Drama Digest
Armed Reaction 2021 is the fifth instalment of the Armed reaction franchise series. The first instalment aired in 1998 and was an immediate success. A new team called ‘the garbage team’ is formed in the police department to crack cold cases. A senior clerk of the filing department, the best of the best SDU (flying tiger) commander, a legendary arm-wielding female officer, and a group of other not so helpful members constitute the cold case team. The drama, like its predecessor, has the main story of a female inspector (the senior filing clerk in this series) using a gun during the investigation process.
The Feel-Good Part
The 2021 drama is a police comedy-drama. The show guarantees the delivery of comedy and punchlines till the end. We also come across a few character developments. The theme song is enjoyable and popular. Though it seems like an average drama, we get solid entertainment. The love-hate relationship between the leads is entertaining. It is a show with a family-friendly comedy genre. We can see improvement in the storyline in each upcoming episode.
The Disappointing Factor
The plot is very predictable. There are no new twists and surprises on the lookout. The drama also gets draggy in the middle. There are many pointless cameos throughout the series. There is very little connection with the late 90s franchise show except for Chan Sam Yuen. They even bring her only in a few episodes, and it’s very disappointing to watch her like that. The show lacks interesting police cases. They should have shown more interesting unsolved cases in place of comedy. The storyline also lacks filler moments. The show is slow-paced for a police drama, and there is no thrill or excitement. The episodic storytelling doesn’t catch enough attention towards the end.
In-Depth Analysis
Tai On Na is a senior clerk in the filing department who is quite happy and comfortable with her current position. Mung Hon-sam is a top commander from the flying tiger’s team. Both are transferred to the ‘The Garbage team’ to unravel cold cases. Chan Sam Yuen is the legendary female officer known for her firing skills and capability. She and Hui Shiu Hung are also on the team. The cold case team, a.k.a., the garbage team, thus becomes a group of police officers with their unique characteristics working under the leadership of Hon-sam. Hon-sam and On Na continue to outsmart and surprise each other during the investigations. Hon-sam finds the real reason for On Na’s gun phobia and tries to help her overcome it. Hon-sam and On Na fall in love. Fate makes On Na cross paths with Tat-wah, a tutorial student she knew from the past. Tat-wah has now become a gangster after losing all his family members. The story shows the journey of On Na becoming the next armed lady cop while using a gun with confidence, overcoming her guilt.
Star Power
The drama has a remarkable line-up of the cast and a good number of cameos. Moses Chan seems ordinary and lacklustre as the main lead. Jessica Hauan comes as the compelling and hilarious female lead. We see Joyce Jang as Chan Sam Yuen from the old franchise. She seems more like a supporting character here. Tony Hung is our villain, whose facial expressions are numb, and acting seems repetitive. We see Him Law, Benz Hui, Gloria Tang, Toby Chan, and Fred Cheng as other supporting characters. There was room for improvement in acting for the cast in the storyline.
Overall Opinion
The drama has two storylines going together and converging at the end. It is not as good as its predecessor series. It might be a good one-time watch if seen without any prior expectations and standards set.
