‘Line of Fire’ Premiere Recap: The Hollingsworth Family Has One Killer Secret
SPOILER WARNING: This review contains major spoilers from the Line of Fire series premiere.
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about screening Line of Fire, and Peter Krause is entirely to blame. After spending years watching Krause as Bobby Nash on 9-1-1, I am still salty as hell that he is no longer on that show. And yes, I am also one of those people who doesn't particularly want to see him paired with anyone who isn't Angela Bassett. I said what I said. So Peter, you were already walking into this screening with some baggage that had absolutely nothing to do with you.
Thankfully, Krause does what Krause does best: he reminds us why this man stays booked on television. As Mike Hollingsworth Sr., Krause immediately feels comfortable carrying another ensemble drama. Mike is a longtime government agent who should probably be thinking more about retirement than reopening old wounds, but apparently retirement is not in this man's vocabulary. He remains fixated on the case of a president who was shot, and when he needs medical records that could help him dig deeper, he turns to his son Russ for assistance.
Russ begrudgingly agrees, which gives us one of our first looks at just how complicated the Hollingsworth family is. And complicated might actually be putting it nicely.
The Hollingsworths Need Family Therapy Immediately
Mike and his sometimes wife Jane have built quite the family, although "functional" is not a word I would use to describe it. Mike's relationship with his children is particularly interesting, with Russ clearly emerging as Dad's favorite while Mike Jr., aka Micah, gets ridden hard by his father. It probably doesn't help that Mike Sr. is literally his boss. Imagine having a rough day at work and then realizing your boss is coming home with you. No thank you.
Meanwhile, Jane and her daughter Clare have their own tense relationship. Clare works for the FBI, and when Jane pulls her into the investigation of a marshal who has been shot, we quickly see why Clare has the job she does. Watching her work through the case is one of the stronger parts of the premiere because she proves herself to be a capable investigator rather than simply another member of the Hollingsworth family orbit.
And then there's Micah, who is working for the Secret Service and has been tasked with protecting the president's daughter. Seems straightforward enough, right? Except he is also sleeping with her. Baby, what are you doing? The president's daughter is looking at an apartment, and while the two are there, they decide to get a little distracted.
Micah later discovers a camera and understandably panics, believing their relationship may have been recorded. He attempts to cover his tracks, only to discover the camera was nothing more than a fake prop placed there by the landlord. So basically Micah nearly blew everything up over a camera that wasn't even recording. Friend, you good?
About That Peter Krause and Hope Davis Chemistry...
While Krause easily carries the premiere, I have to say his chemistry with Hope Davis didn't work for me. Sorry to say it, Peter, but Mike and Jane are supposed to anchor this extremely complicated family, and romantically, I wasn't buying them together yet.
That could obviously improve as the series gives us more time with their marriage, particularly considering how many secrets are floating around this household. Based solely on the premiere, though, the spark simply wasn't there for me. The actual family dynamics are much more interesting because there are resentments, favorites, secrets and apparently entire relatives people don't know exist. You know, normal family dinner stuff.
Clare's Boyfriend Picks the Worst Possible Time to Come Back
Speaking of secrets, Clare brings her boyfriend Logan home for dinner, which goes about as well as you would expect dinner with this family to go. During the evening, Logan learns Clare has been hiding something significant from him: she has an older brother named Jack, Mike's son from his first marriage. The revelation is enough for Logan to end their relationship and leave.
Eventually, Logan thinks better of it and returns to the now-empty house to apologize. And this is where Line of Fire finally showed me what kind of show it wants to be. Logan notices a bent family photograph, removes it from the frame and discovers something that changes everything: the supposedly dead Jack is actually Logan's neighbor.
Oh, and he's standing right behind him. FRIEND. Jack stabs Logan, and we learn Logan wasn't exactly being honest either because he was another government agent. Suddenly, several seemingly separate pieces of the premiere begin falling into place. Government agents have been targeted, and everything appears to be leading back to Jack. Even worse, Jack may ultimately be coming for his own family.
That Twist Got Me
By the end of the premiere, Mike Sr. and Jane know Jack is responsible for what is happening because he has deliberately been leaving clues behind. That immediately raises the bigger question of why he is doing this and, more importantly, what exactly happened in this family that has Jack targeting government agents and potentially working his way toward the Hollingsworths?
That mystery is what sold me on Line of Fire. The premiere has a lot going on, and introducing this many members of one family while simultaneously establishing multiple government agencies, relationships and mysteries could have easily become overwhelming. There are moments where it feels like the show is throwing quite a bit at us, but once the Jack reveal happens, the seemingly separate storylines start feeling much more connected.
Krause remains the biggest draw for me. He has that television-veteran quality where he can walk into a new show and immediately make you believe this character has been living an entire life before we met him. I may still look at him and see Bobby Nash occasionally, leave me alone, I'm grieving but Mike Hollingsworth is different enough that I'm interested in seeing where Krause takes him.
Do I believe the romance between Mike and Jane yet? Nope. Do I think this family needs several therapists and possibly a group rate? Absolutely. But did that final twist make me want Episode 2? Yep. Line of Fire has my attention, and now I need to know what Jack wants with this family and exactly how many more Hollingsworth secrets are waiting to come crawling out.
What did you think?
Loved it
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