E.U. (TV series)
Emergency Unit, better known as simply E.U. is a 2009 Hong Kong television drama created and produced by Wong Wai-sing. It is the direct sequel to 2007's On the First Beat and the third installment in The Academy series. E.U. stars Ron Ng and Sammul Chan from the original series, with the addition of Michael Miu, Kathy Chow, Michael Tse, and Elanne Kong. The popularity of Tse's role, Laughing Gor, spawned two film spin-offs and a television drama spin-off of the character.
| E.U. 學警狙擊 | |
|---|---|
 E.U. official poster | |
| Also known as | The Academy III |
| Genre | Drama Crime thriller |
| Created by | Wong wai-sing |
| Written by | Chu King-king Lee Yee-wah Leung Yan-tung |
| Starring | Ron Ng Sammul Chan Michael Miu Kathy Chow Michael Tse Elanne Kong Kaki Leung King Kong Lee Dominic Lam |
| Opening theme | Hak Bak Bin Jau (黑白變奏) by Ron Ng, Michael Tse, Sammul Chan |
| Ending theme | Sau Cheung Yan (手掌印) by Elanne Kong |
| Composer(s) | Chow Wing-hang |
| Country of origin | Hong Kong |
| Original language(s) | Cantonese |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Wong Wai-sing |
| Production location(s) | Hong Kong |
| Camera setup | Multi camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes (per episode) |
| Production company(s) | TVB |
| Release | |
| Original network | TVB Jade |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | 16 February – 27 March 2009 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Academy (2005) On the First Beat (2007) |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| E.U. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 E.U. title card | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 學警狙擊 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 学警狙击 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Police Cadets in Action" | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Unlike the two previous installments, E.U. focuses on one particular secret triad, while the first two focuses more on the general lives of the characters. E.U. stands for Emergency Unit, a traffic and criminal operation wing under the Hong Kong Police Force. The series was meant to be followed by a sequel, however, production dropped the sequel, but reused the majority of its cast in an alternate series, Relic of an Emissary.
Synopsis
After ten years behind the bars in Taiwan, Kong Sai-Hau (Michael Miu) finally returns to Hong Kong. Other than the hope to find his daughter Yau-Yau (Elanne Kong) to mend their relationship, he also plans for revenge. On one hand, he pretends to surrender to triad boss To Yik-Tin (Lam Lee), the man who caused him to be jailed. On the other hand, he tries to gain trust from police officers Chung Lap-Man (Ron Ng) and Lee Pak-Kiu (Sammul Chan). Lee refuses to have a criminal as his friend, but Chung becomes close to Kong to gain inside information about To's activities. Laughing (Michael Tse) doesn't trust Kong at first, but Kong uses To's wife Ching Yeuk-Sam (Kathy Chow) in the organization as an influence to help him rise up the ranks. To is killed and Kong ascends to become the head of the triad. Later, Chung becomes an official undercover agent for the police force with the intention of exposing Kong's triad crimes. He isolates himself from Lee in order to protect his undercover identity. He meets Kong's daughter Kong Yau Yau, and Yau Yau starts to fall in love with him. Chung uses this to his advantage, gaining trust and higher rank in the triad.
Later on, Kong falls deeply in love with Sum and vice versa causing him to be distracted with his drug business. Kong eventually trusts Chung and almost hands parts of his drug business to Chung to take care of. But just when Kong thought that he was in control, his drug business fails. Kong discovers that the people he trusted the most had betrayed him, including Laughing. He also misinterprets that Sum betrayed him, so he kills her. His daughter Kong Yau Yau finds out and hates him for killing Sum, whom she thought of as a mother. Chung and Lee find out that Laughing was actually also an undercover cop, and both are wracked with feelings of guilt and gain a renewed sense of responsibility to take down Kong.
In the end, Kong's paranoia of betrayal causes him to be immobile for the rest of his life.
Cast
The Kong family
| Cast | Role | Description |
| Michael Miu | Kong Sai-Hau 江世孝 | Triad leader(main villain) |
| Elanne Kong | Kong Yau-yau 江悠悠 | Kong Sai-Hau's daughter
Chung Lap Man's girlfriend |
Police unit
| Cast | Role | Description |
| Dominic Lam | Wu Cheuk-Yan (Wu Sir) 胡卓仁 | Senior Superintendent Of Police (SSP) Department Head of OCTB Chung Lap Man's Superior SSP39384 |
| Sammul Chan | Lee Pak-Kiu 李柏翹 | Police Constable (PC) Later appointed to Probationary Inspector of Police PI66341 Emergency Unit (E.U.) OCTB Team Leader Fa Yeuk-Bo's husband |
| Ron Ng | Chung Lap-Man (Lucky Prince) 鍾立文 | Police Constable PC66336 Plain Clothes Unit Kong Yau-Yau's boyfriend (distant) Undercover Police Officer Organized Crime and Triad Bureau Lee Pak Kiu's best friend |
| Kaki Leung (梁嘉琪) | Fa Yeuk-Bo 花若葆 | Police Constable WPC66914 Emergency Unit (E.U.) Ching Yeuk-Sam's younger half sister Ma Ying Oi's daughter Lee Pak-Kiu's wife |
| Lee Ka Sing (李家聲) | Lam Suk-Chuen 林叔泉 | Police Constable PC66340 Police Constable Emergency Unit (E.U.) |
| Casper Chan (陳思齊) | Yiu Ling Ling (Cho Ling) 姚玲玲 | Police Constable WPC66550 Police Constable Emergency Unit (E.U.) Kwok Kai-Bong's Wife |
| Jason Pai (白彪) | Si To Chiu 司徒超 | Sergeant SGT38401 Emergency Unit (E.U.) Leung Siu Tong's and Fa Yeuk-Bo's mentor |
| Aimee Chan | Chiu Wan-De (Wendy) 趙雲迪 | Police Constable WPC66349 Leung Siu Tong's ex-girlfriend Dies in episode 16 |
| Felix Lok | Kwok Pui 郭培 | Senior Superintendent Of Police (SSP) Kwok Kai-Chiu's and Kwok Kai-Bong's father |
| Ellesmere Choi | Kwok Kai-Chiu 郭啟超 | Senior Inspector Of Police (SSP) Kwok Kai-Bong's older brother |
Triad
| Cast | Role | Description |
| Lam Lee (林利) | To Yik-Tin 杜亦天 | Boss of Chun Hing Triad Shot and killed in Episode 6 |
| Kathy Chow | Ching Yeuk-Sam 程若芯 | To Yik-Tin's wife, later Kong Sai-Hau's fiancee Fa Yeuk-Bo's older half-sister Ma Ying Oi's daughter Shot and killed by Kong Sai-Hau in Episode 28 |
| Michael Tse | Leung Siu Tong (Laughing) 梁笑棠 | Triad Leader Shot and killed in Episode 23. Undercover cop. Has a crush on Ching Yeuk Sam |
| Joel Chan | Fai Wing-Lun 費永倫 | Fai Hung's son Triad Leader |
| King Kong Lee (金剛) | Zhong 韓志忠 | Kong Sai-Hau's most trusted assistant |
| Alex Lam (林子善) | La Ba 劉國強 | Kong Yau-Yau's roommate Chung Lap-Man's mate |
| Chun Wong (秦煌) | Fai Hung 費雄 | Fai Wing-Lun's father Triad Elder |
| Dexter Young | "Chicken" (Lat Gai)/Chu Wing-Fuk 朱永福 | Triad Boss of New Territories |
Other
| Cast | Role | Description |
| Angelina Lo (盧宛茵) | Fa Ma Ying Ngoi 花馬英愛 | Fa Yeuk-Bo's and Ching Yeuk-Sam's mother |
| Wada Hiromi (裕美) | 娟 | Student |
| Jess Shum | Ho Wing-chi 何詠芝 | Fai Wing-Lun's wife |
| Oscar Chan (陳堃) | Kwok Kai-Bong 郭啟邦 | Yiu Ling Ling's (Cho Ling) husband Owner of bookstore |
| Annie Chong | Shopkeeper | |
| Chiu Shek Man (招石文) | Chiu Wan-Di's father | |
| Fung So Bor (馮素波) | Chiu Wan-Di's mother |
Reception
The series has received many positive responses, particularly for Michael Tse's performance. His performance in E.U. is regarded as one of the best performance in his career. He is also favored to win Best Supporting Actor award in 2009's TVB Anniversary Awards. Due to overwhelming criticism of Tse's character's demise, Tse appeared and spoke in the last scene of the series and a prequel of E.U based on Laughing's life, entitled Turning Point, was produced. It was premiered on August 10, 2009 and was released in cinemas on 13 August 2009.[1]
However, Leung Ka Ki's role as "Fa Yeuk-Bo" receive almost complete negative response from viewers, who many of them state that they hate her in the series; this is somehow odd given that Ka Ki's role in the series is supposed to be a "Good person" role, although one possible reason is her stereotypical attitude towards the triads.
Notes
- Joey Yung didn't reprise her role as Cheung Nim-Yan, Chung Lap-Man's (Ron Ng) girlfriend. To end her involvement in the series, it's been explained that the couple had separated and she left HK after marrying another man.
Michae Tao's character doesn't return to the series either but references to his character are made. His newborn son and him immigrated sometime between On the First Beat and E.U.
Awards and nominations
TVB Anniversary Awards (2009)
Won
- Best Supporting Actor (Michael Tse)
- Most Improved Actress (Aimee Chan)
Nominated
- Best Drama
- Best Actor (Michael Miu)
- Best Actress (Kathy Chow)
- Best Supporting Actor (Joel Chan)
- Best Supporting Actress (Elanne Kong)
- My Favourite Male Character (Michael Miu)
- My Favourite Male Character (Michael Tse)
- My Favourite Female Character (Kathy Chow)
Viewership ratings
| Week | Episode | Average Points | Peaking Points | References | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 16–20, 2009 | [2] | ||||
| February 23–27, 2009 | [3] | ||||
| March 2–6, 2009 | [4] | ||||
| March 9–13, 2009 | [5] | ||||
| March 16–20, 2009 | [6] | ||||
| March 23–27, 2009 | [7] | ||||
| March 27, 2009 |
See also
- Turning Point (2009 action film)
- Lives of Omission
- Relic of an Emissary