Now that the dust has settled on Season 2 of The Witcher, plenty of fans have given commentary on the level of sex and nudity in the latest installment. Or, more pointedly, the lack of it.
The series showrunner, Lauren S. Hissrich, has spoken out publicly to address the issue and explain why Season 2 did not need such sensationalist content.
Season 1 of The Witcher had plenty of nudity
In the first season of The Witcher, there was plenty of nudity and rambunctious sex scenes, and shirt-dropping action. From Yennefer’s (Anya Chalotra) transformation to her plan to take control of the djinn, then her compulsion towards Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) after he made his last wish with the aforementioned djinn, there was plenty to see that wasn’t for delicate eyes.
However, in Season 2, there was barely a moment when someone’s nether regions were on display or even a shirtless moment, save for Jaskier (Joey Batey) removing his in order seemingly to impress Geralt.
So, why did the showrunner opt for less nudity in Season 2 of The Witcher?
The Witcher’s showrunner wanted to follow a more ‘story-driven’ approach
While Lauren S. Hissrich was okay with using plenty of nudity in Season 1 of The Witcher, she opted out of this for Season 2. She spoke of her reasoning for this to Digital Spy, insisting that the story came first, above any gratuitous scenes.
“I feel the same way about sex, nudity, violence, and all of those things, that they have to be story-driven. I think that using those things to shock audiences is a really cheap way for a writer to get attention to a specific scene,” Hissrich said.
Hissrich reasoned that the Season 2 storyline was more about the evolution of a family, being that of Geralt, Ciri (Freya Allan), Yennefer, and Jaskier. Because of this, there was no need to bring in nudity where it wasn’t required.
She then explained that a scene should be interesting enough on its own merits without the addition of nudity in the background to draw the viewer’s attention.
“I’ve always said that if someone has to be having sex behind you to make the scene interesting, then I’m not doing my job. The person who’s talking in a scene needs to be the focus.” she continued.
Some fans suggested that this statement could have been a slight snub at Game of Thrones, whose very over-the-top nudity brought about the penning of the term “sexposition” in relation to the scenes where nudity occurred in the background of important dialogue scenes.
However, Hissrich did not mention this TV series explicitly, instead maintaining that there was no need for gratuitous scenes in the latest installment of The Witcher.
Season 2 of The Witcher is currently available to stream on Netflix.
A medieval society NOT burdened by the oppressively likes of Christianity would not be so prudish about nudity and sex. Season 3 had TOO MUCH story, and completely lacked the draw and appeal of season 1. It doesn’t have to be a porno, but I also have n interest is seeing the characters turn into nuns.
enjoy season 3, season 2 was subpar compared to season 1, and Cavil’s departure makes me thing season 3 is going to get even worse. Clearly im not the target audience, another series lost to modern retelling of stories.