Suits - Premiere Recap: A+?!
Suits returned tonight with a midseason premiere that started Louis on the hunt to out Mike Ross as a phony. Meanwhile, Mike attempted to avenge his parents’ deaths, and Harvey did his best to prove that he’s relationship material.
Episode 11 opened with two great “morning after” scenes. First, Mike and Rachel stirred awake and began contemplating life outside of Mike’s dingy bachelor pad. Harvey, on the other hand, faced the dubious task of admitting to Scottie that he hadn’t actually solidified her a spot on the firm’s roster. Meaning, a talk with Jessia (Gina Torres) loomed on the horizon. The thing with Scottie is that she’s a fantastic lawyer, and Jessica has always seemed to like her enough. She’d get along with most at Pearson Specter, but Harvey is notorious for his commitment issues. The idea of banking on a Harvey relationship to go the long haul seemed ridiculous to Jessica, who promptly slapped Scottie with a deal. She was welcome to join the firm so long as she agreed to pay her $500,000 buy-in up front.
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Most of the law action during Episode 11 focused on Mike’s personal vendetta against Nick Rinaldi, the lawyer responsible for slapping a bogus settlement on the case of his parents’ deaths. Remember, they were killed by a drunk driver when Mike was very young, and his grandmother was left with nothing more than about a year’s rent because of some technicalities. Now, Rinaldi was representing a client suing one of Pearson Specter’s clients, a medical practice that was apparently being held responsible for failed supplies that caused a man’s death. At first, Harvey was willing to let their rich client settle because they had the money and didn’t want bad press. Upon hearing of Mike’s personal attachment, however, he gladly hopped on board, bag of peanuts in hand, to watch the show.
The deposition went pretty terribly, to be quite honest. Just the words used by Rinaldi were enough to trigger flashbacks in Mike’s mind, moments that seemed like lapses in understanding to everyone else in the room. Basically, more damage than good was done. Luckily for Mike, he killed it in the courtroom. Rinaldi paid an expert medical witness to take the stand and throw his professional weight against his opponent. Mike, however, did his research and managed to uncover that this former surgeon now makes a living working like this because he’d recently lost a patient on the operating table. If he was too afraid to ever operate again, why would the court take his professional opinion seriously? It seemed like Mike was beginning to turn the tides in his favor, but as Harvey previously pointed out, they need the case to be completely dismissed for a true win to happen. This is where Mike’s secret weapon came in. Outside of the courtroom on the street, Mike whipped out a photo of Rinaldi’s client’s deceased husband drinking at an event just before the surgery. Of course, you’re advised to not drink alcohol, including a sip of a celebratory toast, before a big operation. It might seem like a stretch to the untrained average eye, but a professional court couldn’t dismiss it.
This is where things got truly interesting with Mike’s plot this week. Rinaldi made it a point to shake some sense into Mike. He might consider Rinaldi to be scum, but Mike was playing the role of the monster in this case, going after an innocent woman to stick it to her lawyer. Mike refused to budge, however, until Rinaldi dropped a bomb. Mike’s father had two drinks the night he was killed in a drunk driving accident. Now, this might not seem like anything to anybody but Mike, but the idea of his perfect father even sacrificing just a second of reaction time required to save his life behind the wheel was too much to comprehend. Luckily, he had Rachel to begin to help him calm down and recognize that this was a tactic to mess with his mind.
Louis’ attempts to dig up the dirt on Mike Ross were almost immediately snuffed out by Donna (Sarah Rafferty). I knew something had to be up here because Suits had spent way too much time advertising this plot to nip it in the bud like it was some supporting arc this week. Donna was quick to outmaneuver Louis’ questions about Mike’s background, including the fact that he never signed up for an interview with Harvey. Donna simply advised Louis’ to order up a copy of Mike’s transcript, and he did. Simple enough, right? More on this later! It’s also important to point out that Louis is still keeping his snooping from Sheila (Rachael Harris), and all of this “bad boy” behavior is working wonders on their sex life!
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Scottie came up with a plan to impress Jessica that involved booking the one client that Harvey missed out on. Cameo by Michael Phelps! I liked the “grab your balls” approach Scottie took to manhandling (not literally) Michael Phelps into signing on to representation with Pearson Specter. It was also nice to see that Phelps has a good sense of humor about himself. Later on, Jessica did prove to be impressed by Scottie’s work, but the question remained; would Scottie stay loyal to them? What did Michael Phelps matter if Scottie jumped ship with him a few months down the road? Harvey concocted a scheme to meet Jessica halfway. Rather than the $500,000 buy-in up front, Scottie was simply offered the chance to sign a non-compete contract that would prevent her from stealing clients if she chose to leave in the future.
After some deep thinking, Mike decided to change the way in which he saw Rinaldi’s client’s case. Rather than dragging an innocent victim down with his revenge, Mike pointed Rinaldi to another probable cause of death, a medicine produced by someone else’s client. In addition, rather than simply walking away, Mike went the extra mile and advised Rinaldi to have the woman take down the picture of her husband drinking at that event, a photo Mike easily dug up on Facebook. In being the bigger person and refusing to become the monster, Mike made peace with his parents’ case as well.
Later that evening, Scottie’s thorough research revealed the true nature of Harvey’s plan. In an effort to try his hand at a romantic gesture, Harvey secretly paid her buy-in and led her to believe that a non-compete agreement wasn’t customary. Of course, it is customary for all lawyers at the firm. The manipulation and dishonesty of it all trumped the romance for Scottie and understandably so. In the end, however, Harvey proved to be growing and trying even more than we’d anticipated. The two closed out their arc for this premiere opening up to each other in a very nice moment that took us back to the earliest days of their relationship.
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Mike and Rachel had two fantastic moments this week. Backtracking a bit for the first, it was Rachel who helped Mike cope during his case for Episode 11. She listened as he recalled the story of the night his parents went out for a date, a recreation of their very first, and never came home. Little Mike, who was apparently in quite the mood that evening, couldn’t even bring himself to hug his father back as he left. In the present, Rachel used Mike’s father’s tradition of celebrating the little things in life by recreating their own first date in the empty living room of their new apartment. The two ended their plot this week with a candlelit sushi picnic, and things are certainly looking bright for this Suits couple’s future.
To close the recap for Episode 11, Louis received Mike’s transcript and went over it with a fine-tooth comb. Something stuck out like a sore thumb, an A+ in a course taught by a Harvard professor notorious for refusing to give anything higher than an A. Louis found the first smudge on Mike’s record, and he’s coming for more!
What did you think of Suits Season 3 Episode 11, the Midseason Premiere, “Buried Secrets”? What will Louis do when he learns the truth? Are you enjoying the romantic relationships so far?
Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Suits Season 3 Episode 11, the Midseason Premiere, “Buried Secrets”!