Tom's Guide considers "The Witcher" to be one of Netflix's best shows And spoiler alert: The Witcher: Blood Origins would not rank similarly This limited series, which is aptly titled Blood Origins of the original Witcher, reminds us of one of the many beasts that attacked Henry Cavill's Geralt of Rivia in the first season He bit off more than he could chew

Originally scheduled for six episodes, Blood Origin is a four-episode saga This was our first mistake I don't know if two more episodes were needed to flesh out this story, but this four-part story (approximately 42 to 63 minutes) is simply not enough In other words, Netflix's latest chapter in the Witcherverse fell flat, though not because of the cast that makes up the adventurers who save the world

I'm not saying the series is bad (keep in mind that 3 out of 5 stars is still a positive score) However, in this review of The Witcher: Blood Origins, I will explain where it falls short

Set 1,200 years before the story of Gerard of Rivia's The Witcher, "Blood Origin" is all about how and why the Witcher exists At its root is a reality-shattering event called the "joining of the spheres," which puts Geralt in a situation where a planet is overrun by monsters, humans, and elves They used to be divided

To get there, we unite a group of heroic elves and their dwarven friends against a scheming and deceitful man who seeks divine power and therefore sabotages the peace treaty One of the villains - whose identity I will not reveal - has most of the situation at hand The villain is a bit too on the nose with his petulant monologues about how the rebellion must be put down early because there is a heroic old tale waiting to happen

Why? Blood Origins fits into the larger vision of Netflix's The Witcherverse through the bard Jaskia At the beginning of the series, a time-stopping force finds this fan favorite in the midst of battle and demands that the story be made known to the people in song

Then we meet a band of heroes They are Ail (Sophia Brown) and Fillol (Lawrence O'Grahn), and they are bickering so much that we wonder when they will take off their clothes and play with each other

Their eventual teammates, Brother Death (Hugh Novelli), who rarely kills; Meldoff (Francesca Mills), a charismatic stoner dwarf who talks to weapons; Sian (Michelle Yeoh, who does a lot with a little); and wise Zakea (Lizzie Ennis) and Sindril (Zach Wyatt) all deserve more screen time

Blood Origin's biggest sin concerns Meldoff, whom Mills succeeds in making the "Hammer Whisperer" work as a gimmick, but who is not thoroughly explored as a character If Netflix asks for more live-action adaptations of Witcherverse spinoffs, I'll start a petition to make Meldoff the star

None of the above is to say that Brown's Eil is a poorly acted character, or that off-aline Fjall has too much screen time All of the actors seem to have done the best they could with the material they were given But like the novice video gamer who was dropped into the ultra-difficult Game of the Year "Elden Ring," they are unprepared

So when the critical events come crashing down in the second half of this four-episode structure, we will see the emotions that writer/showrunner/EP Declan de Barra aimed for But it will be difficult to feel that emotion Believe me, it is I cry at a moment's notice in most shows and movies, even if the story is manipulative But I would sit there and say, "Okay"

Risks are taken, princesses are endangered, betrayals are made, dark magic is incorporated to bring monsters to the elven realm And all of that I don't feel like saying too much

And those who came to see Michelle Yeoh, who plays the blade-wielding assassin Sian She's one of the least scripted cast members

This week on Netflix is the story of two big releases that sit at opposite ends of my emotional spectrum While I reviewed "The Glass Onion," "Wield the Knife! (which I happily declared to be a film I watched twice in my review of A Knives Out Mystery), The Witcher: Blood Origin failed to live up to the effort expended by Cavill & Company throughout its first two seasons It failed to live up to the effort put in by Cavill & Company throughout its first two seasons Whether or not you enjoy [Blood Origins] is going to depend on how hungry you are for content from the Witcherverse As we approach Season 3 of The Witcher, Henry Cavill's last appearance before his "Warhammer" series on Prime Video, "Blood Origins" may not give you the confidence that Netflix can do a "Witcher" series without a lead role

"Blood Origins

"Blood Origins" sometimes feels like a Marvel movie that fans of the series watch for the end credits scene to reveal the lore, although it leads into the series with a reveal that makes them think, "Oh wow It should be the other way around