows for this The Witcher to avoid what has become its greatest weakness: impenetrable lore. I haven’t read the books (which I’d bet I have in common with much of the Netflix audience), and the series has given me no reason to concern myself with the larger political conflicts going on in the world The Witcher. The scheming characters and shifting alliances are drawn as sparsely as possible – seemingly in an attempt to narrow the narrative but instead offer viewers nothing to hold on to in the game of the larger conflict beyond their connections to Geralt and Ciri.

That’s not enough to carry the weight of a world-level political conflict – but it’s more than enough to keep us entertained despite some monster bashing. So let’s do more of this, yeah? Less Vilgefortz, more strongholds full of villains. Less cahir, more fear. Less Dijkstra, more terror… to… hunt. you get the picture

The fourth season of The Witcher will already be a reset for the show. Why not do a complete reboot and take Netflix’s seminal fantasy hit back to its roots as episodic television?