In the world of first responders a local, neighboring fire and police station link up, using their unique knowledge and perspectives to solve current criminal cases.  As they work together, they will be involved in life and death emergency situations. And if the newly formed, multi-service team is going to save lives, including their own, they are going to have to support and trust each other completely.

Gong Seung Yeon as Song Seol

Song Seol is a paramedic at a small fire station in Taewon.  She has a close relationship with her mentor, fellow firefighter, and neighbor Do Jin.  But when the new police detective also becomes her neighbor, she finds herself surprisingly drawn to his rough exterior and wounded spirit.  The three begin working on cases together, and Seol finds herself being pulled deeper and deeper into the danger of Ho Gae’s cases.  When Do Jin is suddenly killed in an arson fire, she is overcome with doubt and guilt.  But she now has a new partner in Ho Gae, who still needs her assistance if they are going to find the criminal behind Do Jin’s death and catch the mastermind before more lives are lost.  

Song Seol is kind and extremely empathetic.  She carries the scars of being abandoned as a baby, and that motivates her to help those in need.  But sometimes her sensitive and caring personality make her job very difficult.  When she meets Ho Gae, she quickly recognizes him as a kindred spirit in need of emotional healing.  But she also suspects Do Jin’s feelings for her as well, which makes the situation much more challenging.  Gong Seung Yeon was well suited for this role.  This character is sweet and rather simple, but Gong Seung Yeon played her genuinely pure heart  sincerely.  

Kang Gi Doong as Pil Gong Myung 

Pil Gong Myung, know as Pil, is Ho Gae’s partner at the Police Station.  He is known for his friendliness with his colleagues and his mental and physical agility.  He isn’t so sure he is happy when he is first teamed with Ho Gae, but soon Pil becomes his biggest fan.  No matter how dangerous the road Ho Gae leads him down, Pil follows him with full trust that Ho Gae will make sure they both come out alive.  

 ♥ Story Arc Within Arc

The success of this drama lies in it’s ability to keep a nice balance in several areas.  One of the things that I enjoyed is that rather than waiting for the big villain to finally show up toward the end of the drama, we had several other major story arcs that led up to that.  Characters like the corrupt business man Ma Tae Hwa and the Commander’s ex-husband Yang Sang Man had major multi-episode plot lines that fed into the final reveal.  These other stories kept the plot from getting stale until the end.

♥ Second Season Additions

As much as I hated to see Do Jin and Ana go, I liked the way the second season brought us some fresh characters that gave the team a new dynamic.  With the first season relationships pretty stable by this point, it was fun to see Do Ha show up on the scene to create new tension. And I loved it that they made him out to be a villain for awhile before we find out who he really is.  And the addition of Eun Hye’s reckless charm and over the top strategies was entertaining.  Bringing in these characters brought just enough new energy to keep season 2 from being an exact replica of season 1 and it brought many more scenes to the NFS.  

Do Jin and Seol

So, of course, Do Jin’s death was heartbreaking, but I understand it from a story perspective.  My issue is not his death so much as the unanswered questions he left.  The fact that he never got to confess his feelings, even though Seol ends up knowing exactly how he felt because of the ring seems somehow unfair. Also, in the back of my mind, I can’t help but wonder what Seol’s response would have been to that confession.  It is pretty obvious that her romantic interests were focused on Ho Gae, while Do Jin was more friend and mentor.  But how would Seol have let him down without breaking his heart?  Killing him so suddenly left me with a lot of “what ifs” that put a bit of a damper on her romance with Ho Gae.  

Traumatic Backstories

I always appreciate character backstories, but in this case it seemed like every single character had some extreme past trauma.  I’m sure it’s true that many become first responders based on personal experiences, but I’ve never seen a more broken group of people as a whole.  A few tragic stories would make sense, but they just seemed to push it a little too far to be realistic.

“First Responders” finishes by bringing down the evil mastermind and giving our lead couple a happy ending.  Dex kidnaps Seol, but the team, led by Ho Gae, who is not really dead after all, rushes in to save her and arrest Dex.  Later, at his trial he is charged with the Death Penalty. But he is relieved since Korea seldom actually executes its prisoners.  But on his way from the court room, a team from the US show up to extradite him on charges of murder committed on US soil.  Ho Gae and Seol share a happy reunion at the hospital, after she scolds him for letting her believe he was dead. But now, they are finally ready to make their relationship official. Ho Gae is back in front of the disciplinary committee, but this time when he loses his temper, his fellow officers stand behind his actions.  The final scene shows Chief Baek and Commander Dokko getting married, but the ceremony is interrupted when an emergency call comes in and all the guests have to rush out.  It seems the job of a first responder is never done!