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.
Jessica had earlier asked Gretchen to find Harvey, but later she asks Donna to do it, because Donna knows Harvey best. Donna goes to Dr. Agard's office, but she's too late, Harvey has already left. The two have a short conversation about Harvey, and about what he's missing by not having Donna in his life.
In the end, Harvey knows what he has to do - he shows up just in time for the vote determining Jessica's fate, and he tells the partners that Soloff and Hardman no longer have the money to back their takeover. Without that money, the firm's biggest clients are no longer in danger. The group votes to keep Jessica on. It's unanimous, with Jack Soloff as the only exception. Jessica wonders how Harvey pulled it off, and Harvey admits that he agreed to step down. Jessica is horrified, but Harvey insists that it's too late to change anything.
While all of this is going on, we also get flashbacks to Mike's past. We see that as a kid, he was very traumatized by the death of his parents, and he lost his faith in God because of it. As he grows up, he goes to a private school at a church where his parents used to regularly donate. Mike continually skips school and acts out, but he gets perfect grades because of his intense intellect. In the end, he steals money from the collection plate, claiming that he's taking back what his parents donated over the years, since he wants to go to public school and stop associating with the church. Years later, Mike goes back to talk to Father Parker, who served as a mentor for him over the years. He gives back the money he took all those years ago, and he's looking for advice about what to do. He's scared that his big secret is going to ruin Rachel's life, but he's also scared that if he gives up on being a lawyer, Rachel will leave him. Father Parker refuses to give him absolution, saying that Mike needs to learn he's done something wrong by being a fraud. He shows Mike a book case, donated to the church by his grandmother, which contains his mother and father's books. These are books that Mike had tried to get rid of years ago, because he had lost faith in his connection with his dead parents.
Mike goes to Harvey and gives him his letter of resignation. He thanks Harvey for giving him his dream, and giving him a family too. Harvey is proud of Mike for doing the right thing. The two share a hug. Mike then goes to Rachel and tells her that he's resigning. He's doing it for their future together. As Mike goes to say goodbye to his office, Rachel waits for him at the elevator. Then, as Mike is walking down the hall, two men approach him, and arrest him for conspiracy to commit fraud!
Yes! I love this cliffhanger. I love this episode. I'll log a few quick complaints first, though.
The flashbacks were wonderful for the most part, but why did we have that moment with Jessica and her husband? I guess it was to reinforce the notion that to Jessica, her work is all she has. Losing her job would be particularly devastating for her. But the thing is, I think this episode did an excellent job of showing us that, without that flashback being necessary at all. Since it was just the one quick scene, it felt strange to include it here.
I loved the potential of the moment between Donna and Dr. Agard, but this was another little scene that felt errant. It could have been cut without any real damage to the episode, and since Donna had nothing else to do, it felt like a way to shoehorn her in to the story. There simply wasn't room to add some Donna/Harvey drama to the mix here, and the effort to try fell pretty flat.
But other than those two mostly pointless scenes, I was a huge fan of everything about this episode.
First of all, Jessica Pearson. We've never seen Jessica lose this much control before. It was really heartbreaking to hear her voice crack as she talked to Louis. And the expression on her face when Harvey made his little speech to the partners? That was such an important moment. That was Harvey showing Jessica how much he cared, and making the rest of the firm see that as a good thing. Jessica felt so lonely in this episode - without Harvey to tether her, and with Louis forced to turn his back on her, she was utterly alone. I loved seeing her try to stand under this burden by herself. It just goes to show that even though she presents herself as an island, Jessica still needs her friends around her to succeed.
Louis wasn't pivotal in this episode, and of course I still hate him, but I did like his staunch loyalty to Jessica, and how heartbroken he was when he realized what he had to do to save Esther. At the end, after Harvey has shown up and crippled the opposition by taking Forstman out of the mix, Louis is the one that calls for the vote to be out in the open, without the aid of ballots, so they can all outwardly declare their loyalty to Jessica. I really liked that.
The flashbacks with Harvey were pretty excellent. At first I was a bit worried that they were just rehashing old territory - we already knew the story about Harvey's adulterous mother. We've heard it before. But this time around, we got to explore the complexities of Harvey's role in events. Yes, it's wrong to cheat - but here we see that Harvey's father wasn't around a lot, and that he wasn't exactly a world-class family man. It doesn't forgive the adultery, but it makes things less black and white. And Dr. Agard was right when she pointed out that Harvey was too harsh with his father when he finally told him the truth. Harvey doesn't know how to back down and let things be. He struggles with giving up, with taking the gentler path. All of this leads to his realization that he has to step down from the firm. As impossible as it seems, Harvey knows it's the best thing to do. The attack against the firm was really a personal attack against Harvey. Leaving is the only way to salvage things for his friends, particularly Jessica.
Mike's plot was appropriately heartbreaking. Seriously. Young Mike wanted to hug his parents and apologize to them, but instead he learns that they've both died. And he's angry at God. And then he grows up and he wants to throw away his books, and disconnect himself from the place where he felt the strongest bond with his parents. I loved, loved the scene where Mike goes back to talk to Father Parker. (Apparently that was the person that Trevor had gone to see to get help). The point wasn't that Mike was confessing to his big secret. The point was that he wanted someone, an authority figure from his past, to tell him that it was okay to keep going. But Father Parker didn't. Mike is in the wrong, here. I love Mike Ross. He's honestly one of my very favorite characters on a TV show ever. But he's so, so wrong. He needs to quit. But he's afraid.
Excellent acting from Patrick J. Adams in that scene, especially with the escalating tension and then the yelling. Then, in the following scene, he breaks down and cries at the sight of the bookshelf, donated by his grandmother, and containing the books his parents had read to him as a kid. That's... that's some pretty intense stuff.
I liked the fact that even though Harvey and Mike didn't share the screen until the very end of this episode, their plot threads were parallel. Both of them were seeking advice and coming to the shocking and depressing realization that stepping down and leaving the place they love is really the best thing for them to do for the people they care about. Harvey did it for Jessica, and Mike did it for Rachel.
Of course... how could I resist ending with the Mike/Harvey scene? They hugged, you guys! They hugged! Mike tells Harvey that he gave him a family when he came to work at the firm. And Harvey replies that he's not the only one who got more family out of all of this. Wow. The best part, though, was when Harvey talked about how amazing it had been to work with Mike. He emphasizes that it wasn't because of the risk they were taking, the thrill of it all. It was because of who Mike is as a person. And then Mike goes to shake his hand, and Harvey pulls him in to a hug. WOW. Thank you, Suits. That's all I wanted.
Mike getting arrested is honestly so exciting for me. I mean, I'm sad for him, and scared for him, and all that... but mostly I'm just struck by how awesome this show is for pushing its boundaries. Even if sometimes the dilemmas they get into can be predictable, and some of the characters seem permanently stuck in a rut (*cough* Louis *cough*), Suits has never let itself rest easy. Mike being cuffed and taken out of the office is certainly one way to up the stakes! I really want to see the scene where Rachel rushes in to tell Harvey and Jessica that Mike has been arrested. I can just picture it now - Harvey gets all livid and scared, and Rachel is in tears, and then Jessica would put her foot down and come up with a plan. I can't wait to see what happens when this show finally comes back!
This episode had a few small flaws, but it kicked ass over all. I'm so upset that I have to wait!
9/10
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