Summary
Episode 10 provides a fair amount of short-term payoff but also raises more questions than it answers, all presumably in the interest of a second season.
Gyeongseong Creature Season 1 Episode 10 is a very good finale, let’s just get that out of the way. It answers a fair amount and provides a good degree of short-term payoff, but it also indulges in a fair bit of long-term setup by leaving plenty of mysteries on the table and using a post-credits scene to tee up Season 2. The Part 2 ending bids farewell to Ongseong Hospital and Japanese colonial rule, but not to the Najin, the many characters – good and bad – who survived, and the many lingering mysteries that tie them all together.
And that post-credits scene! A 60-years-later time jump is a good way to set up a radically different sophomore season, but it brings a whole slew of new questions with it. Let’s try and break everything down.
Is Chae-ok alive?
At the end of Season 1, it does seem that Chae-ok is alive. How this can be given how much punishment she took throughout Episode 10 is another matter entirely.
After being grievously injured by Maeda’s henchmen, Chae-ok took a further blow from her own mother after positioning herself between the creature and Tae-sang. And yet, it’s seemingly her mother who is able to revive her, despite her injuries.
The show has been pretty cagey about the full extent of the Najin’s powers when it has a human host, especially when that host has undergone further experimentation. This is a mystery that is left mostly unresolved though.
How did Maeda survive?
Similarly, Maeda survives an explosion to the face, which is a little curious, to say the least.
Not killing off the Big Bad is a tactical move by Gyeongseong Creature, but it does seem like this has a slightly clearer explanation. The glass of water nearby implies that Kato might have infected her with the Najin, giving her newfound resilience. How does a monstrous lady become even more monstrous? Well, consuming a parasite that gives her unmanageable superpowers and brain cravings ought to do it.
Is Myeong-ja’s baby infected?
One person who didn’t survive the finale is Myeong-ja, though her baby did. However, since Myeong-ja was already infected by the Najin before giving birth, it’s a very safe bet to assume that the kid, in the possession of Kato, who also survived, is the first human being to inherit the Najin.
What kind of difference might that make to the infection process? We have no idea, but it’ll probably be fun finding out.
Gyeongseong Creature Post-Credits Scene
After the destruction of Ongseong Hospital and the end of the Japanese occupation, Gyeongseong Creature reveals its real ending in a post-credits scene that shifts the action forward several decades, picking up in present-day(ish) Seoul, formerly Gyeongseong, with a seemingly unaged Tae-sang, albeit going by a different name now.
There are two possibilities here – that this isn’t Tae-sang, and is instead a new character played by the same actor (perhaps a relative), or that, through currently unknown means, Tae-sang managed to survive multiple decades without aging a day. We’re betting on the latter.
At some point it is likely that Tae-sang got infected, or was experimented upon – his present-day character has scarring on his neck – in some capacity. This would presumably give him the necessary powers to survive all that time without getting any older. It would also set a precedent that all of the surviving characters from Season 1 – Kato, Maeda, Chae-ok – could return in the same kind of capacity, while also setting up new characters – such as Myeong-ja’s kid – connected to the events of Season 1.
Either way, the fact there’s so much left to chew on here implies a tremendous amount of confidence in the show on behalf of Netflix. It very much seems like multiple seasons have already been envisioned, and even in lieu of an official announcement, they might already be underway.
It’s safe to assume that we haven’t seen the last of Gyeongseong Creature just yet.
What did you think of Gyeongseong Creature Season 1 Episode 10 and the Part 2 ending? Let us know in the comments.
