Suits (TV series)

Suits is a USA Network legal drama created by Aaron Korsh that stars Patrick J. Adams as Michael "Mike" Ross and Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter. The first episode debuted on June 23, 2011, with a 90-minute premiere.

Contents

 * 1 Overview
 * 1.1 Season 1 (2011)
 * 1.2 Season 2 (2012–13)
 * 1.3 Season 3 (2013–14)
 * 1.4 Season 4 (2014–15)
 * 1.5 Season 5 (2015–16)
 * 2 Cast and characters
 * 2.1 Main cast
 * 2.2 Recurring cast
 * 3 Episodes
 * 4 Development and production
 * 5 Broadcasts
 * 6 Reception
 * 7 References
 * 8 External links

Season 1 (2011)[edit]
Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) is a brilliant college dropout. With his natural intelligence and eidetic memory, he makes a living taking the LSAT for others. To make the extra money he needs to keep his grandmother in a private nursing home, he agrees to deliver a case of marijuana for his best friend Trevor (Tom Lipinski). The deal happens to be a sting operation which Mike astutely discovers and narrowly avoids, instead stumbling into a job interview with Harvey Reginald Specter (Gabriel Macht), a lawyer at Pearson Hardman and arguably the "best closer in New York City."

Recently made senior partner, Harvey must hire a Harvard Law-educated lawyer as an associate, as per firm policy. Harvey interviews Mike, and Mike uses his eidetic memory and genuine legal knowledge to prove to Harvey he is undoubtedly the best candidate. Mike is consequently hired, despite neither receiving a college degree nor attending Harvard, as Harvey decides he will pretend that Mike is a Harvard Law graduate.

The series focuses on Mike and Harvey as they try cases for the firm while maintaining Mike's secret. Only Harvey's legal secretary and confidante Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty) knows the secret at first.

At the firm, junior partner Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), Harvey's jealous rival and direct supervisor of the associates, is suspicious of Mike's Harvard credentials. Meanwhile, Mike struggles to distance himself from Trevor, who has stopped dealing drugs but cannot escape his past. When Trevor leaves the state, Mike begins dating Trevor's ex-girlfriend Jenny Griffith (Vanessa Ray). At the same time, Mike befriends paralegal Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) at the office, and the two soon develop a mutual attraction, complicating his relationship with Jenny. Trevor returns to New York, only to learn that Mike is dating Jenny. In revenge, he tells the firm's managing partner Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) the truth about Mike.

Suits was renewed for a second season of 16 episodes on August 11, 2011, which premiered on June 14, 2012, with the mid-season finale on August 23, 2012. The remaining six episodes of Season 2 began airing January 17, 2013, on USA, and January 23, on Bravo Canada.[3][4][5][6]

Season 2 (2012–13)[edit]
Co-founding partner, Daniel Hardman, returns to the firm, and Jessica and Harvey fear he wishes to return to his former position as managing partner. Jessica allows Mike to continue working, despite discovering his secret.

Harvey is accused of burying evidence and faces being disbarred. Donna finds and destroys the document, and is fired by Jessica. Hardman and Jessica disagree over settling the case, eventually leading Hardman to challenge Jessica for the position as managing partner. Hardman becomes managing partner, but it is short lived as Mike and Harvey discover that Hardman forged and planted the document that Harvey and Donna supposedly buried. He is voted out of the firm, and Jessica regains the managing partner position.

Mike's grandmother dies, and he finds himself in a romantic entanglement with his now-married first love. Rachel finds them together, leading to a rift in their relationship. Hardman returns to battle with his old firm, working as a contract lawyer for Rachel's father, well-known trial attorney Robert Zane, on multiple gender discrimination suits.

Jessica agrees to a merger with the U.K. firm of Harvey's competitor, Scottie, headed by Edward Darby (Conleth Hill), enabling them to defeat Hardman. Harvey tries but fails to stop the merger. Mike reveals his secret to Rachel after she is denied admission to Harvard.

On October 12, 2012, USA Network renewed Suits for a third season, consisting of 16 episodes.[7] Season 3 premiered July 16, 2013, on USA; July 17, 2013, on Bravo Canada; and October 15, 2013, on Channel 7 Australia. The season was split, with six episodes airing after March 6, 2014. On October 24, 2013, Suits was renewed for a fourth season of 16 episodes which premiered June 11, 2014.[8]

Season 3 (2013–14)[edit]
The merger between Pearson and Darby International is complete. Harvey, stinging from Jessica's refusal to make him a named partner, begins plotting with Darby to take her down. Mike tries to mend his relationship with Harvey and seeks to clarify his new relationship with Rachel.

Harvey settles a case with his old mentor and nemesis, Cameron Dennis but his client, Ava Hessington (Michelle Fairley), is arrested for murder. Darby sends his "fixer", Stephen Huntley, to New York to help with the case, but Harvey realizes Darby wants Huntley to help him take the firm from Jessica. Harvey plans to take control from Jessica, but she confides her own plans to add him as named partner. Ava looks set to be convicted, until Mike discovers Huntley was actually responsible for the murders. Darby eventually agrees to testify against Huntley, only later realizing his own plea bargain will leave him unable to practice law in the US. This allows Jessica to begin dissolution of the firm. Louis takes the lead on this, which leads to complications. Darby appoints Scottie to negotiate in the dissolution case, promising a named partnership if she wins.

Ava sues the firm for malpractice, with Travis Tanner as her attorney, but Harvey is eventually able to get her to withdraw the suit. Harvey tells Scottie he wants her in his life. Jessica learns of Mike and Rachel's relationship and threatens to fire Mike unless Rachel signs an affidavit saying she knew of Mike's fraud. She does so on the condition that Jessica waive the firm's "Harvard rule" so she can apply there on graduation. She is accepted to Stanford but eventually decides to go to Columbia. Mike's secret is nearly discovered by Louis, with the latter eventually being convinced that Mike only "fixed" a grade in a single class.

Mike realizes he will never be able to make a name for himself in law with the threat of his fraud being discovered, and considers a career change. In the season three finale, Mike is arrested, which may expose him, and Harvey and Louis try to free him. Mike realizes the problems his situation causes for the firm, however, and decides to take a job offer as an investment banker to resolve things. This new job makes Mike a client of the firm, and he jokes with Harvey, telling him that Harvey now technically works for him.

Season 4 (2014–15)[edit]
Suits was renewed for a fourth season, with the first episode airing on June 11, 2014. It aired every Wednesday on USA network.

The season begins with Mike working for investment banker Jonathan Sidwell, creating an awkward situation when a takeover battle for Gillis Industries pits Mike's company against Pearson Specter client (and Rachel's former boyfriend), Logan Sanders. This leads to a battle between Mike and Harvey and a collusion claim between the two by the SEC. Mike and Rachel are at odds due to a moment of passion between her and Logan Sanders, causing Mike to move out for a short period.

By the season's sixth episode, Charles Forstman, an investor Mike went to in a last-ditch effort to save Gillis Industries, tells Sidwell that Mike was going to cut him out of the deal and Mike is fired. In actuality, Louis is the one who has made a shady deal with Forstman, forcing him to embezzle money through international banks. Jessica and Harvey offer Louis a reward for his work. He wants to be named partner, but Jessica declines. When Mike decides to accept a job with Forstman, which Louis cannot allow, Louis uses his reward to re-hire Mike at Pearson Specter instead.

Mike officially starts working back at the firm in the eighth episode. In the ninth episode, Louis resigns after the SEC looks into the deal between Forstman and Sanders. Louis tries to find a way to take clients with him to help him get a new job, but is stonewalled because of his non-compete clause. Mike helps Louis by getting him an interview with Robert Zane, who later tells Louis he will only hire him if he can steal one of Harvey's clients.

Katrina Bennett gives Louis the name of a company to go after, which Louis successfully steals, though Mike is able to use Walter Gillis to get the company back for Harvey. Mike visits Louis for a second time, and inadvertently gives away a clue to Louis that he never went to Harvard. Louis confronts Jessica, getting her to admit her hypocrisy, then threatens to expose Mike unless he is made a named partner.

Louis settles back with the team. He comes to terms with Donna, Rachel and Harvey, but he still can not forgive Mike because of his lies. Mike tries to apologize but it doesn't work. After a roadtrip to a client of Harvey they fight and Harvey breaks them up. After the fight both of them calm down and have a moment of peace with each other. This moment solves the wrangle between them.

The season ends with Harvey going after Forstman in the Eric Woodall case. Mike proposes to Rachel by giving her the ring Mike's grandmother used. In the meantime, Donna tries to get what she wants from Harvey but in the end leaves him and take over as Louis' secretary.

The first 10 episodes aired in 2014, and the remaining six episodes began airing on January 28, 2015.

Season 5 (2015–16)[edit]
On August 11, 2014, Suits was renewed for a fifth season which will again consist of 16 episodes.[9] On April 7, 2015, USA Network revealed it will premiere on Wednesday, June 24, 2015.[10]

Cast and characters[edit]
Main article: List of Suits characters

Recurring cast[edit]

 * Abigail Spencer portrays Dana "Scottie" Scott, Harvey's rival at Harvard and in the professional world who works at Darby International. During Season 3, she is dating Harvey and is a senior partner at Pearson Specter.
 * Amanda Schull portrays Katrina Bennett, a "fifth year associate" hired by Harvey Specter who was previously an Assistant DA. She was hired to protect Mike from being investigated after he broke privilege in a hit-and-run accident case. She later becomes Louis' personal associate.
 * Eric Close portrays Travis Tanner, formerly a senior partner at Clyde McPhee, a Boston law firm. He develops a grudge against Harvey after Harvey outmaneuvers him. Tanner, like Harvey, has never lost a case, has a personal driver, is stylish and an avid boxer. The one major difference is that Tanner isn't afraid to alter the truth and evidence to win.
 * David Costabile portrays Daniel Hardman, founding partner and former managing partner of Pearson Hardman. Five years before the events of the series, he was ousted for embezzling to finance his affair; to protect the firm, he was blackmailed into surrendering his position to Jessica.
 * Conleth Hill portrays Edward Darby, Jessica's new named partner during Season 3, with 51% control of the merged firm.
 * Adam Godley portrays Nigel Nesbitt, Louis' British counterpart, who is in charge of the associates of Pearson Darby (Season 3).
 * Max Beesley portrays Stephen Huntley, Darby's right-hand man and "fixer", Harvey's British counterpart. Jessica tells Harvey of him, "He is to Darby what you are to me."
 * Michelle Fairley portrays Dr. Ava Hessington, CEO of British oil company Hessington Oil, her family's successful international oil company. She and her father have been clients of Darby's firm for some time, dating back to her father being Darby's first client.
 * Gary Cole portrays Cameron Dennis, the formerly disgraced New York County (Manhattan) DA . He was Harvey's original mentor straight out of Harvard Law. He had a history of altering the evidence in cases to ensure high conviction rates, even at the cost of sending the innocent to jail.
 * Tom Lipinski portrays Trevor Evans, Mike's best friend and a drug dealer. Angry after finding out that Mike is dating Jenny, it is Trevor who reveals to Jessica that Mike is a fraud.
 * Vanessa Ray portrays Jenny Griffith, Trevor's girlfriend. She breaks up with Trevor when he does not stop dealing drugs, and she becomes Mike's girlfriend for a time.
 * Rebecca Schull portrays Edith Ross, Mike's grandmother who raised him after his parents' deaths. She lives in a nursing home and pushes Mike to live up to his potential. She dies in the season two episode "Asterisk".
 * Ben Hollingsworth portrays Kyle Durant, one of Louis' protégés who is frequently pitted against Mike during season one. He does not appear after season one, and his disappearance from the firm is never explained.
 * Max Topplin portrays Harold Gunderson, an associate who is clumsy and socially awkward. He is constantly picked on by Louis. He is fired by Louis in the second season, and later hired by Bratton-Gould as part of a favor Jimmy (a former Pearson Hardman associate) owes to Mike. In season 3, as a favor to Mike for getting him his job at Bratton-Gould, he agrees to represent foreign witnesses against Ava Hessington in civil lawsuits. This deal ultimately lands him in trouble with the Bar Association, and both he and Mike are investigated in the third season finale.
 * Wendell Pierce portrays Robert Zane, Rachel's father and a named partner at Rand, Calder, and Zane.
 * Rachael Harris portrays Sheila Sazs, a high-ranking official in Harvard Law's placement department who is also Louis Litt's on-and-off love interest.
 * Brandon Firla portrays Jonathan Sidwell, an investment banker working for Tony Gianopolous, whom Mike helps start his own company. He eventually hires Mike near the end of season 3, but fires him in season 4.
 * Željko Ivanek portrays Eric Woodall, a former prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office who is now working as an SEC prosecutor. He has a personal vendetta against Harvey that dates back to his days at his previous job.
 * D. B. Woodside portrays Jeff Malone, an SEC prosecutor and Jessica's lover, whom Jessica hires at the firm primarily to help the firm avoid impending SEC sanctions.
 * Michael Gross portrays Walter Gillis, the CEO of Gillis Industries who is trying to protect his company from a hostile takeover.
 * Brendan Hines portrays Logan Sanders, Harvey's client in the season 4 battle against Mike over the acquisition of Gillis Industries; he is revealed to be Rachel's former boyfriend.
 * Neal McDonough portrays Sean Cahill, a zealous SEC prosecutor who is determined to take down Pearson Specter on collusion charges in the Gillis Industries deal.
 * Eric Roberts portrays Charles Forstman, a corrupt billionaire investor to whom Mike (while working for Sidwell) goes when he sees no other option to save Gillis Industries. Forstman eventually settles with Louis in a deal that allows Logan Sanders to make the Gillis purchase, while he also sells out Mike to his boss, Sidwell. It is later revealed that Forstman did this because he wants to hire Mike himself.

Episodes[edit]
Main article: List of Suits episodes

Development and production[edit]
Suits first appeared on USA network's development slate under the title A Legal Mind in April 2010.[20] In May, the network placed a cast-contingent pilot order from a pilot script written by Aaron Korsh.[21] Patrick J. Adams was cast in the lead role of Mike Ross in July 2010.[22] In late July, Gabriel Macht joined the cast as Harvey Specter, the attorney who hires Mike.[23] Rick Hoffman came on board in mid-August to portray Harvey's competition at the law firm.[24] Meghan Markle and Gina Torres joined the cast in late August.[25] Torres was cast as Jessica Pearson, the managing partner at the firm, and Markle portrays Rachel Zane, a paralegal who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the law. Sarah Rafferty completed the main cast as Donna, Harvey's legal secretary and close confidant. The pilot was filmed in New York City in fall 2010.[26][27]

The network gave a green-light to the series with a 12-episode order on January 19, 2011. The series began filming in Toronto, Ontario on April 25, 2011, and completed August 12, 2011.[28][29]

"Greenback Boogie" by Ima Robot is the theme song of the show. It was released as a single on September 18, 2010, and is included on the band's third album, Another Man's Treasure.

A deleted scene leaked onto YouTube shows Victor Garber as Phillip Hardman, originally part of the pilot, but which was decided by the USA Network to be cut out completely. It shows that Hardman was a kinder fellow who retired from the firm by his own choice. This scene was left in for the U.K. when it was first aired and continues to be included in re-runs.[30]

Broadcasts[edit]
Suits premiered in the United States on the USA Network on June 23, 2011. In Australia, the Seven Network began broadcasting shortly after that on August 15, 2011. The Canadian network, Bravo!, followed on October 3, 2011.

In the United Kingdom, the show premiered on January 17, 2012 on Dave.[31] In South Africa, the subscription channel M-Net, began airing the program on September 8, 2012. Suits airs in Israel and has finished running season 3 on Comedy Central.

In Ireland, the show airs on RTÉ Two. In the Philippines, the show runs on Jack TV.

Suits airs in Jamaica on CVM TV, the show premiered on August 11, 2014, airing on Mondays at 9pm.

Reception[edit]
The first season of Suits garnered a score of 61 on Metacritic indicating generally favorable reviews. The second season has a score of 75 and the third season a score of 71 on Metacritic, with both of those scores indicating generally favorable reviews. Even though the first season of the series only gained a moderately positive response from critics, the following seasons were very highly rated which made Suits a USA network's hit TV series as it currently holds a score of 8.8 out of 10 on IMDB.[32]

Adams was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 18th Screen Actors Guild Awards for his role as Mike Ross.