The Company You Keep Season 1 Episode 5 Review: The Spy Who Loved Me
This show is moving FAR quicker than I ever imagined.
Fresh off Charlie learning Emma's big secret, he decided to even the score and go all in with his beloved CIA agent in the closing seconds of The Company You Keep Season 1 Episode 5.
And all I have left to wonder now is where the story goes from here?
Much of the mystery and intrigue heading into The Company You Keep Season 1 centered around these two strangers meeting one another and not being entirely truthful. There was an intense physical attraction from the jump, but even more than that, they connected emotionally and felt truly seen by each other.
They fell hard and fast, and while it was scary and exhilarating a host of other feelings, it felt right for them, and they leaned into it more and more as the season went on.
But things certainly changed for Charlie during The Company You Keep Season 1 Episode 4, when Charlie found out Emma was CIA. It wasn't a dealbreaker, though, as for Charlie, it actually seemed to be the push he didn't know he needed to leave his life of crime.
That, of course, didn't happen, but Charlie had prepared himself to say sayonara to the cons and settle in as a bar owner and boyfriend of Emma Hill.
But while he accepted who Emma was, he wasn't willing to be fully transparent with her. Nor was he ready to tell his parents about Emma. It's a lot of secrets for one man to carry, and as he got pulled further into Daphne's twisted plans, he finally chose honesty, but it feels like it came too late.
Daphne was never going to go down without a fight. From the minute she showed up on screen, you could tell she was a woman who wouldn't lay down for anyone, especially not for her weak-minded, temperamental brother.
Daphne was ready to get back in the game and take control of the family empire yet again, but to do so, she knew she had to bring back the tentative allies Connor had cost her.
But with all the heat on her, she needed a reprieve in the form of blackmail. And luckily, she's got a professional family of cons on speed dial to help her pull it off.
I knew Charlie and company wouldn't be able to slip out from under Daphne. She's far too cunning and resourceful to let that happen. But she came at it from an interesting and relatively simple angle; if you don't want my trigger-happy brother to kill you, you'll keep working for me and making that money back.
Charlie was extremely close to death when Connor ambushed him, so he has no reason to call her bluff. But unlike the other cons where they were specifically after money, this time they were after an object, a book, that they weren't even wholly sure of its purpose.
The cons are a big part of every hour, and the funner they are, the more fun you'll have with the episode as a whole. Thus far, they're 5/5 in giving us some entertaining escapades that allow the Nicolettis to slip on a suit or a wig and get into character.
Luring the DC fixer with nary an internet footprint into your web was always going to be hard, but the easiest way to get to a fixer is to get yourself into a scandal. Baylor was hardly Olivia Pope, though the two were similar in their no-nonsense approaches to whatever was in front of them.
But where Olivia cleaned a mess and went about her business, Baylor was the kind of man who needed a backup insurance plan. So, while he would help you out for a hefty fee, he would also make sure he had the goods on you, too, in case there ever came a time when he needed that information.
And that kind of information, comprising pictures and much more, could be devastating for some of DC's most prominent power players.
Which is precisely why Daphne needs to have it.
Charlie: You want us to go after a real-life James Bond with nothing to go on but a phone number?
Daphne: He's a paranoid, cold-war relict. With no connection to the world. It's fun, right?
Each Nicoletti has their forte when it comes to running their tricks, and they each play their role well. But Birdie is the unsung hero nearly every week. Charlie puts his face out there a lot, taking much of the heat, but Birdie is the planner and the eyes and ears.
And here, when Charlie has to leave in a pinch, she has to step up to be the number one.
Leo's concern about Birdie going off-script was such a dad thing, but he should know by now that Birdie can hold her own. She's not new to this and knows how to take care of herself. Even though she got Baylor's hackles up, she was in the car long enough to get them the smoking gun.
I wish we'd gotten more of Professor Leo because he was the real deal. He knew what he was talking about and had the security and anyone within earshot eating out of the palm of his hand.
Charlie and Birdie getting into the locker and stealing the microfiche felt way too good to be true, and I was actually surprised they didn't seem to account for Baylor having an alert when the locker was open or some other kind of security that would have accounted for someone touching his items.
A man who goes through that much trouble to keep something hidden would have a failsafe if someone got too close.
For the most part, the Nicolettis pull off their capers without having to encounter too much danger. They're efficient and thorough, allowing them to get away cleanly and without any fireworks.
But there were major fireworks here!
This was Birdie's time to shine, and she did yet again, saving her dad and Charlie by pulling up the details on the dean's wife. Charlie, in his typical Charlie way, weaves a compelling narrative to get Baylor to bite, but it doesn't happen if Birdie doesn't use her skills to get him what he needs.
Is the CIA hiring? Someone ask Emma because you can't tell me Birdie wouldn't be an absolute beast at that job.
Daphne is sitting pretty once she gets that "book," but as wise as she is, she somehow hasn't clocked the Emma and Charlie connection, which is a genuine shock because the woman shows up at that bar on the regular.
It's wild to think she doesn't have people following the Nicoletti's randomly, especially knowing they were the reason Connor came into town. You spend a day or two tailing Charlie, and you will undoubtedly come upon Emma.
But lucky for Charlie, Daphne hasn't found a reason to keep tabs on him, so she makes the major mistake of letting her plans slip. And Charlie doesn't even think twice about running to Emma.
Charlie and Emma's relationship goes up and down throughout the hour. It was an actual rollercoaster ride watching them be all cute and domestic over coffee and crossword puzzles to seeing Charlie play her for a fool at the junkyard.
The junkyard must have been down the road from that hotel he was at because he got inside in record speed and knew precisely where to go. Charlie "Lucky" Nicoletti is what they called him for a minute or two.
Of course, he winds up setting Emma's promotion and subsequent move into motion by shipping those plates off to Mexico, so his luck eventually dies sadly.
Charlie and Emma have fallen for each other, but Emma especially has let her guard down in a way that appears foreign to her. She's fallen in love with Charlie and how he makes her feel, and her vulnerability in inviting him to Mexico had to be terrifying for her.
And it's why Charlie's hesitation sent her fleeing before Charlie could explain himself.
There's no easy way that conversation goes if you don't intend to tell someone you love them back. There's nothing you can say to make someone feel better or to lessen the blow. It's rejection in its purest form, and Emma feels it as such.
Now, Charlie loves her, but at that moment, coming off an afternoon where he undermined her investigation, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her any further. If he wasn't going to tell her the truth, which he didn't seem ready to do yet, then he wouldn't let their relationship go on any further and risk her any more pain.
I can understand where he was coming from, but Charlie has been so chaotic over the past two hours when it comes to Emma, and it just felt so cruel to use that moment to finally make some decision.
Sure, Emma caught him caught off guard, and he had to make a split decision, but THAT finally being the moment he decided he had to make a clean break from her was just so sad. You could see how all the hope evaporated from Emma's eyes and her spirit deflated.
It's nice that he chose to go to Emma and warn her about Daphne, outing himself in the process, but I wonder how much he will tell Emma. Will he throw his family under the bus? Will he give her more insider information or leave it at that?
Charlie: Emma!
Emma: What are you doing here?
Charlie: We need to talk.
Emma: Nothing more to say.
Charlie: Hey, Daphne Finch is coming for you.
Emma: How do you know that name?
Charlie: Because I'm working for her.
Emma: Oh my god. It's you. The guy in the mask.
Charlie: She's got dirt on your family, and she intends to use it against you, Emma.
Emma: Why are you telling me this?
Charlie: Because I love you, too.
- Permalink: Because I love you, too.
- Added:
We're only halfway through the season, and two of the biggest secrets have been revealed. Typically, I would say that's a bad omen because the secrets were a massive piece of the overall storyline. Without those, what's left?
I believe in The Company You Keep and its ability to branch off these early secrets into something bigger and better. They haven't let me down so far.
The Notes I Kept
- The way Joseph keeps talking about Claire Fox means that she will eventually do something evil. And I'm ready for it to happen because the constant references to a woman we met for forty seconds are getting old.
- Something is brewing between David and Jennifer. His little cooking video and their chat afterward was adorable. But Jennifer better not be playing David because he is lovely and doesn't deserve any bad things. Protect David Hill at all costs!
- So place your bets on when we'll eventually meet Simon. I'm guessing that he shows up during a con and ends up helping the Nicolettis in an unexpected way.
- Daphne turning up the fake charm and using bottomless mimosas to get her sorority sister to help her build up her criminal network? Flawless execution on her part.
Another week has passed, and another revelation leaves us with a whole new ballgame!
After this one, there's lots to discuss, so jump in the comments and let me know what you're feeling and how you think things may play out.
And remember to watch The Company You Keep online right now, so you don't miss any of the action!