‘The Company You Keep’ Episode 1 Recap: Milo Ventimiglia and Catherine Haena Kim’s Chemistry Is Electric
The time is finally here — Milo Ventimiglia is back on our television screens, but this time, he’s on ABC. The actor, who most recently played the beloved Jack Pearson in This Is Us, is now starring in The Company You Keep, which revolves around the love affair between Ventimiglia’s Charlie and Catherine Haena Kim’s Emma. Read on for a recap of the series premiere, The Company You Keep Episode 1.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from The Company You Keep Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot.”]
Meet Milo Ventimiglia’s character in ‘The Company You Keep’ Episode 1
The Company You Keep Episode 1 begins with Charlie Nicoletti (Milo Ventimiglia) meeting with an Irish gangster named Patrick Maguire (Timothy V. Murphy) to make a “business” deal. So straight out of the gate, we know that Charlie is a far cry from Ventimiglia’s days as Jack.
Charlie’s sister, Birdie (Sarah Wayne Callies), is waiting in the wings for him as they — spoiler alert — con Maguire. Charlie lures the Irishman and his crew, including the brains behind the operation, Daphne Finch (Felisha Terrell), to a warehouse that they don’t own under the guise that Charlie would sell it to Maguire in exchange for cryptocurrency.
After the deal is done, the “FBI” arrive, and Maguire and his men bounce. A man tackles Charlie to the ground and slaps handcuffs on him, but once the mobster is gone, we learn that these aren’t law enforcement agents. In fact, it’s the exact opposite — the Nicoletti family, including the patriarch, Leo (William Fichtner), and the matriarch, Fran (Polly Draper). And with them is Charlie’s fiancé, Tina (Bridget Regan).
Later, at the bar that Charlie and Birdie co-own, the Nicolettis realize that Tina stole the cold wallet containing the $10 million from the sale. It’s safe to say that the engagement is over.
Now, onto actual law enforcement agents. Emma Hill (Catherine Haena Kim) is an undercover CIA agent tracking the largest drug trafficking ring in Europe. And she believes they’re expanding to the United States, but Emma doesn’t know who is behind the operation.
After work, Emma catches her boyfriend, Kevin (Michael Bow), cheating at a hotel. So what other choice does she have than to drown her sorrows at the hotel bar? And it seems like great minds think alike because Charlie has the same idea in The Company You Keep Episode 1.
Sparks fly between Charlie and Emma
Charlie and Emma bond over their failed relationships while purposefully telling one another extreme lies about themselves in The Company You Keep Episode 1. But the biggest laugh comes when Charlie admits he’s a criminal and Emma says she’s CIA.
One thing leads to another, and they end up in Charlie’s penthouse suite he had initially got for him and Tina. But instead of sleeping together, they make out a bit and order room service. The next morning, they wake up in each other’s arms (with their clothes on). And that’s when the sex happens.
Charlie and Emma spend the next 36 hours together — in the hotel room, pool, and bar. But they agree to go their separate ways once reality starts to sink in. And Charlie returns to his life of crime, while Emma gets back to tracking criminals.
The Nicolettis aren’t too happy about Charlie going AWOL for 36 hours, but he returns to the bar bearing gifts. Before he can tell them about this potential job, though, Charlie confronts his father about his recent bouts of memory loss. Leo reassures him that it’s only “early stages” and nothing to worry about. He gets Charlie to drop the topic before moving on to the new score.
Charlie lays out the next con to Leo, Fran, and Birdie. There’s a television pastor named Evan Earle III, but his church, Illumin 8 Fellowship, isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The family discovers that the church’s profits have unexplainably gone up over the last few years, meaning they are laundering money. They gain access to Earle’s phone and learn that the pastor’s meeting whoever he’s laundering money for at a gala.
It’s time for the Nicolettis to don their fanciest suits and dresses in The Company You Keep series premiere.
Can the Nicolettis earn back what they lost in ‘The Company You Keep’ Episode 1?
Charlie and Birdie split up once they get into the gala in The Company You Keep Episode 1. But Charlie runs into a bit of a problem — Emma is also at the event. She’s there with her prestigious family; Emma’s father, Joseph (James Saito), is the former governor, and her brother, David (Tim Chiou), is a senator. Meanwhile, they all think Emma is a data analyst for a logistics firm.
Charlie, who just can’t seem to help himself, approaches Emma at the bar. The flirtation continues, and they share a dance. However, when Emma gets a call from work and has to step aside, Birdie finds Charlies and admonishes him for getting distracted. When Emma returns, she asks Charlie on a date, and he shuts her down (rather cruelly).
After the gala, Charlie and Birdie pull off the con and get Earle to hand over all his money. They count the cash at the bar with Leo and Fran, who are planning an early retirement. However, Leo admits that he and Fran aren’t comfortable with Charlie “falling on his sword” for the family business. The patriarch points out that Charlie had done that once before and went to prison (color us intrigued).
Leo says they are either “all out or all in.” They have a debt to pay, which we’re sure we’ll learn more about as season 1 unfolds.
At the CIA, Emma learns that Patrick Maguire is running the drug trafficking ring. Her colleague accesses footage from the mobster’s warehouse deal with Charlie, but the cameras only pick up the back of his head. The FBI and CIA work together to take down Maguire and his men, but Daphne gets away. Emma gets into a car accident trying to catch her, for which she gets a few cuts, bruises, and a banged-up wrist.
The next day, Charlie goes to Emma’s house to explain himself and apologize. After an impassioned speech from Ventimiglia’s character that reminds us of the good ole This Is Us days, Emma pulls him in for a kiss.
Back at the bar, Daphne and her men confront the Nicolettis, including Birdie’s daughter Ollie (Shaylee Mansfield). She tells Charlie that they owe them $15 million. And just like that, the family is in more trouble than they ever anticipated.
The Company You Keep airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. Fans can also watch new episodes on Hulu the day after they premiere.
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