by Chelsea Doyle, Editor

Let me start right out by saying I love this freaking show. I have a dear fondness for USA and their shows, and I don’t care who knows it. I actually used to have a great relationship with USA when I worked actively as an entertainment journalist, and they invited me on set for Royal Pains and White Collar. It was a great experience, and they’re lovely people. I find their shows charming and entertaining. I’m not sure that I’d call them must-watch oh my goodness have to see it live can’t stop thinking about it, like Game of Thrones. Instead he has this warm feel-good but also interesting vibe to it. Lighter, yes, but great to watch. I love this cast. Gina Torres, she is the one I came for, but now I’m fond of them all.

Quick summary, Suits is about Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht). Mike is a genius who took the bar exam for students, cheating the system, due to his eidetic memory because he was tossed out of school. Harvey is a high-powered attorney who likes to take risks, and Mike was one of those risks. He hired him as an associate knowing that Mike is not a real lawyer, because he was much better than the real lawyers he talked to. Mike has feelings for Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle), a paralegal who wants to be a full lawyer, but he wasn’t able to act on it since she didn’t know the truth about it. Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) is the head partner and she put Harvey through school and supported him to be her own attack dog. Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty) is Harvey’s secretary and best friend and also the only one in on Mike’s secret for most of season one. Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) starts out as a main antagonist well into the second season, a fellow lawyer who is constantly in Harvey’s shadow and frustrated by the lack of respect he gets. Season one ended with Jessica finding out about Mike.

Season two started right out from there, with Harvey finding ways to keep Mike around despite that. He pretty much threatens to go down with the ship and puts his neck on the line for his friend. They have more important things to worry about since Daniel Hardman returns, the former head partner who was chased out by Harvey and Jessica. They blackmailed him since he used corporate money to fund his lifestyle and the affair he had while his wife was dying of cancer.  With his wife dead he comes back and tries to take over. He wins over Louis’ loyalty by offering him the senior partnership he always wanted. Harvey and Jessica’s efforts to get Louis’ attention is too little too late, and he votes for Hardman. However Mike proved his worth and that he was the right risk to take by doing a big bluff at the partner meeting. He implied that they had proof about Hardman, causing the board to turn against him.

Mike’s major storyline outside of that was the tragic death of his grandmother. He was too busy working to pay her much attention, but when he bought her an expensive apartment, she died before he could show her. He went through a deep depression afterward and acted out by smoking pot again and having sex with his married ex. Harvey told him to get his shit together already, which eventually did work. Rachel attempted to get into Harvard Law School after finally passing the test, but she was rejected. At first Louis thought this was his fault for pissing off his girlfriend who was a recruiter, but she told him gently that it wasn’t. Rachel simply didn’t get in. For awhile Louis lied to her about it, but she did hear the truth eventually and was crushed. Louis almost left because of how vicious Harvey was being to him, and they decided to make peace instead. Donna was fired and rehired. Things started getting really messed up in the office because Harvey got angry that Jessica was courting a new partner. They defeated Hardman after he tried to mess up their sexual harassment lawsuits, but Jessica figured it was time to sign on some more power since they were struggling. Harvey didn’t like that or his potential loss of power so he betrayed her to try to stop it from happening or weasel around her. This led him to be promptly smacked down by Jessica and she was brutally hurt by his actions. He was angry at Mike too for taking Jessica’s side, and Mike followed this up by telling Rachel the truth about him. She hits him and then they have sex to end the season.

That was as general a summary as I could get in the second season, wow a lot of things happened. In only sixteen episodes too, that’s a mark of an excellent show. I think one thing I really love about this show is that they let Harvey be wrong. Harvey’s a very arrogant and selfish character, with the ability to be kinder and loyal too, but this was an inevitable clash. They’d warned Jessica from day one that eventually she’d have to rein Harvey in because he’d turn on her. His ambition is a good and bad trait, and while he’s grown a great deal in the past two seasons, it wasn’t enough to keep him from striking out. I really hope next season he has to acknowledge his mistake and apologize to Jessica. He hurt her dearly and she’s always been there for him, supporting him when no one else did. And he let his desire for power matter more. Tsk tsk. I loved the growth of his relationship with Mike this season too. They had a lot of rough patches, but underneath it all was a continuous fraternal love for each other. I loved that Rachel didn’t get into Harvard. That’s amazing. In most shows she would have, but this show is too honest for that. Even with legacy and her background, she wasn’t good enough, and wow is that a bitter pill to swallow. What she’s going to do with the information about Mike next season will be interesting.

Donna of course was perfection, both her firing to protect Harvey and rehiring because he couldn’t be without her. Donna/Harvey OTP whatever I have no shame about it. I really want to talk about Louis Litt. Like I have so many feelings about Louis Litt. I think the actor does such a lovely job with this character, because he does questionable things and you want to shake him, but there’s this vulnerability underneath you can see really well. He was the nerd in school who worked hard to be the man he is now, but he’s still constantly under-appreciated and treated like dirt by Harvey, the “popular” and handsome guy. I think for me what boiled Louis down was when he told Harvey he always saw them as Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. That they bickered and fought but were secretly on the same team or friends. How unbelievably sad is that? All he wanted was Harvey’s respect and I wanted to hug the hell out of him. Plus when he told Jessica he had to leave to get away from Harvey but he would never, ever do anything to harm the law firm because he loved it. UGH LOUIS LITT. SO MANY FEELINGS FOR YOU. Followed up by his deep love for Donna and heartbreaking storyline with Rachel, I think they’ve done a phenomenal job with him this season.

I cannot wait for next season. It starts July 16th and that’s too far away. There are no details about it yet but I imagine it will be the aftermath of Harvey’s betrayal, Mike’s confession, and the new partnership. Seriously, if you haven’t given this show a chance, you might want to. It won’t keep you at the end of your seat, but the cases are interesting and the characters are really lovable. Also you will never see anything funnier than Harvey and Mike getting high together. It’s a thing of beauty.

Rating: – This season was almost as perfect as one can get. It developed all the characters, it pushed forward the plot in an engaging way, and it ended in an intense way whetting the audience’s appetite for the next season. Bravo, Suits.

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