Marshals, Secret Service, and Department of Justice.
The intersection of federal jurisdiction and family friction drives “Line of Fire,” a new NBC drama that places representatives of four different government entities under one family. The idea emerged from a conversation Jenna Bush Hager had with producer Josh Safran at a family birthday party. She talked about her time in the White House and told Safran how complicated it must be for agents to juggle their commitments to the country and their families.
Cast Dynamics and Character Roles in the Hollingsworth Family
Peter Krause plays a Secret Service agent; Hope Davis is a U.S. Marshal and their children are in the Secret Service, the FBI and the Department of Justice. Beloved 9-1-1 vet Krause stars as Secret Service agent Mike Hollingsworth, who has raised a houseful of law-enforcement officials with his estranged wife Jane (Davis), a U.S. Marshal. They definitely have some unresolved issues, not just one,
continues Krause. But we're going to see them come together and then get pulled apart.
I was very interested in doing a family show because I hadn't done [one before],
explains showrunner Joshua Safran, adding that his previous dramas Quantico, Smash, and the Gossip Girl reboot were more about found families than biologically bonded ones. Their three adult children work across distinct federal divisions: FBI agent daughter Clare (Kat Cunning) and sons Micah (Tommy O’Brien), a Secret Service agent like dad, and Russell (Taylor Bloom), a newly minted DOJ hire.
“People talk about the procedural elements of it, but I think of it more as a family show with procedural elements,”Peter Krause, actor
Showrunner Joshua Safran designed the series to blend procedural, soap, and ongoing mystery elements. Some storylines are resolved in an episode, some stretch out over several, and then there is a family-history mythology element that deepen slowly over the course of the season. Safran assesses that every episode is probably 40% case of the week, 50% family drama, and 10% mythological.
Balancing Procedural Action With Human Relationships
For Krause, the script was a real lure, featuring elements of Parenthood and 9-1-1, his previous series. Safran says “Line of Fire” has a bit of “The Diplomat” and “The West Wing” in its DNA. These people do this job regardless of what state the country is in at any given time or who is in charge. It’s the love of the job,
he says.
To make sure stories had authenticity, Hager encouraged fellow producers to bring on a former Secret Service agent to work as a consultant. We’ll have the drama and the fun,
she says, but we’ll also have some real truth to it. That was important to all of us.
Plot Complications and Upcoming Season Arcs
The pilot establishes how everyone juggles their jobs with their off-the-clock dramas, such as Mike and Jane’s ongoing estrangement. Despite Mike and Jane’s separation (which will be even more complicated by the arrival of Campbell Scott as Jane’s new beau), the couple is united in being actively enmeshed in the lives of their kids. [It] is part of the dynamic of the business that they're all involved in,
three-time Emmy nominee Davis notes of the Hollingsworth clan’s tricky connections. Everyone has a different opinion on how their lives should be and who should be in charge and who's made mistakes along the way. It's a group of people that love each other, but they have secrets from one another.
While recent events may have linked the departments, “Line of Fire” won’t address current political situations. You can’t tie it to real time,
Safran says. “But it talks about issues that we have faced forever that are ongoing. The political landscape is not primary in the show. It’s about people who do everything to protect their family, the world and what toll that takes on them. It’s a human story, not a political story.”
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