Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/ABC
Not since the Library of Alexandria went up in flames has there been a greater media tragedy than when This Is Us’ Jack Pearson died by way of a rogue crockpot. Milo Ventimiglia’s beloved character—a deified dad, an almost symbolic totem of fatherhood—burnt to a crisp, mustache and all. The hearts of a million moms across the nation were left compromised, only to be irreparably broken when the show ended last year. Luckily they won’t stay that way for long.
Ventimiglia is already returning to network television, jumping across channels (and genres) in The Company You Keep, ABC’s sexy new criminal drama, which premieres Sunday and also streams on Hulu. Fans of Ventimiglia’s naturalism as the head of a household will be glad to know that he’s back playing another part of a family unit, albeit a much less wholesome one. And thank goodness—it’s about time we let this rugged man go a little wild!
In the series, Ventimiglia stars as Charlie Nicoletti, who has become the brains behind his family’s four-person crime syndicate. The Nicolettis own a Seattle bar, a front for their primary cash flow, which they use to launder money that they steal from rich, corrupt marks who have more dough and power than they know what to do with. To them, the family business is a Robin Hood operation, a way to level the playing field between the one-percent and the rest of us.