The Company You Keep – Episode 1 “Pilot” Recap & Review

Pilot

Episode 1 of The Company You Keep starts with Charlie practicing a card trick in the mirror. He later heads to a meeting with Maguire in a warehouse. Birdie is also listening in and she informs him that Maguire has brought a mystery guest. The mystery guest is a beautiful woman who is against the deal about to be made.

Charlie uses Maguire’s ego against him to make sure the deal goes through. In the end, the transaction is agreed upon and as they wrap it up, they hear police sirens approaching.

Maguire and his team immediately leave the premises as two FBI agents take down Charlie. It turns out that this was a well-planned heist to steal ten million from Maguire, a drug syndicate.  The two FBI agents are Charlie’s dad and his fiancee. The family celebrates their success and head home.  Charlie wants to take his fiancee to the hotel room he booked to celebrate further and they agree to meet later at the Nicoletti bar.

Elsewhere, Emma is on a phone call with her mom who is reminding her that her biological clock is ticking. She gets into the office and a co-worker tells her that she found something on the signal she was working on. Emma goes ahead to present her findings to her boss. She is onto a fentanyl operation that is about to make a big push into the US. They know the what and the how but they need to find the who and where. Emma says she knows where to look.

As she ends her presentation, she gets a message on her phone and rushes out. She heads to a hotel and discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her. He has been cheating for three months and he blames Emma who he accuses of not being in love with him. They decide to break up.

In the meantime, at the Nicoletti bar, celebrations are just beginning. Birdie wants to safely transfer the funds to the offshore account she set up. She asks  Charlie to hand her the digital online wallet they stole from Maguire. Sadly, Charlie notices the wallet is missing from his bag and it was mostly stolen by his fiancée. He tries to call her but the number has been disconnected.

After a hard day, Charlie decides to go to the hotel he had booked earlier and runs into Emma who is nursing a heartbreak too. They are strangers but they get along well over a few drinks. They decide to head to the room and they spend the next 36 hours in the hotel. They sleep together, talk and at one point they dare each other to tell one truth about them.

Emma says she is a CIA and Charlie says he is a criminal. Of course, they both take it as a joke but this is the truthful thing they tell each other. Throughout all this time, they get to know each other and share childhood stories. However, reality forces them to finally leave the hotel room and get back to their respective lives.

Charlie meets a friend and asks for her help to identify a new target. He needs to make money quickly. The friend tells him about a wealthy preacher and they cut a deal. Charlie goes to the family bar and Birdie is still angry with him about his fiancee running away with their loot. They hold a family meeting and he tells them about the new target.

His father advises him to give it a minute and let time heal his heart. Charlie worries that they dont have time since his dad is in the early stages of memory loss. His dad refuses to talk about it and asks about the new target.

For the next couple of days, the family watches their new target, Pastor Earle. They attend his church and find out what he is hiding. The pastor is using the church as a front to launder money for someone. Although Charlie should be 100% concentrating on the heist, he keeps thinking of Emma.

They clone Pastor Earle’s new burner phone, the pastor gets a new burner phone each week. They learn the Pastor is meeting with the guy he launders money for later that night at a DC gala. They attend the gala and they each work their part to pull off the heist. However, Emma also attends the gala making Charlie distracted and Birdie notices.

At the gala, Charlie and Emma dance and she invites him on a date but Charlie turns her down. His conversation with Birdie made him feel guilty and he doesn’t want to let his family down. Emma is surprised by his answer and asks him if he really doesn’t believe they have something. Charlie tells her that he just doesn’t feel, he also knows there was nothing between them. Emma leaves angry and heads to the office because she got a call that something is happening.

Charlie and his family are able to trick the Pastor into giving them money and they head home to count it.  Charlie thinks he is only good at stealing but his parents decide that they won’t be retiring. They plan to stay back and help him and his sister. They mention that Charlie already took a fall for the family once. This time they will not burden him. They also tell him that he is good at stealing but it can’t be his whole life.

On the other hand, the FBI get a hit on Maguire and they even have a photo of Maguire making a deal with Charlie. Unfortunately, in the photo, Charlie can only be seen from the back. It is also very grainy so they can’t make out who he is. They only know he stiffed Maguire on the deal.

Emma asks to be part of the FBI arrest and they arrest Maguire but his mystery lady, Daphne, manages to flee. Emma tries to chase her but gets in a car accident and hurts her wrist.

The next day, her coworker updates her on the case. Daphne is Maguire’s consultant and Emma suspects that she is the one helping Maguire expand the business. She thinks Daphne is the brains behind the whole operation and asks the co-worker to do a deep dive into Daphne.

After the call, Charlie pays her a visit and admits he lied about what he said at the party. He has feelings for her. He apologizes and explains that he is worried that if she gets too close to him, she will run away. They make up and kiss.

Charlie heads back home and tells Birdie he has a new plan. He wants to do one major heist and leave behind the crime life. Unfortunately, Daphne found them and she is waiting in the bar. She tells them they owe her 15 million and she wants it back. She already knows they don’t have the money but she doesn’t care. All she wants is the money and asks them to steal so they can pay her back.

The Episode Review

It was a bit romantic when Charlie confessed his feelings for Emma but how will this work? He is a criminal and she is a CIA agent. They can’t stay in their love cocoon forever, at some point it will burst.

I don’t know how thieves operate but I assume it is common sense to never steal from a drug mafia. Did Charlie and his family honestly believe they would steal from Maguire and fly off to paradise? That was a risky move and now they are in too deep. Where will they steal 15 million from and manage to stay off the police radar?

This is only the first episode and it was a bit disappointing but we should wait to see if it gets better in the next one. Maybe, it was because the show was heavily advertised as the next big thing. This is probably what led to us having big expectations, nonetheless it was entertaining to watch.