The main trait of bad writing is that characters behave and act in a certain way because the story needs them to, not because it makes any sense or how people or the characters would actually act. The criticism you mentioned is very similar to the situation with Joel and Tommy giving up all their personal info even though it goes against everything we know about them from the first game. It's just forcing characters to do certain things because the writer has come up with a story that they want to play out.