The First Responders

Binged-Watch Worthy Drama

I watched this drama because of 2 things...hana (first in English) Kim Rae Won and dul (second) I have always been a fan of the American series 9-1-1.
I love how they give this series the "South Korean touch", meaning just the right amount of drama, romance (can you feel it?), and heart. I like how each main character was given a backstory that doesn't make the whole series hard to follow. One of the best scripts so far. And the way the story plays out and transitions to how things go and ends.
But one thing I can't stand? How could they end it like that? I mean...the cliffhanger ending is killing me right now!
Nevertheless, a must-watch Korean drama.

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An Unforgettable K-Drama Experience

This series has set a new standard for what I expect from K-dramas. I can already feel the withdrawal setting in as I try to find something else to watch that can compare to the brilliance of what I just experienced It was an unforgettable adventure. I wish I could experience the magic of watching this series for the first time again, just to relive those feelings and connections. The impact of this drama is something I can't quite put into words. I've watched many series over the years, but this is definitely the best drama I've ever seen! It's one of those shows that you want to share with everyone you know, to make them feel what you felt, to introduce them to a slice of your new favorite world. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and watch it as soon as possible. I can guarantee that you'll laugh, cry, and be completely absorbed in the incredible storytelling. It's an experience you won't want to miss! (╥﹏╥)

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Not much need to fast forward!!!

The acting is all very good, but I am loving Kang Gi Doong as Myung Pil. He usually plays a nerd/geek/loser type person and he's great in this. He's got good comedic timing and I love his relationship with Jin Hoe Gae. I was especially enjoying it up through about episode 7 when the big bad guy was the focus. That was the only place I felt the need to fast forward.

I do have to say I'm tired of corrupt parents. What is the deal with Jin Hoe Gae's dad?!?!

I am also not feeling the potential romance between Jin Hoe Gae and the FL. He's cold, and definitely a lone wolf. If she's willing to accept the scraps that he's willing to offer, that's just sad.

I wish we got to see more of the fire and paramedics. Through most of the drama, it was the Jin Hoe Gae show. He worked alone or with Pil, and it seems like he's the only one able to solve the crimes. I wish it was a little more balanced.

I hate cliffhangers, but at least I waited until season 2 came out before I started watching this.

If you like police/fire procedural dramas, you will enjoy this.

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✒ ❗️ Living on Adrenaline °7.8° °VG°

🚨 Looks like there's a maverick on the force.

A firefighter, a paramedic, and a cop walk into a bar. It's not a joke. It's a script. It's pretty exciting, too. Watching them investigate is entertaining.

TFR is a 2022 release of 2 seasons consisting of 24 65-minute episodes and S3 is expected to be announced. It is rated 91 on AWiki. The name seems especially generic, so I wasn't convinced when I started it, but Kdramas with boring titles are often a pleasant surprise. These ? stories are downright arresting.

Kim Rae Won (Decibel, A Wild Apricot) is Jin HoGae, one of those universally cool types. His first credits are from 1998; he's been around for awhile. This is my first look at him and I get the appeal. He has several interactions with his father, and it's never been less convincing to me that two actors were related by blood. Their scenes seem slightly off, they're so unlikely to be father and son. HoGae must take after his mother. He's our maverick, and he's completely unpredictable.

In S2, HoGae is being promoted to head of the NOI investigation team. He's at the fancy ceremony. The auditorium is full. He suddenly stands up and announces that he can't accept the promotion. As he walks out of the building, somebody chases him outside and asks what he's doing? “I don't like the color of the building,” he quips. He rides off on his motorcycle. James Dean has nothing on him.

Son Ho Jun (Was It Love-7.4, Go Back Couple) is Bong Do Jin. He's got a nice presence. Both he and HoGae are interested in Song Seol (Gong Seung Yeon from Circle, Re-Born & My Only Love Song-8.7). This actress is a charmer. I'm a fan. There are, once again, amazing child actors. In ep5 a little girl steals the show. She completely upstages our ML. Director Shin Kyung Soo also brought us The Nokdu Flower & Six Flying Dragons, while screenwriter Min Ji Eun penned Partners for Justice.

In S2, ep1, Choi Won-Young plays an arsonist. He's brilliant. I've seen him in The Golden Spoon-8.1, Mystic Pop-Up Bar-8.2, The Heirs-7.3, and the excellent SKY Castle-9. He's different in everything; a real talent.

Oh Eui Shik makes an appearance towards the end of S1 and takes on a more regular role in S2. I've been a fan of his since Oh My Ghost-10, one of my gateway Kdramas. I love it so much that I love every actor on the cast. This guy really does seem to be sprinkled with fairy dust because he's in a lot of features, and they're all successful. I've seen him in While You Were Sleeping-7.3, Familiar Wife-8.5, The Hymn of Death-8.4, Romance Is a Bonus Book-7.9, Touch Your Heart-8.2, Hi Bye, Mama-6.5, My Unfamiliar Family-7.9 Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha-8.2 & Big Mouth-7.4. He gets to be more than a sidekick in S2. I just want to see more & more of him, now.

First responders are police, fire, and paramedics. The ME and prosecutors will also be at a live crime scene. We follow all these careers in the show. Cases that pop up are arson, kidnapping,
suicide under suspicious circumstances, statutory rape, a hit-and-run, missing persons, and all the while there's corruption teeming In the background. Among the decent folk there's the everyday clashes that must occur, especially among sleep deprived adrenaline junkie types who exist on instant food and soju. Jin stops a helicopter with a fire hose~>> B@d@$$. There's the promise of romance, too.

The plot gets a tad outrageous in S2, which begins as a seamless continuation of S1. It's still quite a bit of fun. I didn't find it difficult to take the ride with them. Some certainly will. They kill off cats in both seasons. That's a problem Hollywood has had for decades. It's leeching out into Kcountry now. Overall, TFR is a great ride, though. Can a maverick go-it-alone forever? To the fiery end? Watch and see. You probably won't regret it.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣7.7📝8 🎭7.8 💓5 🦋6 🎨6.5 🔚🤗5 ▪ 🌞4.5 ⚡6.5 😅3.5 😭6 😱5.5 😯4.5 🤢7 🤔6 💤0

🎵/🔊7.4 Shazams: Heaven for You by CHEN, Cross the way, by BUMJIN


Age 17+ Language: b@$+@rd and other PG-13 verbiage; The autopsies can be graphic. Painful deaths. Rated TV-MA: Mature Audience Only.

Re-📺? Won't rule it out


In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

💘 -
My Only Love Song 8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
Crazy Love-7.8,
A Witch's Love 7.8,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Her Private Life 8,
Touch your heart 8.2,
Crash Landing On You 9.1,
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Be Melodramatic-8.7,
Was it love-7.9,
Hospital Playlist 9,
My Mister 9.5,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9


⚡/🚀 -
Flex X Cop-8.5,Missing: The Other Side-8.3,
K2 8,
Private Lives 8.1,
Inspector Koo-8.4,
Revenge of Others-8.3,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Uncanny counter season-1 only °S1-8.4 S2-4,
Han River Police-7.4,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Moving-8.5,
Law School -8,
Sisyphus 8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Signal 8.6,
Blood Free-8.5,
D.P.-8.4,
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Black 9,
Squid Game 8.4,
Kingdom 8.3,
Sweet Home 8.4

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Almost Perfect First Responder Action

The First Responders tells the story of the 119 team, including firefighters, paramedics, and police.

It's a fast-paced, intense and thrilling story, as it should be, with comedic moments here and there, and also interesting cases. These factors become the strengths of the series and keep me engaged throughout. The pacing is quite fine, even though the story shifts more toward police investigations rather than the first responders theme I expected in the mid-series. I also wish they had explored the firefighter character's personal story more. The cliffhanger ending is expected from this writer's past dramas.

Overall, it doesn't quite fulfill my expectations, yet it's still very enjoyable to watch.

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No US show, but it has decent cast chemistry

Wow, coming back to kdrama after a while it really its really something. I had to remember myself that they are special... So, a very short review.
Nice visuals. Mostly good sound design ( I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of things un multiple occasions). Mostly, because a lot of times it is also used as means to induce a "fast-pacing scene on screen, feel the tension, pls" feeling. So, the usual boring dragging kdrama pacing, but also having fast-pacing stuff, reserved for when they wanna give you the "something serious happening now" feel. The fight choreography and the technical aspects were the usual. Good casting. Well, mostly. We also have stuff like: an actress thats supposedly 12yo in the flashbacks, 19 yo present time, but she looks like shes 25ish... At first I thought the character was supposed to have certain health issues, but in later episodes I realised she's trying to act being 12yo. Unless the translation was bad and she wasn't really 12 then, dunno.

And now the good stuff. For those of you that watched the US procedural TV shows, don't expect the same level of competency. No CSI something, no LAPD something, no nothing. Anyone who loves those kind of shows should move to Korea and get a job. Its like those people in some anime, that transmigrate to a new world and they have prior knowledge, and BAM, insta OP. If reality is any as in the dramas, no matter how low/common your levels are, in Korea you'd be considered a genius :)))) Any time there was some sort of conundrum on screen, I was "talking" to them: "why aren't you doing this? Why aren't doing that? Wait, what? Whats that logic? Thats not how it works. Why the fk are you looking at him?" etc. It will really test your nerves :)))
If this is not your first kdrama, you should know my now how the things are done there. But now, the main attraction point would be the chemistry between cast. Oh, and the fact that the MC (the detective), its not some super mega genius, or rich, or any of the usual sort of gimmicks. He's smart enough, and works hard, and tests a lot of his new ideas, some produce result, some are not. That really makes him endearing. That is, most of the times, when the script is ok and the story is not some plot device for fueling drama. The rest of the main cast, also good. Since I started with this section, I have a tiny question. Why would the writer make the Police feel incompetent? I mean, when you hear " its not the hour that we were interested in, why should we bother checking anyway?" sort of thing, you start wondering how does one pass the exams and enter the PD. There's one character that does that a lot, but I've noticed it even from the "section head" or whatever his title was, someone thats supposed to be wiser... The acting was decent enough, again, apart from those typical kdrama scenes when they try to be "look, a deranged person", or angry etc.
As I was hinting earlier, the writing is not that great. A lot of plot devices and plot contrivances going on, mixed with a lot of drama for no real reason but to fake some sort of high stakes. The main storyline was a mess, they had no idea what direction they wanted to follow. So, they gave us a mix... Some sort of a main, but also stuff that might or might not be related. With comically evilmen. Yes, completely with "pls narrate your motives at the end, so the viewers will understand why". Oh, and the last 2,5 episodes were really bad. Geez...

To sum it up, A decent enough drama. If nothing else, the cast had chemistry all around. Don't bother with the heavily-induced "serious" subjects, I'm sure those were specifically selected just to create sensation and people to give them high ratings. "The themes, the themes", I know. So, basically, a drama for those who don't like to think. If you have any tiny bit of US procedural TV shows knowledge, its gonna be a hard watch. Maybe.
I gets a rating of 7, barely. But you might enjoy it. Like I said, the characters have charisma. As resembling real people, not the "omg, I love that actor/actress, I watch all of their work, they so pretty" crap that people usually use to rate something... And yes, I will now watch the second season. And no, not because of the cliffhanger (that was crap, and I was kinda expecting something like that when they give you flags all-around), but merely because I'm curious if the show will now have a better direction.

Have a lovely evening.

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Thrilling procedural with a ton of heart

It has genuinely been such a long time since a Korean detective thriller style show has hit this home with me. It's a true procedural, going from case to case, using everyones unique abilities and perspectives to come up with clever solutions to find and catch the bad guys.

Unlike a lot of K-thrillers, each of the cases are not predictable, they are full of genuine twists and turns that keep you hooked wanting to know what is gonna happen next. It genuinely defied my expectation at every turn, just as I thought it would relapse into something more generic, it strikes the odds and goes the distance.

Not only that, but it actually takes time to characterize everyone in its sizeable cast and make them feel human. All of the performances are fantastic but I was genuinely incredibly impressed by Kim Rae Won. I have never seen him before, but in this show? He absolutely KILLS it! He toes the line between this crazy reckless workaholic detective, but portrays him as the traumatized and flawed human that he is. He gives endless complexity to the character and makes him relatable and grounded.

This sells itself as a no-holds barred action packed thrill ride and contains many of those aspects. Explosions, chases, fights, set-pieces, bombastic music, it's all here. And yet, when First Responder slows down and decompresses, it has so much heart and soul within its writing. Each of the cases really tugged at my heart strings and don't focus on hyper psychopath serial killers, but mostly on actual real people whom commit crime for various reasons.

It also does its best to tie each of the crimes into the leads and their backstories and personalities, whether directly or indirectly, allowing them to be fleshed out.

It's a complete banger of a show.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama " First Responders " Season One is a thriller with a well-crafted team of responders.

The drama uses its two main key factors to its fullest. The main team of three was excellent, with their personalities bonding smoothly together and just working out perfectly. Their interactions were entertaining and their chemistry perfect. Though, the romance was an odd choice and it could have worked without it.

The other highlight of the drama was its cases. Each one was interesting to follow, dark and suspenseful, but also emotional and humane.

The performances, in addition, were perfect and enjoyable by everyone in the cast, who acted out their action scenes masterfully.

So, overall, eight out of ten.

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Worth watching!

i find the story really interesting and how storyline progression was easy to understand. it may not be the best one out there but definitely worth watching. of course if expect something like "Love me if you dare" than i am sorry to inform you its not like that. lets say for begginners of k/cdramas its good. so if are interested in something more light i recommend watching but be ware of some explicit scenes as it may be a little too hard to see for some. But don't worry. the series has a lot of funny moments and the characters interactions and story are pretty well explained and shown. Peace!!

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THE HERO POLICEMAN ... oh, and bit parts for his fire/paramedic lackeys

I started this show for 2 reasons: Gong Seung Yeon, and the advertised concept of a show about the emergency services working together. GSY was great (and so was Ji Woo), but the premise turned out to be a lie.
Instead of a show about the 3 services working together, we got a show about one 'rogue' detective using the fire and paramedic services as his personal investigative lackeys. Openly derisive of the value of their work from the start of episode 1, he did everything. Which is just as well, because EVERY episode of the 4 I watched turned into an investigation for the police. Not what was advertised and not what I signed up for.

The other BIG problem I had was with the "Big Bad". I am not a fan of multi-season shows, and when I saw the "Big Bad" in this first series, I rolled my eyes. Sure enough, I see he's in S2 as well, and that was the kiss of death for me as far as my watching this show went.

That's a bit of a shame, because KRW was doing well in his role, and it was great seeing SHJ and GSY together. Had the show actually BEEN about collaboration, perhaps with each emergency service taking the lead in different episodes, and had the writers not stuck on a superfluous "Big Bad", it could have been a fun watch.

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Welcome to Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and Chicago Fire crossover all in one!!

If you ever watched any of these shows then you'll get a gist of how First Responders work except that everything that happens in these dramas are combined into one show.

Each episode have it's own unique plot which isn't over the top. They each have a beginning, middle, and end which I loved but as the episodes got closer to the end some scenarios lasted about two episodes.

Whoever put this cast together is a genius! This cast melded so well that I fell in love with every last character-both good and bad. The connection worked for me. I know I love strong bromance dramas, this one wasn't strong but it was there.

Now the bad part...I can't stress enough how much I despise dramas that involves romance! In this case there's two guys vying for one female and I seriously hate that. I also got a feeling that the main female lead is going become that lovesick puppy I despise as well. This is why I'm giving it a 9. It would've given it a 10 if it weren't for the cheesy cliche romance.

Another thing I hate is that it ends in a cliff hanger. I hate cliff hangers because it either takes too long to show the reveal or it gets left in the air.

It's been a minute since I came across a Korean drama that had me eagerly reaching for the 'next episode' button. Now that I watched this whole drama, I feel like I've lost a life long friend...Till First Responders season 2 comes along, I'll be looking like a lost puppy trying to find a drama that can pretty much match this one.

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