In another thread, someone pointed out that Lee seems to have changed during the last few episodes of season 2 and... I kind of agree? But the way the whole subplot involving Godzilla wound down did remind me that the show always seemed like it was constantly being rewritten.
Season 2 isn't as bad in that way as season 1, but it does feel like season 2 is building up to something involving him -- that just didn't happen. In episode 7, they seemed to be strongly foreshadowing his death, but after that he's never really in any specific danger where you think he could die. Was the original idea to kill him off? Or was it an attempted sacrifice that accidentally lead him to being swapped out with young Lee?
Maybe the young Lee spin-off being greenlit ended that. It also felt strange how so much of the show was built around the tragic love story between him and Keiko, only for it to seemingly end with Keiko admitting she was NOT in love with him. She delivers that line in an introspective way, which isn't usually associated with lying or denial. But it felt weird as that seemingly was at odds with the first half of the season.
Season 1 though is full of stuff like this.
1) The Ion Dragon was probably not intended to be a re-occurring villain, as neither Lee, Billy or Keiko seem to recognize it in subsequent appearances. This is especially confusing with Lee.
2) Hiroshi was most likely originally intended to be Billy's biological son, although they were likely leading to a reveal that Shaw was the true father. Besides a lot of foreshadowing, Hiroshi was 17 when Billy died in 1973 -- which would make his birth year around 1956... the year Keiko and Billy seemingly hooked up. She almost hooked up with Shaw around that time too, so maybe the original plan was for them to hook up at the officer's ball, but then fall out and she gets together with Billy after that. Hiroshi existing at this point doesn't really fit with the timeline anyway.
3) Puckett warns Lee to not take the mission guarding Keiko lightly as they already lost a man during one of these 'escort missions', which makes one wonder if the original plan was for Keiko to be part of Monarch before either Billy and Lee. But after that, the job is treated like it's a nothing burger. How did the soldier doing one of these escort missions die? Maybe he just slipped and fell, lol.
4) Monarch's origins are somewhat confusing in general. I feel like the writers wanted Billy, Keiko and Lee to be the founders, only to realize that contradicts established lore.
Any other parts that feel like they suffered from late stage rewrites?