With Mike going to prison, one would have assumed that more screen time would be dedicated to the other characters. Alas, it feels as if two thirds of Suits now takes place within the walls of Danbury Prison and every other storyline is simply filler for each episode.
Harvey Specter is a man obsessed. He has become so utterly fixated on getting Mike out of prison that he’s already back to crossing lines and making backdoor deals after he just swore he wanted to restore the firm’s morality. Harvey’s collusion with Sean Cahill reaches a whole new level this week as he conspires to sign William Sutter, the shady Wall Street tycoon he refused to get into business with in ‘Back on the Map,’ as a client. Harvey uses this as a means to also represent Mike’s cellmate, who happens to be Sutter’s son-in-law. Sutter has been under investigation by the SEC for months and Cahill needs Mike to exploit Kevin’s trust so that he informs on his father-in-law.
Sound convoluted enough? The whole concept is difficult to make sense of until Jessica is kind enough to regurgitate it twenty-five minutes later in layman’s terms. Seven seasons of The Good Wife and I could barely understand the first half of the episode. Convoluted as the driving plot is, it’s also rather dry. The seeds are being planted for Mike’s release but the mechanics of it are so unnecessarily complicated that it’s almost preferable to skip ahead two full years to Mike’s intended release date. However, what is intriguing is Harvey’s weakening ethical compass. He’s representing a client with the full intention to lose, which could definitely point to the beginnings of a downward spiral. Even though he did a lot of good, Mike does deserve to be in prison for what he did and Harvey’s affection for him is muddying that truth.
Thankfully, the B and C plots of the episode briefly keep viewers entertained. Although Leonard Bailey’s death row appeal doesn’t qualify for the Innocence Project, Rachel is determined to re-open his case, using the resources of PSL. Since Jessica is literally the only person still focused on rebuilding the firm, she is the natural (and really only) choice. We’ve probably only seen the firm take one pro-bono case in five-plus years so it’s definitely a noble development.
Louis, on the other hand, is throwing money around, badgering Donna to buy him a beach house so he can have Tara remodel it for him. It was a great payoff to reveal that Louis doesn’t even own the house in the Hamptons that he mentioned last episode. Ever the voice of reason, Donna points out that beginning any kind of relationship with a lie only ever leads to disaster (ahem, Mike and Rachel), but Louis is convinced he doesn’t have a shot with a woman like that. The discussion gets emotional real quick, but Donna and Louis were due for a sincere moment after sniping at one another over the past few episodes.
It’s a little baffling that the three-name partners are currently so disjointed. Who else are their clients? What are they doing with their days? Until Jessica mentioned she had spent hours trying to drum up new business, their initial mission to rebuild the firm seems to have largely fallen by the wayside. Harvey and Louis are both distracted and with only the help of two secretaries and a law student, how the hell is Pearson Specter Litt even still standing? Yes, it is still a television show, but Suits can’t continue to suspend belief forever. Mike went to prison five episodes ago and it seems like we’re still waiting for the real fallout.
THE REEL SCORE : 4/10
Next time…
