Addressing the pervasiveness of the muddled parent-child relationship that leaves emotional pain and pressure on the youth, The First Responders episode 9 firmly sent an important message.
Covering teenage pregnancy, school bullying, suicide, and disappointing overachiever parents, this episode is packed with lessons. Subsequently, Ho-gae’s cold case resurfaces and he begins another chance to try to save Hyun-seo.
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The First Responders Episode 9 and 10 Highlights
It’s Code Pink for Taewon’s Police and Firefighters. They have to work on cases involving children or obstetrics. However, Ho-gae can’t be reached.
“Could you send a message to my mom? That just like parents can’t choose their children, a child can’t choose their parents, and that we’re failures.”
Receiving an emergency call, Taewon Firefighters proceed to an apartment complex where a young woman named Ha-eun sits dangerously on the terrace railing. Seol buys some time for Do-jin who will be coming from the upper floor.
Scoffing on Seol’s attempt to empathize with her pain, Ha-eun asked her to relay to her mom that she also did not have a choice in having her as her parent. Do-jin stealthily moves in position and successfully pushes her inside the house.
Meanwhile, Taewon Police go to a reported site and find a dead newborn. Anna heads to NFS to investigate while Chief Baek right away declares the place a crime scene.
Yoon Hong conducts the autopsy as the police need to assess what crime they will charge the culprit. The lung test indicates the infant never breathed air. What’s strange is the bag where the baby was put is a limited edition and pricey bag that can only be bought by VIPs. Thanks to Pil’s garbage hunt, the team found useful clues about the case.
“Jindo dog you could be reborn. You could bark all you want. But in front of them, you’d be nothing.”
The partner Pil is missing the most, continues to investigate by visiting the man he recently put behind the bars. Strangely, Tae-hwa refuses to provide useable details. He also warns Ho-gae that he is heading on an impossible mission.
Lucky for Pil, Ho-gae arrived while he was out for lunch with Chief Baek. Jindo dog already looped himself into the intriguing case that he read in one sitting.
Proceeding to meet the VIP who owned the fake designer bag and ate pricy meals, Team Taewon police visit an advertising company executive who is also married to a judge.
It turns out that she owns the bag but is not the woman who abandoned the baby. The plot thickens because she apparently is Ha-eun’s mother, the young woman who almost committed suicide.
Seol’s genuine probing secures a disheartening story of how Ha-eun claimed to have slept with five young men who could be the father of the child that she belatedly learned she conceived.
“His shoe brushed against my hand. I will never forget that touch. The touch of a life I’ve missed disappearing. Later, I found out. It was his third suicide attempt.”
Summoned for police questioning and request to get their sons’ DNA, the mothers vehemently refuse. While they go for verbal dispute, Ho-gae writes down pertinent details that could point to the identity of the father. When Ha-eun’s mother joins the chaos, Ho-gae declares the end of their dispute and inquires about the missing mother.
Continuing the investigation, Ho-gae is bewildered at how the supposedly smart students share their mothers’ bad attitudes. What transpires next baffles Ho-gae even more as Hong reveals the five young men tested negative as the baby’s biological father.
He finds himself near the convenience store they frequented and also spots Seol munching on food. Baring her thoughts about her connection with Ha-eun, she confessed how her job has had her witness students committing suicide a lot.
She chronicles a recent case about a male student who was not able to endure the pressure of studying. Belatedly, she learned that it was not the first time the young man tried to commit suicide. Explaining to Ho-gae that if only someone came to comfort the student, it would have not happened.
Confronting her reaction after she questioned Ha-eun, Seol explained that she does not have tolerance for someone who can abandon his or her child. She reveals further that she was abandoned as a child.
“They say a cold case is like a scar to a detective’s body. I think her case is the biggest scar for Detective Jin.”
After disclosing her birth secret story, Seol tries to ask Ho-gae about Hyun-seo. He confesses meeting Hyun-seo last the day she vanished. What really happened that day is that Hyun-seo relayed she was being stalked, but he missed the urgency of the situation. He chooses not to elaborate why he is being blamed for it when Seol asked.
At the same moment, Do-jin confirms with Pil the same missing person case posted on the station is the one Ho-gae obsessed with. He implores Do-jin to go easy on Ho-gae, and the former appears to make a move in helping.
Back to zero in finding the real father of Ha-eun’s child, they were led to a teacher who adores Ha-eun. But he refused to cooperate without a warrant.
Fortunately, Do-jin helps the police duo who has been acting like census takers, and reveals the presence of a person on the day Ha-eun tried to die. To rule out who among her father or brother could have done the deed, Pil and Ho-gae go for creative legwork to get their DNAs on earwax and spit.
“How can you possibly take care of me? You didn’t even know I was pregnant. You don’t deserve to be called a mom.”
The good news for the Song household, Ha-eun’s baby does not match her father’s or brother’s DNA. Bad news for Taewon police because they have to start from scratch.
Thankfully, Seol gives another starting point to investigate by telling Ho-gae that Seung-jun, the young man she regretted not being able to save went to the same cram school as Ha-eun. From there, Jindo dog goes for another creative investigative play by using the search for the dead Seung-jun’s DNA news viral.
It eventually reaches the man that completes the picture. Sadly, it all started in Ha-eun’s twisted mind. She slept with Seung-jun’s father, the principal of the school and asks for a copy of the test to blackmail him. She also slept with Seung-jun but later disregards him when she got what she needed.
Ho-gae sincerely apologizes for what the adults around her could have done more and it eventually gets through Ha-eun who finally confessed to the wrongs she made and really regretted.
“I want you to stop Jindo-dog before he loses control.”
Earlier, Do-jin meets Hong to get details about Hyun-seo’s case and learns about the two toes left that were found at Ho-gae’s house.
While working on a case, Seol mentioned to Do-jin a patient who does not have her big toe on her right foot. Later, he confirms both toes are missing and alerts Ho-gae about it.
Unfortunately, they were a step behind and the abductor has taken Hyun-seo again. Hyun-seo show a strange tattoo when she was asked by the doctor, the picture helped in rounding up the possible neighborhood where they can start searching for her.
Ho-gae and Pil find the place where Hyun-seo has been imprisoned, but her body is nowhere to be found. What’s worse is that Ho-gae had a strange encounter with the psycho abductor in the hospital.
The First Responders Episode 9 and 10 Musings
It was an enthralling experience with Taewon Police and Firefighters in the 9th and 10th episodes of The First Responders.
Officially starting the wrap-up to Hyun-seo’s case, it still looks vague how this connects to Ho-gae’s father and aspiring president Ma.
Three-quarters of the story traversed the saddening reality happening inside a dysfunctional family. It leaves meaningful lessons on the role of adults to the children or youth they ought to guide and nurture properly.
The heartfelt talk shared by Ho-gae and Ha-eun pretty much summed up the case of an abandoned infant. Significantly, it calls again for awareness and action that specifically emphasizes Korea’s parents’ exhausting education goals for their children.
Expounding how twisted youth can be led to obey their parents, Ha-eun’s story pointed out how youth can self-destruct when forced to do things yet lack the understanding of why they have to do them.
Hopefully, the message of placing paramount importance on creating a harmonious relationship in a family can be picked up by the viewers.
While we can be happy with the cases so far presented in the story, feeling nervous about how everything will close is normal to how the narrative is so far moving. There’s some part that is really disconnected from the story as a whole.
How it was so far pictured is that Ho-gae’s ultimate end game is to bring clarity to the case of Hyun-seo. His daddy issues better get a clear explanation, along with the weight of the two old seemingly villains in the story.
Can Ho-gae close the case when there’s a looming dismissal notice issued for him?
Be enthralled at how the police and firefighter cooperate to save lives in dire situations in The First Responders on SBS every Saturday. International fans can watch it on Disney+!
Photos: SC Prime Video | SBS Drama
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