The First Responders – Season 2 Episode 5+6 Recap & 3 highlights Explained, Review: Who is Dex?

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The First Responders Season 2 Episode 5+6 plot : In the 5th and 6th episodes of Season 2 of “The First Responders”, after a murder occurs in the building where Gongmyung Pil resides, Jin Ho-Gae meets up with his colleagues from Taewon Police Station, and a new collaboration is about to begin. Kang Do-Ha concludes that it was an accidental death, but Jin Ho-Gae stubbornly believes that the case should be reinvestigated from scratch. What is the truth behind this case?

↓Last Episode (Episode 4) Review and Recap, Explained↓

The First Responders – Season 2 Episode 5 Recap

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🔥 “The First Responders season 2” Episode 5 Synopsis: Jin Ho-Gae turns down the position of Chief Investigator at the National Search Headquarters and decides to return to Taewon. He feels that something is not right and believes that the case involving Ma Tae-Hwa is not yet resolved.

On the other hand, a mysterious murder occurs involving Yong Soon-Bok. The crime scene is eerily calm with no bloodstains, only footprints marked by sock imprints. Most importantly, Yong Soon-Bok’s phone is missing. Due to his disruptive behavior in the past, Yong Soon-Bok has been ostracized by neighbors, making it difficult for the police to gather any clues. This disappoints Gongmyung Pil as Yong Soon-Bok used to take care of him like a child.

Jin Ho-Gae asks Jin Cheol-Joong about Ma Joong-Do’s sudden death case but learns that there is no evidence suggesting foul play besides the coincidental timing of his death. However, regardless of this fact, Jin Cheol-Joong warns Jin Ho-Gae not to get involved.

🔥 After undergoing an autopsy examination, apart from a depressed fracture on her forehead, Yong Soon-Bok shows signs of internal bleeding without any external injuries. The major organs affected are her heart and lungs while both eardrums are ruptured as well. Yoon Hong brings in Kang Do-Ha for a second opinion through questioning after specially recruiting him for this purpose.

Through 3D skeletal reconstruction analysis, they discover that the weapon used was not an ordinary hammer due to its unique shape; however Kang Do-Ha suggests visiting the crime scene for confirmation regarding the murder weapon’s identity.As for previous findings from examining a cat’s body, traces of antifreeze were found in its stomach indicating intentional poisoning.

🔥 In order to gather information, Jin Ho-Gae applies for a job as an apartment manager. However, the manager insists on strict protection of the management logbook. Therefore, Jin Ho-Gae resorts to eavesdropping in order to learn about the residents. At that moment, he encounters Yoo-Jung who is well-informed about the community. Yoo-Jung mentions that without Yong Soon-Bok, this community would fall apart as residents no longer have her nagging reminders and start misbehaving causing chaos.

The tenant living below Yong Soon-Bok is her archenemy; they frequently argue and physically fight due to noise issues caused by their upstairs neighbor. This matter was only reported to the fire department at that time and not to the police. Gongmyung Pil suspects that the lack of clues may be related to the reluctance of the apartment manager in providing security logs.

When forensic investigators arrive at the scene, they encounter an eviction notice being enforced as it turns out that the landlord has found new tenants and plans to rent out starting from tomorrow.

The First Responders – Season 2 Episode 5 Ending

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🔥 Kang Do-Ha cleverly requested to let them stay in the kitchen for thirty minutes. He decided to scan the entire kitchen and at least preserve some evidence. Jin Ho-Gae and Gongmyung Pil filtered out several suspicious suspects, including a student retaking exams, a resident who complained about stray cats, an elderly man smoking cigarettes, a car owner involved in parking disputes, and a grandmother claiming to be a princess.

They unintentionally discovered strange noises coming from Yong Soon-Bok’s apartment ceiling and the downstairs neighbor’s ceiling. After analysis, they realized that someone deliberately placed “inter-floor noise retaliation” soundproofing materials there. Gongmyung Pil also found commonly used audio equipment that amplifies sounds. Jin Ho-Gae thought it was necessary to visit the grandmother’s house to see if she had this audio equipment, and indeed they quickly found this crucial piece of evidence.

🔥 🔥 Episode 5 finale of “The First Responders season 2“:  Song-Seol and her mother have been taking time off recently. Song-Seol still has lingering feelings of attachment and sadness towards being an ambulance worker. Her mother hopes that if Song-Seol feels like she is at rock bottom in life or finds it too painful and agonizing, it is okay for her to give up without forcing herself.

She advises giving herself some time to digest Bong Do-Jin’s departure as well. Kang Do-Ha urgently contacted Jin Ho-Gae at NFS (National Forensic Service). Kang Do-Ha mentioned having seen Yong Soon-Bok’s peculiar cause of death before in the explosive research laboratory; it was an injury caused by pressure waves (blast wave impact).

The circular mark on his forehead came from a rice cooker, while the white substance on his face was rice—thus making it an accidental cooking incident. However, Gongmyung Pil couldn’t fully accept this explanation since he and Jin Ho-Gae searched tirelessly throughout the community looking for suspects but ended up wasting their efforts on a nonexistent culprit.

The First Responders – Season 2 Episode 6 Recap

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🔥 After a period of reflection, Song-Seol gradually moved on from missing Bong Do-Jin and found a new focus and meaning in life. The fingerprints on the speaker belonged to Kim Young-Joo, who maliciously filed 68 complaints against Yong Soon-Bok for feeding stray cats throughout last year. Jin Ho-Gae also remembered that Gongmyung Pil looked upset when he was investigating the case.

Gongmyung Pil believed that this case was not just an accident because Yong Soon-Bok seemed hesitant to speak after her cat died, so he definitely didn’t want to give up on this case. Jin Ho-Gae accidentally learned through Yoo-Jung that Kim Young-Joo is now selling her house, so he gathered his partners to investigate the scene and indeed discovered unusual holes in the bathroom ceiling, which were traces left by placing speakers.

🔥 Kim Young-Joo did this because during the argument with Yong Soon-Bok about littering, her husband caught her having an affair. So she placed speakers intentionally to provoke a big fight between Yong Soon-Bok and the tenant downstairs as revenge against both of them.

However, she showed no reaction when she saw Yong Soon-Bok’s pressure cooker at home, which confirmed that she wasn’t the killer. Therefore, Jin Ho-Gae confronted Kang Do-Ha about why Yong Soon-Bok had to be killed on the same day as the cat’s murder? Moreover, since there was no pressure relief valve at the crime scene itself and if Yong Soon-Bok was hit by this weapon with a pressure relief valve attached to it, it couldn’t have disappeared either. Thus he asked Kang Do-Ha to find out how someone could artificially cause an explosion.

🔥 A neighbor downstairs mentioned to Gongmyung Pil that Yong Soon-Bok used their Wi-Fi network at home; this information can be used to trace down Yong Soon-Bok’s phone. Kang Do-Ha finally found evidence of someone intentionally blocking the pressure cooker’s pressure relief valve, and this piece of evidence was also taken away from the scene. Through tracking Yong Soon-Bok’s internet usage, they discovered that she had been searching for underwear from female college students for sale online.

Considering Yong Soon-Bok’s nosy personality, it is possible that she stumbled upon another unsavory incident in the community. After checking the stolen record book at the management office, they indeed found reports of missing personal clothing items. Later on, when Jin Ho-Gae asked Chief Baek for his opinion, Chief Baek mentioned that if he were a pervert, he wouldn’t want to show his face and would engage in transactions like using lockers at train stations.

The First Responders – Season 2 Episode 6 Ending

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🔥 NFS simultaneously found an unidentified specimen. Jin Ho-Gae discovered that it was a Yoo-Jung’s Yakult can, but the DNA on the cat’s claw belonged to a male. This means that this person is biologically related to Yoo-Jung. Jin Ho-Gae had a bad feeling about this, so he went back to the community to find Yoo-Jung, only to learn that she doesn’t live there. She came to visit because her father works as a manager in this area.

On the other hand, Gongmyung Pil also found out that Yoo-Jung’s father is the infamous thief who steals female college students’ clothing. When Jin Ho-Gae and Gongmyung Pil rushed to Yoo-Jung’s house, they discovered that her father had poisoned her. Luckily, Song-Seol happened to be at the scene as an EMT for immediate assistance~ NFS found plenty of evidence at the scene proving that Yoo-Jung’s father is indeed the culprit.

🔥 Kim Soo-Yong confessed that he stole women’s intimate clothing and sold them due to his debts. However, Yong Soon-Bok caught him in the act and prevented him from repaying his debt. In retaliation, Kim Soo-Yong wanted to kill Yong Soon-Bok’s cat as revenge. Of course, Yong Soon-Bok knew it was Kim Soo-Yong who did it and threatened him with imprisonment.

Immediately after planning carefully, Kim Soo-Yong sneaked into her house and tampered with her pressure cooker by removing its pressure valve and taking away her phone before leaving unnoticed.Yoo-Jung woke up later and realized that Jin Ho-Gae was looking for someone who turned out to be her own father -the culprit-. Jin Ho-Gae tried his best to comfort Yoo-Jung while trying to soothe her wounded heart.

The First Responders – Season 2 Episode 5+6 – highlights Explained,Review

The First Responders Season 2 –The culprit seems to be completely non-existent.

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In “The First Responders 2,” there is a bit of a return to Ma Tae-Hwa’s case (the preview for the next episode suggests that Dex might be coming back), along with the appearance of Jin Cheol-Joong, who hasn’t been seen in a long time. The situation in “The First Responders Season 2” is different from the first season because Jin Cheol-Joong’s only support, Ma Joong-Do, suddenly passed away.

In the past, Jin Ho-Gae and Jin Cheol-Joong had a bad relationship because Jin Ho-Gae disliked his father for colluding with Ma Joong-Do in order to pursue status. Now, Jin Cheol-Joong suspects that Ma Tae-Hwa may have had something to do with Ma Joong-Do’s sudden death. In the previous episode of “The First Responders 2,” Jin Ho-Gae refused promotion and said he wanted to catch criminals instead. At the beginning of this episode of “The First Responders 2,” it is revealed that the criminal mentioned by Jin Ho-Gae is actually “Dex,” one of Ma Tae-Hwa’s subordinates.”

In episode 2 of “The First Responders 2,” the Yong Soon-Bok murder case is featured. The forensic personnel mentioned that the crime scene was exceptionally clean and peaceful, with only a mark on the head. This style resembles the immaculate nature of Ma Joong-Do’s sudden death case.

However, this is merely a creative association presented by the scriptwriter to engage the audience. The Yong Soon-Bok case has no connection to Ma Joong-Do’s case. It serves as a means for viewers to suspect and question Ma Joong-Do’s sudden death through Yong Soon-Bok’s murder case. Some cases can appear deceivingly inconspicuous.

Furthermore, in this episode of “The First Responders 2,” Kang Do-Ha emerges as a character even more formidable than Yoon Hong, the forensic pathologist. This foreshadows Jin Ho-Gae needing significant assistance from Kang Do-Ha in upcoming cases since certain criminal methods are difficult for even forensic experts to fully comprehend.

In “The First Responders 2,” Jin Ho-Gae feels that something is not quite right. He believes that Ma Tae-Hwa’s case has not been completely resolved. This subordinate of Ma Tae-Hwa played a crucial role in the suicide case of Fang Bi-Jiu in the first season of “The First Responders.”

He deliberately planted false evidence related to Jin Ho-Gae at the scene, attempting to frame Jin Ho-Gae for Fang Bi-Jiu’s case (he did this under Ma Tae-Hwa’s orders because Jin Ho-Gae was relentlessly pursuing Ma Tae-Hwa for his murder case, so Ma Tae-Hwa wanted to frame him and destroy him).

Now let’s talk about how the case is solved in this episode of “The First Responders 2.” Jin Ho-Gae comes up with another clever idea (this episode has a charming and humorous atmosphere, such as the partnership between Jin Ho-Gae and Yoo-Jung, and Kang Do-Ha trying to look cool but falling down while wearing a dustproof suit XD). I really liked the scene where Jin Ho-Gae applies for a job as an apartment manager in this episode of “The First Responders 2.” It is a method of finding useful informants without any clear direction on clues.

Jin Ho-Gae says, “She is my informant, my spy, my partner,” which makes me wonder if there will be a breakthrough in the relationship between Jin Ho-Gage and Jin Cheol-Joong? Because although Jin Ho-Gage knows that there is more to the Ma Joong-Do case than meets the eye, it is actually Jin Cheol-Joong who knows Ma Joong-Do best and is close to him. Therefore, it seems like in this episode of “The First Responders 2,” they might hint at both father and son exchanging information and slightly breaking the ice.

The First Responders Season 2 –Kang Do-Ha, the super narcissist, and Woo Sam-Soon, the little perverted genius.

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In “The First Responders 2,” the cases in these two episodes are different from previous ones. I quite like how these cases present a sense of ambiguity where there seems to be no culprit. The writer of “The First Responders 2” skillfully portrays the possibility that the cases might actually be accidents, while also challenging Jin Ho-Gae to uncover evidence that proves otherwise.

It’s great to have Kang Do-Ha join the team for this case. Although he initially comes off as extremely narcissistic and self-centered, the writer of “The First Responders 2” effectively replaces Bong Do-Jin’s role with Kang Do-Ha in this drama. In the past, Bong Do-Jin and Jin Ho-Gae seamlessly collaborated on investigating clues together in this drama. Whenever Bong Do-Jin searched for evidence at crime scenes, his professional explanations always captivated viewers.

Now, it is Kang Do-Ha who takes on the spotlight of investigating crime scene evidence (especially with numerous scene reconstructions by Kang Do-Ha in these two episodes – something that Bong Do-Jin used to do frequently). He delivers an impressive performance in these two episodes of “The First Responders 2,” particularly during Yong Soon-Bok’s case where his innovative explanations and analysis bring a fresh perspective.

Kang Do-Ha’s addition creates a sense of rivalry between him, Jin Ho-Gae, and Gongmyung Pil. It feels like Kang Do-Ha has replaced Bong-Do Jin by joining Jin Ho-Gae and Gongmyung Pil’s side. In Season 1 of “The First Responders,” Bong-Do Jin and Jin Ho-Gae were initially at odds but grew closer over time as their relationship improved. Personally, I enjoy watching how Kang-Do Ha leaves Jin Ho-Gae speechless due to frustration 🤣

And this time, the addition of Woo Sam-Soon as the temporary replacement for Bong An-Na is quite memorable. The writer has given her a personality that exudes a quirky genius vibe. In “The First Responders 2,” there are many scenes where she can be seen at the crime scene, and I feel that she is even more captivating than Bong An-Na in “The First Responders season 2.” It seems like Bong An-Na didn’t have many opportunities to showcase her talents in the second season, whereas Woo Sam-Soon’s unexpected character design grabs attention just as much as Bong An-Na does.

I especially love her assertive and witty approach to solving cases, as well as her active presence on-site. When facing stubborn administrators in the management room, she humorously tells Gongmyung Pil, “Kid (Gongmyung Pil), you go out first” XD (And she really loves singing her lines like a song!)

The First Responders Season 2 –The decision to close the case is ultimately up to the police.

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These two episodes of the case have a pretty good development. Although in order to introduce two new main characters (Kang Do-Ha and Yu Shanxun), there are more obstacles in the investigation process, and the plot takes longer to eliminate several suspects. However, I think this case is quite solid.

It tightly focuses on Gongmyung Pil’s emotional life, especially highlighting his growth as a character in “The First Responders 2”. Whether it’s his dedication and persistence in solving the case or his efforts in investigating evidence, he shows a different side compared to relying heavily on Jin Ho-Gae in the first season of “The First Responders”. Especially with the portrayal of Yong Soon-Bok as the victim, it is very delicate. At first glance, she may seem like an unlikable character, but through careful storytelling and twists by the writer, we come to see that Yong Soon-Bok is actually a caring and warm-hearted person who might even be considered a hero for this community.

Kang Do-Ha initially mentioned that this case was an accident. It was only through Jin Ho-Gae and Gongmyung Pil’s thorough investigation that more truths were pieced together. Through this case in “The First Responders 2”, the writer lets us know that sometimes crimes can happen without any apparent culprits; they can be accidents just like Kang Do-Ha initially believed. The writer emphasizes that as these cases unfold further, there will be various types of culprits involved – it won’t be your typical scenario where finding clues leads directly to catching the culprit. This also implies that Jin Ho-Gae will face a formidable and terrifying enemy named Dex in future episodes.