3x08 The Cost of Chaos

Season finale completely meh to a boring season; but tbf, Time of Contempt i think is the most boring one in the saga. The deliverys as always are not great, except for Henry. I didn't quite like the actress for Milva. She gave a rough performace as her character but still felt off. A couple fight scenes in this last couple episodes were better than the rest of the seasons (yes, seasonS plural). Is good that they kept some key elements that may have been cut out. The nonsens between Jaskier and Radovid kept getting worse. What i'm left with at the end is that they didn't gave a plausible reason to why Geralt supposedly will change his face next season. He just "ride off" with Dandelion and Milva. My guess is that they are just going to do the big ol' Marvel changing Rhodey like nothing happened. Still, extremely weak season, even worse than S2. My prediction is that IF they manage to do a S4, they will probably end it there. There is no way it will continue longer. Let's hope it serves its purpose as to what happens when you fuck so much with the original material and push the wokenesss and inclusiveness into it.

(909-word review) Surprisingly (although it shouldn't be), this was worse than the previous episode: which, while a pivotal one, was tedious to get through, not to mention the landing and impact didn't complement the intention of giving Ciri sole focus and being an introduction to more of that, specifically in the next season.

Besides being a lousy, strongly underwhelming closing finale, my biggest gripes were Milva's character (especially Zhang Meng'er's acting; it was painful to watch – and, by the way, circling back to one of many problems of this show: the costume design for Milva was atrocious, as is Ciri's main outfit, both of which are essentially the same) and the introduction of The Rats, who were immediately dislikable, and their fight sequence reeked of forced intent to give them (annoyingly overconfident) panache.

Furthermore, the majority of the choreography (though some of it was decent) and camerawork were subpar. And the poor, artificial lighting, a key factor that keeps popping up – it appears that a Game of Thrones-level budget is insufficient; you need to pump up those numbers, Netflix – was dreadful.

Yeah, I know, that's the point, disliking The Rats and their palpable cockiness and arrogance because that's how they were in the novels from what I know, except all I got from them was the unwaveringly acute desire to witness their demise in a very negative way, not the mindset of hating them but acknowledging that they're "well-written" because of that outlook.

In a more positive light, Mecia Simson's acting in the scene with Francesca and Fringilla where a critical plot point of the past was revealed (and I completely forgot about that and how it was something we, the audience, knew, but not Francesca) was exceptional. She's among the few pillars of acting who're propping this show upward, acting-wise (which doesn't include Henry Cavill, to paint a picture).

And similarly, Anya Chalotra's acting in Yennefer's first scene with Geralt was also exceptional; hell, her performance throughout the episode seemed the most natural it's been – and shockingly, Henry Cavill himself, notoriously void of conveying romantic attraction in this show, possibly generally as an actor, seemed to try (which never seemed to be the case until now; nevermind whether it's a success) to sell the necessary chemistry between Geralt and Yennefer in that scene, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Stating the obvious, she's one of those pillars, alongside the magnificent MyAnna Buring, whose performance as Tissaia de Vries was the best of everyone. And she'll be sorely missed and treasured – the show will also suffer from her absence to whatever depths it can even go lower at this point; she was a significant lifeline. Mecia, Anya, and MyAnna have been doing so much carrying, yet everyone's been fawning over Henry Cavill. Shameful.

TL;DR: Henry Cavill's send-off is minimal, which I couldn't care less about, and this finale was lousy and underwhelming, with Mecia Simson and Anya Chalotra's acting being the only bright spot.

Side thoughts:

• The cinematography and blue lighting in Geralt and Yennefer's first scene looked good, even elevating it beyond what I've already brought up two paragraphs back.

• Philippa has speedy hair-styling skills: speed, in general, as her hairstyle and outfit were different in the Vizimir/Radovid scene compared to when she and Dijkstra talked.

• "It's hard to believe so much has happened in a week," "How much you lost," "We've all lost," "Our home. Our history," "People we love," after picking up fallen furniture as if the room doesn't look fine besides the lighting. Cinema. At least do this in an obliterated area or one that shows signs that prop up such dialogue, not fallen furniture.

• I liked how Geralt seemingly appeared from hiding behind a tree, even though it was too small to obscure him, or from the bushes, where he would've had to be crouching down – the image of that is something else – and that's stretching it. Eavesdropping seemed to be the intention; in other words, out of sight until revealing himself, so it must be believed despite the contradictory evidence.

• Relating to that, I liked even more how, with the shots of his face as he's leaning against the tree, it's pristine; then, cutting to the very next scene/shot, with the elixir-making, he has some cuts. Sticks and stone may break my bones, but continuity errors will also... hurt me.

• The tan makeup on Ciri makes its noticeable return at the end, looking the same as it did in the second episode: bad. It's distracting and immersion-breaking, but it must be a "What color is the dress?" situation, with every makeup artist seeing it the opposite way because that's what they went with.

• The guys at the end said Ciri's the one Nilfgaard has been looking for, and Kayleigh heard it. There are presumably wanted posters: specifically, a physical description. He and the remaining Rats should know she's not Falka. Was keeping her identity a secret not one of the reasons for using an alias? It's possible that transpired the same way in the novels, and it will be promptly disclosed that they knew at the start of the next season.

• Ciri's "She's playing with him" fight sequence was edgy, goofy – cringe, and not at all compelling or whatever the intended reaction was.

• Jaskier's song during the credits was good, thankfully. Undoubtedly this season's best concerning him/Joey Batey. "The Ride of the Witcher" is tied with "A Little Sacrifice" for me.

Well, the last two episodes were so awful that I wasn't sure if they were made to make fun of everything. I never thought that I will leave a comment about dialog, but the dialog is a disaster. The pace and the stories are so slow and boring that you feel like you're wasting time. No, you know you're wasting time but you're hoping that something is going to happen and that this can't be all that there is and then it's the end. Awful. I thought that the worst show ever was Ring of Powers but these 2 episodes took over. If you think about it, it's disgraceful not only to the books/game fans but to those who liked the show without any previous knowledge about The Witcher. The worst ending of a season ever. From a good show it transformed to some kind of strange show for kids... Mommy and daddy love each other while their precious princess for 30 min walks around desert saying on repeat "Hang on, you can do it". On repeat. She cries, parents cry, friends cry, they all cry and repeat the same sentences for 2 episodes. I gave it 2 stars because it's the last season for Henry... I don't understand why they didn't end it with first part.

This just didn't hit. So many characters that I don't care about and so many painful dramatic scenes between them that I care about even less. The show has gotten too big for its own good and there's too much going on. The characters and events that are interesting get pushed to the side and are outweighed by those that aren't. Geralt has such little screen time in the final two episodes. Not sure if Cavill told the show runners he would be leaving during or after production of this season, but either way his lack of a presence here just reeks of the bad blood between them. Even if there wasn't any ill intent from the show runners, what an incredibly lackluster sendoff for Cavill as the character. We get this build in the character as a father for Ciri and therefore a man who all of a sudden has everything to lose which introduces him to fear, gets beat to near death and loses Ciri, fights his way back to health, and embarks on what is promised to be a rampaging journey free of fear holding him back in which he will stop at nothing to get to Ciri.... and we won't get to see Cavill do it. It feels like they expect us to come back next season and pretend like nothing is different. Like you've got to be kidding me. It was never going to be the same without Cavill, but we were told they would swap actors in a seamless way that would make sense and this is quite the opposite of that. I liked Ciri's parts in this finale and the fight choreography is still great but man did this put a bad taste in my mouth and make me not want to come back. I probably will for completion's sake but I can't say I'll be excited.

What happened here? If this is the story telling when the writers are not on strike, let them be on strike - forever. Honestly, nothing makes sense anymore. Geralt has become a supporting actor in his own tv show. And the dramaturgy is just awful. Just as season 3 was a prime example of awful writing altogether. Sure, it cannot fix what has been missed out in season 1 and especially 2 altogether. But it did not even try to make a story line which directs the viewer to a satisfying season finale. I was surprised and embarassed when the last episode was over. And I then realized that this was the finale.

Watching tv shows like The Witcher is becoming more and more frustrating for me. As the storytelling is rather unprofessional. And streaming services tell stories by dragging them endlessly until you have binge watched the whole season leaving you behind with the feeling that you have been robbed of life time by the video on demand service of your choice.

The problem is that I just do not care anymore. Geralt is already history and what happens to Ciri or Yennefer isn't of interest to me. So why should I therefore continue to watch this show?