The First Responders Season 2 – Episode 9+10 Recap & 3 highlights Explained, Review

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The First Responders Season 2 Episode 9 plot :The new forensic Han Se-Jin discovers suspicious elements after conducting a post-mortem examination on Yang Chi-Young’s body. She is even able to analyze the cruel methods and personality traits of the perpetrator.

However, since there are no clues to investigate in the case of Yang Chi-Young, and the crime scene is extremely clean with no fingerprints or hair left behind, Jin Ho-Gae can only rely on his own instincts to pursue leads. With Han Se-Jin’s reminder, he realizes that the murder of Yang Chi-Young may be related to the case of Seok Mi-Jung. But will Jin Ho-Gae’s investigation lead him in the right direction? Every clue seems to be leading him into a dead end.

The First Responders Season 2 Episode 10 plot :Jin Cheol-Joong brings up Ma Joong-Do’s case for Jin Ho-Gae to investigate. As a result, they exhume Ma Joong-Do’s body for further examination. During this process, Jin Ho-Gae discovers that Ma Joong-Do was actually murdered but made to appear as if he died naturally. This confirms Jin Ho-Gae’s suspicion that Dex is involved. Meanwhile, Jin Ho-Gae learns about Ma Tae-Hwa’s whereabouts but unexpectedly encounters Dex! Both Jin Ho-Gae and Dex find themselves caught in an explosion.

↓Last Episode (Episode 7+8) Review and Recap, Explained↓

The First Responders Season 2 – Episode 9 Recap

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🔥In the continuation of “The First Responders 2” episode 8, Han Se-Jin sought Song-Seol’s advice on the technique for stopping bleeding at the scene. She specifically invited Song-Seol, who has a medical background, to assist in the examination. The syringe found behind her waist was pressed by Yang Chi-Young according to Song-Seol’s phone instructions.

At that time, her judgment was based on the name of the medication and she believed that a simple injection with a syringe would suffice for administering a lethal dose without using complex methods. Han Se-Jin kept questioning Song-Seol about this matter, which annoyed Jin Ho-Gae.

After conducting an examination, Han Se-Jin discovered that one lung, liver, and kidney were missing from the victim’s body. Based on his deduction, he concluded that the perpetrator was targeted and killed under specific motives and plans because there were no external injuries on the victim’s body.

This means that the crime was committed while they were under anesthesia. Han Se-Jin believes that organs were removed so cleanly and precisely because they were intended for transplantation purposes.

Han Se-Jin vividly described how he imagined the process of how the perpetrator carried out their attack in order to engage everyone present in visualizing it as well. However, Jin Ho-Gae disagreed with Han Se-Jin’s point regarding immersing them in water; he believed it was done to show emergency personnel at the scene instead.

He also saw it as a warning to indicate that similar incidents could happen again at any time since they are dealing with someone who is likely knowledgeable about murder due to being a surgeon but prone to making mistakes due to overconfidence.Kang Do-Ha noticed that there was expertise involved in setting up explosive devices in the autopsy room and identified an unknown model called BB Call which is not available domestically; however tracing its origin proved difficult.

The perpetrator is proving to be quite elusive as there were no fingerprints or hair found at the crime scene, indicating a high level of cleanliness. Even Yang Chi-Young’s phone records and whereabouts for the three days prior to the incident were completely empty. However, Jin Ho-Gae believes that if it involves organ transplantation, immediate action would be necessary. If they can find someone who has access to nationwide transplant surgery records on that day, they might be able to identify a suspect.

Gongmyung Pil discovered that among those who had conflicts with Yang Chi-Young was Seok Mi-Jung’s father, who happens to be an anesthesiologist. Seok Moon-Gu may have had motives due to Yang Chi-Young defending Ma Tae-Hwa and causing secondary harm to Seok Mi-Jung during the court proceedings. Dex threatened Jin Cheol-Joong into handing over investigation files related to Ma Joong-Do because Dex dislikes others digging into his background information.

The First Responders Season 2 – Episode 9 Ending:All the clues are dead ends.

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 🔥Song-Seol told Jin Ho-Gae that she felt very uneasy after visiting the forensic laboratory today and witnessing such terrifying things. She is even more worried about Jin Ho-Gae working in such a dangerous environment. What if he becomes a target of the killer one day and dies? However, Jin Ho-Gae believes that they need to catch the killer as soon as possible, even though he cannot guarantee his own safety. He hopes that Song-Seol can be by his side to provide first aid and help him survive.

Dokko Soon is being investigated by the prosecution, but Prosecutor Yang Sang-Man asked her not to dwell on unsolved cases anymore (such as the Naisco Tech Residence Building fire case ten years ago, which was also the case where Yang Sang-Man lost his colleague).

Dokko Soon shared her concerns with Chief Baek, feeling that those who profited from the Naisco Tech Residence Building wanted to prevent her from reopening this case. Even Chief Baek suspects there is a huge monopoly behind it all. However, investigating evidence from a decade-old arson case seems impossible.

On the other hand, Han Se-Jin approached Song-Seol to discuss the killer’s methods, seeking a second opinion. They went to the police station together, where Han Se-Jin explained that the purpose of removing organs by the killer was solely for kidneys, while everything else was just a diversion.

Jin Ho-Gae deduced that this was someone who needed a kidney but couldn’t reveal their identity and immediately thought of Ma Tae-Hwa. However, when they arrived at the hospital, they discovered that it wasn’t him lying in bed. Han Se-Jin carefully tended to Song-Seol’s wounds and advised her not to blame herself too much for Yang Chi-Young’s death since one person cannot save everyone and it would only hurt her emotionally.

The police were extremely displeased with Ma Tae-Hwa managing to escape. Jin Ho-Gae was certain that all the cases from Fang Bi-Jiu until now were orchestrated by the same person. They found out through their investigation that after Ma Tae-Hwa sold off Ma Joong-Do’s real estate inheritance, he had 34 billion won which was transferred into a Swiss bank account (the money being virtual currency handled by Yang Chi-Young). Through tracing a fake mobile phone number they discovered that Yang Chi-Young lost his life because of this money; half of which went towards acquiring an orthopedic hospital.

However, this lead turned out to be another dead end except for Woo Sam-Soon finding a fingerprint in the operating room belonging to Seok Moon-Gu who had already died unexpectedly. Jin Cheol-Joong handed over Ma Joong-Do’s case files to Jin Ho-Gae as he believed Dex’s first case in Korea involved him and thus could start investigating from there.

The First Responders Season 2 – Episode 10 Recap

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🔥Continuing from Episode 9 of “The First Responders 2,” Jin Ho-Gae and Jin Cheol-Joong decide to exhume Ma Joong-Do’s body for autopsy. While Jin Cheol-Joong is unfamiliar with Dex, he is certain that Ma Joong-Do’s death was connected to Ma Tae-Hwa’s escape plan. Jin Ho-Gae believes that Ma Tae-Hwa intends to eliminate all witnesses, and the next target could be Jin Cheol-Joong.

However, in reality, Jin Cheol-Joong also wants to protect Jin Ho-Gae’s life. Han Se-Jin points out that there are no signs of homicide in Ma Joong-Do’s case. Despite this, Jin Ho-Gae firmly believes that as a prosecutor, Jin Cheol-Joong knows it was a murder. After all, there are no perfect crimes in this world. Kang Do-Ha asks Woo Sam-Soon to investigate the IP address they found and continues luring the bomb suspect through the dark web.

🔥Jin Ho-Gae investigates clues at Ma Joong-Do’s house where the key factor leading to his suicide ruling lies in surveillance footage capturing his every move before death. The only person present at home besides him was a maid preparing soup during that time period. It is discovered that Ma Joong-Do added an excessive amount of salt to his meal shortly before dying. Suspicion arises when examining what was inside the salt shaker reveals traces of “potassium.”

No wonder it didn’t taste overly salty; for someone with various cardiovascular and kidney diseases like Ma Joong-Do, consuming excess potassium can indeed be fatal. The maid who worked at Ma Joondg-Do’s house reveals that he had ordered salt via delivery one week prior to his passing, prompting further investigation into the suspicious delivery personnel.

🔥In order to find clues about the fire incident from ten years ago before Dokko Soon’s second interrogation, Chief Bai finally discovers the firefighting boots worn by the deceased firefighters at that time. All firefighters had a commonality – their boots were burned, serving as direct evidence that flammable liquid was splashed on the ground during the fire.

This indirectly proves that higher-ups have been covering up this truth all along. It turns out this was an intentional scare tactic by Song Jae-Jun, whom Jin Ho-Gae previously solved a case involving, resulting in Taewon Police Station getting involved and now prompting Song Jae-Jun to take matters into his own hands.

The First Responders Season 2 – Episode 10 Ending:Did Jin Ho-Gae escape the camping car explosion?

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🔥On the day of Yang Chi-Young’s incident, there were records of two suspicious rented hearses. It was discovered that Yang Chi-Young left from the orthopedic hospital that day and picked up Ma Tae-Hwa and Yang Chi-Young along the way. The final location was the shopping center where Yang Chi-Young was found, near an interchange. At this time, Moon Young-Soo also discovered that Lin Seon-Ryeol had sent money to his wife at a convenience store nearby.

Kang Do-Ha finally waited for the bomb client to appear on the dark web and received bomb setup diagrams that recently appeared in Taewon’s explosive devices, but there is also another bomb in a camping car. Gongmyung Pil and Jin Ho-Gae finally found Ma Tae-Hwa, who never expected that he had been resting quietly in a camping car all along. Ma Tae-Hwa expressed regret for letting himself become like this and regretted calling Dex, who is insane. He hoped Jin Ho-Gae could save him.

🔥At this moment, Moon Young-Soo covered in blood finds Jin Ho-Gae and tells him about Lin Seon-Ryeol ambushing him. What Jin Ho-Gae doesn’t know is that there is already a bomb planted inside the car they are on. When Ma Tae-Hwa refuses to call Dex and gets angry, Jin Ho-Gae is surprised how Han Se-Jin knows he is here? Only then does Jin Ho-Gae realize that Han Se-Jin standing before him is Dex!

Gongmyung Pil learns about Jin Ho-Gae being in danger but it’s too late because the camping car has already exploded. Song-Seol accompanies emergency responders as Chief Baek worries about Jin Ho-Gae’s safety; ultimately firefighters find a body inside the camping car (the body inside cannot be Jin Ho-Gae because it is burnt, and in the preview for the next episode, it is mentioned that Jin Ho-Gae undergoes a forensic examination and he appears unharmed. So at least Jin Ho-Gae has survived the camping car explosion).

The First Responders Season 2 – Episode 9+10 – highlights Explained,Review

The First Responders Season 2 –Right hand is a surgeon, left hand is a butcher = A surgeon specialized in butchering.

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In the beginning of Episode 9 of “The First Responders 2,” the screenwriter and director used a clever technique to portray Han Se-Jin’s character and create suspense for the audience. Han Se-Jin, also known as Dex, is the person Ma Tae-Hwa brought in to deal with Jin Ho-Gae. Personally, I really like how the screenwriter designed Dex to be cold-blooded and twisted in “The First Responders 2.”

Normally, someone who commits crimes would want to stay away from law enforcement officers, but Han Se-Jin constantly surrounds himself with them. Especially at the beginning when Han Se-Jin intentionally calls Song-Seol into the examination room, it showcases his twisted nature and abundant confidence.

I particularly enjoy how Han Se-Jin takes everyone on a journey of imagining how the perpetrator carries out their crimes. With such confidence and narcissism as a killer, they have this desire for others to appreciate their criminal characteristics (just like when Han Se-Jin says that submerging victims in water is like an exhibition performance meant specifically for firefighters).

It’s similar to an artist explaining their own ideas; therefore, he isn’t afraid that Song-Seol will discover anything or that Jin Ho-Gae will suspect him through his portrayal of the perpetrator’s methods.

Han Se-Jin underlines by “The First Responders 2” is portrayed as an assassin immersed in his own world. I really like how “The First Responders 2” creates this line: “Right hand is a surgeon while left hand is a butcher.” This phrase contrasts with what Han Se-Jin said about using autopsy techniques performed by perpetrators and extracting organs such as liver, kidney, and lung from Yang Chi-Young – leaving behind both brutal traits of a butcher and exquisite surgical skills of a doctor – it combines perfectly into one criminal characteristic. In that scene where they imagine being at crime scenes, the conversation between Jin Ho-Gae and Han Se-Jin sparks a lot of brainstorming and tension, with a hint of gunpowder.

When Han Se-Jin says, “Are you saying the criminal wants to induce trauma?” and Jin Ho-Gae responds with “No, ‘I could do this again to anyone at any time,’ similar to this kind of warning,” the timing of Jin Ho-Gae’s “No” is just right. It’s also a clever pause deliberately designed by the screenwriter and director of “The First Responders 2.” People who are extremely confident hate being corrected by others. While watching that scene, I was really immersed in Han Se-Jin’s explanation and wanted to continue listening.

However, Jin Ho-Gae’s interruption suddenly breaks that atmosphere – it feels like Han Se-Jin’s beautiful dream has been abruptly interrupted. Especially since Dex had previously encountered difficulties when his methods were deciphered by Jin Ho-Gae; this “No” from Jin Ho-Gae should also be seen as an allegory for his ability to unravel Han Se-Jin’s plans. Therefore, when Jin Ho-Gae later mentions how serial killers often make mistakes due to their self-satisfaction with their actions.

The First Responders Season 2 –This killer has a cleanliness obsession

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“The First Responders 2” episode 9, Han Se-Jin’s approach and close relationship with the police show his arrogance. Han Se-Jin himself said, “Manipulating evidence is more dangerous than destroying it.” In this episode, Woo Sam-Soon complains twice to Han Se-Jin, asking why he didn’t speak up earlier. This implies that the investigation direction misled Jin Ho-Gae, making him work in vain. I am curious about what trap Han Se-Jin will lead Jin Ho-Gae into.

Based on the preview for the next half of the season, it seems that Song-Seol is worried about Jin Ho-Gae heading towards danger. There is a high chance that Dex will take Jin Ho-Gae’s life.

The ending of episode 9 in “The First Responders 2” is truly clever, just like Fang Bi-Jiu’s case. Jin Ho-Gae was manipulated and led to a dead end. The death of Seok Moon-Gu at the end of this episode aligns with Dex’s style (as in Fang Bi-Jiu’s case where Jin Ho-Gae’s fingerprints were planted at the scene).

In this episode of “The First Responders 2,” several characters mention that the killer has a “cleanliness obsession.” Previously, Jin Cheol-Joong told Jin Ho-Gae about Ma Joong-Do’s case being too clean. This shares similarities with the crime characteristics in episode 9 of “The First Responders 2,” where everything at the crime scene – evidence and clues – are exceptionally clean.

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Currently, there are several cases that can be loosely connected to Ma Tae-Hwa:

• -Ten years ago, there was a fire in the Nixdorf Residential Building (it is speculated that Ma Tae-Hwa’s group intentionally set the fire for redevelopment purposes, driving away protesting residents who refused to move out, resulting in Yang Sang-Man losing his team member at that time).
• -The Fang Bi-Jiu case (planned by Dex, but executed by the person who eventually escaped abroad): In this case, shoe prints and fingerprints related to Jin Ho-Gae were deliberately planted at the scene to frame him as the culprit.
• -The death of Ma Joong-Do (perpetrated by Dex): Jin Cheol-Joong described Ma Joong-Do’s death as “very clean,” which aligns with Dex’s criminal characteristic of leaving no traces. This was done intentionally by Ma Tae-Hwa to make his father die so that he could obtain medication from Yang Chi-Young during the funeral procession that would cause renal failure. Only then could Ma Tae-Hwa purposely put himself in need of emergency treatment and be released from prison.
• -The autopsy lab bombing case (perpetrated by Dex): Kang Do-Ha discovered that the explosive device inside the body was made by a professional and even found BB Call on Dex’s hand in episode eight. Although it wasn’t Dex who ordered the gang fight incident, having a bomb inside the body should be his masterpiece. I think his intention was probably to harm Yoon Hong while also allowing Han Se-Jin to be transferred over to support the forensic lab and get closer to Jin Ho-Gae. The murder of Yang Chi-Young (perpetrated by Dex).

The First Responders Season 2 –There is no perfect crime in this world.

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In the 10th episode of “The First Responders 2”, we reach the climax of the drama once again! Jin Cheol-Joong said that only Jin Ho-Gae has the ability to solve Dex’s case. In this episode, Jin Ho-Gae mentioned that “forensics is just a part of the investigation, not the whole case,” echoing Woo Sam-Soon’s statement that “IP addresses are just the tip of the iceberg.”

Through these dialogues, the writer highlights that even though a case may seem perfect on the surface, there will always be traces and loopholes left behind. Clues lead to more clues, and although Dex is confident in leading Jin Ho-Gae astray with his breadcrumbs, there will undoubtedly be deeper flaws in this process for Jin Ho-Gae and his team to discover.

Just like with past incidents such as the fire ten years ago, Ma Joong-Do’s death case, and the abdominal bomb case – they all appeared perfect on the surface. However, further investigation revealed more loopholes.I’ve heard Detective Conan talk about perfect crimes before; it indeed shares similar concepts with “The First Responders 2”. Jin Ho-Gae states that there are no perfect crimes in this world.

In fact, when viewed from another perspective, it means that clues cannot lead us to find culprits because every clue can be rationalized. Therefore, crimes are considered perfect – much like an art form where each clue is meticulously designed and arranged. But in reality, there are no truly perfect crimes; it simply means their flaws have yet to be discovered. Once those flaws are found out, then a so-called perfect crime ceases to exist.

As Conan says: “There can only be one truth.” Perfect criminals make most people follow familiar clues while Conan himself has a characteristic approach: he first understands each suspect before piecing together evidence to match his deductions. The truth only exists in the mind of the perpetrator.

Therefore, “The First Responders” itself has a characteristic where Jin Ho-Gae enjoys dissecting the methods and thoughts of criminals, trying to understand why they commit such acts. In this aspect, Jin Ho-Gae’s character is somewhat similar to Conan’s. That’s why I felt that the scene where Kang Do-Ha saves Song-Seol from an explosion and asks her about her favorite color in one episode was reminiscent of Conan. Now looking at Jin Ho-Gae, there are indeed some similarities with Conan! So it seems like the writer really has watched Detective Conan!

I quite enjoy Dex’s techniques portrayed by the writer in “The First Responders 2”. They truly have a sense of being undetectable and extraordinary – like how Ma Joong-Do appeared to die naturally after consuming salt laced with potassium or how Fang Bi-Jiu’s arson case was made to look like suicide.

These instances depict Dex as someone who employs exceptional methods that cannot be easily overlooked by law enforcement agencies. The writer excels at turning human actions into accidents under Dex’s manipulation – it shows that they are truly skilled at designing cases!