The Company You Keep: ABC’s Ambitious Drama Lets Milo Ventimigilia Break Bad

Are you ready to see Jack Pearson break bad?

A TV star for more than two decades, Milo Ventimiglia first won us over way back in 2001 when he popped up as bad-boy Jess Mariano on Gilmore Girls. But perhaps his most beloved role was his six-season turn as family patriarch Jack Pearson on This Is Us. The Company You Keep is Ventimiglia’s first role since the NBC series ended last spring, and a marked departure from the loyal husband and father who died saving the family dog.

In this ABC drama, he plays Charlie Nicoletti a professional grifter who, along with his mom Fran (Polly Draper), sister Birdie (Sarah Wayne Callies), and dad Leo (William Fichtner), concoct elaborate schemes, don extravagant wigs and outfits, and sometimes even sport outrageous accents to scam people out of their money. On the other side of the law is Emma (Catherine Haena Kim), a CIA agent who just found out that her husband is cheating on her. Both recently heartbroken, Charlie and Emma meet cute at a hotel bar and have an extended one night stand involving lots of room service, alcohol, and sexy pool time. Neither knows what the other really does. Charlie says he helps his family run a bar. Emma’s cover is that she’s a data analyst for a logistic firm. “So Emma, your father’s a governor, your brother’s a senator, what does that make you,” Emma is asked at a political soiree. “A crushing disappointment,” she responds.

In the two episodes made available for review, it seems that The Company You Keep, will proceed on two levels. The first being the episodic weekly scams Charlie and his family pull off, which are a lot of fun—first up: Doug Savant as a corrupt televangelist. Second, the serialized plot of the Nicoletti family trying to pay back Daphne (Felisha Terrell), the de facto leader of the Irish mob. You probably don’t need me to tell you that Emma is pursuing the exact same Irish mob. Think a kinder, gentler The Americans, or a more serious version of Leverage. The series is actually most reminiscent of the 2016 Shonda Rhimes series The Catch, which starred Peter Krause and Mireille Enos.

The first eight minutes of the pilot are a doozy—other series could make an entire season out of what happens in the first eight minutes of this show. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but suffice to say the pilot is dense in plot and exposition.

However, you definitely do not want to concern yourself with specific plot machinations. I spent too much time trying to figure out the Nicoletti family finances. They own a bar, but does the bar make money or is it just a front for their criminal shenanigans? And if they’ve been running these grifts for years, why are they still so short on cash? And also, like most TV shows involving capers, you just have to go with the fact that they would so easily be able to infiltrate various establishments and that their marks would be so easily duped. In the second episode made available for review, they are able to set up an elaborate photo shoot at a wealthy couple’s house simply by going to a hair appointment. Just roll with it.

The promotion for the show has focused almost exclusively on the romance between Charlie and Emma, and Ventimiglia and Kim do have remarkable on screen chemistry as demonstrated by their numerous steamy hook ups throughout Baltimore and Washington DC. “It’s strange seeing you in something other than a robe,” Charlie says (smolders?) to her at one point. With his half smile and trademark twinkle in his eye, you can’t blame Emma for not being on high alert around him. She’s supposed to report their relationship, but hasn’t yet.

But they are only part of the story the show is telling. Both Emma and Charlie have complex family lives. Emma has to deal with her parents who wish she was providing them with grandchildren, while living in the shadow of her seemingly more successful brother (my TV Spidey sense tells me we will probably learn more about the brother’s personal life shortly).

The Daphne storyline, with her connection to the Irish mob and her hold over the Nicoletti family, will be a driving force for this season I’m sure. But I have to wonder, how did the Nicoletti family get into this line of work in the first place? And exactly how long can The Company You Keep keep Emma and Charlie in the dark about who they really are and what they are up to?

I’m curious enough about this fairly ambitious network television drama to keep the show company and find out.

The Company You Keep premieres Sunday, February 19 at 10 p.m. on ABC.

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