Seems like there's quite a mixed reaction to Drive.
I had actually dropped Drive after the first few episodes, but one day a few months later, I decided to marathon it. And then I started to really like it. This was when the series was just in its' 20s. I came back to this forum because I wanted to discuss the episodes with other people.
I agree that the first half was weak. A few things were dropped and some things didn't make sense.
The end of the first half and the second half really improved a lot over the initial episodes.
However, so much more could have been done with the Roidmude and with the Riders...
Drive has become my favourite Rider series despite its' flaws though.
What I liked:
The cast. I enjoyed their acting...can really see the growth of all of the characters and the actors& actresses over the course of the series.
Also their off-screen interactions in interviews/twitter. The cast photos, the interactions & teasing, the occasional in-character tweet...
(okay, it helps that I find them good-looking in each of their own ways too)
I liked most of the villains. I even enjoyed Brain's time as a joke character. Nira was rather irritating though. Medic had potential but fell short.
Some people find Go irritating, but he's probably my favourite character. I think the actor did a really good job.
When I rewatched, I felt that a lot of his cheerfulness, bluster and such in his intro arc was a mask hiding his darkness underneath. Go was a character who wore masks, which hid the serious & burdened young man who would do many things in order to achieve his goals.
I enjoyed some of the comedy, especially with Brain.(those expressions just makes me crack up)
Some episodes in the last half were great, and actually evoked an emotional response. I cried, two episodes in a row.
What I disliked:
Some shift cars were underutilised.
How all the Roidmudes died/were destroyed. It would have been interesting to see how the humans and roidmudes would co-exist.(like what lazycoconut wrote in some of her posts)
I wished Kiriko was given more of a chance to fight alongside the three riders though. I wanted Kiriko to have more action like the boys.(why can't she henshin?? even at least once? or even used that mass-produced Mach suit?) She had had the potential to be more kickass.
Perhaps this is just me but am i the only one noticing this alot in Riku Sanjo's work. It wasn't very obvious in W but with Kyoryuger and Drive there are a number of plot points that are either drop or not developed as well they could. I really get the feeling that he's just writing the plot as the show is going on rather that having it planned from the start.
I think most Rider and Sentai series are written like that...putting some plot into early episodes that the writers could later expand upon. However, not all of these get picked up again.
There's probably some planning of characters and arcs but not everything was written or set in stone at the start.
Also,
Sometimes, script changes are added by the director or writer just before filming a particular episode(eg.White Medic), or are adlibs by the actors(eg.a lot of the Imagin antics in Den-o were adlibs by the suit actors & the voice actors).
Sometimes, script changes are unavoidable due to behind-the-scenes stuff that happened(eg. Den-O - actress left, Kabuto -actress got really sick)
I think Gaim was probably the exception in that most of the story&script was planned out or written before filming of the series started.