There’s an old saying that goes, “Sex is kinda like pizza. Even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” While the “sex” part of that is pretty debatable — with lackluster relations certainly having the potential to be downright awful — the pizza part still rings true. Even the worst pizza, from a deli freezer or from under the hot, sticky heat lamp of a 7-11, is still pretty solid.
The same can be said for TV procedurals. Like pizza, there’s something comforting about knowing what you’re going to get, even when you can’t always pre-gauge the overall quality. That reassuring sameness is what’s made franchises like “Law & Order,” “NCIS” and “CSI” flourish for decades and multiple iterations, and it’s what broadcasters and streamers chase even now, as they launch cop dramas and ER thrillers. Give viewers a show that feels like a warm bath, with only the slightest twist on the overall backstory (“They’re super smart cops! Or super smart doctors!”) and overwhelmingly, audiences will hop on board.
That’s clearly what NBC was going for when they dreamt up “Line Of Fire,” a new primetime hour-long drama premiering Monday. A DC-set crime drama that follows a kind but deeply damaged multi-generational family of US Marshals, FBI agents, Secret Service agents and DOJ staffers, “Line Of Fire” is the kind of palatable procedural that falls squarely in the middle of the road. It’s interesting enough to make you begrudgingly tune in to the next episode, but not thrilling enough to make you want to tell your friends to hop on board.
Created by Joshua Safran, whose previous projects include “Gossip Girl, Smash” and “Quantico,” “Line Of Fire” stars Hope Davis and Peter Krause as Jane and Mike Hollingsworth, a separated “not divorced” pair of government staffers who strive to keep the world (and the President) safe while also dealing with the family drama stemming from their three kids, Clare, Russ and Micah. (Kat Cunning, Taylor Bloom and Tommy O’Brien, respectively.)
Some of the show’s plot involves the family solving crimes, like sussing out who robbed a bank then killed an elderly guard or why a U.S. Marshal (Anna Chlumsky) chasing a cartel accountant got gunned down in the opening minutes of the show’s premiere. More often than not, though, the plot is about the family’s drama. Why is Clare keeping her boyfriend a secret? Is Micah sleeping with the President’s daughter (and his Secret Service charge) a good idea? And will Russ be able to keep his job at the DOJ, despite having a tenuous hold on interagency privacy at best?
The first two episodes of the show’s first season set the table for those questions and more, with at least one lingering secret that will shake things up long term. They’re also rife with glimpses at family backstory, sparked by scenes like a back-and-forth between Jane and Clare where the elder advises Clare to break up with her boyfriend, saying there are people that are “like us” and people who aren’t. Dabbling with civilians will always end in heartbreak because they “grow to resent what we know as fact, that you can’t protect the world and the people you love in it at the same time.” Yikes. Growing up in that house must have been an absolute blast.
Where “Line Of Fire” will go narratively is still up in the air, though the show’s opening episodes set up a few points that will probably take some time to resolve. Unfortunately, they’re also points that seem contrived and a bit trite, like a killer leaving a folded silver paper origami crane at crime scenes, or Mike’s reluctance to retire, even though he’s been at it in the Secret Service for far too long.
No one acting in this show is being used to their best abilities. Davis does what she can with the material — and I’d bet Jane knows more than she’s letting on about some of the drama unfolding around the family — but it’s hard to really make lemonade when all you’re given is a couple of unripe fruits and a dull butter knife.
“Line Of Fire” could still surprise, growing into something great rather than adhering to the overly safe middle of the road but as of right now we’re skeptical. That doesn’t mean it’s unwatchable or even bad. It’s not. It’s just not all that good, either.
“Line of Fire” premieres Monday on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock.
The post ‘Line of Fire’ Review: Palatable NBC Procedural Is Just Fine appeared first on TheWrap.
