NOTE: this post contains spoilers for The Company You Keep episode 9, "The Truth Shall Set You Free."
The penultimate episode of its first season, "The Truth Shall Set You Free" is The Company You Keep's most explosive installment yet. Both metaphorically and literally.
Daphne (Felisha Terrell) holds a meeting with the local drug cartels, introducing them to Patrick Maguire (Timothy V Murphy), head of the Maguire crime family, and his son Connor Maguire (Barry Sloane), the heir. Connor can't help but run his mouth, first insulting the other crime families and then hurling abuse at Daphne. Patrick eventually tells him to wait outside.
After the meeting, Daphne tells Patrick she wants full control of the crime syndicate she built into a flourishing empire while he was in prison. Patrick seemingly agrees, telling her he's proud of what she’s achieved. But he's only going to take a step back after he's had a sit-down meeting with Brad Wilford (Michael Gladis), the arms trader Daphne is using. Daphne immediately sees through this, though. If they sit down together, Patrick and Connor might try to make their own deal with him and cut her out. So Daphne asks Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) to make sure she's the only person who knows who Wilford is.
The problem is Emma (Catherine Haena Kim) has already asked Charlie to attend the meeting between Patrick, Connor and Wilford, where he'll wear a wire. Charlie is obviously against this idea, because if he's caught they'll instantly kill him. But it's Emma's only option. Her case against the Maguire's has got caught up in political tape. The involvement of several political figures in the arms sales has caused various bureaus to slow it down. Luckily for Emma they don't know about Charlie working undercover, so they're able to use him as an insider without the bureaus slowing it down.
The Nicolettis figure out a plan for how to make Emma think Charlie is at the meeting while also making sure the Maguires don't actually meet with Wilford. On one carriage (oh yeah, the meeting is on a train because Wilford is paranoid), Charlie and Leo (William Fichtner) pretend to be Patrick and Connor and sit down with the real Wilford. Meanwhile, at the exact same time, Birdie's ex-boyfriend Simon (Geoff Stults) pretends to be Wilford, and sits down with the real Patrick and Connor. Whatever Patrick and Connor say, Charlie and Leo repeat, while Simon does the same for Wilford.
These meetings are recorded by Fran (Polly Draper) and Ollie (Shaylee Mansfield), the latter of whom had been asking to get involved in the family business more. The plan is going swimmingly until a passer-by knocks Fran's bag, revealing to Emma that Simon is pretending to be Wilford. Patrick and Connor tell Wilford they're taking over the crime syndicate again. This gives Emma the evidence she needs, but it's compromised because it's not actually to the real Wilford.
Afterwards, Emma confronts Charlie, but he says he had no choice but to lie to her. She accuses him of doing it to protect Daphne. This provokes Charlie to say he's only been getting closer to Daphne because Emma told him to. When Emma asks Charlie why he hasn't been honest with her, he reminds her he's only in this mess because he told her the truth. He then says he's risked everything to help her, putting himself and his family in danger, and now he wants her out of his life. So she leaves.
Back at the CIA, Emma learns that her boss has been reassigned because of the pressure from the other agencies. When Emma shows the evidence, which she's edited to make real, her new boss decides rather than arrest Patrick and Connor they're going to continue the case because they want to know who the Maguire's are selling to.
Meanwhile, Charlie goes to Daphne and shows her the evidence that the Maguires have turned on her. She says she'd be disappointed if it wasn't predictable and admits that she has never felt good enough. Charlie is a sympathetic ear. She then kisses him, but Charlie eventually pulls away and leaves.
Daphne has a second visitor, Emma. She reveals Charlie has been working for her as an informant. Emma wants Daphne to work with her to bring down Patrick and Connor. Which she really has to do because Emma has an iron-clad case against her. Later Daphne goes to see Charlie and tells him to tell Emma that she'll do it.
But Patrick and Connor have their own plans for Emma. After spotting her at their fake meeting with Wilford, Patrick orders Connor to kill Emma. Connor plants a bomb in Emma's car. She's not the one to enter it, though.
Emma’s brother David (Tim Chiou) does so alongside his girlfriend Jennifer West (Andrea Cortes). This is just after David pulled out of the running to become a senator in a live debate, telling voters that politics has just become about winning and telling people what they want to hear rather than doing what's actually right. It appears as though David and Jennifer just escaped the car in time, but we're still not sure if they survived.
There were a few more revelations in "The Truth Shall Set You Free." Fran's ex-fiancee Frankie (Tony Shaloub) visits the bar and tells her and Leo that they've had an offer of $4.5 million for the bar. This provokes Leo to admit he needs to be more honest about his deteriorating mental strength and they deeply consider whether to sell. Also, Birdie (Sarah Wayne Callies) grows closer with Simon, while she finally gives Ollie a key to downstairs and invites her to join the family con business.
"The Truth Shall Set You Free" perfectly sets up next week's finale, while proving to be a rousing and genuinely tense episode on its own, too. Next week, Emma, Charlie, and Daphne will be working together to finally bring Patrick and Connor down. Leo and Fran have to decide whether to sell the bar. While Emma's job as an undercover agent is almost certainly exposed now after the bombing of her car.
The Company You Keep finale airs on Sunday, May 7, at 10 pm ET/PT on ABC. Previous episodes are streaming on Hulu.
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