Suits - Recap: Harvey Actually Said It Out Loud

Episode 12 of Season 3 of Suits, “Yesterday’s Gone,” had Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) acting as a supporter of both Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) and Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) as his two friends struggled with some very serious circumstances. While Mike dealt with the seemingly impossible task of convincing Louis (Rick Hoffman) to show him a smidgen of mercy, Jessica dealt with the passing of her ex, Quentin, and the task of working through his will with Lisa, the man’s girlfriend. Here is the Recap and Review of Season 3 Episode 12 of Suits, “Yesterday’s Gone”!

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To begin the recap, Episode 12 took place in two major narrative arcs. First, we don’t usually get to see Jessica Pearson sweat, but it certainly a nice change of pace to watch this normally unflappable firm partner letting her emotions get the best of her. Of course, things didn’t quite turn out as expected, and that’s a good thing. Meanwhile, most of the drama this week truly focused on Louis’ adamant effort to destroy Mike Ross in the name of justice. Witnessing Mike and Harvey futilely attempting to dig their way out of this one was only made better through watching Donna (Sarah Rafferty) and Rachel (Meghan Markle) stand by them to the bitter end.

Quentin named both Jessica and Harvey as the lawyers responsible for overseeing his last wishes. Of course, Jessica had a deep personal investment in Quentin’s life, even if things turned sour upon the revelation of his affair with Lisa. Jessica went into the very first of meetings unwilling to give Lisa the benefit of the doubt. It only made matters worse that Lisa jumped right in with news of an offer to buy Quentin’s company from another pharmaceutical research corporation. Allegedly, she wanted to see her partner’s life’s work, a new kind of drug that could potentially cure ALS, brought to completion by a company that offered better resources than they currently had available to them. Jessica, on the other hand, refused to even consider the deal mainly because it reeked of money grubbing and gold digging. Harvey attempted to play the levelheaded middleman, though, and eventually Jessica’s rash thinking and emotionally clouded judgment subsided.

In an attempt to make amends, Jessica paid Lisa a visit at her place of employment rather than from within the walls of Pearson Specter. At this point, the two realized that they do, in fact, want the same things for Quentin’s legacy. Neither is especially interested in money, and neither wants to fail him again. Lisa isn’t a lawyer, however, and she wasn’t quite able to see the danger of selling to a larger company that already supported a profitable ALS drug. The safest thing for them to do would be to buy out a competitor and sell the company for scraps. Thus, Quentin’s dream would be snuffed out. Instead, Jessica thought up a clever solution to ensure that this drug could eventually become a total reality. She added a provision to the legal documents of the offer that required them to promise an investment of $100,000,000 in the research for Quentin’s drug. Quentin’s partner, however, was not pleased, and requested a subpoena to see to it that Jessica was removed from power with regard to Quentin’s will. Apparently, if Quentin’s disease was severe enough for him to be deemed incompetent, Jessica could be taken out.

In an effort to prove that Mike Ross never went to Harvard, Louis booked a lecture with Professor Gerard (Stephen Macht) at Pearson Specter. Remember, Gerard never gives A+s because he doesn’t believe in them. This was the one massive mess-up on Mike’s fake transcript that led Louis to the truth. The scene in the bathroom in which Louis threw his proof in Mike’s face was one of the best scenes of Episode 12. Mike heard the cold truth, and Suits immediately shot into slow motion for a few seconds to echo his internal crumbling. Then, like usual, Mike snapped back with a quick explanation of how he impressed Professor Gerard by memorizing huge chunks of the man's books. Louis, however, refused to back down. There was simply no convincing him.

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Later that evening, Mike came to the decision to confess something to Louis with some help from Rachel. Rather than giving Litt the whole truth, Mike tossed him a bone and admitted to fudging his grade illegally after actually failing the course. Still, he kept digging a deeper grave, as Louis merely slammed the door in his face in disgust. He bought the story, but still refused to budge on outing Mike as a phony. This is where Rachel came into play. Rachel and Louis, of course, have a special bond, and he respects her. Rachel, Mike, and Louis share a true love for law that the others at Pearson Specter don’t necessarily have. Harvey, for example, loves the game and winning. Rachel also made it a point to confess about being in a secret relationship with Mike, which was a clever means of buying Louis' trust regarding something much more serious. This worked somewhat. Louis took the bait and cooled off a bit, only to then put the pressure on Mike to formally apologize to Professor Gerard when the man arrived that Friday for his lecture. This, needless to say, was just as bad, as Gerard had a reputation for being a total stickler for ethics and the law that rendered him sort of insufferable.

Harvey, who was already furious with Mike for refusing to take his advice to “sit tight,” had to do damage control in person at this point, electing to fly to Boston to deal with Professor Gerard face to face. Interestingly enough, Gerard was played by Gabriel Macht’s father, Stephen, by the way. I love that Suits decided to create a character for Stephen Macht that pretty much loathes Harvey Specter. As Donna put it in a moment of consolation with a devastated Rachel, the men with the cleanest records always have the most dirt swept under the rug. It was clever of Suits to not reveal just what Harvey dug up on Gerard so that we could simply imagine just how horrible of a deed was done. In the end, however, Harvey failed. Gerard noted that ethics, his forte, are about choices, not necessarily right or wrong, and he was not about to let Harvey choose to have him cancel his trip to Pearson Specter. Instead, this only added even more fuel to the fire. Now, Gerard knew that something was up, and that something was super important to Harvey.

There were two great scenes of friendship towards the end of Episode 12. First, Mike refused to take his friend, Harvey, down with him. He remembers Trevor’s betrayal as the moment he lost his best friend, and if he was going to be exposed, he was going to do so with as much dignity as possible. Mike decided to resign and confess all to Louis in hopes of salvaging whatever life he could post-reveal. Afterwards, though, Harvey spoke with Louis alone while he prepared for Professor Gerard’s arrival. This was a huge moment for Harvey. It might not have seemed like much to anyone else, but Harvey Specter admitting openly that Louis Litt is his friend (for just a mere shot at saving Mike’s job and reputation) was massive. He actually said it out loud! Harvey Specter and Louis Litt… friends!? Truly, asking Louis to cover up Mike’s illegal fudging of a grade was not in code with any friendship, but according to Harvey, not holding either decision against Louis was.

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Jessica refused to resort to perjury to save her ex’s legacy, but she did come up with a cunning means of doing so. Under oath, Jessica helped close out Episode 12 with an awesome monologue that omnisciently narrated over what could have been Mike’s final moments of freedom before he confessed all to Louis. It centered on the meaning of the truth and law. The law is important, of course, but so is human spirit. Perhaps according to the law, Quentin was incompetent, but according to anyone who truly knew Quentin, this decision was totally in line with his beliefs and his last wishes. Mike, for what it’s worth, never went to Harvard but has that love for practicing law and a gift that topples any law degree. Jessica won her position fair and square, and Lisa was there to share a congratulatory hug in Quentin’s honor.

In the end, Louis covered for Mike, instead very cleverly giving him the opportunity to apologize to Professor Gerard for having to “miss his lecture” after failing to complete his assigned work. It was a nice touch for Suits to then have Gerard suggest that Mike apologize to Louis for missing a special event that he’d arranged. We know that Mike actually has no connection to Professor Gerard, but he does owe Louis for burdening him with this in any way. In celebration, Mike and Rachel skipped out of work early to simply head home and enjoy their new life together. Harvey, meanwhile, shared a scotch over some music with Jessica.

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What did you think of Suits Season 3 Episode 12, “Yesterday’s Gone”? What will Louis do if and when he learns the actual truth now that he’s been somewhat betrayed by all?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Suits Season 3 Episode 12, “Yesterday’s Gone”!