TV Review: The Witcher Season 2 Returns With Daddy Geralt

Ugh! It is so hard to not see the amount of swooning that will occur as Henry Cavill’s Geralt goes fully “daddy” for Freya Allen’s Ciri. Cavill has turned Geralt into a female fantasy, not simply because he is “Superman,” but he totally embodies the powerful man that just NEEDS someone to make him FEEL. Similarly, to The Great Season 2, I swear Netflix must have DEVOURED Reddit’s innermost circles for what we really wanted: more Geralt, more Yennefer, and more of the both of them wanting each other.

Something about “forbidden love/ lust” is always attractive, and the show beautifully returns to make sure we get happily frustrated. Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) is full-on POWERFUL, but Chalotra adds a newfound nuance to what it is to portray a complex heroine. So often power is treated like this great thing that people have and the burden is accepting it. Yet, Yennefer loves her strength. It is not this heavy weight on her shoulders as much as a question… would Geralt love it? UGH! Tell me that is not some YA fantasy romantic lore! TELL ME! Her journey is about defending what is right, hoping that he will love her right, and it is impressive the way the show balances her character development as personal, deep, and exciting while not being confounded to her desire for a man. We, simultaneously, get to see her thrive and pine, which is, in essence, what men get to do. Enter Geralt!

When he is not wondering about Yennefer or fighting off the very cool, new plethora of mystical creatures, Geralt is embracing fatherhood with a heavy baritone voice and an unwillingness to say,”I love hugs!” “Zaddyhood” totally fits Geralt’s M.O. The man would tell oxygen what it can do and have rules for The Ocean over how it should more properly flow. There is a strictness and reserve to Geralt that makes watching him crack under softness so….. sweet. Moreover, there feels like an almost “switch” of what is feminine and masculine energy in terms of our two leads. In most shows, it is the guy that thinks he can have it all, and the woman who ponders what should be her choice: family or self-autonomy/ identity. In this case, Geralt is the latter and Yennefer is the former, and my womanhood feels more equal because of it.

Part of why we love fantasy shows is because they make humanity heightened, and when you get a hero as tightly wound as Geralt, that heightening is fun to watch. This season definitely feels “family-oriented,” especially with the inclusion of Geralt’s own “father figure” Vessemir and Elf Queen Francesca’s (Mecia Simson) struggles to maintain a pregnancy. Nearly each character, especially Allan’s Freya, are pondering whether they can have such a thing: family. For them, the love of others means stability but the power they carry is chaos. While Kim Bodnia’s Vessemir is so good as a beacon of warmth and solidity for both Geralt and Ciri, by the end of the season, we wonder whether it is just faith in one’s self that finally heats up these relationships.