If you’re like me, then you also enjoy getting home from school, grabbing a snack, and sitting down to watch an episode of your favorite show before diving into homework. I also love choosing new pilots to check out, which was exactly how I stumbled onto The Company You Keep, an addictive new show that premiered in February 2023 on ABC. It follows Charlie Nicoletti as he navigates life with his crime-planning family and new girlfriend, CIA Agent Emma Hill. You might be thinking to yourself, ‘What makes this show unique?’ While Charlie’s family is deeply involved in Baltimore’s crime scene as they make underhanded deals and attempt to con everyone in their sights, Emma is a CIA agent, making the moves on a criminal that Charlie’s family is also tangled up with. Back to that in a minute, but just know – their paths nearly cross countless times!
A little background on the show itself – created by Julia Cohen, it stars Milo Ventimiglia as Charlie Nicoletti and Catherine Haena Kim as Emma Hill. It features a talented supporting cast including Felisha Terrell (Daphne), Sarah Wayne Callies (Birdie Nicoletti), William Fichtner (Leo Nicoletti), and Polly Draper (Fran Nicoletti). When asked about the show and the motives on both Charlie and Emma’s sides in an interview with Forbes, Cohen stated, “We’re really playing with both truth and lies in a big way in this show … I was compelled at first by the idea of two professional liars who see one another’s truths.”
Charlie and Emma originally meet at a bar after both have broken up with their significant others. They instantly find comfort in one another and wind up dating within mere days of their meeting. Neither knows that the other is a criminal or CIA agent. Without too many spoilers being dropped, Charlie and the Nicoletti family get into serious debt ($15 million) with the notorious Maguire drug cartel after a con goes wrong and Charlie’s ex takes off with their huge heist. This large debt lingering over the Nicoletti family’s heads causes them to plan con after con while staying on a strict payment schedule to the cartel’s higher ups (including Daphne). This debt obviously cannot be paid in full by one person – which is where Birdie, Fran, and Leo Nicoletti (Charlie’s sister, mother, and father, respectively) play into the plot of the show. The Nicolettis are, simply put, a crime family. They’re all skilled in heists, cons, the works. Where does Emma play into this, you might be asking? She’s on the CIA side of things – tracking the Maguire cartel and following their every move. Little does she know the people on the opposing side of her are her new boyfriend Charlie and the Nicoletti family. As we continue to watch new episodes each week and see Charlie and Emma getting closer, it becomes harder for the two to keep their true identities a secret from one another (especially as they meet one another’s families and explore their interests together).
A new episode premieres every Sunday on ABC at 10pm EST. Make sure to catch this show – it’s sure to become one of your new favorites – all I can say is, I’m hooked!
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