Okay. Plot-wise, basically we have Tanner re-enter the scene as Ava's lawyer. He's a jerk to everyone, of course, but he ultimately loses to Harvey. Duh. Harvey convinces Scottie to let the merger dissolve, thus allowing Harvey and Jessica to pin the blame for the murders where it rightfully belongs: on Darby. Scottie is reluctant at first, but eventually she caves. At this point, Ava is still ready to go after Harvey, but after a display of humility in which he apologizes for putting her in between his fight with Cameron, Ava decides to drop the case against Pearson Specter.
Meanwhile, Rachel is making pro/con lists about her potential law schools. She wants to make a decision about Stanford and Colombia without factoring Mike into the equation, which he thinks isn't going to work. Things get even more complicated when Jessica finds out about their relationship and demands that Rachel sign an affidavit stating that she knows about Mike's secret, and won't ever tell. The catch: if Rachel doesn't sign it, Jessica will fire Mike. Agonized, Mike realizes that the only way for Rachel to avoid signing it is if she goes to Stanford and takes herself out of the picture. Rachel makes her pro/con list list, and even though she admits that Stanford is a better fit, she decides to stay and go to Colombia. She approaches Jessica about the affidavit, and says that she'll sign it under one condition: Jessica must break the Harvard rule and hire Rachel to work at the firm.
The third plot of the episode involved Louis and Sheila Sasz. Normally, this character is just used for comic relief - she is the female Louis just as Nigel is the British Louis. (Incidentally, I would love to see them all in a room together.) This week, however, their story took a turn for the serious. Sheila wants an exclusive relationship with Louis, and when he doesn't pick up on the signals, she gets mad and takes away an associate she was going to give to Pearson Specter. Louis finally gets the hint (thanks to Mike) and he romantically declares his exclusive intentions to Sheila as the two share a dinner together in a fancy record room at Harvard. Sheila tells him that the room contains a file on every Harvard Law Student ever to have attended the school.
Louis, unable to help himself, begins looking up people in the files. First, he looks at Harvey's file. And then, he looks for Mike's. Of course, it's not there. Our mid-season finale thus ends on a cliff hanger, as Louis starts to put the pieces together.
So. I'll talk each of these plots on its own.
The main plot of the episode was excellent in terms of how it developed Harvey's character. To see him sincerely apologize to Scottie and to Ava was really amazing to see. He also tells Scottie that he wants her in his life, which is a huge step for him. I loved all of their interactions - he wanted so badly to stop her from going down with Darby. His outburst about Tanner was one of the highlights of this episode - he basically said he'd rather settle and lose to Tanner than see Scottie get dragged through the mud.
I also really enjoyed Donna getting to pull the wool over Stephen's eyes. When Stephen tries to help Tanner by lying and saying Scottie knew about the murders, Donna and Mike go to see him. This greatly helps their case, of course, and it also gave Donna a chance to shine. I like that she came to Mike to set up this plan, because she knew Harvey would be against it. They were successful, getting Stephen's confession on tape.
However, this plot thread also had its problems. The fact that Ava was willing to let Harvey go after a simple apology seemed a bit too easy for me. Tanner's appearance was clearly just so we would know Harvey was facing a bad ass, but I don't really understand why we needed to watch Harvey win against him again. We get it. Harvey's amazing. I felt like the episode could have worked just as easily with any nameless yet competent lawyer. Harvey and Tanner's feud was totally beside the point, and therefore just took up space.
The Rachel and Mike plot was pretty good. I found it to be very realistic and true to their characters that Rachel would try to be logical, while Mike would be practical about the fact that if Rachel went to Stanford, they probably wouldn't make it. At first, I was a little miffed that Rachel would say that Stanford was the better choice for her, but she was stilling picking Colombia, but I actually enjoy this element of their relationship. Whether the choice was right or not, it was clearly Rachel's choice, and hers alone. If resentments crop up later, it will be on her shoulders.
Perhaps my favorite part of this plot was actually the stuff with Harvey and Mike... yeah, I know, I'm hopeless. Mike is really upset about Rachel, and tries to come to Harvey for advice. He tells Mike he sucks when it comes to love, and that he has to go to work. But then he tells Mike to take the rest of the morning off, and that there's food in the fridge. How cute is that? Later, he actually puts his hand on Mike's shoulder and says he's sorry. He also didn't know what Jessica had done regarding Rachel, which made me happy. I would have hated to think Harvey could be in on anything like that. Basically, these scenes with Mike and Harvey worked so well because they related Mike and Rachel's relationship problems to Harvey's hesitance with Scottie. I simply love that Mike turns to Harvey when he has girlfriend troubles.
The Sheila/Louis stuff was generally good as well. Their weird sex stuff with the pictures of Louis was funny and disturbing, and I loved all the double-talk about their personal and business relationships. However, the bit at the end was one of the most annoying and contrived use of a plot device that I've ever seen. Really? They just happen to be in a room with files of every Harvard Law student ever? I rolled my eyes pretty hard at that one. Now that Louis is on the verge of finding out Mike's secret, I wonder what that will mean for the rest of the season? I'll admit that although it was a contrived way of getting there, I do admire this show's willingness to continue to push its boundaries. Nothing ever stays safe for long.
While this episode was a bit of a mixed bag for me, in general I found the characterization to be good. Some plot points were too neatly wrapped up, and the cliff hanger was a bit contrived. Even so, this has been a pretty good half season, and I'm sad we have to wait so long to see the end of it!
7.5/10
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