There’s been a dearth of horny exhibits on tv. That should not be conflated with the variety of skin-baring scenes that any given collection would possibly sprinkle into their narrative — however a genuinely horny present, consisting of a enjoyable, partaking dynamic between the romantic leads, plausible chemistry, and all of the plot obstacles that contribute to creating the potential of their new relationship that a lot thornier. Enter ABC’s new heist drama The Firm You Maintain, based mostly on the Okay-drama My Fellow Residents and developed by Julia Cohen and Phil Klemmer, which feels blended from equal components Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Leverage and served up clean for what is perhaps one of the crucial stunning community TV contributions of 2023 to this point.
In his first position since his long-running flip within the hit drama This Is Us, Milo Ventimiglia leads this new collection as Charlie Nicoletti, knowledgeable con man who has been energetic within the “household enterprise” for so long as he can keep in mind however has at all times distantly set his sights on getting out and going legit. The group, led up by his dad and mom, Leo (William Fichtner) and Fran (Polly Draper), in addition to Charlie’s older sister Birdie (Sarah Wayne Callies), run an area dive bar as a entrance for the true operation — however the household has at all times operated with a way of morality even whereas working within the grey areas of legality. Their targets are the wealthy and horrible — typically, rich events who’re skimming off the highest themselves, or funding evil enterprises. (See the place the Leverage comparisons come into play?) It is this modus operandi, a Robin Hood technique, that ensures the household on the heart of this present stays one to root for, with all of the baked-in relationships {that a} group who’s been intimately working with one another for years would possess. Ventimiglia and Callies are those who most believably play off of one another as siblings, particularly since Charlie and Birdie usually tend to be caught humorously bickering throughout a job as a substitute of specializing in the mission at hand — however Fichtner and Draper additionally lend a gravitas to their roles because the heads of the household who’re getting older out of the enterprise they’re in however have to stay it out slightly longer.
Whereas the Nicoletti household is perhaps The Firm You Maintain‘s beating coronary heart, it is the chemistry between Ventimiglia and his co-lead that contributes to its fluttering pulse. After a job that would have set the household for all times goes dangerous for them as a substitute, Charlie heads to a lodge bar with the intention of shutting off his cellphone and drowning his sorrows — the place he meets a lady together with her personal causes for ordering a stiff drink. Emma Hill (Catherine Haena Kim) has her personal vary {of professional} and private troubles weighing on her, however the circumstances are excellent for the 2 of them to strike up a dialog. One drink results in one other and one other and one other, and earlier than they comprehend it, they’re falling into mattress collectively for an evening of unforgettable ardour — with as a lot steam as might presumably be allowed by community requirements. The one drawback? Emma is an undercover CIA agent, and since the 2 of them have already agreed to stay near-strangers to one another — solely revealing small particulars in between a number of rounds of bed room motion — neither of them is conscious of what the opposite actually does for a dwelling.
It could be one factor if Charlie and Emma’s one-night-stand remained simply that — however as they get up the following morning, tumble again into mattress, after which lastly go their separate methods, neither celebration can get the opposite one out of their head. In actual fact, Charlie’s about 99% positive he is perhaps falling in love with a lady he barely is aware of something about, however the potential for brand spanking new romance is the least of his issues. Not solely does he have to determine a strategy to see Emma once more, and presumably determine if this one-time-only fling can flip into one thing extra everlasting, however his household’s monetary safety can be hanging within the stability. Somebody the Nicolettis screwed over of their latest previous has come to gather on what they’re owed, and so they will not cease till they’re repaid each single cent. So, regardless of his earlier efforts to ensure his household’s future with yet another good rating, Charlie finds himself drawn proper again into the heist enterprise — full with elaborate disguises, cleverly orchestrated plans, and unsuspecting targets with sufficient money and jewels to earn the Nicolettis slightly extra time to pay again their very massive debt.
This mix between an attractive romance and a household drama is the place The Firm You Maintain settles into its rhythm, thereby making certain that the collection by no means turns into too one-note. Granted, Ventimiglia and Kim catch and maintain your consideration each time they share a scene collectively, however this present hinges on each single one of many naturally successful qualities that Ventimiglia brings to the desk. Because the main man, the romantic curiosity, the dedicated son and brother, and the profession felony, he has lots of variances to the character to juggle. Charlie would not be practically as compelling with out the allure Ventimiglia exudes, in addition to the actor’s potential to make him equal components affable, weak, and emotionally reserved with out veering into broody or closed-off territory.
We do not spend fairly as a lot time with Emma and her residence life — though the preliminary episodes unveil the truth that she has loads to navigate in her circle of relatives, particularly since her brother, David Hill (Tim Chiou), is working for workplace and retains making an attempt to rent her away from the unassuming information agency — the place he mistakenly believes she works — so as to be part of his political marketing campaign. The stark dichotomy between the present’s two households is intriguing by itself, with the Hills extensively often called a Baltimore dynasty in their very own proper and the Nicolettis scraping by via their less-than-legal measures. Nevertheless, the locations the place Kim will get to shine away from her scenes with Ventimiglia are the events that Emma is given to be a badass CIA agent, her investigation closing in on a mysterious new determine within the felony world who at all times appears to be standing simply out of vary for any cameras to choose up the exact particulars of his face.
The overarching query of precisely how lengthy Charlie and Emma can proceed their burgeoning, forbidden romance hangs over all the things, making a scrumptious word of pressure that has but to interrupt. It is also an extremely satisfying episodic caper present because the Nicolettis work to drag off a brand new con every week, which is entertaining by itself however finally reminds us of the rising stakes across the dangerous man who at the moment holds their leash. Though it is too quickly to inform precisely the place The Firm You Maintain will find yourself by the tip of its freshman season, this new collection has already positioned itself to steal audiences’ hearts with its dynamic solid, enjoyable plot, and swoony romance.
Score: B+
The Firm You Maintain premieres Sunday, February 19 on ABC, with new episodes airing weekly each Sunday after.
