S01.E09: The Truth Shall Set You Free

[Guest]

Quote

Realizing they want the same thing, Emma and Daphne agree to work together to take down the Maguires. Later, the Nicolettis consider selling the bar when a great offer comes their way, and David announces he is done with politics.

Airing: April 30, 2023

[AnimeMania]

Tony Shalhoub as Frankie Musso

[Trini]

Okay, so The Con this week was clever -- although not sure that evidence would hold up in court?

So I do appreciate some shirtless Milo, but that scene wasn't really doing what the writers wanted it to do, since they've just about killed the Charlie/Emma romance.

An Emma/Charlie/Daphne triangle might have been interesting for me under different circumstances; but I'm not feeling Charlie/Daphne because of the way Daphne has treated Charlie and his family before.

Power move with Emma's mom releasing their 'dirty laundry' herself; but then David quits anyway?? I'm actually invested in his story, even though he's a side character. I hope he and Whatshername survived that explosion!

Hey, Tony Shalhoub!

 

[The description for this episode is bad in that it's all the things that happened at the end.]

[meira.hand]

33 minutes ago, Trini said:

The description for this episode is bad in that it's all the things that happened at the end.

Agree, but it is the same in all the episode guides I checked that get it from tvmaze, so I suspect it was an official release

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/2519792/the-company-you-keep-1x09-the-truth-shall-set-you-free

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by meira.hand

[Trini]

37 minutes ago, meira.hand said:

Agree, but it is the same in all the episode guides I checked that get it from tvmaze, so I suspect it was an official release

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/2519792/the-company-you-keep-1x09-the-truth-shall-set-you-free

Oh, I know it's official; that's why I'm annoyed. They could do better.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Trini

[Sarah 103]

1 hour ago, Trini said:

Okay, so The Con this week was clever -- although not sure that evidence would hold up in court?

I don't think the evidence needs to hold up in court. As Emma's new boss reminded her, they are not arresting someone and putting someone in handcuffs. There isn't going to be a dramatic courtroom scene. The target needs to think they are in trouble and facing legal consequences so they will turn on the higher-ups/co-conspirators. 

The con was one of the best parts of the episode. 

1 hour ago, Trini said:

So I do appreciate some shirtless Milo, but that scene wasn't really doing what the writers wanted it to do, since they've just about killed the Charlie/Emma romance.

I too am a member of the shirtless Milo appreciation society. As long as he isn't being physcially tortured or harmed, I'm not too picky about how/why shirtless Milo scenes happen. (now getting out of the shallow end of the pool) 

Parts of the season didn't make sense from a narrative perspective, but after this episode it all makes sense and I can see what the creative team was doing. I'm still not sure I agree with the decision, but at least I understand it. 

[seacliffsal]

So, Emma decides to expose Charlie's involvement in the CIA to Daphne?  Yeah, she doesn't care about him at all.

I also think the actress who plays Emma is a weak link in terms of acting.  It seems like she uses the same facial expression for most of her scenes.

I like the tension between Charlie and Daphne.  I was really worried that Birdie's ex was going to be killed due to being part of the con.  I think there will be a lot of complications that are part of the fallout from the con.  

[ribboninthesky1]

9 hours ago, Trini said:

An Emma/Charlie/Daphne triangle might have been interesting for me under different circumstances; but I'm not feeling Charlie/Daphne because of the way Daphne has treated Charlie and his family before.

I totally get this.  OTOH, this all started because Charlie and fam conned the Maguires out of 10 million. Not exactly chump change.  So it wasn't entirely unreasonable for Daphne to start out harsh with them. 

1 hour ago, seacliffsal said:

I like the tension between Charlie and Daphne. 

Same.  As I mentioned in an earlier episode, they see each other.  There are no pretenses.  

1 hour ago, seacliffsal said:

I also think the actress who plays Emma is a weak link in terms of acting.

I want to disagree, but....yeah.  I kept getting distracted in this episode with Catherine Haena Kim opening her eyes really wide to convey emotion, especially in her scenes opposite Milo.  I hate that performance style.  

8 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

I too am a member of the shirtless Milo appreciation society. As long as he isn't being physcially tortured or harmed, I'm not too picky about how/why shirtless Milo scenes happen. 

Indeed! 

9 hours ago, Trini said:

So I do appreciate some shirtless Milo, but that scene wasn't really doing what the writers wanted it to do, since they've just about killed the Charlie/Emma romance.

I think they were going for romantic tension once Charlie's secret got out, but the writing didn't support it.  And while the actors have chemistry, it's not strong enough for the supposed love story they're going for. 

When Emma was getting weepy talking to her mom about Dad's affair, I rolled my eyes.  Like, girl, you and you 2-3 month romp with Charlie is NOT parallel with a married couple with 2 children who have navigated the highs and lows of long-term commitment, some of which included emigrating to an entirely new country and culture.  Please stop the drama.  

Hottie David better not be dead! Interesting that the girlfriend recognized the car was rigged to blow and warned them to get out.  Not something the average person would be aware of. 

I loved Daphne's purple suit at the beginning of the episode.  I enjoy her wardrobe in general. 

[Dowel Jones]

2 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

Not something the average person would be aware of. 

Anyone who's ever seen a gangster movie on TV would know that!

[Trini]

4 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

I totally get this.  OTOH, this all started because Charlie and fam conned the Maguires out of 10 million. Not exactly chump change.  So it wasn't entirely unreasonable for Daphne to start out harsh with them. 

True; but no matter who started it, there's enough bad blood for it to be a big hurdle. For me, at least.

 

4 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

I think they were going for romantic tension once Charlie's secret got out, but the writing didn't support it.  And while the actors have chemistry, it's not strong enough for the supposed love story they're going for. 

Exactly; I think it's mainly the writing letting them down.

[Snazzy Daisy]

I agreed with the comment above re Catherine Haena Kim being the weakest link in this series. She was also the weakest in FBI.

Birdie will make a much better CIA agent than Emma. Emma depends on Charlie too much, can’t she think of other sources/methods in her intel gathering effort? Girl, be creative! 
 

[Raja]

10 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

Hottie David better not be dead! Interesting that the girlfriend recognized the car was rigged to blow and warned them to get out.  Not something the average person would be aware of. 

I caught that too.

With David seemingly running his campaign from out of state on TV I was wondering what chance he had anyway. Just name value for the primary since the debate was looking like a rehearsal to me. but I guess real from the supporting scenes.

11 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

So, Emma decides to expose Charlie's involvement in the CIA to Daphne?  Yeah, she doesn't care about him at all.

But the way Felisha Terrell played it as Daphne seemed pleasantly surprised in her though Emma honey trapped Charlie to be her asset was the moment of the episode to me.

[fishcakes]

I just started watching this series from the beginning last week because I heard Tony Shalhoub was joining the cast, and now that he's appeared, I'd like to call up the showrunners and ask them if they're only going to show him for two minutes at the beginning and two minutes at the end of the episode, what are they even doing with their lives? Hmpf. Maybe next week we'll see more of him.

Overall, the show is a bit of a disappointment. The first episode was great, but then it went downhill for me, and I agree that Catherine Haena Kim is miscast. It's all sort of campy fun, but it's like it's been written by kids who don't know how anything works. I love the entire Nicoletti family, but we're supposed to believe they're a family of grifters living on the financial edge so it's funny that they have more tech knowledge and equipment than the CIA. We see Birdie and Charlie in their surveillance van, but Emma and Mason sitting in a car with a pair of binoculars and a point-and-shoot camera. And David just seems kind of stupid to me. I keep waiting for someone to explain to him that he can't be the senator from Washington state when he doesn't even live there. Not even going to get into the idea that the CIA are the good guys, lol.

[Trini]

22 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

I love the entire Nicoletti family, but we're supposed to believe they're a family of grifters living on the financial edge so it's funny that they have more tech knowledge and equipment than the CIA.

Yes; they supposedly do these cons for money, but apparently they already have enough money/resources/skills to even attempt these cons in the first place, so it doesn't make sense to me that they can't use those same money/resources/skills to live crime-free.

[Raja]

Bringing in their baby to the real family business was an uncomfortable moment 

[Lethallyfab]

Tony Shaloub, Marin Hinkle AND Milo, all in the same episode?  This was quite the Maisel reunion episode.

[ribboninthesky1]

1 hour ago, Raja said:

Bringing in their baby to the real family business was an uncomfortable moment 

Yeah, it was. I was wondering....can she hit puberty first? 

12 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Anyone who's ever seen a gangster movie on TV would know that!

Touché!

 

[catrice2]

 I was so excited for this show but the two leads do not give the romantic energy needed.  The questìon is can they pivot to them just being assets?  At this point it is too muddy as to why they are running cons, who for, etc. Daphne was also miscast and has the same limited number of emoting skills as the actresss whom plays Emma.

[desertflower]

Add me to the shirtless Milo fan club.  Hubba hubba! 

I really really hate Daphne’s brother and hope he is gone soon. 

I love Charlie’s family, I enjoy their chemistry together. 

 

[Raja]

20 hours ago, Trini said:

Yes; they supposedly do these cons for money, but apparently they already have enough money/resources/skills to even attempt these cons in the first place, so it doesn't make sense to me that they can't use those same money/resources/skills to live crime-free.

I think we are supposed to believe that they were like Dexter con family  before the Mcguire's enslaved them. Only they didn't do a good job of proving that they earned the bar by only taking down bad people as their marks.

[Sarah 103]

4 hours ago, Raja said:

I think we are supposed to believe that they were like Dexter con family  before the Mcguire's enslaved them. Only they didn't do a good job of proving that they earned the bar by only taking down bad people as their marks.

I thought the family already owned the space the bar was in, that it was originally a tailor shop, and then they converted it into a bar. It wasn't as if they had to buy the bar from someone else with money from capers/cons/heists. The bar seems to be doing well too. 

[Simba122504]

Daphne and Charlie have way more chemistry than Charlie and Emma. I wish the series was about their love affair. lol 

[SunnyBeBe]

I just discovered this show.  I liked this episode very much.  Now, to catch up.