Disney+ K-drama The First Responders: Kim Rae-won leads emergency rescue drama with thrilling plots, but flat characters
- This series about emergency workers comes uncomfortably soon after the crush deaths in Itaewon, Seoul, and some of the scenes are reminiscent of that disaster
- The storylines are exciting but the three main characters, played by Kim Rae-won, Son Ho-jun and Gong Seung-yeon, will need fleshing out as the series continues
Like a bad hair day or a pimple popping up when you least need it, unfortunate coincidences are impossible to avoid. Sometimes they just happen.
The new SBS show The First Responders, streaming globally on Disney+, debuted on November 12, just two weeks after the Halloween crush in Itaewon, Seoul, that claimed the lives of more than 150 people and brought South Korea’s first responders under very close scrutiny.
This procedural drama isn’t about inadequate institutions, however, but individuals, namely three brave ones who work side by side, employing their muscles and brain cells to save people in a variety of life-and-death situations.
Among them are the fearless firefighter Bong Do-jin (Son Ho-jun) and headstrong paramedic Song Seol (Gong Seung-yeon), who we meet for the first time when an emergency call interrupts them and their colleagues as they’re about to dig into some instant noodles, which they are forced to abandon.