There’s no crisis situation they can’t handle... unless it involves each other. MATT FLANNERY (Ron Livingston) and EMILY LEHMAN (Rosemarie DeWitt) are the top-ranked negotiators in the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU). They’re trained to talk their way through volatile situations. They’re experts at knowing what makes other people tick. They’re also sleeping together... a secret that they agreed to keep to themselves, until Matt revealed it to the entire world during a tense hostage standoff. The public revelation causes friction between Matt, who doesn’t take much seriously and relies on gut instinct, and Emily, an academic who analyzes every move.

Their relationship also gets them into major trouble with their boss, CHERYL CARRERA (Gina Torres), head of the Los Angeles CNU, and raises eyebrows among their CNU colleagues, including intelligence officer LIA MATHERS (Raquel Alessi). While Matt and Emily should be split up for being romantically involved, they’re too valuable as a team. Together, they’re among the best in their field; Cheryl knows it, and they know it.

Week to week, Matt and Emily tackle much more than hostage crises. The CNU is called in to resolve everything from kidnappings and high-risk suicides to bomb threats, stalking cases and gang violence.

The duo also must work in concert with the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), led by irreverent but deadly FRANK ROGERS (Michael Cudlitz) and his wise-cracking cohort DUFF (Jose Pablo Cantillo). When Matt and Emily’s nonviolent approach doesn’t seem to work or takes too long, Frank and his team are ready to use full force. STANDOFF advances a fundamental idea: that in life and in love, "everything is a negotiation."