Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
I genuinely love the television series Suits, which is odd because I never really know what’s happening on the series. I understand the relationships, and I love the sparkling, pop-culture heavy dialogue, but when it comes to all the legal hullabaloo, I often look at my computer like a dog who’s watching a human dance: I kinda get it, but I’m confused, intrigued, and a little hungry.
My Suits For Dummies breakdown goes a little something like this: The show is ostensibly about a bunch of sexy people dressed to the nines who speak briskly and work at a prestigious law firm. Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), aka the best lawyer in the universe, hires Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), a genius with a photographic memory who “consumes knowledge like no one you have ever met,” to be his law associate despite the fact that Mike is a college dropout who never went to law school.
Each week there’s a LAW PROBLEM that I never fully understand. Harvey and Mike will purport to solve the LAW PROBLEM in the first half of the episode, but then something goes awry and they discover that the LAW PROBLEM still exists. Harvey and Mike then tell their boss, Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), that they cannot solve the LAW PROBLEM. Jessica says something like, “You better damn well solve this LAW PROBLEM or the firm will close/you’ll be fired/world will end.” Mike then remembers something he once read or Harvey calls in a favor from a fellow attractive person and they solve the LAW PROBLEM. Then everyone drinks whiskey.
The series is, in a word, amazing. There are few shows I look forward to watching more than Suits. Since binge-watching the entire series during Peak TV can be a daunting endeavor, here are the 10 essential episodes you need to stream in order to catch up on the indulgent delight known as Suits!
Season 1, Episode 1: "Pilot"
Pilots are tricky. An engaging script can be torpedoed due to subpar acting, chemistry issues, or tonal inconsistencies, but from minute one it’s evident that Suits is a show that knows its identity.
The series handles the admittedly far-fetched premise of a drug dealer without a law degree earning a job at one of the most preeminent law firms in New York with efficient aplomb as Mike is hired and assigned his first case by minute 32. The pilot doesn’t give you time to dwell on the absurdity of the premise; it just cannonballs right into the story and before you know it you’re hooked.
The first episode makes the exasperating process of creating a television pilot look easy as the series is already in Season 2 form right out the gate.
Season 2, Episode 1: "She Knows"
Zoot Suits Rioters who’ve ever been asked, “Why don’t they just fire Mike?” can turn to the second season premiere for an answer to that very question. After Mike’s erstwhile best friend tattles to Jessica about the whole “practicing law without a degree and defrauding the country” snafu, Jessica orders Harvey to “fire the kid.”
But this is Harvey Freakin’ Specter, people. Not known to give out many hugs or attaboys, the traditionally emotionally-reticent Harvey gives Jessica an ultimatum that demonstrates his fidelity to Mike: “You need me, and I’ve not staying without Mike.”
With the firm in disarray due to the return of the former co-founder of Pearson Hardman, Jessica reluctantly accepts.
Season 2, Episode 16: "War"
Mike’s secret had always been the barrier that made a romantic relationship between him and Rachel impossible. After a long, trying day, our favorite litigious couple have a dramatic confrontation that leads to an exasperated Mike Ross confessing that he never went to Harvard.
“I’m a fraud,” he tells Rachel before receiving a slap across the face for his honesty.
But there’s a fine line between rage and lust. With no more secrets between them, the two shed their legal briefs and engage in a tantalizing, surprisingly acrobatic, and certainly not workplace appropriate tryst in the file room as The xx’s mood-enhancing single “Sunset” amplifies the moment.
Season 3, Episode 4: "Conflict of Interest"
While this episode is certainly an important emotional benchmark for Mike and Rachel’s relationship, we need to discuss the very best part of Suits: the promos!
They’re incredible pieces of art that deserve both our fear and respect. Also, much like art, I rarely understand them. The clips for the following week’s episode are always a series of short increasingly dramatic declarative sentences that often don’t make sense. For example:
You’re pissed at yourself for getting played!
You went behind my back!
I am in charge on this side of the ocean!
I swear I didn’t make that last one up. Watch below.
Season 3, Episode 16: "No Way Out"
“I’m tired of putting the people I care about in jeopardy,” Mike tells Harvey before quitting the firm to become an investment banker.
While Season 4’s “Mike as an investment banker” plot made technical sense, because, <bullhorn noise> Mike’s not a real lawyer </bullhorn noise>, I didn’t love the paradigm shift the story created in Mike and Harvey’s relationship. They went from bantering buddies to adversaries. It was like Robin leaving Batman to join forces with The Joker.
Eventually, Mike attends night school, earns his law degree, and returns to Pearson Specter.
Just kidding! He does return, but he still doesn’t have a law degree.
Season 4, Episode 10: "This is Rome"
Hell have no fury like a Louis Litt scorned.
Rick Hoffman’s character is under-appreciated when it comes to his versatility. Need a comedic B-plot? Louis to the rescue! A Machiavellian villain? Not a problem! Louis Litt is the utility infielder or unheralded relief pitcher who’s the reason your team wins a championship.
After leaving the film on unenviable terms, Louis finally puts two and two together (four) and figures out Mike’s secret. In a memorable scene, Louis uses this new information to blackmail Jessica as Pearson Specter becomes Pearson Specter Litt.
You just got Litt Up!
Season 4, Episode 15: "Intent"
And now we get to the Donna of it all.
Sarah Rafferty’s executive assistant extraordinaire is the straw that stirs the drink at at Pearson Specter Litt. My favorite Donna quirk is that she always knows what you’re going to say before you say it. A typical Donna/Harvey exchange goes a little something like this:
Harvey: Donna…
Donna: Let me guess. You want me to call Jasper St. Beethoven and tell him you’re canceling the deposition?
Harvey: You’re damn right. He’s a crook! *Harvey takes a sip of whiskey*
Donna: I know. That’s why I canceled the deposition a week ago.
Harvey: We’re gonna need another witness.
Donna: Which is why Doug Bell Jr. is waiting for you in the conference room.
Harvey: Impossible! He’s in Peru.
Donna: *Was* in Peru.
While Mike and Rachel receive more attention, any true Suits fan worth their Habeas corpus knows that the romantic endgame of the series is Harvey and Donna.
Season 4, Episode 16: "Not Just a Pretty Face"
One episode after Harvey dropped the L-bomb, Mike proposes to Rachel. Classic oneupmanship.
It was never really “will they/won’t they” with Rachel and Mike; it was more “when will they/how will they.” A proposal that seemed liked an inevitability finally came to fruition at the end of the fourth season.
“You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met,” Mike said amidst the sound of millions of Suits fan swooning. “I don’t want to go forty years wondering why I didn’t do this one day sooner.”
Season 5, Episode 10: "Faith"
This is the episode where the other shoe drops.
After years of dangling that carrot, Mike finally gets arrested for conspiracy to commit fraud — moments after handing in his resignation no less! It’s like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife, Mikey.
As a staunch Suity (which is what I assume passionate Suits fans prefer to be called), I wasn’t sure this moment would ever arrive. Logically, from a storytelling perspective, it absolutely had to happen, but it’s a difficult needle to thread because, umm, Mike is Guilty with a capital G.
I understand how Suits may be considered a business attire Burn Notice for people who only know the series through promos, but Macht and Adams are staggeringly sensational together and made me feel something in that barren wasteland of snark known as my heart during the tearful scene in which Mike resigns.
Season 5, Ep 15: "Tick Tock"
Underneath all the Versace, Armani, and Gucci, Suits is a series about friendship. And probably the law.
Mike’s fate is technically sealed in the Season 5 finale, but the penultimate episode of the fifth season is when Mike falls on his sword and agrees to a plea deal that will protect his friends but send him to a white collar prison for two years.
The final scene is one of the best musical moments of the series as Mike dramatically races to accept the deal as the Stealth single “Judgement Day” adds some melodic and metaphorical depth to the scene.
I rest my case… that Suits is awesome.
[The first five seasons of Suits are available to stream on Prime Video]
