Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
'The First Responders' director gives glimpse of upcoming Season 2
Posters for SBS' crime action series “The First Responders 2” / Courtesy of SBS
By Lee Gyu-lee
By Lee Gyu-lee
The director of SBS' crime action series “The First Responders” says that the series is returning with more dynamic crime in season 2.
“Seasons 1 and 2 have differences in the nature of the crimes and their overall direction. The first season covered crimes in daily life but this season will have crimes involving intense incidents,” director Shin Kyung-soo told the network.
“While the first season was about delivering and depicting realistic stories, the second season was directed to deliver more dramatic stories."
The series, released last November, revolves around people at a police station, including the talented but unsociable detective Jin Ho-gae (Kim Rae-won), and at a fire department, passionate firefighter Bong Do-jin (Son Ho-jun), working together to respond to emergencies.
The new season, set to premiere on Aug. 4, will invite additional crime scene investigators, following first responders solving major crimes such as serial arson.
“For season 1, we tried to finish one story in one episode. (Each episode) included the start of the case to solving it. But in season 2, the endings are connected to the next episode,” the director explained.
A scene from season 2 of the SBS series “The First Responders” / Courtesy of SBS
Shin noted that the new season will develop further Jin's backstory that was left unfolding from the previous season.
“In season 2, Jin's narrative will be disclosed. The season will unfold stories about his relationship with his father that led him to become a cop instead of being in the legal field, his battle with Dex and others that viewers are left curious about,” he said. “Season 2 will also develop stories on Bong growing a deeper sense of ethics on his career as a firefighter and why he came to get the nickname 'Bulldozer.'”
He shared that the new season will have advanced computer graphics and production design following the arson case.
“For set design, we created space A with vertical poles in the void area and space B as a clustered space that connects to a horizontal tunnel. They were designed to contrast with each other to capture the devastation to show 'isolation from the world,' or 'will I be rescued?'” he said.
“We didn't special effects differently as well … we divided CGI and special effects teams to use (physical) effects like fire and smoke in certain cases and for others we utilized CGI.”
The new season will introduce new cast members, including Baek Eun-hye and Oh Eui-shik, as part of the CSI unit.
“I believe in season 2, the teamwork and the individual characters' stories will deepen and go beyond what we have developed from season 1,” he said.
The series will air every Friday at 10 p.m.