SARAH WAYNE CALLIES The Company You Keep Season 1 Episode 6 Review: The Real Thing

The Company You Keep Season 1 Episode 6 Review: The Real Thing

Reviews, The Company You Keep

The Company You Keep Season 1 Episode 6, “The Real Thing,” is a quieter episode than we’ve seen from this show, focusing more on emotional fallout than action-heavy heists or shocking twists.

And thanks to standout performances from the cast, it works incredibly well, giving us the most emotional episode this season.

MILO VENTIMIGLIA, GEOFF STULTS, SARAH WAYNE CALLIES
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP – (ABC/Raymond Liu)
MILO VENTIMIGLIA, GEOFF STULTS, SARAH WAYNE CALLIES

The Nicolettis are reeling after learning that Emma is a CIA agent, but maybe none more so than Birdie.

It’s been evident from the beginning of the series that Birdie Nicoletti carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. She’s a single mom to Ollie, a support system for Charlie, and often, she’s the voice of reason for her family.

Sarah Wayne Callies always carries that responsibility beautifully. But watching her portray Birdie reluctantly falling back into a semblance of her old New York art scene life with her ex (and Ollie’s dad) Simon is a masterclass.

GEOFF STULTS, SARAH WAYNE CALLIES
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP – (ABC/Raymond Liu)
GEOFF STULTS, SARAH WAYNE CALLIES

We’re truly seeing the real Birdie for the first time. She’s playing a part in their heist that she hasn’t before –– she’s playing herself.

She’s captivating. We can’t look away, and neither can Simon.

Geoff Stults is a perfect casting choice for Simon. He’s charming, handsome, and clever. And more importantly, he’s smart enough to keep up with Birdie. In just a few scenes, it’s clear why she loved him a decade ago.

What isn’t clear, though, and is a true testament to the trope-defying writing on The Company You Keep, is whether or not Birdie will let herself be that open to love again.

MARK IVANIR, KENDALL CHAPPELL
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP – (ABC/Raymond Liu)
MARK IVANIR, KENDALL CHAPPELL

The show will be hard-pressed for the remainder of this season to deliver a better, more emotionally-raw scene than the one between Ollie and Birdie in the kitchen.

Delivered entirely through American Sign Language, the scene is otherwise silent but so loud in its honesty, and it’s phenomenally acted.

For a show that routinely features such realistic, often brutally honest conversations between family members, none has made me more emotional than this one.

A character allowing themself the grace to admit to their child that they don’t know an answer, and the vulnerability to ask if that’s okay, is so rare to see on television.

What’s also rare, and just as impactful, is watching an absent parent come back and try. Simon learning to sign is a heartfelt gesture. The small interaction Simon and Ollie share, signing hello to each other, is just that –– small. It doesn’t make up for the decade of work Birdie has put in, but it doesn’t try to.

MILO VENTIMIGLIA
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP – (ABC/Raymond Liu)
MILO VENTIMIGLIA

I don’t know where I fall on wanting Simon and Ollie to meet, though. It’s a complicated subject, and although I know this show has the writing and acting strengths to portray it beautifully, and I tentatively like Simon, I also want to protect Birdie and Ollie.

In another rare scene for television, but thankfully not for The Company You Keep, Daphne and Emma meet to discuss… not a shared love interest, but the photos of Joe Hill’s affair with Claire Fox.

It’s refreshing to see two compelling, complex women sit down for a drink at a bar and not (technically) fight over a man.

While it isn’t entirely feasible for their characters to hang out in a bar every episode, I desperately want more scenes of Felisha Terrell and Catherine Haena Kim together.

MARK IVANIR, KENDALL CHAPPELL, NOAH FEARNLEY, GEOFF STULTS, SARAH WAYNE CALLIES
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP – (ABC/Raymond Liu)
MARK IVANIR, KENDALL CHAPPELL, NOAH FEARNLEY, GEOFF STULTS, SARAH WAYNE CALLIES

As emotionally impactful as the scene between Ollie and Birdie is, this one packs just as hard a punch for the opposite reason: these are two women who don’t have any desire to protect each other.

They see the world in two very different ways, but they’re forced to discover they have more in common than they may want or know. Daphne operates in a morally gray universe, and Emma sees things in very distinct black and white.

At face value, the scene shouldn’t make us feel for both characters. We shouldn’t root for the villain. We shouldn’t feel pride when Daphne says that, unlike Emma, she knows exactly who she is. But we do.

Whether that’s more due to the complicated web the show has weaved between them or the chemistry between the actors doesn’t matter.

MILO VENTIMIGLIA
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP – (ABC/Raymond Liu)
MILO VENTIMIGLIA

What matters is that both Daphne and Emma leave the scene in seemingly better mindsets than they started it. Daphne leaves with confidence her blackmail has worked, and Emma leaves knowing what she needs to do next.

In what is possibly the least surprising revelation this show has given us so far, Emma and the Nicolettis will team up to take down Daphne and the Maguires.

It’s not a surprising twist, but that doesn’t mean it’s not wanted or won’t play out in an unexpected way. Watching Emma and Charlie navigate this new aspect of their relationship will be awkward and hilarious, and probably frustrating.

But The Company You Keep always finds a way to subvert tropes we’ve seen a hundred times. It’s near-impossible to guess where they’ll go next, which makes this somewhat obvious revelation just as edge-of-your-seat exciting a cliffhanger as we’ve gotten used to from this show.

Stray Thoughts:
  • It’s clear Papa Nicoletti isn’t a fan of Simon, and maybe rightfully so. But I need to know more about what Fran thinks of him, and how bad it was when he left.
  • I missed Connor in this episode, which is definitely a normal reaction to have about the villain in a show.
  • Just tossing this idea out — an entirely Ollie-focused episode. Show us the Nicoletti family from her point of view, and let us see what other skills she’s picked up outside of lockpicking.
  • Daphne and Charlie were more flirty, which I’m sure it’s a setup for the next episode more than an actual romantic interest setup. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it.
  • Daphne’s “I’m not not having fun” is me when this show stresses me out.

What did you think of this episode of The Company You Keep? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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

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