A cautionary tale of how to ruin a drama with lazy writing

When part 2 of Gyeongseong Creature was announced a few weeks ago, I was elated, Part 1, is one of the best TV series in a long time -Korean or from anywhere-: fantastic story, fantastic characters, amazing production values, directing, acting, you name it.
And then, last weekend, when I started watching Season 2, before the end of Ep 1, it was clear, that this was going to be a huge disappointment. The production values, were there in a modern context, additional cast members were added to the already great cast, directing, fight coaches, costume and art department, all these and pretty much every department did a masterful job, unfortunately, unlike part 1, the writer decided to just be lazy and the production company, the powers that be or whoever was in charge just decided to let it happen.

There are a few rules to follow for entry level scriptwriters who are learning to write for TV/Film:
- Never explain or key plot points using only dialogue or a text read by a narrator,
- Never describe what's obviously on screen
- Plot holes cannot be resolved through dialogue
- Never kill a character for a lack of character development or ideas, and a few others that seem obvious, and even expected from entry level screenwriters and students. Why do I mention all these rules? Because, the list above represents some of the many issues with the sloppy writing and poor story development, these two parts are virtually, two different kdramas, not part 1 and 2 of the same story. When you have a poor script, there is very little in the way of production, directing and acting that can salvage things.

So, yes, technically, a scriptwriter can break these rules, there are masterful examples of how to bend and break these rules, but Gyeongseong Creature part 2, is a Masterclass of exactly the opposite situation, when an experienced writer just gives up and does whatever, adding characters and plot lines, no one cares about, whose motives and actions matter to the development of the story are barely, -if present- mentioned casually through sparse dialogue or a few flashbacks.

Also, not there in Part 2: key flashbacks that would have explained a lot of character development and added context to the story. These small details, a few scenes here and there, would have helped with the coherence and continuity that Season 1 had that unfortunately, was wasted, These choices sadly defeated the purpose of most plot lines developed with care and a lot of detail in Part 1. Every single problem with part 2 of this series, comes from lazy writing, poor character development, plot holes the size of the Korean Peninsula, and a few other issues, namely, how to solve a huge gap in time for these characters, things are just talked about and never shown.

Season 3 is probably hinted, I say probably, because, with this level of poor writing, that after credits scene might just be nothing but another meaningless afterthought.

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Irreverent and surprising

So, this is the first time I watch a Thai drama and oh, was I in for a surprise... The plot is interesting in its irreverence, despite a few plot holes here and there. However, the overall execution worked quite well.
Huge credit goes to the direction, writing and editing departments, the music also worked well.

The actors were good in their roles, special mention to Patchai Pakdesusuk, who plays Monk Dol in a surprising, yet, heartbreaking story.
Also, it is worth mention Petch Paopetch as Monk Ekkachai, his performance was subtle, fundamental for the huge plot twist at the end.

The editing of the plot twist also worked quite well, in its setup and reveal.

According to Netflix a Season 2 is coming so it will be interesting to see what comes next to the story.

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