On paper, Line of Fire is the kind of show I would avoid this season.
Law enforcement procedurals have saturated television, and they all feel like they repeat the same themes with slightly different characters.
But I was going to check it out because I love Hope Davis and Peter Krause, and boy, am I glad that I did.
It was also intriguing that Peter Safran, the man behind Quantico, created it. We won’t dive into how later seasons of Quantico went south because this is not the platform.
Line of Fire Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot,” is your typical pilot episode, packed with information; if you’re not careful, you’ll miss a lot of it.
I had to watch the episode twice to fully get the story, but this is the rare case where the second watch is as enjoyable as the first.
Family businesses are nothing new, and a family made up of law enforcement officers isn’t new either, but one with so many of them from different agencies is definitely a fresh take.
The Hollingsworth clan includes a US Marshal, an FBI agent, two Secret Service agents, and a Department of Justice employee.
It is an interesting way to explore law enforcement instead of following numerous characters from one agency, but it also creates challenges for the characters and the story.
One advantage of single-agency procedurals is that they usually all work the same case, so everyone is in on it.
With this multi-agency affair, each one is trying to clear its caseload, so they might be working at cross purposes.
A story like this can also strain believability if the entire family is somehow working on the same case.
The only solution is to bench some members for a few episodes or have them work on different cases.
It can be a tall order to follow two cases in one episode, so the premiere episode focuses on one while teasing another in the background.
The show also uses family ties to bring family members into one case as Clare and Jane work the case of a murdered marshal while Mike tries to pull Micah and Russ into his other case of a suspected cover-up.
This format works for now, but the other trap the show can fall into is having family members on each other’s throats and ignoring what it does to them.
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Some, like Micah, have learned to cope, while others like Clare and Russ are still struggling to put their foot down.
If the show can successfully give all the characters autonomy, then it might solve the problem of family conflict.
But family conflict is where this show thrives because the Hollingsworths are a hoot and then some.
Even when they’re not in the same space, the family keeps in touch throughout the day, and you can clearly see three sides: Mike, Jane, and the children.
Clare, Russ, and Micah have learned to live without their parents’ attention, but like all children, they crave it.
This puts them in the peculiar position of wanting what is bad for them, just because it is wired into them.
A family dinner where Clare is supposed to introduce her boyfriend devolves into chaos when a family secret comes to light.
We learn that a third Hollingsworth is out of the picture, literally and figuratively.
The show relies on the illicit child-of-color trope to sustain the mystery for a while, but it’s as harmful as it is predictable.
It becomes harmful if Jack is treated as nothing but a plot point instead of an important character in the narrative.
This is where the conspiracy part comes in, as it is revealed that Jack has some issues, and he could be the one taking out federal agents while leaving calling cards everywhere.
It will be interesting to see what happened to him and what the family is hiding, but based on his history as a veteran and the marshal he targets this hour, he could be some sort of vigilante.
As the hour wraps up, a particularly peculiar agent from some other government agency delivers the news of someone killing agents, pulls Mike from his retirement, and tells them to keep their cases open.
And just like that, we have our season-long mystery and weekly cases with some conflict because Micah will not love having to work for his father when he thought he was about to be free.
A story like this can fall into numerous traps, in addition to the ones I explored above, and one of the biggest concerns is Jack’s main mystery and his vigilante drive.
This could become too convoluted, or the show could justify his actions later on. One of these is worse than the other.
And like Quantico, this show is quite ambitious. Where Quantico had many characters from different backgrounds, Line of Fire has numerous agencies.
The risk of an overstuffed and underexplored narrative is very real. But for now, everything works.
Gut Check
“Pilot” sets the expectations for this show, and I hope it can keep them.
It’s been a long time since I watched the pilot episode of a network TV show and got so engrossed I didn’t feel the urge to check whether that person I’d texted a month ago had responded.
That dinner scene, with everyone in the same space milling around doing one thing or another, is a masterpiece I didn’t feel worthy of watching.
The writing is sharp, funny, and non-generic, and the performances are just excellent. The casting is awesome because they feel like a real family.
Intrusive Thoughts
- For the life of me, I can’t understand the baggy jeans fashion trend. I don’t take any adult seriously when they look like they can’t pick the right pant size.
- Some line deliveries in this show are so hilarious, like Micah saying earnestly, “This is my last week working for you, and I plan on celebrating that,” or Mike retorting, “Now it’s Jerry’s [house]” during dinner.
- Russ being a soft-mannered former Marine and the only Hollingworth apart from Jack not in a heterosexual relationship is TV code for he’s gay. It’s giving Boots.
- Seeing Savannah Lee Smith with Safran’s name on my mind reminded me that he created that totally forgettable Gossip Girl reboot.
- That family and their damn phones would give me so much anxiety because I’m not a huge fan of phone calls.
Over to you. What did you think of the series premiere? Are you happy to see Peter Krause back on TV after what happened on 9-1-1?
Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
Say something in the comments, share if you like, and keep reading. Independent voices need readers like you.
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