The Witcher Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

1. No, It's Not The Next Game Of Thrones

Much of the press leading up to The Witcher's release has positioned it as the natural successor to Game of Thrones, and it's not only a comparison that would place an undue burden on any fantasy series, but it's also one that isn't remotely earned.

Even ignoring the fact that comparing the two is ultimately glib and superficial, The Witcher simply is nowhere near as tense, intriguing, or brilliantly character-driven as Game of Thrones - in its earlier seasons, at least.

If HBO's genre gemstone is probably the greatest fantasy series ever made, The Witcher is a far trashier affair - and knowingly so, at least - with few pretensions to being as classily robust as Thrones was in its greater years.

Viewers need to just let The Witcher be its own thing rather than handing it the unfair task of living up to one of the most immense pop-culture monoliths of the past decade.

Though at the same time, the show is also clearly too much of a mess in its current state to become the kind of demographic-spanning smash hit that Thrones quickly did.

Given the frustrating nature of the storytelling in particular, The Witcher is likely to stay a more niche success for Netflix.

But accepting these flaws, the show still has a lot going for it. Here's what season one gets right...