Armed Reaction

Armed Reaction (Traditional Chinese: 陀槍師姐) is a television series produced by Hong Kong's TVB. So far, four series (released in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2003) have been produced.

Naming

The Chinese name for the series, 陀槍師姐, is literally translated as "Armed Sisters". It describes the show's main focus on the first armed female police constables in Hong Kong. Up until the early 90's, female police constables in Hong Kong were not armed, and were frequently assigned office and desk works.

Cast

eries I to IV

*Chan Siu-Sang (陳小生), played by Bobby Au Yeung (歐陽震華)
*Chan Sam-Yuen (陳三元), played by Joyce Tang (滕麗名)
*Ching Fung (程峰), played by Marco Ngai (魏駿傑)

eries I to II

*Chu So-Or (朱素娥), played by Esther Kwan (關詠荷)
*Sum Kiw (沈翘), played by Eileen Yeow (姚瑩瑩)

eries III to IV

*Wei Ying Jie(衛英姿), played by Ada Choi (蔡少芬)
*Wei Ying Hung (衛英雄), played by Ha Yue (夏雨)
*Sunnie Fong, played by Yoyo Mung

Plot

The show chronicled the lives, loves and careers of two female officers, and the men around them, as they adapted to this change.

The success of the first series, and the popularity of its cast and characters led to the subsequent sequels, the show being used as a cash cow and ratings draw. However the strong, independent women characters, which had made the series popular, became increasingly sidelined, and the show lost its uniqueness towards the third series. To maintain interest the show began to resort to spectacular, almost exploitative plotting. The fourth series ended on a cliffhanger with the hope of keeping interest alive for a fifth series.

As of the third series, because one of the actresses retired, a new actress and therefore, new policewoman took over the role. She succeeds her as the other policewoman's new friend and gets together with the same man.

The show is well known for its drama and action. Aside from the twists thrown in with the relationships the characters have, the series employs high-speed car chases, explosives, hostage situations and thrilling gunfights to keep the audience's interest. Some of its more memorable arcs include incidents where certain protagonists are framed and are forced to flee from the police as well as other gangs, headed by the Chinese Mafia.

Criticism

The show has come under attack for reusing story lines, recycling characters and actors as well as having illogical sequencing in storylines.