Suits: Faith (5x10)

They're really not pulling their punches, are they? Yeesh, this was an emotional finale. I really wanted to hug Mike, and Harvey, and Jessica, and Rachel, and Donna, and just... tell them everything is going to be okay. But if that last few seconds of the episode are anything to go by, things are not going to be okay. At least not for the foreseeable future. Let's take a look.

The big plot development in this episode is that Jack Soloff has called for an emergency vote, the results of which will determine if Jessica will continue to manage the firm or not. Harvey is MIA, and Jessica turns to Louis for help. Louis goes to Daniel Hardman, but Hardman won't back down - in fact, he threatens to use Forstman's money to ruin Esther's company if Louis doesn't flip his vote and vote against Jessica. Jessica is devastated to hear this, but she's not mad at Louis for it. She knows she'd do the same thing, if it was her sister on the line. It looks like time is up for Jessica.

However, meanwhile, Harvey has been talking to Dr. Agard. He's struggling with a terrible decision - if he agrees to step down, Forstman will stop backing Hardman, and all this trouble goes away. As he's talking to Dr. Agard, he tells the story of when he caught his mother cheating on his father, and how he decided to tell his dad about it. We see in flashbacks how Harvey told his dad, spur of the moment and in anger, and how that action brought about the ruin of his family. His mother left, his father fell into a depression, and his brother felt abandoned by everybody, especially when Harvey decided to move away and never look back. We see flashback-Harvey briefly talk with Jessica about his dilemma. Jessica comes home to her husband, who announces that he wants an divorce, because Jessica's real love is for her work. 

Suits: Uninvited Guests (5x09)

Daniel Hardman. You jerk. Big surprise: he's a bad dude. Annoying surprise: Jack Soloff is working with him. This episode, to be honest, didn't do a lot for me. I had some problems with the predictable nature of a lot of what was going on here, and I wasn't really feeling it for most of the time. Let's start with a brief plot summary (I'm on a time crunch!)

At the vote over Harvey's suspension, Harvey announces that he'll be cutting his compensation and giving more to the other partners. He does this on Soloff's recommendation that he do something to humble himself to the other partners. Harvey is not suspended, but it's a close thing. Jack then announces that he wants to bring in a new client to the firm - one that they will be splitting with Daniel Hardman, who wants to come back to the firm on a trial basis. Jessica immediately says no.

Turns out, Daniel was hoping that Jessica would say no. He wants to poach a bunch of Jessica's clients right out from under her nose, and take the firm back by force. Mike figures out that Daniel's first target is going to be McKernan Motors. Mike also comes up with a  way to save the day - they have to privatize McKernan. They need money to do that, so they go to Giannopoulos and Sidwell. These two men hate each other, so they both agree to put money up front so they'll be besting each other. However, this plan doesn't work either - Daniel Hardman is able to outbid them. Harvey figures something out - Charles Forstman is backing Daniel! Harvey goes to talk to Forstman, asking him to back down. Forstman says he'll stop giving Hardman money... as long as Harvey resigns. All Forstman wants is Harvey's humiliation.

Suits: Mea Culpa (5x08)

Seriously, Louis? Seriously?! I can't. I'm so done with him. I've been done with him for a while, but this... this crosses a line, and it also makes me seriously question what the hell this show thinks they're doing with his character. Let's slow down and look at the plot first.

Louis is livid about Harvey's attack. Donna tries to get him to calm down, but Louis is out for blood. He wants to sue Harvey. Donna manages to convince him to keep it within the family. Jessica wants Harvey to take two weeks off, and to humbly apologize to Louis. Louis doesn't think this is sufficient, and wants Harvey to have a three month suspension without pay. Jessica convinces Louis to wait for two weeks, because she hopes that he'll calm down by then. Harvey talks to Dr. Agard, who makes him realize that Louis was wrong to lash out at Harvey, but the reverse is also true. Harvey has to apologize.

And Harvey does. In one of the bravest, most emotional moments this show has ever had, Harvey sincerely apologizes for what he did to Louis, and he opens up to him about his panic attacks, and how they're triggered by Donna leaving, and by stuff with his family and his relationships. Louis is shocked at Harvey's confession. He invites Harvey to come back the next day, especially because the next day is Mike's partnership vote.
 

Suits: Hitting Home (5x07)

Oh dear. Ohhhhh no. This is... this is not good. Very, very not good. I guess we should just jump right in and take each plot thread separately. Much like last week, there's really not a lot of overlap between the two main plot threads.

First of all, we've got Mike and Jack Soloff. Jessica told Jack to make peace and learn his place, and he tries to do so by approaching Mike to work a case. Mike shuts him down, still angry about his antics of the previous week. However, Jessica then tells Mike to make peace with Jack and solidify his loyalty within the firm. Mike and Jack reluctantly start to work together. In the case, Mike has a lot of trouble trusting Jack at first. He keeps accusing him of breaking the law. But eventually, Mike sees that Jack is actually not such a bad guy. Jack realizes the same thing about Mike - he decides to put Mike up for a junior partnership. Jessica tells Mike that he has to find a way to turn it down. She can't justify announcing Mike as a junior partner, thus getting him more attention and risking exposing his secret. Jessica tells Mike that he deserves the promotion - he's the best associate she's ever seen. But Mike has to turn it down.

Jessica confronts Daniel Hardman and tells him to stay out of her business. Hardman of course denies any involvement in Jessica's firm, but later he approaches Jack Soloff, wanting to work with him on taking Jessica down. It appears that Jack really has chosen a side, however. He tells Hardman that he's gained Jessica's trust, and he's not going to break it.

Suits: Privilege (5x06)

Another very solid episode. Good drama, good fluff. I do have a few complaints, but let's start with a plot summary first. For this episode, I think I'm going to divide the three plots and talk about each in turn, since they don't really intersect much.

Harvey and Rachel are working on a case to defend a man falsely accused of illegal activity on the stock market. Harvey feels confident that he can save the man from prison - that is, until he sees that Dr. Agard is being deposed to talk about what the accused person talked about during their sessions together. Turns out, Agard works for this guy's company. Harvey tells Agard to lie to protect his client, but she won't. She shows up the next day and says that her patient said he felt guilty about the money he lost. Harvey knows he has a way to discredit her testimony, but he is loathe to do it. He has no choice: Harvey brings up the fact that Agard lied because she cared about a patient, and that her patient died as a result. Harvey makes it seem like Agard has a history of lying because of her affection for her patients. Agard is livid, insisting that Harvey did what he did in order to get back at her for bringing up his mother. Harvey avidly insists that he did it to help his client.

At this point, Rachel talks to Harvey, revealing that she knows he's been having panic attacks. She has an idea that could help save their client from jail - Dr. Agard's files could contain information from other company employees that would prove his innocence. Harvey goes to Agard to ask for her help. He feels terrible about what he did, but this isn't about them - it's about Dr. Agard's patient - Harvey's client. Agard hands over the files, even though they don't have the information Harvey needs. Harvey uses the files to bluff the opposition, and he is successful.