Why The Witcher's Season 2's Rotten Tomatoes Score is So Much Better

 The Witcher season 2 is a big hit for Netflix, with far better reviews in Rotten Tomatoes than season 1. Here's why its score is so much higher.

The Witcher season 1 was well received on Netflix, but season 2 has a much higher Rotten Tomatoes score. The first season was criticized for a number of reasons, from its somewhat confusing timeline hopping, to some unfair comparisons to Game of Thrones, but critics don't seem to have those complaints with season 2, giving it a much higher rating on the Tomatometer.

Both seasons of The Witcher are among Netflix's most-watched TV content, with season 2 seemingly set to outpace the first. The Henry Cavill-led series adapting the popular books and game series of the same name has quickly become one of Netflix's top properties, earning a spin-off anime movie, a live-action prequel spin-off, a family-friendly spin-off show, and season 3 is also in development. Netflix has long been in search of big franchise IP to expand on their streaming platform, and based on the proliferation of Witcher projects, they may have found another big IP for their library.

The Witcher season 2 has a very positive reception from critics, earning a 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, drastically improving on season 1's 68 percent. There are a number of factors impacting the jump in the score, from a more straightforward timeline to more dynamic cast of characters to even crazier monsters. The score increase is especially noticeable when it comes to Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, who actually gave the first season a Rotten 42 percent score, jumping all the way to 82 for season 2.

Ironically, while critics are much more receptive to season 2, audiences are the exact opposite. The audience score for season one was 90 percent, but season 2 dropped all the way to 60. Chief audience complaints seem to come from fans of the books and games who are frustrated with deviations from the source material as well as the overall writing, including the heavy use of the F-word, claiming it breaks the immersion of the fantasy world.

With The Witcher season 3 scripts already written, it'll be curious to see if the show is finally able to capture the praise of both fans and critics, or if they'll continue to be split in their reception. It may be too late to made any adjustments to the writing, but more time with the script may have benefitted the quality, and with season 2 setting up a number of big moments, there should be a lot of spectacle for fans and critics alike when The Witcher season 3 arrives, likely in 2023.