February 19 (2023-02-19) – May 7, 2023 (2023-05-07)
The Company You Keep is an American drama television series created by Julia Cohen that aired from February 19 until May 7, 2023, on ABC. The series is based on the South Korean television series My Fellow Citizens!, and stars Milo Ventimiglia and Catherine Haena Kim. In May 2023, the series was canceled.[1] The series was removed from Hulu on July 1, 2023.[2]
Synopsis
The Company You Keep tells the story of con man Charlie, who is in debt to crime boss Daphne Finch alongside his family. With undercover CIA officer Emma attempting to track Daphne down, a night of passion ignites love between Charlie and Emma, who are on a collision course professionally.
Cast and characters
Main
Milo Ventimiglia as Charlie Nicoletti, a masterful high-stakes con man from an Italian American crime family
Catherine Haena Kim as Emma Hill, an undercover CIA officer from an Asian American political dynasty. Her father is Korean American and her mother is Chinese American.[3]
Sarah Wayne Callies as Birdie Nicoletti, Charlie's bossy big sister and Ollie’s mother, who is a con woman and co-owner of the bar they run together
Polly Draper as Fran Nicoletti, a con woman, Leo's wife, and Charlie and Birdie's mother
William Fichtner as Leo Nicoletti, a steelworker turned con man, Fran's husband, and Charlie and Birdie's father. He is struggling with early onset memory loss.
Tim Chiou as David Hill, an incumbent Senator currently running for re-election, the son of Joseph, and the brother of Emma
James Saito as Joseph Hill, the patriarch of a political dynasty considered to be the Asian American Kennedys
Freda Foh Shen as Grace Hill, Joseph's wife and Emma and David's mother
Felisha Terrell as Daphne Finch, an enigmatic consultant to Irish mobster Patrick Maguire
Charlie Nicoletti is a con artist from a crime family that owns a Baltimore bar as a front; they score $10 million on a job. While celebrating their presumed retirement from crime, Charlie's fiancée secretly absconds with their profits. Emma Hill is an undercover CIA agent. Her partner, Kevin, has been having an affair right under her nose. Charlie and Emma meet at the bar of a luxury hotel and bond immediately. They flirtatiously banter and play coy about what each does for a living, then proceed to have a weekend of passion and intimacy. A besotted Charlie goes AWOL from his family business, although he sets up a new job marking a high-rolling mega-pastor. At an important gala, where the pastor as well as Emma's prominent family are present, Charlie attempts to break things off by lying to Emma, leaving her heartbroken. When the FBI begins investigating the $10 million job, Emma catches a glimpse of a familiar-looking man in the footage. The family tricks the pastor into handing over a large sum of money he had been laundering. Charlie apologizes to Emma and tells her the reasons he is falling for her, beginning their relationship. Later, at the family bar, the drug syndicate from the unsuccessful con job appear and want their $10 million back in blood.
In order to start repaying the syndicate, The Nicolettis attempt to steal a prized necklace at an auction. Emma and Charlie go on a proper date, although their conversation is awkward. Emma's brother David is running for Senate re-election and calls for all hands-on deck. Emma has no interest in participating but sees his campaign's key vulnerabilities, resulting in her being offered a position. Emma and Charlie continue seeing each other but she coldly tells him not to get too attached just as Charlie did to her in the previous episode, though she later tells him it was because she was scared of how well he knows her. While investigating Daphne's hotel room their worlds almost collide. The Nicolettis find a way to steal the necklace from its socialite owner by posing as fashion photographers, but they're almost caught by her security; they soon realize the jewel is actually a stolen artifact and they extort her husband for $500,000 while forcing him to return the jewel. Emma has no choice but to tell her brother the truth about her job. Charlie deduces that Daphne, who is African American, may actually be Maguire's biological daughter. Because Charlie accidentally moved an item in Daphne's hotel, it inadvertently leads her to find out Emma bugged it.
On March 4, 2022, ABC ordered a pilot for the series with Milo Ventimiglia in the lead.[16] On May 6, 2022, Ben Younger was tapped to direct and executive produce the pilot penned by Julia Cohen.[17]The Company You Keep was ordered to series on August 22, 2022.[18] On May 12, 2023, ABC canceled the series after one season.[1]
Casting
Milo Ventimiglia joined the pilot in the leading role of Charlie and as executive producer on March 4, 2022.[16] On April 27, 2022, Catherine Haena Kim was cast as Emma in the pilot alongside Milo Ventimiglia.[19] William Fichtner was cast in the pilot as Leo on May 2, 2022.[20] On May 20, 2022, Sarah Wayne Callies, James Saito, Tim Chiou, Freda Foh Shen, and Felisha Terrell joined the pilot as leads.[21] Polly Draper was revealed to be amongst the cast when the series was ordered.[18] On February 2, 2023, Sachin Bhatt joined the cast in a recurring role.[22] On March 17, 2023, Geoff Stults was cast in a recurring capacity.[23]
The Company You Keep premiered on February 19, 2023 and ended on May 7, 2023 on ABC. The series was removed from Hulu on July 1, 2023.[2]
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 84% approval rating with an average rating of 6.5/10, based on 19 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Company You Keep gets off to a rocky start in the first few episodes, but the show's appealing cast and entertaining blend of crime and romance will pay off for patient viewers."[25]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 67 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[26]
Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of The Company You Keep
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