It’s probably sacrilegious to say it’s about time Milo Ventimiglia shed the picture-perfect This is Us patriarch Jack Pearson, but my dream is about to come true! Ventimiglia returns to ABC as a grown-up version of Gilmore Girls “good bad boy” Jess Mariano (remember Rory’s short-lived best boyfriend?).

Based on a Korean drama My Fellow Citizens!, The Company You Keep explores an intricate dance of intimacy and trust between a con man and an undercover CIA agent. Lust at first sight? Sure, we all crave intimacy and connection, but their ‘love at first lie’ could turn into a deadly game of cat and mouse sooner or later.

Charlie Nicoletti (Milo Ventimiglia) is dashing, self-confident and flirtatious. Emma Hill (Catherine Haena Kim) is attractive, smart and sassy. Recent victims of partner betrayal trauma, neither Charlie nor Emma is about to fall in love. With their self-esteem shaken to the core, they pussyfoot around and timidly embark on an intricate dance of intimacy and commitment.

Although they inadvertently blurt out the truth that he’s a criminal while she’s CIA early in their chance meeting, they brush it off as a sick joke in the flirtatious banter. But however undeniable their attraction to one another might be, they’re doomed to collide eventually because of what they do for living (or rather how they make money).

Charlie comes from a Baltimore family of grifters who level the playing field by swindling unwitting filthy rich out of their ill-gotten gains. The last high-stakes con job the Nicolettis tried to pull off went awry and his parents can’t afford to retire as planned.

Emma, on the other hand, is the black sheep of a political dynasty considered to be the ‘Asian American Kennedys’; her parents don’t even bother to find out what she’s passionate about. She is a hardheaded pragmatist firmly rooted in the reality hence all aspects of her life neatly compartmentalized and heavily guarded.

From the series title, it’s safe to infer that the two vastly different worlds Charlie and Emma come from define who they are. They grew up to be on opposite sides of the law, but mind you Charlie did not choose his profession; his family of origin groomed him to be a con artist. Romantic at heart and perhaps a little too naive, Charlie wants something different — maybe a normal life — after spending some time with Emma. Broken-hearted and disillusioned, Charlie might end up making life-altering decisions after all. We shall see.

The Company You Keep streams on Hulu.

About the Author

Meg Mimura is a TV critic who actually watches shows zealously in search of thought-provoking and paradigm shifting human drama worth our precious time. She is a member of Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter.

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