The real-world historical backdrop of the first season of Korean monster thriller, Gyeongseong Creature, had allowed the series to work around serious themes and act as commentary on the country’s sordid past. However, the recently released second season does a complete overhaul of the narrative by stripping away the historical context entirely and turning the narrative into just another mediocre creature thriller, serving as a massive downgrade overall. While the romance plot between the leads stays strong in the latest chapter of Gyeongseong Creature and is somewhat entertaining—depending on how much you liked it in the first season—the rest of the storyline is a rehashed version of the subpar young adult urban supernatural thriller narratives we’ve seen before. With the majority of the characters who added to the series’ intrigue and emotional connection missing in this iteration, the second season of Gyeongseong Creature is a major letdown even for the series fans.
Spoilers Ahead
Jang Tae-sang’s Identity Crisis and A Renewed Najin Experimentation
Picking up right from where the first season ended after an eight-decade-long time jump, the second season of Gyeongseong Creature opens in present-day Seoul and follows a middle-aged guy looking for a tracker known as Silverbill. He does so by approaching her handler, a jazz club owner, Madam Na. Silverbill is none other than Yoon Chae-ok, who hasn’t aged a day since the events in the first season—as the Najin parasite, which her mother Seishin had transferred into a dying Chae-ok and sacrificed her own life to save her daughter all those years ago, has imbued Chae-ok with superhuman physicality and turned her into a near immortal being. Along with the perks, Chae-ok also received the curse of Najin, which has manifested itself in her severe hunger for human brains, as during her initial days as a Najin-imbued human, Chae-ok unwittingly killed a number of people before learning to restrain herself. The sordid reality of what she has become resulted in Chae-ok spending the next eight decades alone, secretively—away from the love of her life, Jang Tae-sang, whom she presumes to have passed away and misses terribly. At present, Chae-ok is putting her skills as a tracker to good use by helping people.Â
Chae-ok accepts the case of her new client, who pleads with Madam Na for help finding his son, Oh Ki-hoon, who has recently gone missing. As Chae-ok tracks Ki-hoon to a hotel, an unknown Najin-infused monstrous being is revealed to have murdered him already. Jang Ho-jae, an amnesiac private investigator who bears a striking resemblance to Jang Tae-sang, mistakenly arrives in the same room while pursuing a case and gets into a scuffle with Chae-ok as he suspects her to be the murderer. Chae-ok escapes, while Ho-jae is apprehended by police Captain Yuh, who coerces him to find this mystery killer to clear his name from the list of prime suspects. Ho-jae, who has set up his investigation firm in the exact location where Jang’s pawn shop was, with his best friend and partner, Yong-gil, can’t seem to remember anything regarding how his life was a year ago—a year since he met a fateful accident—and despite knowing the truth, Yong-gil is unwilling to share it with him. New recruit Detective Noh Ji-su informs Ho-jae that the murder is part of a complex serial killing case, where the culprit kills their victims by piercing their eyes and somehow draining the victim’s brain as well—which viewers will recognize as the handiwork of someone infected with Najin.
Through the course of the narrative, it is revealed that Ho-jae is indeed Jang Tae-sang, and the truth about his past is a nightmarish memory, haunted by none other than Lady Maede, who survived to this day using Najin parasite as well. The vengeful Maede had abducted Jang, brutalized him using her private forces, and tortured and killed his associates—Manager Gu and Beom-O. Maede had also injected Najin into Jang’s system, and it is hinted that Mrs. Nawol, who was tortured by Maede’s men as well, had sacrificed her life to satiate a monstrous Jang’s hunger. In secrecy, Lieutenant and Maede continued their Najin experiments as the dilapidated remains of Onseong hospital became the foundation of Jeonseung Biotech in later years, and after Najin operations mastermind Lieutenant Kato’s demise, his Shin Ji-oh became Maede’s second-in-command. Maede’s present goal is to use the Najin program to root out human weakness, and like Jang, she has created a number of Najin-infused enforcers, the chief of whom is Captain Kuroko. During the World War, natives and revolutionaries were used as Najin test subjects, and now, as a conglomerate, Jeonseung Biotech is preying upon the vulnerable, impoverished sections of society by luring them in with jobs and alternative treatments, in reality using them as new lab rats. The class division commentary remains the same as it was in the first season, a positive aspect.
Jang, who had been forced to work with Maede’s crew, finally decided to expose them, prompting Kuroko and the rest of the enforcers to stop him, and as the Najin was pulled out of his system, Jang lost all his memories of his past life. Yong-gil, who is the grandson of Jang’s late best friend, Kwon Jun-taek, pleaded with Maede for Jang’s life in exchange for taking him away from the Najin situation—and created an alternate identity for Jang as Ho-jae to keep him out of further trouble. However, as Jang gets tangled in the murder mystery, he unwittingly drifts towards his past life once again.
The Real Identity of Seung-Jo
As Jang tracks down Chae-ok, she is overwhelmed by a feeling of happiness and surprise but finds it strange for Jang to be unable to recognize her. Considering him to be a different person altogether, Chae-ok parts ways with him. However, as the serial killer, Seung-do, a member of Maede’s enforcers, strikes again—this time killing her handler, Madam Na—both Jang and Chae-ok find themselves in his pursuit. Chae-ok gets grievously injured during a fight with Seung-Jo, who leaves after seeing Jang with her. During his time as Maede’s enforcer, Jang was pretty close to Seung-Jo, who considered him an elder brother.
Seung-Jo is Myeong-ja’s son, as the Najin within her was passed down to her son after she died during childbirth in the final moments of the first season. Seung-Jo was raised by Maede to be an amoral individual and eventually realized that, for her his only worth lay in his abilities, as he was naturally born a Najin hybrid. After acquainting himself with Jang, Seung-Jo was able to realize his self-worth for the first time and decided to aid him in exposing Jeonseung biotech. But at the crucial moment, Seung-Jo chickened out of the situation, leaving Jang to get apprehended and have his Najin removed.
After recovering from her injuries, Chae-ok agrees to Jang’s previous suggestion of teaming up to investigate, much to Yong-gil’s dismay, who wants to keep Jang away from the fearsome past he was able to finally escape. However, as Seung-Jo, realizing that Chae-ok is like Maede’s Najin enforcers as well, decides to arrange a meeting, Yong-gil has no other option except to accompany Jang and Chae-ok. However, the meeting was an ambush, as Seung-Jo, Captain Kuroko, and other enforcers of Maede attacked the trio, and as a grievously injured Chae-ok was captured by them, Jang was able to recognize her at long last. With an injured Yong-gil’s help, Jang somehow escapes, taking Chae-ok to safety. Eventually, recovering from her wounds, Chae-ok leaves in fear of her hunger overpowering her senses, despite Jang pleading with her to stay. Yong-gil knocks his friend unconscious to save him further misery, and the duo are rescued by Detective Noh, who had secretly taped the conversation between Chae-ok and Jang in his office and tailed them.
Jong-hyeok, a paraplegic young man, grandson of one of Madam Na/Jang’s informant elderly women, gets recruited in Jeonseung Biotech, and as he agrees to take part in their experimental treatments, he, along with many other captives, are injected with Najin parasite.
Was Jang Able To Save Chae-ok At The End?
Chae-ok is captured by Kuroko and his men and is brought in front of Maede. Like Seung-Jo, Chae-ok is unique, given she too inherited the Najin that bonded with her mother, and Kuroko wants to experiment on her. However, a vengeful Maede wants to take revenge on Chae-ok, as the duo have a shared history between them, and forbids her to be used in experimentation. Seung-Jo brutalizes Jang and brings him to the facility as well, as he wants him to return to his past self. Eventually, Jang accepts the Najin, which brings all his memories back, and manages to rescue Chae-ok by defeating Maede’s enforcers. Seung-Jo has a change of heart as he agrees to assist their escape and lets Jong-hyeok loose, who ends up causing a bloodbath to satiate his hunger for human brains. Due to his actions, Jeonseung Biotech is brought under investigation, and Kuroko abducts Jong-hyeok, who was taken into police custody. Feeling a sense of responsibility due to his connection with Hyeok’s grandmother, Jang goes to the police station to vouch for Jong-hyeok and ends up following Kuroko’s convoy. On the other hand, Seung-Jo agrees to help Jang and Chae-ok, only to betray Chae-ok at the end by giving in to his monstrous instincts, and as he tries to kill her, a timely intervention by Detective Noh saves Chae-ok’s life. A bunch of Maede’s enforcers arrive, but much to Seung-Jo’s surprise, they are there to kill him instead of Maede’s sworn enemy. Seung-Jo realizes how disposable he truly is to Maede, and after killing them, he prepares to confront his mother figure.
Chae-ok is captured by Kuroko’s men once again and is brought to the facility as the process of her Najin extraction begins. Jang engages in a fight with Kuroko, who decides to betray Maede by suggesting Jang eliminate her instead of wasting his time in this futile conflict with him. Maede is revealed to have captured Captain Yuh, Yong-gil, and Jong-hyeok, and by putting them in front of the Najin monster, he offers Jang a choice between saving their lives or Chae-ok’s. Injecting Maede with a neutralizer, Jang takes on her enforcers and confronts the monster in time to save the trio and rushes to rescue Chae-ok. Seung-Jo confronts Maede and kills her for betraying his trust.
Killing a number of Kuroko’s enforcers, Jang is able to save Chae-ok in time, but by then the Najin has escaped from her system, and as a result she has lost her memories. The captives of Jeonseung Biotech are rescued, and the conglomerate comes under heat due to their shady activities. Days later, Chae-ok meets Jang, and despite not being able to recognize him, she feels a connection between them. On the other hand, Kuroko now has Seishin/Chae-ok‘s Najin in his possession; it remains to be seen how he plans to use it. In the midcredits sequence, Seung-Jo, now assuming control of the secretive Najin operations, as it is hinted that continuing Maede’s work, he is planning to cause a Najin outbreak by spiking the water supply of the city.
