The Company You Keep

Read TVLine's recap of 'The Company You Keep,' then grade the new ABC drama starring Milo Ventimiglia as a con man who falls for a CIA agent.

So Charlie visits Emma’s home to tell her the truth: He hasn’t stopped thinking about her and he wants to take her out. The FBI captures the drug leader, but his cohort Daphne (Dynasty‘s Felisha Terrell), aka the real brains behind the operation, gets away as Emma chases after her. Charlie approaches her for a dance, but after Birdie accuses him of being distracted on the job, he turns down Emma’s dinner date invitation. They got a photo of the leader during his meetup with Charlie, whose back is to the camera. But the next day, they get down to business, spending a blissful 36 hours in bed, frolicking in the pool and raiding the hotel bar. Even though she can’t say she loves him, she still goes to drown her sorrows at a hotel bar, where she handily dresses down a married man who tries to hit on her.

Milo Ventimiglia plays a con artist and Catherine Haena Kim a CIA agent in ABC's new frothy romantic drama 'The Company You Keep.'

I think some of it is Baltimore and some of it is Washington, DC, and none of it has any connection to the way the real Baltimore and DC look or feel. The paralleling of the two families, and therefore the paralleling of legitimate and illegitimate con artistry, is interesting. It remains to be seen if the show The Company You Keep eases into by its second episode is sustainable. But the show that this settles into being is decent or, as I keep saying, has the potential to be decent, since I’ve only seen 20 minutes of it. And I like the seeds of performances and characterizations, especially the warmth from the older generation of actors, all gifted enough to contribute nuance well beyond what was on the page. These are things that the show has to present and move past in order to move forward, a bit like the laughably flimsy efforts to establish where, exactly, this show is taking place. Why does she keep her profession secret even from her family, and why is her job/skillset so unique that she has to work in a mysterious and hidden office? My earlier suggestion was that it takes too long for The Company You Keep to settle into what its actual structure and rhythms will be, but it could just as easily be that it doesn’t take enough time. I know this, because in the second episode, a character says that Emma’s mother (Freda Foh Shen) wants them to be the Asian American Kennedys. But if nobody at ABC is going to have the institutional memory to remember that they already made this show, who am I to bring it up? Wade through two episodes of belabored exposition and The Company You Keep becomes a promising rom-com with thriller trappings and an interesting family backdrop — not a series fully realized but a series with some potential. The show became what it aspired to be in a hurry.

Charlie and Emma spend a whirlwind night together, not realizing their lives are on an inevitable collision course on The Company You...

But now it's time to sustain that level of interest, and if the pilot is anything to go by, we should be in for something special this season. The Company You Keep comes in very hot, and it's a fun time. - Ollie is adorable, and I'm curious how much they shield her from the criminal parts of their family. It'll be interesting to see how they fare and what kind of plans they make to get out from underneath someone else's thumb. It's the one where the ragtag group must come back together to pay back the money they stole in the original flick, all while in a picturesque European city. Ventimiglia is a fabulous actor and a perfect lead, giving Charlie all the charm in the world to make you believe he's a master con man. Without Birdie, it's safe to say the high-tech aspects of their operation would be in serious jeopardy. Eventually, you have to close the door to the penthouse suite, get into your truck, and amble your way back to your everyday life. For Charlie and Emma, their lives are the complete opposite. This series has never heard of it, as both parties seem willing to throw all caution to the wind when starting a relationship. And even though we're aware these two are on a collision course, you want to root for them. Here, these families aren't feuding (yet), but their children are undoubtedly embarking on a clandestine relationship that has all the makings for a tragic end.

When is 'The Company You Keep' on ABC? What to know about Milo Ventimiglia's new heist drama, including premiere date, time, cast info, how to watch, ...

The Company You Keep Episode 2, “A Sparkling Reputation,” airs on ABC next Sunday, February 26 at 10:00 p.m ET. That means you can watch the premiere online on Monday, February 20 on Hulu. The Company You Keep premieres on ABC Sunday, February 19, 2023. Wondering when The Company You Keep premieres on ABC? If you have a cable subscription that includes ABC, you can watch The Company You Keep live by setting your TV to the proper channel a few minutes before 10:00 p.m. What time The Company You Keep is on?

There's Jess Mariano, the troubled young rebel on “Gilmore Girls”; Peter Petrelli, a tortured nurse struggling to control his powers in “Heroes”; Robert Balboa, ...

Glimmers of wit surface intermittently, lending some hope to a lightweight original in need of more attitude, but the series hues too closely to its straight-laced star. Heists are just more fun with a winking rascal at the helm, and Ventimiglia’s bad boy alter egos appear stuck in the past. But to the audience, he’s a silver-tongued man of many faces — a pickpocket, a planner, and a loyal partner-in-crime. Parts of Charlie are perfect for Ventimiglia — his loyalty to family and friends, his blue-collar cover story, his passion for a new flame — but “The Company You Keep” asks too much of its lead actor, and tries to do far too much itself. Still, “The Company You Keep” may not make it that far. Their ongoing romance and family drama are squeezed inside episodes built around heists of the week, which make the initial two hours overloaded yet unsurprising. But there’s no glint in his eye; he’s not having any fun while robbing the rich and disreputable — certainly not enough to justify dedicating his life to the job, as he’s apparently done for 40-odd years. I work for the CIA!” Her family doesn’t even know what she really does, despite her brother running for the U.S. Jack Pearson wasn’t some kid trying to put the pieces together; he was a super-dad; a dad enshrined in the minds of his children from the second he died in that tragic crockpot accident, all the way through his progeny’s steady maturation into parents themselves. Con artists live for the con, so they tend to take pride in pulling one over on their deserving marks. In other words, he was the guy someone looked at and thought, “I can fix him” — and they were usually right. Even when he wasn’t making life-altering speeches or sacrificing himself for the family dog/photo album, he made every moment momentous, from pool days to game nights.

New ABC drama stars Milo Ventimiglia as a criminal and Catherine Haena Kim as an undercover CIA officer.

Meanwhile, Emma’s been tracking a drug trafficking ring in Europe about to make a push into the U.S., and that leads her to Maguire — and a photo of his meet with Charlie (unidentifiable, his back to the camera). Episode 6 Ending, Explained](https://www.tvinsider.com/1082084/the-last-of-us-joel-dead-alive-episode-6/) [5‘Ozark’ Showrunner Sets Record Straight on Who Died in the Finale](https://www.tvinsider.com/1082418/ozark-final-scene-explained-ruth-mel/) [William Fichtner](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/william-fichtner/)) and Fran ( [Polly Draper](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/polly-draper/)) refuse to let him think that way. But it’s Emma who gets the intel on Daphne: She grew up with a single mother and has a law degree, with Maguire bringing her in as a consultant. Charlie and his family try to con Patrick with the sale of a warehouse; they pose as FBI and clear the syndicate out, but then Tina makes off with the money, leaving behind her engagement ring. All it takes is a bit of undercover work, a fake mugging, and duping the pastor into giving them a briefcase with his money, and the con is successful … [Bridget Regan](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bridget-regan/)) makes off with the family’s score, her boyfriend’s been cheating on her for months and asks “can you honestly say you’re in love with me?” — and find they not only enjoy each other’s company but also have quite a bit else in common: They lie to their partners, each other, and themselves and get each other when it comes to their families (the basics, at least). The more you know about me, the faster you’ll want to run.” But he does want to take her on that date and admits he lied the night before and there is something between them. She asks if he can honestly say he didn’t think about her and doesn’t think something’s there, and he says he didn’t (a lie, he was distracted at one point by photos of her on his phone) and he doesn’t before walking away. These are two people who slip in the truth — “I’m a criminal,” he says, and she replies, “I’m CIA” — amidst their initial flirtation at the bar, each coming up with wild backstories for themselves. For him, who he is is so wrapped up in who they are it’s hard for him to see past it sometimes. Because, as she puts it at one point to him during [The Company You Keep](https://www.tvinsider.com/show/the-company-you-keep/), “fantasy is one thing, reality’s another.”

Enter Emma Hill, an undercover CIA agent played by the talented Catherine Haena Kim. Though Emma enforces the law for a living, she pulls a heist of her own ...

As noted, Emma is the undercover CIA officer who Charlie falls for in The Company You Keep. And when Emma says, “Now tell me something true,” Charlie reveals, “I’m a criminal.” She responds,”I’m CIA.” And the two burst out laughing. Here’s everything we know about The Company You Keep actor Catherine Haena Kim. Though Emma enforces the law for a living, she pulls a heist of her own early on in the series by stealing…Charlie’s heart. Enter Emma Hill, an undercover CIA agent played by the talented Catherine Haena Kim. [The Company You Keep](https://decider.com/show/the-company-you-keep/), a new ABC heist drama starring Milo Ventimiglia as a con-man named Charlie Nicoletti, has arrived.

'The Company You Keep' star Catherine Haena Kim previews her ABC romantic thriller and how she and Milo Ventimiglia aim to create a 'different beautiful ...

"What drew me to a character like Emma, in a world where we love to overshare about everything — I always joke, 'Sometimes you just see that salad and it is beautiful and you feel like the world just needs to know' — you have people like Emma who want to be invisible," Kim says. The show's not going to beat you over the head with a message, even though it'll make you think about the world. "I appreciate that he's just such a grounded, humble person for what a star he really is," she reports. Emma goes home to a mom that's a lot and she's falling in love, which is exciting and terrifying, and she's just trying to figure it out like everybody else." And I like that nothing is quite what you think it's going to be, and nobody is what you assume they're going to be like. (And it sounds like you won't have to wait for a season finale cliffhanger to see some kind of revelation: "This truth is actually going to come out quickly — and unexpectedly." So at some point if they find out that Emma is law enforcement and she's CIA, that's going to be a disaster for them because they're always going to wonder if she's going to rat them out. "You have a love story. And with this family of politicians where it's all about optics, you have this blue-collar, runs-a-bar Charlie, and is that going to be good enough? And as the season unfolds and there are big reveals about the family — about the past, about certain transgressions — you'll see that it actually brings them closer together." "So it's that moment when you see somebody and they just get it, they get you, and you think, 'Oh, it's you. Are you being real with me right now or is this just for show?' And with work, where she's constantly dealing with criminals and assets who may or may not be telling the truth, it's: 'Can I trust you?'"

Catherine Haena Kim co-stars alongside Milo Ventimiglia in the intriguing new series 'The Company You Keep.' Get to know the talented actress.

Catherine is a New York native, but she attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Catherine is a first-generation American-born Korean American. Catherine became Miss Virginia of the Miss United States pageant. He noted that Catherine was in the “first round” of submissions. Catherine’s first onscreen role was in the 2007 short film Roskosmos and an episode of Guiding Light. You might be asking: who is Catherine Haena Kim?

Milo Ventimiglia plays a con man who falls in love with a CIA agent. It's a disaster waiting to happen, but it's hard not to root for them.

Charlie being a con artist and her being a CIA agent already spells disaster, but Charlie is also wrapped up in her drug case, and neither of them knows it yet. But, of course, The Company You Keep writers must keep them in the dark for as long as possible. The Company You Keep episode 1 only gives a glimpse at her doing her job, but she seems pretty good at it too. It’s fun for the viewer to know something the characters do not. Charlie is trying to keep his family afloat with the one thing he’s good at, crime, and she’s trying to live up to her family's unrealistic standards. The first on-screen con Charlie and his family does is with Patrick Maguire (Timothy V. It will be hard for Emma not to figure out what Charlie is doing if he transfers her money. They are both in the right place at the right time, and their comments about relationships are so relatable and funny that it draws them to each other. [This is Us](https://screenrant.com/tag/this-is-us/) and [Gilmore Girls](https://screenrant.com/tag/gilmore-girls/), but Catherine Haena Kim is less widely known. They don’t explicitly say what it was for or how long he was in jail, but he was locked up for a crime his family committed. In real life, this is stalker-like behavior, but on TV, when it’s Milo Ventimiglia, it’s hard not to fall for his character. Despite Charlie and Emma actually telling each other what they do on the first night, they both think they are joking.

The Company You Keep star Milo Ventimiglia weighs in on that twisty series premiere, titled 'Pilot' — and Charlie & Emma's big lie(s)

We start to understand the code of the Nicoletti family, that they aren't just going after anybody but they're going after people who are deserving of the attention. The Hills strike me as a family that expects a little bit more because of the polish and pomp that is needed in the D.C. But what I'm looking for as a performer is an emotional response to what it is that I'm doing. It's definitely edge-of-your-seat watching, knowing that both of them are on the job and might have a run-in professionally before they even know who they really are — the criminal and the CIA officer. It was a new character, it was a new cast, it was a new setting. You have the stresses in your own personal life, as Leo does, as Charlie does, as Birdie does, as Fran does, but at the end of the day, everybody's really truly there. And is this a wise idea if he's got to stay in the game now? So you have to accept that both of them have things that are going to hang them up. But at the same time, the fact that they're not all entirely dead in the beginning? Charlie gives up on Emma at the black-tie function, but after talking to his parents at the bar, he goes after her and shows up at her house. She throws caution/explanation to the wind and plants a kiss on him, and the two decide to get lost in each other's company again. [The Company You Keep ](https://ew.com/tv/milo-ventimiglia-the-company-you-keep-preview/)welcomed [Milo Ventimiglia](https://ew.com/tv/milo-ventimiglia-the-company-you-keep-trailer/) back to network television (though this time on ABC), back to family drama (though a different and more dangerous kind), and back to romance (what we said in the previous parenthetical).