Stringfellow Hawke
Pilot
A lean, handsome man in his thirties with dark brown hair worn slightly long for a soldier, a still, watchful face, and pale intense eyes. He has the body of a pilot, not a bodybuilder. Often in a bomber jacket, jeans, boots; in the cockpit, a headset and the ghost of a flight suit. A beard comes and goes; we use a short, controlled beard. He looks like grief taught him economy of motion. Hands are a cellist’s and a stick-and-rudder man’s.
Withdrawn, lethal in the air, loyal to a very short list. Family with Dominic; bargains with Archangel; Caitlin is a disruption he maybe needs; Marella is the Firm’s human face.
Dominic Santini
Mentor · partner
An older Italian-American man, stocky, with a weathered grinning face, gray-dark hair, a mustache, and the clothes of a working aviator who also owns a company: flight jacket, open collar. Brown eyes that go wet when String is in trouble. He looks like someone’s uncle who could still throw a punch. Hands are thick, ringed, capable on a collective.
Warm, loud, brave, the show’s heart. Father-brother to String; teases Archangel; champions Caitlin; Marella gets the charm offensive.
Michael Coldsmith Briggs III
The Firm · Archangel
A distinguished man with white or silver hair, a white suit that is a trademark, tinted glasses, and a cane—he is injured, elegant, and slightly otherworldly. Pale, controlled face, a diplomat’s mouth. The white is not a joke; it is armor. He looks like intelligence as a fashion choice. Age: fifties, kept.
Smooth, manipulative, occasionally sincere about the republic. Hires String; respects Dominic; employs Marella; Caitlin is a civilian he would rather not brief.
Caitlin O'Shannessy
Pilot · deputy
A young woman with auburn-red hair, a lively attractive face, and the build of someone who can actually fly. She wears Texas-practical clothes: jeans, shirts, later flight gear. Fair skin, freckles possible, bright eyes. 1980s TV heroine: competent, not ornamental. She looks like she arrived to serve a warrant and stayed for the helicopter.
Brave, curious, refuses to be left on the ground. Pushes into String’s secret; Dominic’s ally; Archangel’s headache; Marella is a rival frequency.
Marella
Archangel’s aide
A striking Black woman in her thirties, composed, with short or elegantly controlled hair, the Firm’s wardrobe (tailored, expensive, often pale to echo Archangel), and a face that does not leak secrets. Dark brown skin, precise makeup of the era, intelligent eyes. She looks like the person who already read the file you are lying about.
Professional, dry, more human than the white suit she stands beside. Archangel’s right hand; respectful with String; amused by Dominic; takes Caitlin seriously sooner than the men do.
