Daphne's next goal is to get Maguire out of prison and she needs Charlie to dig up dirt on the Judge handling his case. Birdie and Emma work together, and Leo tries to settle an old score with the man who robbed him of his pension.
(ABC/Christopher Willard)
Please note this recap contains spoilers for season 1, episode 8 “The Art of the Steel”
Emma (Catherine Haena Kim) fills her boss in on what Daphne’s been up to, how she’s managed to control the fentanyl market, and her plans to get into arms dealing. And it appears she’s even more ambitious than that. He praises her for her good work and says her asset is paying dividends. She thinks about Charlie for a moment then tells Cas, she can't wait to bring the Maguires down.
Daphne (Felisha Terrell) goes to visit Patrick Maguire (Timothy V. Murphy) in prison, filling him in on the business. He mentions Connor and how he’s gone to Mexico. Daphne says he took the $10 million she was going to reinvest, but Maguire says he’s not playing favorites with his kids, however, he’d appreciate someone getting him out of prison. Daphne visits with a Judge (Kim Estes) and offers details to an offshore account for letting “her client” out. She’s paying more than he’s accepted for similar bribes, but he says he doesn’t work with criminals and leaves.
(ABC/Christopher Willard)
Daphne invites Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) over to her new place, and asks him to apply pressure on the D.C. Circuit Judge to release Maguire. Meanwhile Emma and Birdie (Sarah Wayne Callies) are listening in to the conversation and have their own discussion about Charlie. Birdie wonders if this is hard for Emma, but she insists she’s doing her job, he needs to win Daphne’s trust. Birdie tells Emma she’s trying to protect her brother and doesn’t like the way Daphne or Emma have been treating him.
Charlie returns to the bar where Leo (William Fichtner) and Fran (Polly Draper) are hosting a group of Leo’s steelworker buddies who recently lost one of their own. Fran asks Charlie to make sure Leo gets to his neurologist appointment on time the following day and he agrees. Emma and Birdie return and Emma asks to debrief Charlie. He’s about to take her to the basement, but Leo asks them to go outside since they’re having a private party. Fran tells Emma, Leo’s not a fan of “G-men.”
(ABC/Raymond Liu)
Emma and Charlie step out and he tries to explain why his dad is so uncomfortable. She comments that Charlie’s past must be why he’s so comfortable around crime. She asks what his plan is with the Judge, and he hopes to catch him slipping up so that Daphne can turn him. He points out that both women want the same thing, to get Maguire out of prison. Except Emma’s end goal is to take them down.
At the Hill house, Joe (James Saito) tells Emma he’s not seen any pictures of him and Claire Fox on the front page…does this mean she found another way to solve her dilemma? She smiles and nods but doesn’t elaborate. David (Tim Chiou), Grace (Freda Foh Shen) and Jen (Andrea Cortés) arrive back from campaigning and Emma asks how it went. He doesn’t want to give the stump speech again, but Jen says he did great and this is the momentum they need for November. There’s something between them and Joe and Emma pick up on it. They ask Grace how long it’s been going on and she’s not quite sure, but thinks David and Jen are good for each other. Joe tells her Jen was hired because of Claire Fox and Grace sighs. “I thought that woman was done trying to ruin our family.”
The next morning, Birdie is readying the bar and asks Charlie about Leo getting to his appointment. Leo said it was rescheduled, but something doesn’t seem right. Birdie checks the tracking on her phone to discover their dad is in Virginia. He’s alone and Charlie sets out to find him.
Leo is in Falls Church, VA where he’s golfing. He tells Charlie something came up and points to another golfer. The man is Davey Scolum and he’s responsible for losing Leo’s pension. Charlie calls him out for doing a job alone, but Leo references his son’s current position with the CIA. He says Davey owes him $208 thousand or the would be value of his retirement fund. Charlie can help or not, but Leo’s getting what he’s owed.
Leo approaches Scolum on the course and Charlie poses as one of the Club’s caddies. They apologize for getting in his way and ask to play the back 9 holes together. Davey agrees. Leo tells Charlie that the watch Davey’s wearing is about as much as his lost pension. The men tee up and talk careers with Davey dissing the steelworkers unions. Leo asks if Davey wants to make things interesting and play for $5 thousand a hole. Davey suggests $10 thousand.
At the Hills, Joe and Grace confront David about Jen and he’s offended. He says he’s smart enough to know if his girlfriend is duping him. He’s not like other politicians who can’t keep it in their pants. Grace says there’s a reason they don’t trust Claire Fox, and David is shocked to learn the truth. Joe says they didn’t tell him because they didn’t think their son would make a deal with her. David says he got into politics for his father’s legacy, but for once he’s grateful he’s not Joe.
(ABC/Christopher Willard)
Leo is having an unlucky streak losing to Scolum on the last four holes. He says double or nothing on this next one which would result in $100 thousand. Scolum agrees and while Leo winds up in a sand trap, he’s able to recover and wins the hole. Scolum is interrupted by a call from his kids, and Charlie tells his dad they need to walk away. But Leo’s not having it. He bets Scolum $200 thousand he can make the same winning putt again. Leo and Charlie leave the golf course with a check that basically covers his pension. Charlie says Leo can’t be doing solo jobs anymore and Leo asks about working with the CIA. Charlie points out that Leo raised them in this lifestyle and that he taught his kids trusting anyone outside of the family was a liability.
Fran confronts Leo about working alone and skipping his doctor’s appointment, but he tells her he didn’t skip it, it was last week. The news wasn’t so good and his MMSE score was lower than before. He went after the money so he had something to leave his family. She says they don’t need money, they just need him.
Emma comes to the house to see Birdie and finds Charlie on the porch. She says they missed him today and asks if everything is ok with Leo. He gives her a brief rundown and she’s surprised. She can’t protect him if they are running other cons. Birdie comes out and invites Emma in for a drink. Emma says she thinks it’s time they move on from surveillance to logistics and hands Birdie a flash drive with financial records for the Judge. Birdie is excited and Emma says “at least one Nicoletti trusts me.” Birdie tells her that’s not true. Charlie never tells anyone the truth, but he did tell Emma. He basically sacrificed himself for her. Emma doesn’t know what to do with this information.
Leo apologizes to Charlie for not giving him a choice in their con life, but Charlie’s ok with it. Fran comes in with their friend Shelby whose father recently passed. Leo sidebars with Fran and Charlie about going back to Scolum to recover money for all the pensions. Maybe they can get everyone together and convince Scolum to spend money to save money. Another friend walks in and Leo tells him he’s got a job for the old crew. Fran tells Shelby she’ll want in too.
Emma and Birdie discover interesting findings in the Judge’s tax returns. It looks like he accepts bribes from “respectable” criminals. He’s got an upcoming ruling on a business run by a Korean family and Birdie thinks Emma is the perfect candidate to bribe him. She poses as a wealthy heiress and confronts him outside the courthouse. He quickly caves.
(ABC/Raymond Liu)
Fran, Charlie and the crew meet up at an active construction site they’ll be staging as a wing they’re building as part of a hospital. Meanwhile, Leo heads to the golf course and meets up with Scolum. He tears up the check and saying he doesn’t need the money any more than Scolum does, then goes on to tell him about the hospital. Scolum asks for the tour now, and they head over to the site. Fran poses as the foreman and Leo makes a little slip up referencing steelwork, but seems to recover. Scolum needs to talk to his business partners, but he might be willing to fork over $10 million to his name on the building. On his way out, one of the workers calls him “Davey” even though they weren’t introduced.
David and Jen are on a date at the tennis courts and he brings up Claire Fox and asks how her family knows her. Jen says she’s not sure her parents are part of so many campaigns. She asks what he’s really getting at and he tells her Claire has history with his father. Jen says it won’t be an issue if she’s not on David’s campaign. She can work anywhere, but there’s only one David and she really likes him.
Daphne confronts the Judge in a parking garage as he’s leaving for the night. She tells him she offered him the same account the heiress did. Does he want to be bribed or blackmailed? She says he’s going to rule in favor of Patrick Maguire then leaves.
(ABC/Christopher Willard)
Leo calls Fran as he heads back to the bar. He says to tell the guys they still have Scolum on the hook and…the day wasn’t a total bust. He got Scolum’s watch! As he puts it back in his pocket, the cops show up and take him to the station for questioning.
Emma and Birdie watch as Maguire is released. The plan is still to take him down and save the Nicolettis. As they’re watching, Birdie gets a call from Charlie that Leo’s on his way to the police station. Emma asks what’s wrong, “the cops have my dad.”
Maguire exits the prison where Connor (Barry Sloane) is waiting for him. He offers to take him to the warehouse and Magiure asks if he’s gonna take credit for his release too. Connor says he can’t run the business if Patrick is keeping things from him. Magurie hugs his son, “she’s no Maguire. She’s only here as long as I need her.”
The Nicolettis rally in the basement and worry about what will happen to Leo, but it turns out he’s home! He’s got someone looking out for him, and it’s Emma. Birdie tells her she broke her code, but Emma says it was the right thing to do. Charlie takes her outside and thanks her for what she did. She says she told the cops he was a valuable CIA asset and was part of an undercover con. Emma says he’s a good man and she owed Charlie for protecting her family.
Maguire shows up at Daphne’s and she’s happy to see him, but of course Connor tagged along too. He makes a big deal about what his half sister can do now that she has Maguire money then goes on to tell her she’s won. Magiure stops him and says this is their first dinner as a family and he wants Daphne to walk them through her business plans. Connor takes her seat at the table and Daphne seems to feel uncomfortable.
Thoughts/Predictions:
Daphne’s smart and she’ll give Maguire some of what he wants, but she’s not going to be swindled by Connor. She’s going to turn to the Nicolettis for help which will give Emma exactly what she needs.
The Company You Keep airs on ABC Sundays at 10pm ET/PT and next day on Hulu.