The Company You Keep season finale recap

Timothy V. Murphy and Milo Ventimiglia in The Company You Keep (Image credit: ABC/Raymond Liu)

NOTE: this post contains spoilers for The Company You Keep episode 10, "The Truth Hurts"

The Company You Keep's penultimate episode ended with senate nominee David Hill (Tim Chiou) and his girlfriend Jennifer West (Andrea Cortes) narrowly escaping an exploding car. After learning about the explosion, Charlie (Milo Ventimiglia) immediately heads over to the hospital to check on the safety of Emma (Catherine Haena Kim). When he gets there, Emma informs him she was the target of the bomb and that the FBI are tracking her because her hunt for Patrick Maguire (Timothy V Murphy) exposed the shady dealings of the Under Secretary of Defense, Dalton Bridges. In fact, they're more interested in keeping Maguire safe than her, as they want him to turn informant.

Charlie and Emma quickly figure out a way to keep her safe. The government still thinks they're in a relationship, so they pretend to have a few personal days together to help her recovery, during which time they'll figure out a way to defeat the Maguire crime family. They also have help from Daphne (Felisha Terrell), who after being betrayed by her father wants to bring him down.

At Charlie's apartment, the trio come up with their plan. They need Patrick to implement himself while exchanging guns with Brad Willford (Michael Gladis) and convince the FBI to have the calvary on alert for when he does. Charlie teaches Emma and Daphne how to con Patrick and the FBI into aiding them.

Thanks to some gentle flirting from Emma, Agent Vikram Singh (Sachin Bhatt) says he'll be ready and waiting with his officers. Then Daphne tells Patrick that Conner (Barry Sloane) is too much of a liability to be at the meeting with Brad and offers to take his place. Patrick says he'll go instead, which is exactly what Charlie, Emma and Daphne wanted.

All the while, Charlie and Emma get closer and closer, which ultimately results in the pair having sex the night before the meeting. Charlie, Emma and Daphne's plan immediately hits a snag when Patrick sends Daphne to a different location, where she comes face to face with a vengeful Conner. Emma spots this on her surveillance footage and arrives just in time to save Daphne's life, shooting Conner. We don't see him die, though, as he jumps into the river at the harbor to get away.

Charlie joins Patrick at the meeting with Brad. However, Brad still believes Charlie is Conner. Charlie comes clean to Patrick and Brad, telling them he's a con-man, then showing them footage of the container truck full of guns seemingly being switched with another truck, so they don't know where the guns actually are.

Patrick leads Brad to the container, which he believes will be empty. When they open it up, though, it's full of guns. Charlie's trick was there was no trick. Standing next to a container full of guns and $20 million of crypto in his pocket, the FBI go to arrest Patrick.

Having previously been tricked by Charlie using fake FBI agents, Patrick doesn't believe they're real, so he starts firing at them. A shootout starts, during which Emma is taken hostage by Patrick. Charlie arrives to save her, but is shot twice in the chest by Maguire. Emma pushes Maguire off her and he's killed by a sniper. Luckily, Charlie wore a bullet-proof vest so he survives. In all the chaos, Daphne escapes.

Afterwards, Emma tells Charlie she's still in love with him. Charlie admits he loves her too, but says they're just too different to be in a relationship together. He's happy to get his hands dirty and bend the law to make money, while she's too idealistic. He insists they'll never be truly honest with each other. So they go their separate ways.

Emma's idealism is smashed, however, when rather than being praised she's reprimanded by her superiors for killing Maguire instead of taking him alive. They don't care that she's taken the drugs and guns off the street. So Emma quits the CIA and starts a covert unit where, alongside her trusted CIA colleague Mason (Courtney Taylor) and former boss Cas (Josh Braaten), they'll spy on the spies. She even has the $20 million of crypto she stole from Maguire after he was shot to help launch the unit.

They just need one other person to help them. Emma approaches Charlie at the bar where they first met, tells them of her new project. He immediately agrees.

William Fichtner and Polly Draper in The Company You Keep (Image credit: ABC/Christopher Willard)

While all of the above unfolds, Leo (William Fichtner) and Fran (Polly Draper) perform their own con. After learning that Frankie's (Tony Shalhoub) buyers want to turn their bar into a new block of expensive apartments that will decimate the community, Leo and Fran take them out for dinner near where the FBI are planning to raid Maguire. When the buyers hear the gunshots they immediately decide to pull out of the $4.5 million deal, sacrificing their $450,000 deposit in the process.

Elsewhere, because of his incredibly honest speech during the live debate and as a result of the explosion, David wins his senate race. After previously insisting he wasn't going to become a senator, Jennifer convinces him to do so. It's revealed, however, that Jennifer is actually an undercover spy herself, seemingly for the Russians.

This captivating finale managed to combine all of the elements that have made The Company You Keep so enjoyable. As well as being subtly stylish, its plot was both intriguing and exciting, while it also managed to be thought-provoking and even a tad aspirational, without being preachy.

"The Truth Hurts" also perfectly sets The Company You Keep up for a potential second season, should ABC confirm it; there’s been more than enough to suggest that it has all the ingredients to become one of the most watchable shows on television.

All episodes of The Company You Keep are now available to stream on Hulu.

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Born and raised in England but now based in Philadelphia, Gregory Wakeman has written for the BBC, New York Times, The Guardian, GQ, and Yahoo Movies UK, all while defiantly trying to keep his accent.