NOTE: This post contains spoilers for The Company You Keep episode 5, “The Spy Who Loved Me.”
After nearly being caught by Emma (Catherine Haena Kim) at the end of last week's episode, Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) has a lot on his mind. Even though she still doesn't suspect Charlie is a master con-man, the undercover CIA officer can tell there's something on his mind.
Charlie insists he's fine, but asks Emma to skip work with him. At that exact moment, though, she gets a call from the agency, telling her they've found a partial license plate that will lead them to Daphne's secret financier, who in fact is right in front of her.
Emma leaves for work, but not before promising Charlie they'll have a romantic night in a hotel room, just like when they first met. Little does she know she's given Charlie a head-start on getting rid of the car. He soon calls up his friend Otto, who owns the scrapyard where the car is being hidden, telling him to crush it immediately.
That's not the only problem Charlie has to contend with. Even though the Nicolettis paid off their debt to her, Daphne (Felisha Terrell) demands they commit another crime for her. Not only does she know Charlie was the one who told Connor Maguire (Barry Sloane) about Daphne's plans for the Maguire crime family, but Connor has since left the country with the $10 million Charlie stole for her.
Charlie insists they’re square, but Daphne reminds Charlie that Connor wants him dead, and she can lead her half-brother straight to the Nicolettis. In order to get Daphne and the Maguire crime family out of their lives, Charlie agrees to one last robbery.
It's a difficult one, though. In order to re-tighten her stranglehold on the DC drug cartels, Daphne wants the Nicolettis to rob a little black book from fixer John Bailer (Paul Blackthorne). A former MI6 agent who was fired from the agency, Bailer now helps cover up the secrets of Washington's most powerful people. But only after he's made a note of their indiscretions in his book.
The Nicolettis' first attempt to track Bailer doesn’t go to plan. With Birdie (Sarah Wayne Callies) pretending to be a prostitute and Charlie a high-profile heir on a drug binge, Bailer microwaves her phone full of photos (after taking photos himself on a spy camera) rather than taking it, which would have allowed them to track him.
Birdie is able to get a ride with Bailer, though. While in the car, he realizes her sob story is fake, and kicks her out. But only after she's able to spot the make and model of his very distinct locker key, which is likely the home of the black book. There are thousands of these lockers across DC. So they have to search through a list of these locations and match it up to Bailer's key.
Birdie has to take control of the Bailer con, as Charlie receives a call from Otto explaining Emma was at his scrapyard before he had destroyed the car. Charlie makes it over just in time to change the license plates on the car. He then posts them off to Mexico, where a friend attaches them to another car.
This has a direct impact on Emma, though. After the discovery of the license plates, she's offered the chance to travel to Mexico and continue the investigation. Before Charlie, she would have jumped at the opportunity. Now she's dubious. So, on their date night, she asks him to come to Mexico with her.
More than that, she says she loves him. But Charlie is unable to respond. Even though he feels the same way, there are too many lies between them. Devastated by Charlie's failure to say, "I love you," back, Emma storms out of the hotel and the pair seemingly split up.
After finally realizing where Bailer's locker is, Charlie, Birdie and Leo (William Fichtner) head to the university campus where he used to teach. Unsurprisingly, Bailer installed an alarm inside the locker, and he's soon there, too. Charlie tries to keep Bailer distracted as Birdie copies the book, but he takes Leo hostage at gunpoint.
Birdie makes it safely back to the van, goes online and discovers all of the other books in his locker were written by the same woman. Charlie immediately pieces together that Bailer was having an affair with this writer, who Birdie tells him was also married to the dean of the university. Charlie tells Bailer to let Leo go, otherwise he'll tell all of his enemies where she lives. In order to protect his lost love, Bailer does just that.
Charlie drops off the copied little black book to Daphne, who reveals that inside is evidence of Emma's family's transgressions and offenses. She's going to use this as blackmail to stop Emma investigating her and the Maguire crime family.
After hearing this Charlie has no choice but to warn Emma, revealing he's been working for Daphne, while also admitting that he loves her, too.
Sure, the details and resolutions of The Company You Keep's crime plots are becoming increasingly nonsensical and foolish, which is somewhat understandable as they're confined by the limitations of network television. But, once again, the emotional drama of the show continues to ratchet up in a manner that makes it compelling.
Now that Charlie and Emma know each other’s secrets, it'll be fascinating to see exactly how The Company You Keep orchestrates itself to ensure that the story doesn’t immediately deflate.
New episodes of The Company You Keep air Sundays on ABC and then are available to stream the next day on Hulu.
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