“Armed Reaction 2021” Fails to Engage Viewers
TVB’s ratings report for the week ending February 14 have been released. Armed Reaction 2021 <陀槍師姐2021> had an average opening week, but the ratings have fallen over the second and third weeks of broadcast. Despite bearing the classic Armed Reaction title, the latest installment has been unable to live up to its predecessors.
As it has been 17 years since the last Armed Reaction drama was aired, many of the previous actors could not be assembled for the latest installment. Although the original storyline was abandoned, viewers still hope for some similarities and expected a more exciting and fast-paced storyline with larger-than-life villains as seen the previous four dramas. However, Armed Reaction 2021 is missing all of these elements because the series was filmed as a family-friendly comedy.
Despite featuring the popular pairing of Moses Chan (陳豪) and Jessica Hsuan (宣萱), the ratings for Armed Reaction 2021 have been disappointing. In its second week of broadcast ending February 7, the drama achieved 22.4 viewership ratings points. In the ensuing week ending February 14, the drama’s ratings dipped slightly to 22.3 points.
In contrast, Come Home Love: Lo and Behold <愛·回家之開心速遞> continues to lead the station’s viewership ratings, averaging ratings of 27.2 points for the week ending February 7, and 25.7 points for the week ending February 14 despite the busy Lunar New Year holiday.
Mainland Chinese drama, The Legend of Xiao Chuo <燕云台>, pulled 23 points in its final week of airing, and averaged 22.1 points for its entire Hong Kong broadcast.
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
1) because TVB released all the episodes online 3 weeks before the ending
2) no Joyce Tang (or Bobby) who were the heart and soul of this series.
3) they had Jessica play some insecure woman who couldnt fire a gun. that isn’t what armed reaction is about.
@tt23 I agree with everything you said. Plus Joyce was considered the other lead actress in the original one, and was even nominated best actress. Now they made her like a guest appearance, and no Bobby, it really shouldn’t even be armed reaction.
@tt23 haha so true, when you leaked a serie all over the net before it hits TV, what does TVB expect massive ratings and they literally push Joyce Tang story on the side for the most part of it shame on them.
@vodka I wonder why Joyce was not staring this? Her choice?
@tt23 Lame that TVB did that, and totally agree with all 3 statements, granted Jessica did her great in performing that and she was cute n sexy playing that role. Really surprised they didn’t have Bobby pop up in it when they had some dumb cameo of Kenneth and Hubert in the very beginning. @hazel really I think her acting was still good in it, it is too bad that she had only a few beginning episodes in it. If they ever do try to make a 6, they really should try and go back to whatever they were intending for 5, I’m sure they would make time for it….Bobby and Joyce at least, it was cute seeing the mom too back in it.
I had very low expectations for this series because the OG Armed Reaction couldn’t be beat, but I’m pleasantly surprised at how much I’m enjoying the comedy. Granted, Mo is too exaggerated, but the dialogue is very funny. Benz, Mo, and Jess are great. Him has improved as well.
I feel like I don’t miss Joyce even with her diminished screen time because her acting has regressed quite a lot since her heydays.
@hazel I totally agree with you. Moses is too exaggerated and literally irritating. Jessica as some blurblob who can’t handle a gun.
@janet72 Yea Jessica, who was able to solve a lot of cases, but couldn’t figure out or handle Moses’s ex-wife situation.
@janet72 I enjoy a number of Moses’s work be he was get over dramatic sometimes
I also enjoyed the series for it’s light humor and entertainment. I agree the dialogue was quite funny and there was chemistry amongst the misfit crime fighters. Enjoyed seeing Benz back and agreed Him has improved.
@khoobunny I loved Benz and Him in this. I thought Him’s storyline was solid and agreed, he’s improved. The drama was light hearted and had a consistent storyline which is rare for TVB these days lol.
Just a shame they called it armed reaction because that comes with high expectations that they failed to meet.
surprise surprise, tvb these days
It failed to engage viewers because it’s a recycled plot, everything was predictable. Moses just spoke English in a high pitched voice like he does in every tvb drama
Back in the day, when Moses was serious about his acting. War and Beauty, When Heaven Burns, Master of Play, The Last Steep Ascent….
@jimmyszeto he’s got three kids to support. If TVB is willing to pay him big bucks to be in bad productions, I guess I can’t fault him for making the money while he still can.
I did watch this….nothing else was interesting then….however the drama has nothing to do with Armed Reaction….except couple of scenes with Joyce Tang in it otherwise bear no resemblance with the former one…..hence the poor engagement. It was OK for me…..nice to see Jessica and Moses did his bit in this drama otherwise its average drama
I haven’t started watching it yet so can’t comment on the plot. Just wished that they named it something else instead of Armed Reaction. A Jessica series alone should garner interest, no need to butcher a beloved classic.
@potatochip It’s actually not a bad series — it’s funny, light hearted and consistent storyline with some good performances from the cast. It’s the title of the series that killed it tbh.
Moses really showing his age in this drama
I’m actually really enjoying this drama. It’s lighthearted and fun. Moses and Jessica are great together. The rest of the cast are good too. Refreshing faces. I thought I would be annoyed with Moses’ high pitched English again but he toned it down so I’m fine with it. In fact, I even see some of his acting mannerisms rubbing off on Jessica as well cuz there was one scene where she went high pitched English too lol. The only complaint I have is that the cases aren’t that interesting cuz the focus is so much on Moses and Jessica’s relationship but I actually don’t mind. It’s a nice change to all the TVB series that focused more on cases and less on character development. I think this series would be successful if it had a title of its own rather than being part of the Armed Reaction franchise. It has nothing to do with AR except for a few scenes in the beginning with Joyce which were heavy and doesn’t match the rest of the mood of the series. I’m fine with Joyce as an actor but I noticed that she hit a wall and built up a wall with her acting a long time ago (probably around the time she broke up with Marco) and ever since then, her acting has been very stiff and serious and not fun to watch. Even in Come Home Love which is a family comedy, she gives off a drab vibe. I wish someone could shake her, literally, to help her break through her barrier lol. Anyway, I don’t miss her character in this series. AR did well when it did and her storyline has had enough and is over.