SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Line of Fire Season 1, Episode 1.
Quantico creator Josh Safran returns to the genre with Line of Fire, and brings everything but the kitchen sink with him. The NBC show is the conspiracies of Quantico mixed with the family drama of Blue Bloods, and then some. In the series pilot, Safran crams in far too much plot—but there’s also a ton of talent.
It’s easy to see why Line of Fire got the plum post-The Voice slot on NBC’s schedule. The series has several recognizable names, led by Peter Krause in his first gig since being controversially killed off 9-1-1 and Hope Davis just after her recurring part in the popular Hulu series Furious. But they’re not the only ones people will know: there’s also Kat Cunning from American Hostage, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy from Godfather of Harlem, and Chicago Fire alum Charlie Barnett (who previously occupied the same plum NBC time slot when he starred in the criminally underrated Ordinary Joe). It’s just plain fun to see Campbell Scott portray the boyfriend of Davis’ character when he just played her lawyer in Furious. At every turn there’s an actor fans know and will enjoy watching.
But this Line of Fire should not be confused with Rod Lurie’s Line of Fire from 2003. That show was a tightly plotted thriller with an incredible cast; this one has the cast, yet the plot is bursting out at the seams. It’s as if Safran constantly has to add one more twist. The overarching plot is that someone kills a U.S. Marshal in their latest attack on high-profile government agents. As the entire Hollingsworth family works for the government in one way or another, they—and the audience—get to spend the season not only trying to stop the killer, but identifying which one(s) of them he wants dead. And under that, the family members have their cases of the week. That’s a very solid setup for a TV show.
But also: Jane and Mike Hollingsworth aren’t divorced, they’re just “separated in perpetuity,” even though Jane is dating a U.S. Senator. Yet on top of that, Jane is still sleeping with Mike, in a page right out of The Chicago Code. Mike is chasing a conspiracy theory about who really tried to assassinate the old President. Their son Micah is having an affair with the new President’s daughter. Their daughter Clare doesn’t know that her love interest Logan isn’t who he appears to be, kind of like The Blacklist. And neither is Logan’s friend (played by Barnett), who not only turns out to be the bad guy, but he’s also Mike’s not-actually-dead son Jack. There’s so much going on that a large portion of the third act is just a constant stream of banter before an attempted family dinner. Maybe later episodes will slim down the narrative as the case of the week structure comes in, but this show would be better off with less curveballs, especially ditching some of the personal drama that feels formulaic.
That being said, there’s obviously no shortage of things for Safran to do with these characters, and the actors earn enough goodwill to bring the audience back. Sports Night alum Krause is as bankable as ever in the role of Mike, while Davis perfectly understands the assignment as steely family matriarch Jane. It’s also wonderful to see Barnett cast as something a little bit more than the charming best friend; this is like his role from Ordinary Joe gone deliciously wrong. The same is true for Antoinette Crowe-Legacy; it’s a treat to see her play a buttoned-up Homeland Security investigator compared to the ups and downs that Elise went through over four seasons of Godfather of Harlem. Kat Cunning gives a much stronger performance in American Hostage, despite having far more screen time in Line of Fire; her character Clare just isn’t differentiated enough from all of TV’s other spunky heroines. But Cunning is certainly capable of doing something memorable with Clare as the writing develops.
Line of Fire has an insane amount of potential. It’s also an example of how far TV shows stretch to keep the audience’s attention these days; there’s always a twist or a cliffhanger somewhere. If Safran and the creative team can narrow down the bulky plot and pivot more of that time to character development, this will be a runaway hit. For now, it’s a show that’s waiting to be unleashed—but one thing it will never be is boring.
Line of Fire airs Mondays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Scott Gries/Courtesy of NBC.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
