Stiles is a lieutenant in the LAPD’s robbery-homicide division with a commitment to the law that’s as strong as his jawline. As he begins to track down the high-level crew led by Coltrane Wilder, his carefully structured life starts to come apart at the seams. 

“He detests anybody who is ‘bad,’ because he wants to be good so much,” Law told Netflix. “He very much lives in this world of binary black and white. I think that he’s so relatable because he’s really trying his best. He’s trying to catch the bad guy. He’s the doing the white hat thing, but not the white hat way.”

Stiles’s worldview is informed by a traumatic past. “He’s had a lot of loss and it’s made him very sharp,” Kemp said. “It’s made him very raw. It’s made him almost the personification of anger. And so, he doesn’t have a lot of self-control.”

Abbott Elementary, The Oval, Ahsoka, The Paynes, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

If Stiles lives in a world of black and white, Coltrane Wilder lives in a world of gray. The upstanding businessman and reformed ex-convict conceals a shocking secret: he’s still running jobs with an elite crew on the side. 

“He’s someone who wants to win at all costs,” Noel told Netflix. “Because of that, he’s always looking for a worthy opponent, and he finds that in Isaiah Stiles. They’re like soulmates, and they don’t even know it.”

Kemp and Marole don’t play favorites with their characters; Wilder may be outside the law, but they still find things to love about him. “There’s just something about someone who stands on business, who actually cares about their people, who has really great taste and just exemplifies class within a criminal genre,” Marole said. “It’s his intense loyalty to not only them, but his word to himself.”

Insecure, The First Purge, The Photograph, The Weekend, Slice, The Hustle

Candace is Isaiah’s wife, a high-end therapist who’s beginning to chafe at a relationship where her husband’s career always seems to come first. As Isaiah closes in on Coltrane Wilder, Candace begins to wonder what her life would look like without her husband. 

“His job is so high stakes,” Dennis told Netflix. “That kind of energy and the tension he brings to the household and family … she gets lost in how to fit in that. He’s got his own mission. He’s not focused on what’s going on at home as much as he would like to be.”

Candace chose Stiles, but now she has to justify that decision. “Candace is from a fancy background,” Kemp said. “She’s got parents who had a very specific idea of who she should marry and instead she married him. Their marriage already comes with this weird predisposition to fail from the outside pressure of him not being exactly the right pick.”

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Ebony is Coltrane’s wife and occasional criminal accomplice, who runs a luxury real estate business atop their covert criminal operation. But as her husband’s second life gets closer and closer to home, Ebony will have to decide whether their comfortable existence is worth the danger.

“I would describe her kind of like a Lady Macbeth in a way,” Coleman told Netflix. “She’s very, very aware of everything Coltrane is doing most of the time. She’s not just the pure girl or the sexy girl or the vulnerable girl or the powerful girl. She’s all of those things.”

That complicated nature was built from the page on up. “Ebony is not one thing,” Kemp said. “She is a legitimate, standup woman and she’s also a criminal. So she’s got this great dual life too, and she’s trying to navigate it while dealing with something that’s very real.”

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Isaiah and Candace’s son, Noah, is a gifted student athlete, but he’s struggling to fit into the box his father is building for him. With Isaiah distracted by the case, Noah finds himself gravitating towards his grandfather Amos — a controversial Stiles family figure.

Space Jam: A New Legacy, Women of the Movement, Good Trouble, S.W.A.T.

Isaiah’s father, Amos “Nightmare” Stiles, is a legend among LA’s street gangs — and a pariah in his family. Haunted by the death of Isaiah’s older brother, Amos is the last person his son needs in his life right now, even if they’re more alike than they think.  

Grey’s Anatomy, FBI: International, Ahsoka, 9-1-1, The American Society of Magical Negroes, Hunters

Cruz is Stiles’s partner in the robbery-homicide division, a fiercely loyal officer who nonetheless finds herself questioning him when he zeroes in on Coltrane Wilder. Cruz is the only woman in a family of LA sheriffs, and her skills are only by her resolve.

Helstrom, CSI: Vegas, Madres, Day 5, Five Feet Apart, Promised Land, 9-1-1, Tracker

Harper is another LAPD veteran who has a close bond with her longtime partner, Detective Viggiano.

S.W.A.T., Annabelle: Creation, Miss Bala, War on Everyone, Follow

Viggiano is Harper’s partner, a hard-nosed detective who’s seen the department through its roughest eras.

Snowpiercer, Abbott Elementary, Sully, Glee, Eat Pray Love, Yes, Dear

Cerullo is a seasoned NYPD grand larceny veteran who’s just joined the LAPD. He brings an East Coast edge and 16 years of experience to the hunt for Wilder’s team. 

The Wire, The Family, Boardwalk Empire, Find Me Guilty, Tulsa King, Power, Ray Donovan, Rosewood

The head of the robbery-homicide division, Sealey is nearing retirement and grooming Stiles to be his replacement — until he watches him spiral over his fixation with Wilder. 

True Detective, The Wire, Law & Order, Highest 2 Lowest, The First Lady, East New York, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Malik Jacobs is the newly minted assistant chief district attorney, and Stiles’s old rival for Candace’s heart. Her family always thought he was more suited for her, and now he’ll have a chance to prove it.

Mercy, Walker, The Affair, Beyond, Shameless, War Dogs, The Rookie

Brinkley is a new LAPD recruit who knows Stiles’s career like the back of his hand.

The Tax Collector, Safety, All American

Manakani was Stiles’s partner when they both ran with the narcotics divison; now he’s a valuable source and a great cop in his own right.

Chief of War, NCIS: Hawai’i

Charlie has her hooks in the Wilder family; she’s Ebony’s half sister and Coltrane’s crime broker. As the one who brought the pair together, she’s the power behind the scenes making sure her sister is well cared for. 

“Charlie is no-nonsense,” Brown told Netflix. “She handles her business first and foremost, but also she’s very much about family. There’s some biological family to her and there’s other family that she’s had to make and surround her herself with.”

Charlie is a character that’s close to Kemp’s heart. “I often talk about the burden of having a masculine set of responsibilities with a feminine temperament,” she said. “Charlie has to be responsible for her whole criminal organization and she feels responsible for her sister’s well-being.”

Because I Said So, Numb3rs, Shark, Bosch: Legacy, Kindred, Twenties, Zoo

Stroman is a loyal member of Wilder’s team, a devoted father who’s exactly who you want by your side in a pinch.

Love and Monsters, All American, Platonic

Choi is the crew’s getaway driver, a born-and-raised Angeleno who knows the streets as well as he knows his way around a fight.

Power, Raya and the Last Dragon, Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens, Quiz Lady

Davis is a former gangbanger and military munitions expert whose eye for explosives makes him an indispensable part of the team — even if his gambling addiction comes with considerable risk.

Winning Time, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Grassland

Ella is Coltrane’s estranged sister, a recovering alcoholic who sees right through her brother’s newly created facade. 

Big Little Lies, Mayor of Kingstown, Johnson, Station 19, Hush