Line of Fire: Is Peter Krause's New NBC Family Drama Worth Watching?

What is Line of Fire actually about?

Line of Fire centers on the Hollingsworth family, a household where law enforcement isn't just a job, it's practically genetic. Mike Hollingsworth, played by Peter Krause, is a Secret Service special agent. His wife Jane, played by Hope Davis, is a Deputy U.S. Marshal in her own right, actively working cases rather than sitting on the sidelines of the family business. Their children have followed suit across different federal agencies rather than converging on one, including a son working as a Department of Justice analyst, which immediately sets up the show's central structural gimmick: a single family whose members each have access to different pieces of the federal law enforcement puzzle, and different obligations pulling them in different directions when those pieces start to connect.

The premise kicks into gear when an investigation one of them is working uncovers a much larger conspiracy, one that implicates people and institutions far above the level any single agency typically operates at. From there, the Hollingsworths are forced into the classic prestige procedural bind: protect each other, or protect the letter of the law they've each individually sworn to uphold, even when those two things stop being compatible. It's a premise built for exactly the kind of ongoing tension a network drama needs to sustain a season, and potentially several.

Notably, the show was originally titled Protection before the name changed to Line of Fire, and that earlier title arguably describes the show's actual emotional core more precisely than the one that stuck. This isn't really about firefights, at least not primarily. It's about what a family owes each other when their jobs are explicitly designed to put the law above personal loyalty.

Who's in the cast?

• Peter Krause as Special Agent Mike Hollingsworth, Secret Service, the family patriarch, and Krause's first major TV lead since departing 9-1-1.
• Hope Davis as Deputy Marshal Jane Hollingsworth, U.S. Marshals, Mike's wife and the other half of the show's central marriage.
• Kat Cunning as Special Agent Clare Hollingsworth, FBI, one of the Hollingsworth children now working her own federal beat.
• Tommy O'Brien as Special Agent Mike "Micah" Hollingsworth Jr., Secret Service, following directly in his father's footsteps.
• Taylor Bloom as Russ Hollingsworth, a Department of Justice analyst navigating the fallout of the season's central conspiracy from inside the DOJ itself.
• Charlie Barnett as Jack
• Sam Waterston as President Thomas Barnes
• Chris Chalk as President Kayana
• Campbell Scott as U.S. Senator Terry

Having Sam Waterston and Chris Chalk both playing presidents, alongside Campbell Scott as a sitting senator, signals pretty clearly that this show has ambitions well beyond a standalone case of the week format. The presence of that much political firepower in the cast suggests a season long arc that reaches directly into the highest levels of government, not just a family drama with a law enforcement backdrop.

Who made Line of Fire, and where did the idea come from?

Line of Fire was created and written by Joshua Safran, with Peter Krause himself also serving as a producer on the show alongside his lead role. It comes from Random Acts Productions and Universal Television, and the executive producer list includes an unusually notable name for a network drama credit, Jenna Bush Hager.

That's not a coincidental or purely commercial addition. The show's premise was directly inspired by Bush Hager's own real experience growing up under Secret Service protection as the daughter of a sitting U.S. president. That lived, specific experience of what it's actually like to have federal agents woven permanently into your family's daily life gives the show's premise a grounding that a purely invented pitch wouldn't have, even if the finished episodes take plenty of dramatic liberties from there.

The series premiered with three episodes rolled out across consecutive weeks, "Pilot" on September 21, "A Bigger Picture" on September 28, and "There Are Two Wolves" on October 5, giving NBC a clear early runway to establish the show's world before settling into whatever its regular weekly rhythm turns out to be.

Why did Peter Krause take this role after 9-1-1?

Krause spent eight seasons on ABC's 9-1-1 as Captain Bobby Nash, a character who became beloved before his heroic death in the Season 8 finale, a moment Krause has described as bittersweet, saying plainly that "it was hard" to leave a character he and the audience both loved. He's been candid that he knew the exit was coming well in advance, since showrunner Tim Minear told him directly, which gave him time to actually think about what came next rather than scrambling for a landing spot.

What he landed on was Line of Fire, and his reasoning is worth sitting with. He's said he was drawn to Joshua Safran's script specifically because of how it blends genuine family dynamics with mystery and procedural plotting, describing the approach as one where "everybody's lives are already happening, and you just have to jump on board," which is a pretty elegant description of how the show drops you straight into an already complicated family rather than building everything from scratch. He's also specifically flagged the relationship between Mike and Jane as something he's looking forward to exploring over a longer arc, suggesting the marriage at the center of the show, not just the conspiracy plot, is where he sees the real substance.

Krause has also been unusually vocal about his continued belief in broadcast network television at a moment when most of the industry's prestige conversation has moved entirely to streaming, saying network TV offers audiences "a great deal of comfort, knowing that they can return week after week." That's a meaningful statement of intent from an actor who could presumably have chased a streaming deal instead, and it frames Line of Fire as a deliberate bet on the old model rather than a fallback option.

What are critics actually saying about it?

This is where things get split, and it's worth knowing both sides before you decide whether to invest your Monday nights.

Variety's review was notably positive, describing Line of Fire as "a promising and engaging NBC procedural drama," which is a solid, if not rapturous, endorsement from one of the more prominent trade outlets covering the show.

TVLine's review landed considerably harder in the other direction. The reviewer flagged a twist in the premiere as "ridiculous," calling it "laughably ludicrous" and noting it becomes "even more ludicrous the more you think about it," while being careful not to spoil exactly what that twist is. Beyond the twist itself, the review's more substantive criticism is structural, the show is juggling what feels like more storylines than it can actually handle at once, spreading itself across Secret Service intrigue, an FBI investigation, and a U.S. Marshals case simultaneously, and in doing so leans so heavily into plot mechanics that the actual characters end up thin. The review specifically calls out that family members lack a believable emotional connection to each other, performances come across as "bland," and several supporting characters function more as plot devices than as people, which, if true, undercuts the exact thing Krause said drew him to the project in the first place, the family relationships.

Does the premise actually hold up to scrutiny?

The central hook, a family split across the Secret Service, FBI, U.S. Marshals, and DOJ, all converging on the same conspiracy, is a clever structural idea on paper. It gives the show a built in reason for different jurisdictions and different information streams to collide inside a single household, which is a smarter setup than most "family of cops" premises manage. The Jenna Bush Hager connection also gives the show a layer of authenticity that a purely invented premise wouldn't have, since the emotional truth of growing up inside that kind of protective bubble is coming from someone who actually lived it.

But TVLine's criticism about the show feeling removed from reality, with characters committing serious ethical breaches without real consequence, points at a real tension in how this kind of show usually plays out. A premise this ambitious, spanning multiple federal agencies and reaching up into fictional presidents and sitting senators, risks tipping over from prestige conspiracy thriller into soap opera wearing a badge if the writing doesn't stay disciplined. Based on the early reviews, it sounds like Line of Fire hasn't fully avoided that trap yet, at least not in its opening episodes.

My honest take on Line of Fire

I think the honest read here sits closer to TVLine's assessment than Variety's, at least based on everything reported about the premiere, though I want to be fair to what the show is clearly trying to do rather than just pile on.

The premise itself is strong. A family scattered across multiple federal agencies, each member holding a different piece of the same eventual conspiracy, is a smart structural idea, and grounding it in Jenna Bush Hager's real lived experience gives it a kind of authenticity that most network dramas built around a special premise simply don't have. I respect that starting point a lot.

Where I get more skeptical is exactly where TVLine's review lands its punches. A show this ambitious, spanning Secret Service, FBI, and U.S. Marshals storylines at once while also trying to sell you on a lived in marriage between Mike and Jane, is attempting a lot simultaneously in a debut season, and that's precisely the kind of overreach that tends to hollow out character work in favor of plot mechanics. Krause specifically said the Mike and Jane relationship was what excited him most about the role, and if TVLine's read that the family lacks genuine connection and performances feel bland is accurate, that's a real problem, because it means the show may be failing at the exact thing its own lead actor identified as its emotional center.

I do think it's worth giving this one a look regardless, particularly if you're the kind of viewer who enjoys a big swing network conspiracy drama and doesn't mind some soapiness along the way. Peter Krause is a reliable, likable lead, coming off eight seasons of proving he can carry an ensemble drama, and Hope Davis is more than capable of elevating thin material when she's given room to. Whether Line of Fire actually earns its ambitions or collapses under them is going to become clearer over the next few episodes rather than the pilot alone, and with a cast this stacked, including Sam Waterston playing a fictional president, there's clearly enough talent in the building for this to grow into something better than a shaky first impression suggests. I'd call this a cautious, watch the next couple of episodes before committing recommendation rather than an unqualified yes.

Frequently asked questions

When did Line of Fire premiere? September 21, 2026, on NBC.

Who are the two lead actors in Line of Fire? Peter Krause and Hope Davis play Mike and Jane Hollingsworth, the parents at the center of the show's law enforcement family.

Is Line of Fire based on a true story? It's fictional, but the premise was directly inspired by executive producer Jenna Bush Hager's real experience growing up under Secret Service protection.

What was Line of Fire originally called? The series was originally titled Protection before the name was changed.

Did Peter Krause leave 9-1-1 to do this show? He left 9-1-1 after eight seasons as Captain Bobby Nash, whose character died in the Season 8 finale, and Line of Fire is his first major TV role since that exit.

What agencies do the Hollingsworth family members work for? The family spans the Secret Service, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, and the Department of Justice across different characters.

Are reviews of Line of Fire positive? They're mixed. Variety called it promising and engaging, while TVLine was much more critical, citing an overstuffed plot, thin characters, and a twist it called ridiculous.

Who created Line of Fire? Joshua Safran created and wrote the series.

How many episodes were scheduled at launch? Three episodes rolled out across the first three weeks, "Pilot," "A Bigger Picture," and "There Are Two Wolves."

Is Line of Fire worth watching? It's a reasonable watch if you enjoy ambitious network conspiracy dramas and don't mind some early soapiness, though the pilot's reception suggests it may need a few episodes to find its footing.

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