Family – something that has been a key aspect of The Company You Keep since the pilot – in all its forms takes centre stage in episode 8 ‘The Art of the Steel’, which sees new friendships/alliances form and several characters prove themselves not quite who they used to be even an episode ago.
Patrick Maguire is still in jail and Daphne is desperate to prove herself as a suitable leader for his empire. Never one to back down from a challenge, when he informs her, “I’d certainly be grateful to whoever gets me out of here,” she knows just how to go about getting what they both want, and who to use – Charlie.
As Charlie arrives at her new place to discuss Daphne’s plans, which involve blackmailing a judge to support Patrick’s release, the perhaps unlikely duo of Birdie and Emma are listening in from a nearby van. Emma’s reaction to Birdie’s comment about Daphne perhaps feeing more than trust for Charlie these days is mixed to say the least. It’s clear that part of her is trying to remain professional, but she’s also distracted. “…I’m fine,” she insists. “Does your face know that?” Birdie quips back – a moment that still makes me chuckle two days on from seeing and hearing it for the first time. She also comments she’s unhappy with how Emma’s been treating her brother lately, which only adds to the already existing tension between them.
At the bar, Leo and some of his former steel work buddies are raising a glass to a departed friend. As Birdie walks in with Emma, the CIA agent gets an icy reception from Leo, though Fran is warmer towards her, and Charlie is made to have his ‘work’ discussion with Emma outside.
Supposedly due to have a neurologist appointment, when Charlie and Birdie learn that Leo has seemingly disappeared, Birdie tracks him to Virginia. When Charlie locates him, he finds his dad in golf attire and running a con on Davey Slocum (Matthew Glave) who stole his pension – worth 208k – and those of his friends. In previous episodes, father and son had always seemed on largely good terms, but Leo going rogue on Charlie and the rest of the family brings about the first real scenes of uncertainty, unease and genuine displeasure between the two, adding a nice twist to the dynamic the audience have been so familiar with over the course of The Company You Keep‘s previous episodes. I need a caddy, not a babysitter, Leo retorts to his son as he begins a $10k per hole wager. Losing five in a row, I must admit I worried as to how much worse things could get, so when Leo upped the wager to $200k for one hole, and won, I was pleasantly surprised and more than a little pleased. Apparently, William Fichtner had never golfed before shooting the scenes on the course – you honestly couldn’t and can’t tell.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve championed several The Company You Keep cast members and their performances. This week, that praise has to go to Fichtner who absolutely nails three key scenes in the episode. He and Milo Ventimiglia portray a genuine and realistic father and son – particularly when, while leaving the golf course, Charlie calls him out on raising him in “this life”, meaning as a con artist/grifter. Later, when Leo rather quietly confesses to Fran that he’d had his appointment last week, and the results weren’t good, as someone who has a family member battling Alzheimer’s, and so who knows full well the impact it has on the sufferer as well as those closest to them, his admittance that: “I don’t wanna leave my family empty-handed” and that things aren’t going well regarding his diagnosis – especially Fichtner’s delivery of that truth – really struck a nerve, as did Fran’s heartfelt reply of: “We don’t need money, Leo – we just need you.”
I grew up a daddy’s girl who valued the time, attention and opinions of my father, and so for me, the ‘truthful’ conversation Leo and Charlie have moments later, which clears the air between the pair, is a highlight of the episode; if you can’t be upfront and honest with family, who can you be so with? I genuinely believe that parents only want what’s best for their kids (despite many, myself included often thinking and feeling otherwise) – something Leo addresses when he tells his son, “All I’ve ever done is try to do right by you…I want you to make your own choices, be your own man; I never meant for you to be an island.“
Leo also might have a financial nest egg of sorts for himself and his family, but the strength of his character shines through when he remarks to Fran and Charlie a short time later, “It doesn’t feel right. I got mine – but what about everybody else?” Pike, a family friend and former work buddy of Leo’s walks in, and the plan to take Davey for A LOT more money instantly starts to take shape.
Meanwhile, Emma hands over a flash drive of tax returns and bank records to Birdie for her to look at and find something that can be used against Judge Bishop. “At least one Nicoletti trusts me,“ Emma says, sipping a glass of wine. The look on Birdie’s face and in her eyes as she replies, “When Charlie decided to tell you the truth…he put us at risk – for you…He sacrificed himself; for you.” She tells both Emma and The Company You Keep‘s audience – if they didn’t know already – just how much Emma meant, and still means, to him. To sacrifice yourself and put everything and everyone on the line for someone; that’s a definition of love if ever I heard one. With suitable leverage acquired, Emma’s character dynamic shifts considerably as Birdie talks her into being directly involved in bribing the judge and, dressed in a shocking pink pantsuit, which Catherine Haena Kim absolutely rocks, she nails it.
Leo returns to the golf club and, tearing up the $200k cheque, rather easily convinces Davey to come and have a look at the building of a new wing at River Hospital he’s involved with. Hinting to Davey that a donation to the build would be, “…a way of leaving something behind for people to remember you by.” Leo baits him and they head to the hospital, where Charlie (complete with Jack Pearson style mustache), Fran, Pike and others have managed to take control of the site for a while. It’s an impressive con, one that doesn’t 100% come off but certainly gets Davey’s attention and interest. While Davey says he’ll think it over, he’s unaware at the time that Leo’s swiped his extortionately expensive watch, something Leo finds himself arrested for later that evening.
I won’t lie – watching the cops take Leo to their car had me nervous. Birdie learns of Leo’s arrest while in the van with Emma – and that’s when perhaps the biggest surprise of the episode takes place. Having always come across as a law-abider, and having told Charlie she couldn’t help his family if they pulled anything while working for her – she’s the one who ultimately gets Leo off the hook.
“You broke your code,” Birdie remarks when Emma appears behind Leo after he returns home.
“I did what’s right,” she replies, earning a genuine and sincere smile from Charlie for the first time in a while.
Patrick meanwhile is released from jail after Daphne mentions to Judge Bishop her knowledge of the bribe he took. Connor is waiting for him when he walks out and feeling somewhat dejected over how much his dad seems to like his half-sister at the moment.
“She’s no Maguire,“Patrick informs him, a dark undertone to his voice. “She’s only here as long as it’s useful.“
The pair turn up at Daphne’s a short while later, and from the off, it’s clear Daphne feels and knows she’s outnumbered in every sense. As they sit down to dinner, there’s awkwardness and unease; one that I’m sure will only grow now that the ringleader is back in the picture. I never imagined I could or would feel any kind of sympathy towards Daphne, particularly given how she came across in the pilot, but this episode and ‘Company Man’ are certainly changing my thoughts and feelings.
With only two more episodes of The Company You Keep’s first season (I swear it better get a second!), to go, and given how much has changed over the eight so far, I can’t begin to guess what’s to come when the show returns on April 30th – but I sure am excited to find out!
