Entertainment

Line Of Fire Ignores The Most Salacious Hollingsworth Crime For The Worse

Nairavoice · Oct 28, 2026 · 4 min read

Every member of Line of Fire‘s Hollingsworth family has mastered the art of being mysterious and somewhat ethically ambiguous, while still ultimately coming across as seemingly well-intentioned.

The show began with Hope Davis’ Jane coldly moving on from her marriage, rebounding from the still-pining Mike (Peter Krause) with no attempt to shield him from her new relationship.

Yet the show has also indicated that Mike may not be entirely blameless himself. While he’s certainly the moral compass of his family, both Mike and Jane have kept life-altering secrets of their presumed-dead son (Charlie Barnett) from the rest of their children.

Meanwhile, Clare has proven to take after her mother as she puts emotional walls up, buries herself in her work, and refuses to back down from a case. Even Russ, the mildest-mannered Hollingsworth and arguably Line of Fire’s most important character, has lied, broken rules, and defied orders when necessary.

Ultimately, though, even as Line of Fire maintains suspense with plot twists and newfound secrets, the Hollingsworths come across, first and foremost, as earnest in their emotions and genuinely doing their best for the people around them.

This even applies to Micah, the most rebellious of Mike and Jane’s children. Micah’s willingness to push back against Mike, and even briefly scheme to get him removed from the Secret Service, makes the complexity of Micah’s own missteps and deep-down good intentions the most intriguing of all the Hollingsworth children. Yet Line of Fire has already neglected Micah’s most compelling storyline.

Micah’s Secret Romance Promised Lots Of Drama

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    Image via Everett Collection</figure>

Line of Fire‘s pilot episode introduced Micah’s scandalous relationship with Sydney, the First Daughter. As a Secret Service agent assigned to the First Daughter’s detail, this is a major conflict of interest that jeopardizes Micah’s focus and ability to do his job. Both he and Sydney certainly know this, as Line of Fire‘s first few episodes saw them go to great lengths to keep their relationship under wraps.

This built-in tension was at its most compelling in episode four, “Paper Trails,” when Micah unknowingly drank Sydney’s “Molly water” while still on duty, not knowing that it was drugged. Sydney then called Russ to sneak Micah out of work, exposing their relationship to him.

While the experience ultimately seemed to clear the air between the two brothers, it also exposed the real risks of Micah and Sydney’s relationship. Jane also witnessed Micah’s intoxicated state, and while she trusts Micah to take his job seriously, the situation created no shortage of exposure for Micah to be found out by either Mike or someone else in the Secret Service.

Yet the following two episodes of Line of Fire didn’t touch on Micah and Sydney at all, despite “Paper Trails” ending with Micah’s inebriated insistence that “what Sydney and I have is real.”

Micah and Sydney’s secret romance is one of the stories that Line of Fire‘s first episodes spent the most time on, making its consecutive absence in episodes 5 and 6 feel strange. Even more odd is that episode 6, “Cabin Pressure,” made a point of acknowledging every other Hollingsworth romance, both past and present.

Clare acknowledged her mistakes in her relationship with Logan while asking out Raul. The episode touched on Jane’s breakup with Senator Terry Cross while showing Mike finally moving on from Jane just as Jane seemed to want him back. Russ planned a double date for him, Natasha, his friend Brendan, and his girlfriend.

Yet alongside all of that, there wasn’t the slightest nod to Micah and Sydney hinting at the status of their relationship or the impact of the Molly water incident two episodes prior.

Line Of Fire’s Secret Service Depiction Is Disjointed

Line of Fire‘s pilot episode established that Micah is assigned to the First Daughter’s detail, while the second episode introduced Chris Chalk as President Kayana. Since then, though, the responsibilities of Micah, Mike, and their Secret Service colleagues have been somewhat confusing and inconsistent, especially compared to the show’s depiction of the FBI, DOJ, and U.S. Marshals Service.

Mike has been seen helping Clare solve crimes, superseding her with tactics that she felt impinged on her investigation. Their collaboration, much less Mike’s superiority in this setting, seemed unlikely and was logistically unexplained. Micah, too, has mostly been seen going through documents with Russ and Clare rather than being on an active security detail.

In fact, President Kayana has not been seen since his introduction in episode two, and Sydney has been notably absent since episode 4. Instead, Line of Fire has begun focusing heavily on Micah, Russ, and Mike’s investigation of the years-old attempted assassination of former President Barnes (Sam Waterston), a new character who has already overshadowed the current administration’s presence.

By avoiding the dynamic between Micah and Sydney, Line of Fire is not only doing a disservice to one of its juiciest plot lines. It is also confusing the understanding of Micah’s entire job, which should primarily consist of protecting the First Daughter.