Patrick is free and Connor is in town creating more challenges for Daphne who wants to run the family’s U.S. operation. Emma needs Charlie to attend a meeting with the Maguires that takes place on the metro.
(ABC/Raymond Liu)
Please note this recap contains spoilers for season 1, episode 9 “The Truth Shall Set You Free”
It’s a busy day at the Collar Bar and Simon (Geoff Stults) is there waiting to take Ollie (Shaylee Mansfeld) roller skating. Fran’s (Polly Draper) longtime friend and ex-fiance, Frankie Musso (Tony Shaloub) comes by and says he’s glad to see the place is going strong. He mentions a Whole Foods is moving into the neighborhood and that their pal Rosie recently sold her pizza joint and got a lot of money. But the Nicolettis are pretty certain they’re not going to sell.
(ABC/Raymond Liu)
That night at home, Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) and Birdie (Sarah Wayne Callies) talk about Frankie's surprise appearance and whether or not they’d sell the bar. Birdie wonders if it was the message or the messenger? Charlie says sometimes he thinks a fresh start would be nice. Birdie reminds him that “wherever you go, there you are.”
Daphne (Felisha Terrell) and the Maguires hold a meeting with their partners, and Daphne points out that they’ve scaled this business to what it is without much bloodshed. Connor (Barry Sloane) keeps interjecting and Patrick Magurie (Timothy V. Murphy) silences him saying to step outside so they can continue.
At the CIA, Cas tells Mason (Courtney Taylor) and Emma (Catherine Haena Kim) that Langley has sent a coordination request for the Maguire case meaning now they have to go through multiple channels and tons of red tape. It could be years before they can make a move. Cas says Emma has ruffled some feathers with what she found out about Dalton Bridges. Emma says they might have something Langley doesn’t know about…. Mason asks if she ever formalized her asset? Emma smiles, “nope.”
Charlie comes to the warehouse and runs into Connor, who tries to scare him, “You only have a seat at that table while she’s still here. Don’t you forget it.” Charlie brushes him off and goes inside. There, Maguire asks if Charlie’s the one to thank for springing him? Charlie says it’s the least he could do. Magurie reminds him he stole $10 million, but agrees they’re even. Charlie says Daphne has a way of getting what she wants and Patrick says that’s because she’s a Maguire. Daphne thinks she’s earned the right to run the North American arm of their business, the part she built. Maguire is a bit surprised, agrees, then says she wants to meet her arms dealer.
Emma comes to Charlie’s and asks about the Maguire reunion. Charlie says Magiure wants in on the meeting with the arms dealer and he bets Connor is gonna be there too. Emma says Charlie needs to be at that meeting, but he doesn’t want to go. It’s the only way to get the DOJ to open the case. Charlie says if he’s caught, they’ll kill him. “So don’t get caught,” she says. He asks what happens after the meeting and Emma closes the case? She says they’ll go their separate ways.
Joe (James Saito) is grilling David (Tim Chiou) about his policies and platform to prepare him for an upcoming debate. Jen (Andrea Cortés) is there watching and Grace (Freda Foh Shen) is working on the forward for her memoir. David’s campaign manager comes in frantic, someone is going to spring something on David at the debate. Grace says they’ve got nothing against David, so Emma suggests it might be someone else? The family exchanges glances and Grace makes a call. “We don’t know who fired the gun, but we know who loaded it.”
Grace goes to Claire Fox’s (Marin Hinkle) office to confront her and says going after Joe was one thing, but David is off limits. She asks if Jen is part of the team to manipulate him, but Claire insists it's the opposite. When the Party was going to pull support for David, she jumped in. This catches Grace by surprise. Claire says she feels bad about the past and this is one way to do good and clear her conscience. Grace asks if she’d be willing to help them.
Charlie talks to Daphne about the meeting and points out that Connor’s going to try to be there, so he should go too. Daphne says the problem is that as soon as they identify her arms dealer, everything is over. Then she has an idea and tells Charlie he needs to do whatever he does to make sure she’s the only one at the meeting.
At the bar—and surprisingly not in the basement—the family discusses how to get Emma the info she needs while making sure Daphne’s the only one at the meeting. While they’re taking Ollie interrupts and asks if they’re planning a new job? Who’s the target? Charlie and Birdie tell her it’s for adults, and something she wouldn’t get unless she knows algebra. She rolls her eyes and goes back to homework. They run through a few ideas, and finally land on The Two Jeffs. It failed twice, but the third time’s a charm.
Now they move to the basement and plan on having two meetings at the same time. They’ll tell Daphne and Emma everything each needs to know, but only show Emma what they want her to see. Birdie points out they’ll need more bodies to pull this off. Leo (William Fichtner) talks with Simon who’s immediately in; Birdie will give him the details. Charlie tells Leo there’s a problem, the meeting is happening on the metro. They’ll have to pull off The Two Jeffs on a train.
Emma comes to Charlie’s and she gives him some details. The train has two tunnels and several underground stations so they’ll need to use local frequencies and Emma needs video. She’s got to wire him with old school equipment. She admits it’s unfair to push him to do this, but he says he’ll be fine, they won’t search him on a train full of people. She sets up the wire and it’s clear there’s still feelings between them.
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Brad Willford is at the train station and he’s nervous. Emma and Birdie sit in an empty train car to watch and record the meeting. Fran is on a train with Maguires and Simon who’s pretending to be Willford. Meanwhile, Leo and Charlie are pretending to be Maguires and meeting with the real Willford; and Ollie is on camera duty. Emma thinks she’s seeing one whole conversation on two different cameras, but she’s actually seeing two separate feeds.
Both versions of the Maguires tell the two Willfords, instead of cash, they’ll trade with Crypto. Then the real Maguires tell Simon Connor’s in charge and Willford will be dealing with them now. Someone comes by and knocks into Fran’s camera exposing Simon to Emma. She asks Birdie what’s going on. They had no choice and if Emma goes over there, she’ll put everyone —including Ollie—in danger. The train stops and Emma leaves, but not before Maguire spots her. He tells Connor to take care of her or he might be worthy to be called his father’s son.
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Emma comes to Charlie’s and she’s mad. He says they had no choice and he got what she needed. She pushes, “why not tell me?” He bites back that he’s done everything to help her at the risk of his life and family. He’s done and wants his life back. Emma looks upset and leaves.
Back at the CIA Mason has been looking for Emma. Cas got reassigned and now someone else is in charge. She shows him the dual video of Maguires and Willford. He tells her great work, but doesn’t want to go to the DOJ yet, the investigation is just getting started. The Maguires are small fish. He wants to know who they’re selling the weapons to.
Charlie plays the audio conversation for Daphne, confirming that Connor’s gonna run the operation. On some level she always knew. Charlie compliments what she’s done for the business and she kisses him, but he doesn’t kiss her back.
At the Hill’s David and Joe are shocked to learn that someone leaked Grace’s memoir and now their dirty laundry is out for all to see. Grace says she asked Claire Fox to leak it and now they can control the narrative. Everyone is relieved, but Joe would have liked a head’s up.
Birdie calls Simon to thank him for not fighting her on Ollie’s part in the job. He knows she wouldn’t put their daughter in danger and wouldn’t ask if Ollie wasn’t ready.
Emma tells Grace she read the memoir and thought it was good, honest. She was expecting a fluff piece and was pleasantly surprised. Grace said they’ve tried to be perfect for too long, it’s time to be real. Emma asks how she trusted Joe again, and Grace says she still loved him. Trust is a choice. Emma says she’s stuck on the forward because it’s not about legacy, but rather a love story.
Ollie is invited to the basement and she wants to know what’s up? She's never allowed down there. Birdie gives her a key and tells her welcome to the family business. She looks through the clothes, accessories and tech that her family uses for their work. “Cool,” she signs.
Emma goes to Daphne’s and tells her she knows Maguire is cutting her out of the family business. Daphne quickly realizes that Charlie is working for her and picks up that they were dating. Emma gets back to business and says she’s Daphne’s only way out. She’s got an ironclad case against the Maguires and if Daphne will help her burn it to the ground, she’ll let her go.
Frankie comes to the bar, and says he put out some feelers about the building and someone bit. They’d buy the bar for $4.5 million. Call me if you’re interested. He tags on that he won’t charge the full commission fee because of their history.
David debates his opponent and he’s holding up ok. The moderator asks about being a legacy candidate, do you deserve to be here? David says no. His father was an immigrant and knew he would be judged, still he wanted to give back to the place that gave him so much. David goes on to say politics is no longer about helping people, it's about winning, it’s performative. I’m done putting on a show. I’m done. He walks off the set.
Connor meets a man in a back alley who gives him a black bag and says “keep us out of this.”
Leo tells Fran he needs to stop ignoring the elephant in the room, he’s not getting better and he’s scared. Maybe they should sell and live out their lives. She hugs him, she’s not going anywhere.
(ABC/Raymond Liu)
Daphne comes to Charlie and says she knows he’s working for the CIA. “You’re gonna tell your ex I'm in.”
The Hills find David in the hallway, he’s fine, but he needs to get out of there. Emma gives him her car keys and says go, she’ll cover for him. He grabs Jen’s hand and they head outside. Jen asks what’s next and he doesn’t know, but he’s excited. He tries to start Emma’s car, but the engine makes a grinding sound. He turns it again and Jen looks horrified. “Get out!” she tells him and pushes him against the door. He opens it right as the blast goes off.
Thoughts/Predictions:
Ooooh! That’s a cruel way to end things! I think Jen is gone or on death’s door, while David is alive and possibly in a coma. The Nicolettis, Daphne and Emma are going to have an elaborate plan, but at the end of the day, it’ll be Charlie and Emma doing the heavy lifting and she just might sacrifice herself to protect Charlie.
The Company You Keep airs on ABC Sundays at 10pm ET/PT and next day on Hulu.