The Witcher Season 4 is an experiment in which Netflix attempted to do something a little differently: the company chose to stay significantly closer to the books, counting on the fact that fans would enjoy the aspect of being faithful to the source. On paper, this would have been a dream come true to longtime fans who are fond of the dark, weird, and morally ambiguous reality of The Witcher world.Excitement soon gave way, however, to confusion when The Witcher Season 4 finally released. Rather, most of them were disappointed, and it was reflected in the ratings. Audiences gave it a 20% Popcornmeter score, and critics provided it with a 58% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. The Witcher Season 4 was not only getting some of the lowest viewer and critic ratings in the history of the show but was also accused of review-bombing and experienced a visible decline in viewership relative to Season 3.Just to be fair, some of the performances and some of the book-accurate scenes were applauded. The season, however, did not find a lot of audiences. It remained faithful to the books in a number of ways but still did not manage to capture the hearts of the people it needed the most, the viewers.When book accuracy becomes a burden View this post on Instagram Instagram PostIt can be good and bad to be loyal to the books. The Witcher Season 4 made some serious attempts to impress book lovers, with the darker atmosphere, the solemn mood, and character moments taken right out of the original narrative. Even the actors tilted to this, and innumerable viewers adored the intense, very book-accurate Leo Bonhart, portrayed by Sharlto Copley.However, the issue is that books and TV do not work the same way. The novels are very lengthy, with slow build-ups and plenty of side stories. All that packed into a TV season without editing and guiding the viewers, becomes confusing. It is like handing a huge book to a person and telling him to read it aloud without any pauses or clarifications.A performance must have a definite plot and powerful emotional scenes to support the whole thing. The Witcher Season 4 was frequently having trouble with that, in part due to the fact that the tone kept shifting rapidly between the dark violence and huge and flashy scenes of action. So rather than appearing lush and loyal, the details began to look cluttered and overwhelming.The recast and the identity problem in The Witcher Season 4 View this post on Instagram Instagram PostOne of the main reasons people weren't satisfied with The Witcher Season 4 is not necessarily the changes made to the story, but rather Geralt's identity. Henry Cavill was Geralt to several fans. His expression and his performance had turned into how everybody thought the character was. Therefore, it was always going to feel like a huge shock when the creators replaced him with Liam Hemsworth.To facilitate this transition, the show attempted to justify the change with one of the narrative tools, yet most of the audience just could not swallow a new actor in such an iconic part. Due to that, they have been more critical of everything else as well: the writing, the pacing, the action, all of it through the prism of the question: "Does this still feel like the Geralt we know?"Therefore, even if The Witcher Season 4 was more or less adherent to the books, such moments were less powerful and more disappointing to many individuals since they were not able to resonate with the new Geralt.What are the numbers sayingThe commercial aspect of the case is not very smooth either. The Witcher Season 4 began with a significantly lower number of viewers than Season 3. It is reported that the number of views during the first week had been in single digits, whereas Season 3 had been registered in the two-digit range during this time. The audience score at Rotten Tomatoes also decreased significantly immediately after release.The Witcher Season 4 was already in bad shape, and to compound things, it was subjected to what many outlets referred to as review-bombing. This is the time when individuals, occasionally irate fans or organized supporters, will pack a show with a very poor rating so that it will appear even worse than it is.All this forms a cycle that is difficult to break. The number of viewers is decreasing, initial ratings are poor, and social media is full of negativity. That way, ordinary fans are exposed to the low ratings and the furious comments; they may choose not to watch The Witcher Season 4 at all, even though there are certain good episodes in the season.For more such insights on The Witcher Season 4, keep following SoapCentral.