Nick Monohan (Frank Grillo) is the new Chief of Police for The Gates, and he’ll do anything he can to protect his wife Sarah and their kids, Charlie and Dana. He’s used to working the tougher big city police cases and is ill-prepared for what he finds in his new community. For one thing, he knows there’s something going on with the Radcliffs, but isn’t sure just what. His wife Sarah (Marisol Nichols) is clearly the one who keeps her family together emotionally. As a product of Chicago’s south side, she struggles to fit in but soon she begins to bond with a few of her neighbors and also figures out some of their secrets.

Claire Radcliff (Rhona Mitra) seems like she has a perfect life with a perfect house and perfect family. But, she has a secret — a big hunger for something that she shouldn’t. She and her husband, Dylan (Luke Mably), have a daughter named Emily (Georgia Cole) and are well-aware they could lose everything if Claire can’t keep her addiction in check. Dylan is the CEO of a biotech research firm, and because of his wife’s addiction, he places a lot of value on privacy.

A high school student, Charlie Monohan (Travis Caldwell) wasn’t happy to leave the public schools of Chicago in favor of The Gates Academy, but it gets easier the closer he gets with schoolmate Andie Bates (Skyler Samuels). Andi is best friends with Mia Mueller (Devyn A. Tyler) and friends with nearly everyone else. She’s a good student and the archaetypical girl-next-door. She and her father moved from Seattle to The Gates after her mom died in a tragic accident. Her boyfriend, Brett Crezski (Colton Haynes), is on the football team, and in some ways he’s the male version of Andie. He has a dangerous side to him though that he’s struggling to keep hidden.