‘The Company You Keep’ Had a Mini ‘Prison Break’ Reunion

The Company You Keep is a show for people who love to say, “Hey, I know that actor from–.”

This stacked cast of TV heavyweights knows no limits. So, it is fitting that the fatherly patriarch of network TV, Milo Ventimiglia, is leading this juggernaut to greatness.

But two notable additions to this cast have fans of the 2005 breakout drama Prison Break giddy with nostalgia.

During The Company You Keep Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot,” viewers noticed something familiar about two members of the Nicoletti crime family when Birdie, played by Sarah Wayne Callies, appeared at the bar across from William Fichtner’s Leo.

The two actors have built remarkable careers in TV, with Callies becoming a household name as Lori on The Walking Dead before going on to headline three seasons of Colony.

Meanwhile, Fichtner became an integral part of the CBS comedy Mom as Allison Janney’s romantic partner in crime, Adam.

But arguably, some of their best work happened on Prison Break together years prior.

Callies played Dr. Sara Tancredi, a brave humanitarian with a soft spot for Wentworth Miller’s rogue criminal. Fichtner’s Alexander Mahone was a late addition to Season 2 but quickly made the skillset of his corrupt agent known with a shocking bang.

Fichtner and Callies’ characters spent much of their sophomore season as reluctant criminals on opposite sides of Michael Scofield’s warpath. Attempts on lives were made, but that’s water under the bridge as the two return to the wrong side of the tracks — this time fighting for the same cause.

Prison Break was pure, adrenaline-pumping escapism when it first broke onto the scene.

With a spitfire cast of crooks, a minefield of twists, and Old Joliet Prison as its playground, the series thrived among the onslaught of early 2000 action series (Lost, Heroes, 24.)

So, perhaps the most compelling element of the reunion between Fichtner and Callies is their involvement in this return to form for cable’s action/drama series.

The Company You Keep‘s slow-burn plotting, paired with an ensemble of recognizable faces and clever schemes, feels reminiscent of the weekly spectacles we have been desperate to return to in a sea of reboots (something Prison Break is just as guilty of, tsk-tsk).

It’s thrilling to see the show weaponize nostalgia by utilizing the on-screen legacies of Callies, Fichtner, and Ventimiglia — all having played a crucial part in that epic era of cable TV — as a family dynamic with tons of familiarity going for them.

It’s a sign we are moving away from outright reviving shows like Prison Break and instead looking at ways we can pay homage to their legacies.

If coincidental reunions are a fun byproduct of reminiscing, sign me up for The Company You Keep‘s stacked cast.

Because if there is any spectacle more exciting than a promising new TV obsession, it’s whipping out that IMDB lineup to appreciate just how meta every interaction is.

I mean, it’s not every day you see Jess Mariano and Lori Grimes teaming up for a heist.

Alas, thank you to the tv-powers-that-be for orchestrating this Callies and Fichtner reunion so Prison Break‘s legacy could live on through new criminal escapades. May their new life of crime be as exciting as the last.

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The Company You Keep airs Sundays at 10/9c on ABC.

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