Hostages is an American drama television series that aired on CBS as part of the 2013–14 American television season.[1][2][3] Developed for American television by Alon Aranya and Jeffrey Nachmanoff, it is based on the Israeli series of the same name created by Omri Givon and Rotem Shamir and produced by Chaim Sharir, which premiered on October 13, 2013, almost three weeks after the American version's premiere.[4]Jeffrey Nachmanoff wrote and directed the pilot episode for the American version. The series premiered on September 23, 2013 and ended on January 6, 2014.[5]
On May 10, 2014, CBS cancelled the series after one season.[6]
Plot
The family of a doctor is taken hostage by a team led by a rogue FBI agent the night before she is scheduled to perform surgery on the President of the United States. She is ordered by the kidnappers to assassinate the President during surgery in order to save her family.
Cast
Main
Toni Collette as Dr. Ellen Sanders, a well respected thoracic surgeon at the Maryland College Hospital in Washington who is chosen to operate on the President of the United States.
Dylan McDermott as FBISpecial Agent Duncan Carlisle, leader of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage. His motivation is to help his sick wife Nina, who has leukemia.
Tate Donovan as Brian Sanders, husband of Ellen Sanders and the owner of a real estate firm in Washington. He is having an affair with his assistant, Samantha.
Quinn Shephard as Morgan Sanders, teenage daughter of Ellen and Brian Sanders. Secretly she has gotten pregnant by her boyfriend, but initially doesn't reveal it to her parents.
Mateus Ward as Jake Sanders, teenage son of Ellen and Brian Sanders, and younger than Morgan.
Billy Brown as Archer Petit, a member of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage. He and Duncan met 13 years ago after he was rescued from FARC guerrillas while working at the Colombian border.
Sandrine Holt as Sandrine Renault, a member of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage. She and Archer met while in Afghanistan.
Rhys Coiro as Kramer Delaney, a member of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage and Duncan's brother-in-law.
Paul Calderon as Secret Service Agent Stan Hoffman, a hardworking family man assigned to the joint FBI–Secret Service task force tasked with investigating the threat on the President's life.
Hostages is broadcast internationally: in the UK on Sky and Channel 4, Australia on Nine Network, in Canada on CTV, in Latin America on Warner Channel, in the Netherlands on NET 5, in New Zealand on TV One, in Finland on MTV3, in South Africa on M-Net, in India on Zee Café, in France on Canal+, in Portugal on RTP2, in Austria on ORF 1, in Belgium on één in Spain on Antena 3 and in Slovenia on POP TV .
Dr. Ellen Sanders and her family are taken hostage by a rogue FBI agent who threats to kill them if she does not kill the President in an upcoming surgery she will be performing on him.
Duncan gets Archer sent to prison in order to silence the accomplice that helped him dispose of Nurse Angela's body because she cut a deal with the ADA.
Ellen decides to go to Burton Delaney, the lawyer who represented her in a case when she was a resident, in the hope that he can have Duncan eliminated permanently.
Meanwhile, Kramer finds out that the limousine driver he assaulted died in hospital, and Brian spends the day searching for a way to have Duncan killed.
After finding out from Burton that the organization will have Ellen and her family killed if Duncan dies, she rushes home to find out that Brian has injected Duncan with the poison she was given to kill the president.
In the process of trying to find out Duncan's motives for killing the president, she tries to gain insight to his life through his sick wife, Nina.
Meanwhile, Kramer gets questioned for his involvement in the death of the limousine driver and Agent Hoffman questions Brian.
Agent Hoffman's investigation further deepens when he discovers that a high ranking official within the White House forged documents in order to have the president choose Maryland College Hospital for his operation.
Logan reveals to Duncan that Hoffman must be killed and his team devises a plan to prevent this from occurring.
Meanwhile, the president decides that he will release information related to NSA initiative "Operation Total Information," which targeted citizens' privacy.
Ellen gains further insight into Nina's past through Duncan and investigates the alternative possibility of saving Nina's life without having to kill the president.
In the process, she discovers that Nina's mother did not die during childbirth.
Meanwhile, Duncan and his team continue to work against the organization trying to have the president killed and finds out that they hired a sniper to have him assassinated during his visit to New York.
Duncan and Archer devise a plot to kill Sandrine after they learn about her and Logan's plot to kill them and Kramer.
Blair kidnaps Nina and Sawyer. Duncan is determined to get them back.
Blair reassures Duncan he will have them back after Kincaid is dead.
Archer thinks Duncan is acting suspiciously.
Meanwhile, Ellen and Brian talk over what will happen.
Brian and Morgan flee the house. They are later followed by a mysterious man, who tries to kill Morgan, but whom Brian shoots dead.
Ellen sets a smoke bomb to cause a distraction while operating on the president.
Archer tracks down Jake, who is in safety at a cabin. When Brian and Morgan arrive, they find Jake with Archer. Archer takes Brian, Morgan, and Jake hostage, and then takes them to an abandoned warehouse.
Shortly before the surgery, the president's wife confronts Ellen about why she needed the president's bone marrow. Instead of Ellen confessing that she had been held hostage, she tells her about Nina's illness.
Ellen operates on the president, who begins to lose a large amount of blood when the smoke bomb goes off. They believe it is an attack. Ellen does not kill the president; he survives.
Duncan and Vanessa meet up hours before the surgery, and Vanessa confesses her worries about Blair. Vanessa leads Blair into a trap, where Duncan threatens to kill him unless he releases Nina and Sawyer. Blair does, but attacks Sandrine, who is with them.
After that, Duncan kills him. Kramer picks up Nina and Sawyer, and returns them to safety after the president's successful surgery.
Nina expresses her worries about Sawyer growing up with a murderer as a father.
Duncan promises to make it better and tells Sawyer he will not be back for a long time.
Vanessa and Mary talk to Kincaid after he wakes up, and he is recovering. He claims he is happy to be alive, but Mary tells him he will not be for long.
Vanessa and Mary say they know everything about Nina and her mother. Kincaid looks shocked.
At the end, Duncan is at a police station with Burton. Burton wants to go in with Duncan, but Duncan says he needs to look after Nina and Sawyer. Duncan then turns himself in.
Reception
The series received generally mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 57% of 42 reviews were positive, with the consensus: "Hostages has an intriguing premise and handsome production values, but its twisty plot sometimes strains credulity."[21] David Hinckley of the New York Daily News gave the show 4 out of 5 stars.[22] Robert Bianco of USA Today awarded it 3 out of 4 stars.[23]
