‘The Red Line’ Explores the Ripple Effect Created by a Racially Biased Tragedy

In the two-hour series premiere of The Red Line, “We Must All Care,” three very different Chicago families journey toward hope and healing after a tragedy causes them all to consider how race and racial biases affect their lives.

The Red Line is an eight-episode series event that will air in two-hour installments across four consecutive Sundays, starting April 28 on CBS.

Photo: Elizabeth Morris/CBS ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

On the north side of Chicago, Daniel Calder (Noah Wyle) is a high school history teacher mourning the death of his husband, an African American doctor who was shot while unarmed by a white cop.

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As Daniel tries to comfort their grieving daughter, Jira (Aliyah Royale), the two butt heads when she decides she needs more support than her father can provide. She seeks the understanding of someone who knows what it’s like to grow up as a young black woman, and searches for her birth mother to learn more about her personal history, culture and community.

From acclaimed producers Ava Photo: Elizabeth Morris/CBS ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Daniel seeks comfort in his colleague – and Jira’s teacher – Liam Bhatt (Vinny Chhibber).

On the south side, Tia Young (Emayatzy Corinealdi) scours news of the shooting, torn between her political ambition of running for alderman and risking it all to comfort the daughter she gave up for adoption as a teen. Tia’s husband, Ethan Young (Howard Charles), a red-line train operator and devoted father to their 6-year-old son, champions her running for office, but cautions her about connecting with Jira.

Photo: Elizabeth Morris/CBS ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

On the west side, police officer Paul Evans (Noel Fisher) must face the reality of his actions and intentions in the fatal shooting of an innocent man and worries about his fate amidst the public and legal fallout. His police partner, Victoria “Vic” Renna (Elizabeth Laidlaw), and his brother, Jim Evans (Michael Patrick Thornton), a volatile former cop confined to a wheelchair after being shot in the line of duty, cause more harm than good in their attempts to help him.

As the stories of the Calder, Young and Evans families converge, they each discover that it’s impossible to ignore issues of race; it’s important for each of us to explore how our backgrounds and internal biases affect how we act; and we must open our eyes and see that we’re all human and all deserving of the same dignity.

The Red Line, Series Premiere, Sunday, April 28, 8/7c, CBS