NOTE: this post contains spoilers for The Company You Keep episode 7, “Company Man"
After Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) requested to be more involved with Daphne's (Felisha Terrell) plans for the Maguire crime family, she soon has a job for him. She wants him to deliver the $2 million painting he stole in episode 6 to Brad Willard (Michael Gladis), whose company manufactures military-grade weapons. More than that, Daphne wants Charlie to attend an ultra exclusive event where America's richest people set the national security agenda, with her. Daphne wants to convince Brad to sell his weapons to her.
Of course, Charlie is now working undercover for the CIA, so Emma (Catherine Haena Kim) helps him create the alter-ego an ex-government agent now working in the gun trade. While at the event, Emma expects Charlie to figure out Daphne's plan, help her make a connection with Brad and discover when they're moving the arms.
Before he heads off, Charlie brings up the elephant in the room, though — Emma telling Charlie she loved him. After a beat of contemplation, Emma responds, "Last week you were a bartender." Charlie says he still is.
At the event, Emma keeps her distance. Through Charlie's ear-piece, she hears everything being said between him and Daphne. Emma has to be very careful, not just because of the intense surveillance of the event, but because she hasn't even told her bosses at the CIA Charlie is working undercover for them.
Daphne's plan to get close to Brad fails at the first hurdle. While he accepts the painting in exchange for a sit-down, he laughs at her plan to move 10 times as many sniper rifles as the family he's currently working for; his company would notice that amount of weapons going missing. Brad would need to get access to more rifles without his bosses noticing, which will only happen if his company discontinues their use of them. The problem is, the sniper rifles are profitable.
Emma tells Charlie to make Daphne open up, insisting he's good at getting women to talk. Daphne makes a little progress when she meets with Henry Scholes, the CEO. She learns that money drives him, and he's not willing to risk the profits the company makes from the sniper rifles to fund a replacement. That means that if they're to discontinue the weapon, the government will have to cover the cost.
This leads to Daphne and Charlie schmoozing with Congressman Eisenberg, who determines the budget for the Department of Defense. Over a morning game of pickleball, Charlie convinces Eisenberg to spend more money on remote weapons that they have better control of, rather than snipers that can end up in their enemies hands.
By this point, Charlie has convinced Scholes to make a new weapon and the government to fund it. All he needs to do now is convince the DoD to give the contract for the remote weapons to Brad's company. Once they start making them, they'll discontinue the sniper rifles, which will give Brad access to them, and he'll sell them illegally alongside Daphne.
Dalton Bridges, Daphne's former teacher at Columbia University, just so happens to be the Under Secretary for the DoD. But while he doesn't remember her, he does spot the Skeleton Key badge that Charlie's wearing. Provided to him by Emma, this is worn by members of a secret Yale society. Bridges immediately invites Charlie to a secret gathering being held that night.
There, Charlie is able to convince Bridges to give them the DoD contact. But only after he's nearly caught by Vikram Singh (Sachin Bhatt), who works alongside Emma at the CIA. He's at the event keeping an eye on surveillance. He detects a signal coming from the event. Just as he’s about to search Charlie, Emma appears in a window behind the pair and shakes her head. This is enough for Vikram to cover for Emma, so he keeps Charlie's real identity hidden.
After the event, Emma visits Charlie at his apartment. He points out Vikram must care for her a lot, putting his career on the line to cover for her. Emma says Charlie sounded like he was getting awfully close with Daphne over the weekend, as they bonded over their ambitions, the injustices they've faced, their families and failed relationships. Charlie reminds Emma he was only with Daphne because of her. Emma says she'll be in touch when they have further details on how to get Daphne, as Charlie closes the door on her.
Meanwhile, Birdie (Sarah Wayne Callies) discovers Simon (Geoff Stults) left her a decade ago after Leo (William Fichtner) walked in on him passed out on drugs, while Ollie (Shaylee Mansfield) was nearly drowning in a bath. Leo put a gun to Simon's head and told him to leave, because he knew Birdie wasn't able to cut him out of her life.
A decade later, Simon now wants to be in Ollie's life. After much deliberation, including another tender and heartfelt scene between Ollie and Birdie, she decides to meet her dad. But only after Leo warns Simon that if he even so much as sucks on a candy cigarette, he'll find out and kill him.
"Company Man" might just be the best episode of The Company You Keep yet. Wonderfully directed by James Takata, with a great script by Morgan Faust & JD Shields, the episode makes what could be a complicated plot seem simple and coherent. It mixes the narrative with emotional moments involving nearly all of its ensemble, while seamlessly bringing Daphne in to complicate Emma and Charlie’s romance, and even explores themes of sexism, hiding the truth to protect family, and the blurred lines between good and evil. All in all, "Company Man" propels The Company You Keep in an exciting new direction, while setting the perfect template for future episodes, too.
New episodes of The Company You Keep air on Sundays on ABC, then are available to stream on-demand on Hulu.
