Suits

I’m very aware that I’m behind the times when it comes to this show. It aired from 2011 – 2019. I know that a few years ago I started the show and got through the first season. I can’t remember if I started the show before or after I moved to Los Angeles. The show was recommended by a friend, and I know Megan was dating Prince Harry by the time I started the show, which made me interested in watching. Also, any time I see actors from Whedon shows, I’m down to give the show a try, and Gina Torres was Jasmine in Angel. Plus, I loved Cleopatra 2525, Firefly and Alias, so I’ll watch anything she’s in.

I was hooked from the first episode. It’s a really great premise. The main character is Michael Ross. He’s a college dropout, who just happens to be a genius. He has this ability to remember everything he reads. By chance, he ends up meeting Harvey Specter, who’s a hotshot lawyer looking for a protege associate. Mike always wanted to be a lawyer, and despite not graduating from law school, Harvey takes him under his wing. For most of the show, it is Harvey and Mike trying to keep Mike’s secret.

The first several seasons where riveting. I loved the characters and I loved the drama. Even characters you were meant to dislike (maybe even hate) felt somewhat likeable, and that can be a really hard thing to do. Even when I disliked what a character was doing (looking at you, Luis), I could still see where they were coming from, for the most part. Around season five, I started to get bored, which may be the fault of binging the show more than the show itself. However, season six or seven, I can’t remember now, took a much needed dramatic turn, and I was pleasantly surprised.

You may or may not know this, but The O.C. was a HUGE part of my teenage life, and I reference it when I discuss shows, even now. There is something I’ve coined (maybe someone else said it, but if they did, I never heard it) the “Ryan Chino” dilemma. If you didn’t watch the show, or don’t remember, a lot of times, especially in the earlier episodes, the drama was, is Ryan going to stay in Newport or return to Chino. It got tired after a while. I felt the same way with this, is Mike’s secret going to be exposed or not… and that dilemma lasted much longer than Ryan’s, let alone the show The O.C. itself.

I won’t go into spoiler territory, but the last two seasons deal with dramatic cast changes, and I was again pleasantly surprised. One addition to the cast that I really enjoyed was Katherine Heigl. I think the last thing I saw her in was Knocked Up (I’ll have to do a post about that film and This is 40, because from what I understand, people hated Debbie and Alison, but they were my favorite characters.). The whole Grey’s Anatomy drama had left a bad taste in my mouth. Having finished Suits, I may need to rethink my opinion of Katherine.

For any Angel fans out there, Amy Acker also has a few appearances on the show… and I just realized as I typed this that both Amy and Gina were on Suits, Angel and Alias. I was disappointed that they didn’t interact in Suits. I think they interacted in Alias… it’s been a long time… and I assume they had to interact in Angel.

I feel like a remember a few people from PLL being on the show as well. I know Patrick J. Adams, the actor who played Mike Ross, married Troian Bellisario, who played Spencer on PLL. So, both were on each other’s show… But I feel like I notice PLL cast members in everything. The actress who played Charlie/Charles was prominent in the first season of Suits as well.

Moving on, despite the show being rather formulaic, though I suppose all shows will develop some rhythm that seems formulaic, it was still enjoyable. There would typically be some impossible situation, usually a case, and just when they thought they couldn’t figure it out, while talking about something else, an idea would pop into someone’s head (usually Harvey’s or Mike’s) and they’d save the day. Their bond was my favorite part of the show. I may be reading into it, but their relationship felt more romantic than mentor/protege. These were two heterosexual male characters, but sometimes they bickered like a couple would.

I also loved all the women in the show. It was very rare that you saw one being a damsel. They were all badass and took charge. Not to mention, for most of the show, Jessica (Gina Torres’ character) is the one running the firm. There were some times when the women’s scenes seemed to only exist to talk about relationship drama, but that didn’t happen too often.

I often say the series finale can make or break a show, and I felt the series finale did the show justice. It was also nice to see some cast that had left return for the finale… Speaking of, something that bothered me, and I could have overlooked it, but I rewatched it twice to make sure… Amy Acker is in the finale, but it was literally a blink and you miss it shot.

It was also funny that I went from Scandal to HTGAWM to Suits. I wonder what law show I will watch next…