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.
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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