S01.E05: Bottled Appetites

[Meredith Quill]

Episode Synopsis:

A fateful meeting, a bard is maimed.

[AnimeMania]

A mostly pointless episode, just a way to maneuver the key players into position.

[MrWhyt]

well finally Geralt's and Yen's stories are happening at the same time

[thuganomics85]

I see this was the episode where it was mandated to ramp up the sex and nudity to earn that TV-MA rating!  A random magical orgy for the hell of it and I'm pretty sure Anya Chalotra might have been naked more than she was clothed for this episode.

But, hey, Geralt and Yen meet for the first time and are already doing the whole "insult and belittle each other, but clearly have the hots for each other" bit, and even ending in some "we just survived a djinn attack"/hate sex!

Poor Mousesack!  It seems like everyone that gets close to Ciri has a tragic end.  Dara better watch his ass!

Heh, of course Geralt cares more about Jaskier than he'll ever admit out loud!

[Kasienka]

Why give me hope and then take it away. Poor Mousesack, you'll be missed. Didn't expect a doppler here and definitely not some psycho/murderer one. Interesting concept, but now trip to Brokilon seems kinda pointless. She came, drunk their magical water and then she left. They didn't even show in full what was going on with that magic tree. And since when she and Dara become close like family. I didn't see much bonding between them and I'm afraid he'll be better of if he stayed with the Dryads.  But that was a B plot for the real action in this episode. Geralt and Yennefer's timelines finally came together. I think actors have great chemistry with each other and were convincing as two people instantly fascinated by one another. 

[DearEvette]

Sigh.

Why show, why?  Up to this point Yennefer has been interesting.  And then we get the close up of her putting on her revlon lipstick and watching her going all rebel bad girl with her puppet orgies, dominatrix wear and despairing ennui.  Gah.  This was such a let down.  Just a retread of every wanna be edgy sexual scene on any wanna be buzzed about show. 

At least it took a turn once Geralt showed up.  But again the writing is doing the characters no favor. 

Once again the CIri stuff is just not interesting on its own.  I just waiting for her to meet up with Geralt as well.  And once again, I am going to harp on the storytelling is missing in favor of scenery and set pieces. Ciri falls in with wood elves, has a 10 minute conversation and drinks their kool aid.  Ok.

The Nilfgaardian stuff was interesting though.  And I Fringilla went from having no backbone to being a full on evil sorceress enabler.  I guess her years as an advisor was a lot less boring than Yennefer's were.  LOL.

[WatchrTina]

I feel like I lost the plot a bit.  Wasn't Yennifer having money woes that kept her from paying her taxes?  And then the next time we see her she's puppet-mastering an orgy in a mansion?  Was it the tax-collector's mansion?  Did she enchant him and move into his house to teach him a lesson?  I'm so confused.  I'm glad she cured the annoying side-kick / bard but. . . still really confused.

On the other hand -- yay, we are down to only two time-lines now that Yennifer and Geralt's plot-lines have hooked up (as have Yennifer and Geralt, heh.)

I agree with the folks above who noted that Ciri's sojourn among the Dryad seems to have been utterly pointless except as a stopping place to allow the doppelgänger to catch up to her.  This show is based on a video game, right?  I hope she picked up some magical item or knowledge from the Dryad that will come in handy later on (like the way one picks up helpful times in a game.)

[Zuleikha]

This episode had me feeling very New Agey self-help at Yennefer. Never has there been such a clear case of the need to look for internal solutions instead of external ones. Yennefer's never going to be powerful enough to escape her own self-hatred. 

I think the show needed to set an episode in the skipped timeline of Yennefer's advising for the Brotherhood, though. I don't get how we went from Yennefer manipulating her way into Aedirn to being so bored and desperate for a child. 

Fringilla appears to have gone rogue as well despite her seemingly promising start. Presumably we'll learn more about this White Flame and the why of the fall of Cintra.

Given what we've seen of Yennefer, Fringilla, and Stregobor, it makes me wonder if the Brotherhood completely fell apart between Yennefer's initial time and Ciri's. 

[Kasienka]

16 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

This show is based on a video game, right?

It's actually based on a series of books. The games obviously became more popular, but they are also based on those books.

[Dobian]

It was great seeing the djinn story

Spoiler

that played a part in future events in Witcher 3.

The show has done a thorough job of establishing that Yennefer likes sex.  A lot.

Ciri is like the Arya of this show.

Jaskier is the Joxer of this show.

They jumped Yennefer ahead several years so she could finally meet up with Geralt.  I wonder if they are going to just as quickly jump Geralt's timeline ahead fourteen or whatever years so he meets Ciri.  I also wonder how they will reintroduce Triss to the story.

 

[pootlus]

23 hours ago, Zuleikha said:

I think the show needed to set an episode in the skipped timeline of Yennefer's advising for the Brotherhood, though. I don't get how we went from Yennefer manipulating her way into Aedirn to being so bored and desperate for a child.

I also feel like we need an episode or two to catch up on Yennefer's time since the 'hey I'm hot now' ball but since the show has been renewed, maybe there's time in the next season?

[nodorothyparker]

I guess the good news is that with Garalt and Yennefer meeting up we're down to two separate timelines?

Man, this one had me wishing that the show had cast the actress who played Renfri in the first episode as Yennefer because she and Henry Cavill had some great chemistry.  This pairing may get there eventually, but it mostly felt like the writing was pushing pushing pushing me to see something that wasn't fully happening onscreen.  Instead, there was a sense of cutting and pasting weird meet cute but with wizards stuff and oh, she'll be all but naked through a lot of it so it will all jell together somehow.  Mostly what I got was that Yennefer's been unhappy and unhinged for awhile and she very quickly latched onto the idea of the djinn filling the hole that everything else hasn't up until now. The one thing I thought they did get right was Geralt and Yennefer being instantly interested in the idea of each other since their magic doesn't easily work on the other. 

I'm with Professor Not McGonagall in wondering whether she even really wants a baby or whether she's just fixating on it for lack of anything else since she's soured on the whole mage to the king deal after her previous gig went south last episode.  Too bad she missed the boat on what the mage she sent to Nilfgaard is really up to.

I had to pause to google dopplers as I was unfamiliar with that one.  So basically a shapeshifter with the prerequisite fantasy random body parts in jars.  Having the washed out princess of no discernible eyebrows be immediately taken in by one does sort of render her whole time with the magical tree people kind of pointless.  But most of her plot thus far feels that way most of the time for me anyway.  Does she really have no other abilities at all except her magical shrieking that might have tipped her off?

It's sweet if predictable that Geralt's slowly coming around to Jaskier, whose turquoise outfit of the big puffy sleeves was just flat out tragic even for fantasy.

[Morrigan2575]

And now I'm shipping Yen and Geralt. I liked that she brought out an overtly snarky side of Geralt (he's usually a low-key shade kind of guy). I wonder what his wish was? 

I feel for Yen, she thought power and beauty would solve all her problems but, she is still filled with self hate and fear. This goes back to her training in episode 3, her greatest fear is that no one will ever love her (I'm guessing Geralt will eventually prove her wrong). 

I'm also thinking her desire for a child is about what the Queen said is episode 4, about how a baby loves you unconditionally. She thinks having a baby will give her the love she's missing. Ultimately she needs to learn to love herself. Although, maybe Ciri will help with that?

I know this show is called The Witcher ablnd I love Cavil/Geralt but, I think Yen might be my favorite character, she's fascinating.

I loved that Geralt really does care about Jeskir even if he won't admit it.

[Jack Shaftoe]

I love Yennefer from Witcher 3 but I am not on board with her raping people with magic here. Am I supposed to think it's okay because she didn't force them to have sex with ugly people? The whole orgy was so edgy and unnecessary. Everything felt rushed once again and the lighting in the dryad forest is beyond bad. I don't understand why the show is so rushed when all they had to adapt were several short stories.

[Danny Franks]

So Yennefer went from being a bored royal adviser to being a sexual abuser. Not doing much to make me like her, here. And she's all mopey and self destructive because she 'really wants a baby'? How reductive. If she's so bitter about the choice she made, she could adopt a baby.

Amusingly, even in the depraved, magical orgy, there seemed to be no gay male couples. I guess Yennefer isn't into that, huh? But she clearly is into mutants... like every other attractive woman Geralt meets.

Anya Chalotra looks fantastic naked, but I'd prefer some plot progression.

The sets, locations and photography continue to be excellent, though. That shot of the djinn escaping, with Yennefer's house on one riverbank and the town on the other, was beautiful.

The Nilfgaardian guy is very odd looking. It was harder to tell when he was wearing a helmet, but he's got a very alien cast to his face. Creepy. The serial killer Doppler was creepy as well. Not sure there's a logic to be found to the idea that morphing into the shape of someone else gives you all their memories. Seems a bit of a deus ex machina, to me.

Ciri seems to have been with the Dryads just so they didn't have to write her running away every episode.

Edited January 2, 2020 by Danny Franks

[MrWhyt]

7 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Not sure there's a logic to be found to the idea that morphing into the shape of someone else gives you all their memories. Seems a bit of a deus ex machina, to me.

Magic!

[tennisgurl]

Awww Geralt really does care about Jaskier, even if he wont admit it to his face! I loved how his reaction to Yens orgy party and her very obviously wanting to hit that was basically an annoyed "Look, can you just cure my friend who I wont admit is my friend already and then we can get on with this whole Eyes Wide Shut thing you have going on please?" 

Speaking of, Geralt and Yen finally meet up and their timelines converge! So what was the deal with this whole party anyway? Was she actually making people have sex, or was it more like a "I removed their inhibitions" kind of deal? Maybe not a huge difference, but there are probably a few semantic differences here. Yen is clearly one of those people that is always in search of something to make her feel happy, but they always seem to be external things. She grew up without beauty and power, and then when she got those, she still wasnt happy, so now she is looking a child that could love and give her fulfillment, as well a sex, drugs, and magic. Not that external things cant make you happy (her situation in her first episode were pretty terrible so I cant blame her for wanting distance from it) but what she is looking for is clearly not being fulfilled. She and Geralt have pretty decent chemistry, and their snarky was fun. I am always kind of surprised at how funny this show can be, as dark and serious as the plot is. 

"Where are we?" "A spa, where do you think?" I liked the elf healer guy, its kind of interesting to see the different relationships that humans and elves seem to have, depending on the time and kingdom. In some places, like with the coal miners, who seemed to be a mix of humans and elves, they seem to coexist decently enough, while in places like Cintra, human attitudes towards any kind of non human seems to be "treat like dirt" at best and "kill on site" at worst. 

No Mousesack! I really thought/hoped that he might make it after he was taken alive, but I guess its good that at least his death was pretty quick. No Ciri, its a trap! It seems like everyone around Cici meets a tragic end, I am very concerned for her elf friend. Maybe he should have just stayed with the dryads. 

Edited January 4, 2020 by tennisgurl

[iMonrey]

Quote

I think the show needed to set an episode in the skipped timeline of Yennefer's advising for the Brotherhood, though. I don't get how we went from Yennefer manipulating her way into Aedirn to being so bored and desperate for a child. 

I've really had trouble following Yennefer's storyline all along. Mostly because it keeps skipping over big chunks of time but also because of all the references to strange place names and people names. When last we saw her she was guarding a Queen, or Princess, and her baby. Now she is  . . . what? Rogue? Because she failed in her job so now she's an outcast, or something? I really don't get the whole Mage thing, the construct of that whole world hasn't been properly explained. 

Quote

I feel like I lost the plot a bit.  Wasn't Yennifer having money woes that kept her from paying her taxes?  And then the next time we see her she's puppet-mastering an orgy in a mansion?  Was it the tax-collector's mansion?  Did she enchant him and move into his house to teach him a lesson?  I'm so confused.  I'm glad she cured the annoying side-kick / bard but. . . still really confused.

From what I can gather she was working as a freelance Mage since she bailed on her formal assignment. I'm unclear whether or not she's in hiding, or from who. But I assumed she simply allowed the Mayor to arrest her (the Elf healer said she was "imprisoned" at the Mayor's house) but when Geralt got there she had apparently put a spell on the Mayor and everyone else so she could take over the household. 

Again, the show is leaving a lot for us to assume and it's irritating. I enjoy the show overall but the writing is somewhat spotty.

[Morrigan2575]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Now she is  . . . what? Rogue? Because she failed in her job so now she's an outcast, or something? I really don't get the whole Mage thing, the construct of that whole world hasn't been properly explained. 

Yennifer left the Brotherhood she wasn't kicked out. Basically she was fed up with the politics of being a court mage and failing to save the baby drove her to turn her back on them and Court. 

The way I view Yen is, she was an abused/crippled/poor girl who was sold by her step father. She was put in a place where she was taught power and control and that beauty, knowledge, power would make her important. She thought that being a King's mage would elevate her to a role that would gain her love/admiration/respect/etc and she was willing to toss aside everything else, thinking this would make her happy.

Instead she spent 30 years babysitting rich/spoiled/royals, she had beauty and lived a courtly life with rich/famous people. However, she realized that money, power, beauty didn't bring her happiness. As we saw back in 103, her biggest fear was that no matter how much power/beauty she had no one would ever love her.  Her biggest fear was proved true. So she latches on to the idea of having a baby (as the queen said a baby loves you and thinks your their whole world - or something to that effect)

So now, Yen is on a quest to have a child because she thinks it will make her happy.  I go back to one of my original comments on Yen, she won't be happy until she learns to love herself.

[Danny Franks]

On ‎1‎/‎8‎/‎2020 at 7:06 PM, iMonrey said:

I've really had trouble following Yennefer's storyline all along. Mostly because it keeps skipping over big chunks of time but also because of all the references to strange place names and people names. When last we saw her she was guarding a Queen, or Princess, and her baby. Now she is  . . . what? Rogue? Because she failed in her job so now she's an outcast, or something? I really don't get the whole Mage thing, the construct of that whole world hasn't been properly explained. 

I don't really get why the king she was serving waited until his queen was alone with Yennefer before siccing that wizard and his pet beetle on them. Wouldn't it be far easier to have her killed when there's not a powerful sorceress to protect her? And wouldn't the council of magic people be a bit miffed if Yennefer was killed on the king's orders?

Edited January 12, 2020 by Danny Franks

[paramitch]

Earrrggghgh. I hate plots that are contingent on the characters being idiots, and the awful bard being so cavalier while Geralt was going after the djinn amphora was just painful, unbelievable plotting to get us to "ha ha ha, whoops! whose wishes worked?!"

The bard is working my last nerve. Not only did I not believe Geralt would care about what happened to him, I was bummed that he survived, especially when his first wish was to kill a rival bard for some stupid trivial thing (more confirmation that Jaskier is awful). Ugh. I can't stand him. I just don't find him funny or redeemable.

Meanwhile, oh, good lord, the nudity is driving me nuts. Just because so much of it is pointless and so misogynistic.

Take the bath scene. Geralt sits barechested in water for the entire scene. Anya Chalotra meanwhile, goes full-body full-frontal, and then spend the rest of the scene bare to the waist.

And then there's the hilarious scene where she's calling the djinn, which once again (as with her 'magic surgery' scene) requires her to go mysteriously topless for seriously 5-10 minutes total for no reason that I could figure out at all. Okay, she drew a symbol on her stomach. Which took about 30 seconds. But, also, she's wearing a robe that tied, empire-style, just below her breasts. She could have drawn the symbol without disrobing. I mean, it's laughable at this point.

The orgy was disturbing once it was revealed that all of the participants were just puppeted by force by a bored Yennefer, but it was also just more needless window-dressing-with-boobs. It wasn't even very well-done -- the participants were very obviously doing these repetitive sex moves without any communication of actual sex or desire, so ultimately it just looked like some grad student's weird contemporary dance project pitch for Victoria's Secret.

I'm not anti-nudity or anti-sex. But I want both to have a purpose and a point in the story and drama. Shows that have handled this beautifully for me would include "Penny Dreadful" and "Sense8," where the nudity is thought-provoking, part of the larger story, and even (thank you "Sense8") evenly handled among all genders in a way that celebrates the human body while also treating the characters (and actors) with respect.

But I feel like this show studied "Game of Thrones" and then came away fervently committed to every single wrong lesson and bad decision on the show. Sexposition! Misogyny! Boring scene? Just add boobs!

On 12/23/2019 at 1:37 AM, thuganomics85 said:

I see this was the episode where it was mandated to ramp up the sex and nudity to earn that TV-MA rating!  A random magical orgy for the hell of it and I'm pretty sure Anya Chalotra might have been naked more than she was clothed for this episode.

I increasingly wish Emma Appleton (Renfri) had been cast as Yennefer. I liked Anya when she was the yearning, disabled Yennefer, but as the show has gone along, all she seems able to play are very basic emotions (mostly happy/sad/sexy). Appleton brought so much complexity to Renfri that I still miss her (and so does Geralt, evidently).

Although, who knows, maybe Appleton was unwilling to drop trou every 5 minutes. I definitely give Chalotra props for being game when it comes to those scenes, and she is a beautiful human being, although it doesn't make the scenes any less frustrating or exploitative. 

On 12/23/2019 at 9:39 AM, Kasienka said:

Didn't expect a doppler here and definitely not some psycho/murderer one. Interesting concept, but now trip to Brokilon seems kinda pointless. She came, drunk their magical water and then she left. They didn't even show in full what was going on with that magic tree.  

I felt the same way. Ciri's entire sojourn in the forest was so oddly done. There was zero real tension there, even when there could have been—the "water" rite was potentially exciting and scary, where we worry about who will survive, but instead, Dara had already passed the test when she saw him, and Ciri's own rite had zero tension. 

And then the stuff with the tree, which again, went nowhere at all.

I did feel bad for Mousesack, since I had liked him and had been happy at his survival. RIP, Mousesack! You rose above your name!

On 12/24/2019 at 6:34 PM, DearEvette said:

Why show, why?  Up to this point Yennefer has been interesting.  And then we get the close up of her putting on her revlon lipstick and watching her going all rebel bad girl with her puppet orgies, dominatrix wear and despairing ennui.  Gah.  This was such a let down.  Just a retread of every wanna be edgy sexual scene on any wanna be buzzed about show. 

At least it took a turn once Geralt showed up.  But again the writing is doing the characters no favor.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I 100% agree with this. And I was so disappointed in the scene with Tissaia and Yen. I was on Tiss's side here. While, okay, she was cold at times, and sure, turning the failures into magical-powering eels seemed a bit harsh, other than that, she was always on Yennefer's side, and always trying to help her achieve greater heights. Yennefer's derision here just felt childish and pointless. I hate that all of Yennefer's scenes play so black-and-white. Especially because Tissaia's actress was giving so much empathy and nuance, and Yennefer just came across like a bratty child.

For me it's 50% writing issues, 50% actress issues (Anya just doesn't seem to be capable of playing real complexity so far).

On 12/27/2019 at 6:26 PM, nodorothyparker said:

Man, this one had me wishing that the show had cast the actress who played Renfri in the first episode as Yennefer because she and Henry Cavill had some great chemistry.  This pairing may get there eventually, but it mostly felt like the writing was pushing pushing pushing me to see something that wasn't fully happening onscreen.  Instead, there was a sense of cutting and pasting weird meet cute but with wizards stuff and oh, she'll be all but naked through a lot of it so it will all jell together somehow.  Mostly what I got was that Yennefer's been unhappy and unhinged for awhile and she very quickly latched onto the idea of the djinn filling the hole that everything else hasn't up until now.

Having the washed out princess of no discernible eyebrows be immediately taken in by one does sort of render her whole time with the magical tree people kind of pointless.  But most of her plot thus far feels that way most of the time for me anyway.  Does she really have no other abilities at all except her magical shrieking that might have tipped her off?

Great minds! I feel exactly the same way about Renfri and Yennefer. Also, your name for Ciri and her magical shrieking is perfection.

On 12/31/2019 at 4:41 PM, Jack Shaftoe said:

I love Yennefer from Witcher 3 but I am not on board with her raping people with magic here. Am I supposed to think it's okay because she didn't force them to have sex with ugly people? The whole orgy was so edgy and unnecessary. Everything felt rushed once again and the lighting in the dryad forest is beyond bad. I don't understand why the show is so rushed when all they had to adapt were several short stories.

All of this.

On 1/2/2020 at 4:44 AM, Danny Franks said:

So Yennefer went from being a bored royal adviser to being a sexual abuser. Not doing much to make me like her, here. And she's all mopey and self destructive because she 'really wants a baby'? How reductive. If she's so bitter about the choice she made, she could adopt a baby.

Amusingly, even in the depraved, magical orgy, there seemed to be no gay male couples. I guess Yennefer isn't into that, huh? 

Sigh. Hey, at least "Game of Thrones" gave us beautiful Prince Oberyn and his equal-opportunity visits to the brothel.

On 1/4/2020 at 12:44 PM, tennisgurl said:

"Where are we?" "A spa, where do you think?" I liked the elf healer guy, its kind of interesting to see the different relationships that humans and elves seem to have, depending on the time and kingdom. In some places, like with the coal miners, who seemed to be a mix of humans and elves, they seem to coexist decently enough, while in places like Cintra, human attitudes towards any kind of non human seems to be "treat like dirt" at best and "kill on site" at worst.  

Although I'm kind of crushing on the elven doctor. So that's something?

On 1/11/2020 at 10:31 PM, Danny Franks said:

I don't really get why the king she was serving waited until his queen was alone with Yennefer before siccing that wizard and his pet beetle on them. Wouldn't it be far easier to have her killed when there's not a powerful sorceress to protect her? And wouldn't the council of magic people be a bit miffed if Yennefer was killed on the king's orders?

These are all really good points. I wish you were in the writers' room.

Aren't there easier ways for the king to dispatch his queen without slaughtering a troop of his own guards, angering his court mage, and unleashing a magical monster on the world?

On the plus side, I did covet Yennefer's gorgeous four-poster bed with the parchment-colored hangings.

[Jack Shaftoe]

2 hours ago, paramitch said:

But I feel like this show studied "Game of Thrones" and then came away fervently committed to every single wrong lesson and bad decision on the show. Sexposition! Misogyny! Boring scene? Just add boobs!

I actually came across a review which compared this show with GoT's overuse of nudity and somehow concluded that women aren't depicted as sexual objects in The Witcher. And you are totally right - the disparity between male and female nudity is staggering.

[Danny Franks]

On 1/13/2020 at 5:14 PM, Jack Shaftoe said:

I actually came across a review which compared this show with GoT's overuse of nudity and somehow concluded that women aren't depicted as sexual objects in The Witcher. And you are totally right - the disparity between male and female nudity is staggering.

I feel like anyone who says "no, they're not sexual objects" isn't capable of the nuanced thinking that allows for women to be powerful while also being sexually objectified.

That's the whole basis of these sorceresses in the Witcher, as far as I can tell - They're all gorgeous and overtly sexual, but conniving and duplicitous and manipulative as well, which doesn't give me great vibes when it comes to Andrzej Sapkowski, who created the series.

[TaurusRose]

On 12/27/2019 at 9:26 PM, nodorothyparker said:

The one thing I thought they did get right was Geralt and Yennefer being instantly interested in the idea of each other since their magic doesn't easily work on the other. 

Having the washed out princess of no discernible eyebrows be immediately taken in by one does sort of render her whole time with the magical tree people kind of pointless.  But most of her plot thus far feels that way most of the time for me anyway.  

I agree with all of this.

On 1/13/2020 at 9:06 AM, paramitch said:

The bard is working my last nerve. Not only did I not believe Geralt would care about what happened to him, I was bummed that he survived, especially when his first wish was to kill a rival bard for some stupid trivial thing (more confirmation that Jaskier is awful). Ugh. I can't stand him. I just don't find him funny or redeemable.

THIS!

Quote

Take the bath scene. Geralt sits barechested in water for the entire scene. Anya Chalotra meanwhile, goes full-body full-frontal, and then spend the rest of the scene bare to the waist.

I didn't see that.  Yen turned the mirror away so Geralt couldn't see her fully nude and the cut was of her getting into the tub, but it was pretty modest for this type of show.  Also, Cavill is spending a lot of time naked from the waist up or almost naked, too. 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2020 by taurusrose

[Bruinsfan]

If that last weren't the case I'd have bailed on this cheesefest after the third episode!

[paramitch]

On 5/18/2019 at 12:48 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Never knew that I wanted a dance number on Lucifer, but here we go!  And nobody apparently puts Dan in a corner, according to Luci's fantasy!

Solid enough finale with the main villains being disgruntled demons who are upset with Lucifer for abandoning them, and basically try to create a new king with Poor Baby Charles.  Bonus points for one of them being Finley of course, which led to Graham McTavish getting to chew the scenery like the pro that he is.  And it led to Amenadiel and Maze throwing down against them, which is always a positive.

But it all leads to to Lucifer deciding that he needs to go back to Hell in order to maintain control.  Even after Chloe finally tells him that she loves him.  If the shows does get another season, I wonder how they'll work it all out.  Another angel assuming the mantle for some reason and allowing Lucifer to go back to Earth?

Glad Amenadiel saw the light and didn't try to take Charles to the Silver City, because that really would have been unforgivable.

Glad that Eve has been set-up for a possible return.  Inbar Lavi ended up being a very welcoming addition to the series' cast.

Dan and Ella seemed to get sidelined this season, with the former mainly in a rut over Charlotte's death, while the latter was about her question her faith.

Sad that there wasn't a final Trixie appearance.

All in all, a major step up from S3.  Not perfect, of course, but it was back to the show that I enjoyed when it first came on.  If this is it, the ending works as a possible bittersweet series finale, but I hope Netflix keeps it going as long as the writers can maintain this quality and not regress.

 

On 5/19/2019 at 12:09 PM, Loandbehold said:

A very nice rebound for the show from last season. The characters became real again and the show was much tighter. 

When Eve told Maze that she had to find herself b/c she'd been doing w/ Luci what she did w/ Adam - making herself what she thought they wanted - and Maze said she still wanted to be w/ her, my thought was that Maze knows her (this go-around) as the party girl for Lucifer. Whoever Eve decides she truly is, might not be someone Maze wants to be with. I hope Maze can deal w/ that. 

Ella's reaffirmation of belief in dear ol' Dad came on rather quickly, but with only 10 episodes, things like that are bound to happen. 

I like that the bubble wrap is still on everything in Dr. Linda's house, just in case baby Charley sprouts wings and decides to go on fly-abouts. 

Amenadude and Maze kicking ass and not taking names is always welcome. And I'm glad he didn't take Charley to the Silver City. There's no coming back from that unless there's significant danger and he first clears it w/ Dr. Linda and Auntie Maze. 

Disappointed there wasn't more Trixie this season. If there's a Season 5 maybe they'll be able to work her into a storyline that lasts longer than one episode. 

We really do need to know how time works in Hell as compared to LA (a/k/a Hell on Earth). If a week in LA is 10,000 years in Hell, then it will be tough for Luci to take too many vacations. He needs to attend to his demon subjects for a few millennia to make sure that no new rebellions take place. 

This episode would make for a satisfying series finale, but I hope we get a fifth season.

 

On 5/19/2019 at 7:15 PM, sharifa70 said:

I am all in for a season 5. This was such a huge improvement over season 3, I can’t believe I was watching the same show. Every episode there were scenes that I watched over and over (that dance number killed me), and I’ll probably re-watch the entire season. I loved Eve and hope we see her again, and count me in with the people who missed Trixie. A 10-episode season can do wonders for a show’s storytelling.

More, please!

Edited to give huge props to the person/people responsible for selecting the songs for this show. My music collection is richer thanks to them.

 

On 1/31/2020 at 5:05 PM, taurusrose said:

I agree with all of this.

THIS!

I didn't see that.  Yen turned the mirror away so Geralt couldn't see her fully nude and the cut was of her getting into the tub, but it was pretty modest for this type of show.  Also, Cavill is spending a lot of time naked from the waist up or almost naked, too. 

 

 

 

I'm confused. We get a full-body shot of Yen regardless of how Geralt sees her. It's still massively objectifying.

[supposebly]

Yeah, I think I'm done now. I m ok with camp and hokey writing but I'm done with the pointless female nudity. I have no more patience for this kind of crap. This show isn't good enough to put up with it. 

[Harvey]

On 9/3/2020 at 8:51 AM, supposebly said:

Yeah, I think I'm done now. I m ok with camp and hokey writing but I'm done with the pointless female nudity. I have no more patience for this kind of crap. This show isn't good enough to put up with it. 

Is it really pointless? This show is based on a game so it expects to attract much of the people who played the games (gamers), who are mostly men. Of course the show will want to appease them with boobs  and other forms of self-gratuitous female nudity so they keep watching the series. Like, whenever it happens, while I don't love it, I get what they are going for.

[supposebly]

On 11/2/2020 at 5:22 AM, Harvey said:

Of course the show will want to appease them with boobs  and other forms of self-gratuitous female nudity so they keep watching the series.

Well, that's what makes it pointless for me. 

[BookWoman56]

Nudity doesn’t bother me; in many societies it’s not a big deal. That said, I thought the nudity in this episode was largely symbolic. The orgy participants were nude, and vulnerable to Yen’s manipulation. In the bathtub scene, Yen is nude and Geralt shows insight into her background and character. Geralt, while also naked, is also partially covered by the bath water; he’s somewhat vulnerable to Yen but she doesn’t discern much about his character other than he does consider the bard a friend. Clothing is usually part of the persona we present to others, and its absence generally indicates that the character is showing more of his or her true self than usual, whether the nudity is voluntary or forced. 
The only thing that truly bothered me about this episode was the actor who was selling Yen the supposed treatments for her infertility. Intentionally or not, he sounded exactly like he was doing an impersonation of Alan Rickman’s voice. I can’t watch this episode again without thinking of him as Not!AlanRickman. 

[SourK]

The thing I dislike about the series so far is that it's shot in a way that makes every scene socially awkward, distant, and sterile. For example, someone thought it would look cool to have Yennefer and Geralt take a bath together, back to back... but it makes no sense that they would do that, and it was weird, and it didn't feel intimate, and all I could think was, "Wow, this has got to be an awkward day at work."

On the flipside, I did like that one moment where she's trying to hold the genie and she's just blazing with light and she says she wants everything. I understood why he's attracted to her in that moment, better than any other moment in the episode.

But then, back on the awkward side again, it felt super weird that they decided to bone after that.

Like, on paper, the story arc makes sense. In execution, it just looks like people doing stuff because it's in the script.

On 1/13/2020 at 9:06 AM, paramitch said:

Meanwhile, oh, good lord, the nudity is driving me nuts. Just because so much of it is pointless and so misogynistic.

Take the bath scene. Geralt sits barechested in water for the entire scene. Anya Chalotra meanwhile, goes full-body full-frontal, and then spend the rest of the scene bare to the waist.

I'm not a fan of this double-standard, either. It's also a thing where you're casting a young actor who doesn't necessarily have the leverage to negotiate a better contract, or the experience to know what's normal, or the confidence to refuse to do something, and you're like, "Hey, take off your clothes in front of everyone for no real narrative reason."

It's a creepy thing to do to someone.