# Hostages (2013)

> A top surgeon and her family are held hostage by a rogue FBI agent who forces her to assassinate the President.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/49380

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 15
- Episode runtime: 42 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama, thriller
- Created by: Alon Aranya, Omri Givon, Rotem Shamir
- Network: CBS
- Cast: Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott, Tate Donovan, Quinn Shephard, Mateus Ward, Billy Brown, Sandrine Holt, Tyler Elliot Burke
- TMDB rating: 6.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2647258/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: breakneck
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: tense, relentless, claustrophobic, propulsive

## What critics say

Audiences rated the single season as mixed, praising its high-stakes suspense and lead performances while finding the political conspiracy plotting strained.

## Synopsis

Hostages (2013-2014) is an American network thriller created by Alon Aranya, Omri Givon and Rotem Shamir for CBS, and it is a single season of fifteen hour long episodes. Toni Collette plays Dr. Ellen Sanders, a premier surgeon whose household is seized by a rogue FBI agent, Duncan Carlisle, played by Dylan McDermott. Carlisle is a desperate man convinced his cause justifies his methods, and he orders Ellen to kill the President while she operates on him. Tate Donovan and Quinn Shephard round out the captive family as her husband and daughter, and the story keeps the pressure on inside their own home as each new demand tightens the trap. Each episode turns the screws on a plot where the family must fight for survival while the outside world closes in and the conspiracy widens. The series runs on relentless suspense, moral dread and a brisk, propulsive pace, with the feeling of a high-octane siege inside a single house. Fans of 24 and Designated Survivor will find resonance in its political stakes and its ordinary people drawn into extraordinary danger.

## Shows like Hostages

- [Line of Fire (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1104980)
- [Designated Survivor (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59011)
- [Hostages (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/57223)
- [American Odyssey (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/54968)
- [State of Affairs (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54323)
- [Commander in Chief (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/3818)
- [Zero Day (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/136517)
- [The Night Agent (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/107194)
- [Paradise (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/161649)
- [Hostage (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/164349)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt