The hit USA Network series Suits returns tonight to it’s Thursday Night perch with the mid-season premiere “Blind-Sided” with Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Mike (Patrick J. Adams) taking on a new lawsuit that ends up being close to comfort for Mike who struggles with the loss of his grandmother amongst other things. Harvey meanwhile, also faces off against a new D.A. hot after his heels and takes on Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman)’s bid for a new second in command. Does Mike separate his personal feelings from the facts of the case? Does Louis pull ahead from Harvey?
For those who don’t remember, Suits stars Adams as Mike Ross, a college dropout with a photographic memory on the run from a drug deal gone bad was hired by Harvey Specter, one of New York City's best lawyers. When we last left off in the mid-season finale, Donna (Sarah Rafferty) was reinstated as Harvey’s assistant/secretary. Mike meanwhile, was dealing with the sudden loss of his grandmother and in the process damages his relationship with Rachel (Meghan Markle) by sleeping with Tess (Elisabeth Hower), a former ex of his who is now married.
So where does it all lead?
That’s an interesting question. As a series, Suits seemed to be slapping a lot of us who are there to just love Mike and support him, as viewers and as fans. While the show started off as Mike’s show, in regards to, what I mean is that Mike is the character we care about, season two has been slowly showing more of Harvey’s hand. And Mike is the character we’ll always root for, but never had I been so happy to hear a character confront a character like I do by the end of “Blind-Sided” on Suits.
Since the loss of his grandmother, Mike has been spiraling out a bit from a more pleasant, controlled Mike. Usually a series like Suits, especially one on the USA Network, is always quick to course correct any defects in a lead character, or make it acceptable because we root for them anyway. They are the plucky underdog. But with “Blind-Sided” it just didn’t feel that the show was following the tropes, even though it was. It just executed it so well with such solid writing and strong performances, it elicited a few cheers and jeers as Mike and Harvey went about their lives with good and bad choices.
Harvey in particular, had a rough one. While we’ve seen everything mostly through Mike’s eyes, being he is the lead character initially, Harvey’s softer side with Zoe Lawford (Jacinda Barrett) was touching and then heartbreaking. Barrett is his wife in real-life and his chemistry with her was a direct hit on this episode. It was sad to see her somewhat go from her guest role. I sincerely hope they bring Zoe back as the little glimpse into Harvey as a more caring individual with his heart on his sleeve was quite touching and nice to see.
And then there was the return of Shelia Sazs (Rachael Harris) and Louis Litt. Why must this episode particularly be difficult for Louis and Harvey? While Louis finally hooks up with Shelia, a snafu from Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) for placing a hiring freeze at the firm because he wants to hire Maria (Aarti Mann) who might blow Mike’s cover, all but blows it for the poor guy.
Interestingly enough, a newcomer with a re-occuring role, Katrina Bennett (Amanda Schull) Bennett, described by USA Network as an ambitious go-getter who knows how to play people's weaknesses to get what she wants within Manhattan's DA's Office and proves to be a foil against Harvey, was brought into the series this week. More interesting was Harvey hiring her to save Mike’s skin.
Which, ties back into what I was beginning to touch on via Harvey’s role in the show. Harvey at the end of the episode puts Mike in his place. Mike had a hard time accepting that his client Liam (Reiley McClendon) was high when he accidently killed someone with his car, and tries to sabatouge the whole thing. To go fully into it without watching the episode seems a bit pointless but Mike more than a few times, uses his personal feelings as they ebb and flow with his decision making process with the case, but that is without the information that Liam was high when he hit the person with his car. When he does find out, the deal is all but signed by the judge, and Harvey makes a play to keep Mike safe.
And that is just it: everything Harvey has done in Suits is for the purpose of keeping Mike safe, and at some point, while Mike’s emotions make him a better lawyer than anyone else Harvey knows, at the same time, it will destroy him. And Harvey finally stops coddling the boy and tells him to snap to. And it is a fantastic scene, one that makes me appreciate Harvey even more, and not just like him as a funny lead in a show, but one that I fully support and root for. And not root for because Mike says we should root for him.
Overall, Suits is a fantastic series and continues to be such mid-way through season two. While I would have loved to see the Hardman-Pearson dragout fight continue to the final moments of Season 2 and not as a mid-season finale, the question I posed of what next was quickly answered and met with much praise from this viewer’s end. Let’s hope the good vibe the mid-season premiere has generated will continue through to the season 2 finale.
Suits airs on the USA Network which is on Channel 5 on Columbus Insight Communications and Channel 29 for Columbus Time Warner Customers
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