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.
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.
Contents
Cast
Reception
The series shifted into a much darker theme compared to the last two instalments with its focus more on triads. It received mostly positive responses, particularly for Michael Tse's performance. His performance in E.U. is regarded as one of the best performances 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. The television spinoff Lives of Omission was released in 2011 based on his character.
However, Leung Ka Ki's role as "Fa Yeuk-Bo" receive almost complete negative response from viewers; this is somehow odd given that Ka Ki's role in the series is supposed to be a "good character", although one possible reason is the character's stereotypical attitude towards the triads.