"Suits" returned to the USA Network with its winter season premiere, "Blind Sided," on Jan. 17, and not much has changed since fans last saw the attorneys of Pearson Hardman.
Mike (Patrick J. Adams) is still struggling after his grandma's death, and Louis (Rick Hoffman) and Harvey (Gabriel Macht) are still at each other's throats. A lot of set up also happened for the rest of season two, much of which revolved around the romantic relationships, and Mike finally had a long-overdue realization.
Before Harvey starts things up with Zoe (Jacinda Barrett), and while Mike finally rips the bandaid off with Rachel (Meghan Markle), Louis is stirring up trouble. Louis wants an associate of his own, and so he turns to his own love interest, Sheila (Rachel Harris), for the best of the best. That's what he gets with intense Harvard-graduate Maria (Aarti Mann), and he hires her.
But then problems arise, and they don't have to do with Sheila's insistence on coconut oil, a ski mask, and duct tape while her and Louis get awkwardly intimate. Maria knows Mike Reed wasn't in her class; luckily, Donna (Sarah Rafferty) is there to cover, claiming Mike clerked for three years. But Maria is just going to be a problem, and so Jessica (Gina Torres) tells Louis there's a hiring freeze. Maria isn't a threat anymore -- at least not now.
Mike's also dealing with more immediate problems, both at work and in his personal life. He's still sleeping with Tess (Elisabeth Hower), and he tells Rachel not to tell anyone about him sleeping with a married woman. It's a terrible conversation, but Rachel ends it perfectly with the right kind of "Suits" zinger: "You have no idea what you passed on. And what you are doing? It only ends one way."
But Mike is more focused on the "Blind Sided" case at hand. They're representing a client's kid, named Liam, who killed a teen in a hit and run. Harvey doesn't want Mike on the case, thinking he'd take it too personal, since it's the same way Mike's parents died. But where Harvey sees problems, Mike sees opportunity. He thinks he can give the deceased's family dignity by offering a good settlement.
Of course, things still go awry, despite the $100,000 settlement for the Chung family. After a deal is made with the prosecutor Katrina Bennett (Amanda Schull), who wants a job at Pearson Hardman, Liam admits he was high. Now, Mike finds himself in his own tail spin, again. He doesn’t want Liam to get away with it, but Harvey and Katrina don't care. The Chungs are happy, and Liam will always live with the guilt.
But Mike seems himself as no different than Nick Rinaldi, the attorney who put a price on his parents' life. Mike just has more money and cleaner shoes.
So, once again, Mike attempts to sabotage his job -- one day he really is going to be his own undoing -- and Harvey tells him to get it together and stop blaming him for everything.
Finally, something clicks with Mike, and he decides it's time to start making some changes. He calls his relationship with Tess "disgusting," and finally ends it with her. Mike still has no chance with Rachel, at the moment, but that's not the point. He needs to start taking responsibility for the things he does in his life, and that begins with not sleeping with married women.
And maybe Mike can actually look up to Harvey, and see everything Harvey has done for him and his life. After all, Harvey ends up hiring Katrina -- his only other hire other than Mike -- to protect that Mike tried to break attorney-client privilege. But even more importantly, Harvey isn't running away when Zoe tells him that her brother is going to die from cancer, and she'll be taking care of her daughter Olivia from then on.
"Suits" "Blind Sided" didn’t have too many dramatic moments, as the show is known for, but it brought the wonderful characters of Pearson Hardman back for the rest of season two. With Louis increasingly angry at Harvey, and Mike finally ready to get back on his feet, fans should get ready for wonderful moments full of great one-liners and plenty of drama.
The USA Network show airs on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. EST.
© Elizabeth SanFilippo 2013
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