Fans of The Witcher love the show, but the same apparently can’t be said for the spinoff series The Witcher: Blood Origin. In fact, some fans are saying the show is using overt profanity as a way to mask weak storytelling and just a generally lackluster show.
Over on r/witcher, fans are calling out the series’ penchant for using the f-word repeatedly for no real reason other than trying too hard. Take a look:
User Ierax29 made fun of the whole thing by pointing out Netflix’s seeming desperation to have a show as good as the original.
“Netflix : So we’ve heard you like Geralt saying “f**k,” they said. User BhataktiAtma responded with “How the f**k do you do, f**king fellow kids?”
This is of course a reference to the famous 30 Rock scene where Steve Buscemi’s character pretends to be a high schooler.
Someone else said “It’s like the South Park episode when TV execs go overboard with ‘s**t.'” That episode was more a parody of Hollywood though, whereas Blood Origin is not.
Others pointed out that it’s like they add the word in front of literally f**king everything. Some examples:
“The f**king winds f**king howling,” “You were always an unruly f**king child. I f**king adored that about you. F**k” and “and then ciri screams FU**KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK.” Fun!
A separate thread also pointed out the dialogue, calling it “embarrassingly bad.”
They also have some issues with other aspects of the show. A big one is making Eredin Bréacc Glas, the King of the Wild Hunt, a sexual being which is fine, but it became a plot point and that’s weird considering he’s the most terrifying villain in the games.
User Pumpkin_Tiny pointed out how incredibly out of character it would be for Eredin to use excessive profanity with Geralt after their big fight in the game Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt.
User Processing_Info pointed out that Eredin is so out of character in Blood Origin that he would be “too busy banging his boyfriend” to curse out Geralt. While this may sound offensive on its surface, the main issue is not that Eredin is gay but that he has a love interest in the first place.
Sure, it adds more to the character but is that really the context we need for a bad guy?
“It’s even worse than a porn parody,” user jonomarkono said. This is by no means the only negative sentiment out there.
In a post on the Witcher deep discussion subreddit r/wiedzmin, user High-On-Cinema broke down why Blood Origin is being received so terribly, in addition to the ridiculous dialogue.
“Oh my god, why are they doing this to us? … It’s like the writers said a big f**k off to any existing Witcher lore and what they came up with themselves was complete bullcrap. Leaving the crappy plot and story aside, none, I repeat, none of the characters are worth remembering or leave any impact on the viewers.”
I think it’s fair to say Blood Origin isn’t a fan favorite. For those ready to hear a barrage of f-bombs, Blood Origin is currently streaming on Netflix.