October 2, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — “Gyeongseong Creature” Season 2 introduces not only a shift in the time period but also a welcome development in the love story between the lead characters played by Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee. Almost 80 years after the events in Season 1, which was backdropped by the Japanese occupation of South Korea, pawnshop owner Jang Tae-sang (Park) and sleuth Yoon Chae-ok (Han) are reunited, albeit not really in the best of circumstances, in modern-day Seoul.
They have managed to survive until 2024, practically as immortals with enhanced human abilities in combat, regeneration, and recovery, after being implanted with the najin, the parasitic entity central to the human experiments in Season 1.
It could have been the most romantic reunion in the first episode, but so much has changed. Jang has lost all his memories after the najin was removed a year earlier. Clueless of action-packed past, he now runs a detective agency in the rundown building that once housed his House of Golden Treasure, focusing on tracking down cheating partners. Yoon, on the other hand, is a lone wolf, taking on jobs to locate missing people. She avoids contact with people due to the risk of turning into a creature at any moment.
But as the saying goes, even if the mind forgets, the heart remembers.
No more spoilers though. One thing is certain: the romantic angle becomes a cornerstone of the new season, adding emotional depth to the creature-themed, action-driven storyline of “Gyeongseong Creature” Season 2, which is currently No. 1 series on Netflix Philippines. Even the way the season ends, seemingly circling back to their initial reunion, definitely promises a continuation — not the conclusion — of their love story.
From Jang Tae-sang in Season 1, Seo-joon becomes Ho-jae in Season 2. He runs a detective agency in present-day Seoul.
This was what Park also hinted at during the virtual roundtable with The STAR and a few other media outlets when asked about the themes to expect from Season 2.
“This show is not just about the good and evil, but it talks about what we should not forget,” he said. “There are just so many themes. It’s very complex… I think the theme that continues from Season 1 is thing that we should not forget.
“Apart from that, there are a lot in store. Like, if you want a melodrama, we have it. If you want action, if you want creatures, we have it all in the show, and we have the different eras as well. So I think either way, you would have fun watching the show, for sure,” he added.
The actor also spoke about his on-screen chemistry with Han, which grew over the two-year journey of filming. Interestingly, it was the action sequences that brought them closer together.
“We had so many action scenes, and I think that’s why we became closer. We could have fierce action scenes until the very end thanks to our chemistry,” Park said.
For her part, Han, who said it was a no-brainer to reprise her role, also shared how her real-life connection with her co-star also helped in the dynamics between their characters. “It took us one year to get really close to each other. So in Season 2, we could really rely on each other because we got much closer and could root for each other,” she shared.
Photos courtesy of Netflix
Their characters’ bond is tested and deepened not just by the internal challenges but also by external threats, including a total of three new “monsters” compared to the singular creature in Season 1.
What’s also markedly different this Season 2, according to director Chung Dong-yoon, is that unlike in the first season, wherein the “Japanese occupation was the foe that we could see very clearly, and we had people fighting for their independence and for their life during this period,” in present-day Seoul, “there are still foes, but they remain hidden, (the enemy is) much less apparent. And because they’re much less apparent, it feels like we’re compromising very easily to our foes in the modern day. So that’s what I wanted to talk about in Season 2 that we shouldn’t compromise too easily to our foes.”
During the virtual junket, the cast and director were gamely asked how they would possibly move in a world where a najin exists for real.
“Just like Chae-ok, I would have a najin transplanted in my body. I would live forever,” said Han.
“I think it would be great if I could become a baseball player even greater than (Shohei) Ohtani, the Japanese player in the major leagues. If I can control my superhuman abilities, I can do that,” quipped Park.
As for director Chung, he said, “I would just look at these two who gobbled in the najin and see how they live and have fun.”
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