Does Line of Fire have queer characters? Two of its ex-Marines have the fandom certain
byHannah Whitlock
Nov 7, 2026 10:24 am
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NBC’s Line of Fire is a family drama about federal agents with a lot of secrets. One of them might be about who Russ Hollingsworth is texting.
Line of Fire premiered on NBC on September 21, 2026, from creator Joshua Safran, and follows the Hollingsworths, a family spread across the FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals and Justice Department. Officially, the show has no confirmed queer characters yet. Unofficially, two episodes in October changed the conversation, and the actor at the center of it isn’t shutting anything down.
Russ and Brandon
Russ Hollingsworth (Taylor Bloom) is the family’s Justice Department analyst, working in the National Security Division, and a Marine veteran. In episode 5, “Cul-de-Sac,” he reconnects with Brandon Hayes (Tyler Posey), an NSA agent he served with. They hadn’t spoken in years.
Episode 6, “Cabin Pressure,” is where fans started paying attention. Here’s what happens between them, as Screen Rant’s Casey Duby laid out:
- The case: The two of them investigate a suspicious Marshal’s home together.
- The plans: They agree to hang out and talk about “the bad old days in Kabul.”
- The girlfriend: Brandon says he’ll bring his girl, and Russ is visibly caught off guard.
- The texts: A later exchange reads like it’s setting up more than a friendly dinner.
Duby’s verdict is that a Russ and Brandon romance is the best future the show could give Posey’s character. Nothing on screen has confirmed it, but Russ’s face when Brandon mentions a girlfriend is doing a lot of work.
What Tyler Posey says
Posey has given several interviews about Brandon, and he has been careful never to close the door. He told Give Me My Remote that the pair’s history is mostly about being former Marines, and then added a hedge.
“There could always be something more there between them.”
— Tyler Posey, on Brandon and Russ, to Give Me My Remote
He’s also leaned on the same phrase in more than one interview: Brandon makes Russ feel seen. Posey told TV Insider that reconnecting opens the door for Russ “to feel like himself and to feel seen.” In a family of cops who keep secrets from each other, that’s a pointed choice of words.
When an actor describes a guest character’s arc as helping a lonely man “feel like himself,” fans aren’t reading too <a href="https://comicvibe.com/how-much-gpu-vram-do-you-need-for-pc-gaming-in-2026/” title=”How Much GPU VRAM Do You Need For PC Gaming In 2026?”>much into it. They’re reading the interviews.
Is anyone officially queer on Line of Fire?
Not on screen yet. Kat Cunning, who plays FBI agent Clare Hollingsworth, is queer herself, and her character spends the premiere with a boyfriend. She told Out that the series is “not the gayest show on TV either, but it’s made by queer people,” and joked that she was having “a really fun time appropriating hetero culture.”
When we’ll find out more
Episode 7 was supposed to air November 2 but got bumped for a two-hour The Voice. It now airs Monday, November 9, at 10/9c on NBC, and streams on Peacock the next day. NBC also ordered five more scripts in October, which could turn the season into a full 18-episode run if the ratings hold.
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That’s a lot of room for Brandon to come back, and for Posey’s “something more” to show up on screen.
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