Suits: Gone (4x09)

Okay, okay, okay, but did you guys see the promo for next week's episode? My heart hurts just thinking about it. What the eff is going on? What does Mike do? Why does Harvey have a kicked puppy look on his face?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

Sorry. Ahem. That promo has damaged my soul. And you know what else damaged my soul? This freakin' episode! I mean, my goodness, how much angst and bromance and soul-crushing am I supposed to be able to handle?! Let's talk about the plot. I apologize, but I'm going to be brief about the actual events of the episode.

Louis tells Jessica and Harvey what he did. Jessica calms him down and tells him not to confess, but she tells Harvey that she plans on firing him when it's all over. Donna tries to convince both Harvey and Jessica to keep Louis, but Jessica is not to be convinced, and Harvey doesn't think there's anything he can do.

From here, we get a back-and-forth between Cahill and Pearson Specter, as each group gets permission to look into the sins of the other. It's a race - if Cahill gets his hands on the paper proving Louis' guilt, it's over.

During a deposition of Harvey and Mike, Cahill sniffs closer to the truth, as he realized that somebody at the firm got paid something that they weren't supposed to. He's honing in on the truth. At this point, Louis goes against what Jessica expressly told him, and goes to confess to Cahill.

But... Cahill isn't there. Just Woodall. Woodall listens to Louis' confessions, but seems not to care, and rushes him out of the room. When Louis tells Jessica, Harvey, and Mike all of this, they figure out that this means that Woodall must be colluding with Forstman. They try and find a link, but can't. Then Louis figures it out: it's Woodal and Forstman, and not Cahill. He doesn't know about it. They go to Cahill and reveal to him his partner's evil-ness, thus stopping Cahill in his tracks, as the man finally sees who the real bad guy is.

There are some subplots, too. Jessica and Malone continue to butt heads, as Jessica doesn't tell Malone about what Louis has done, and he insists that she treat him like a special snowflake for some reason. Mike has moved back in with Rachel, but things aren't smooth sailing between them just yet. Mike reveals that he's not over Rachel's betrayal yet, and Rachel despairs, not knowing what else she can do. Even though things are difficult for them, they will continue to persevere together.

As the episode ends, Jessica remains firm in her decision to fire Louis. Harvey says he wants to be the one to break the news, so he can say goodbye. But Louis beats them both to the punch, leaving a note where he says that Pearson Specter was his home, and that he doesn't want to put either of them through the pain of firing him, so he's quitting.

This episode was one of the best that Suits has ever had, but there are a few problems... the stuff with Jessica and Malone, as well as the stuff with Rachel and Mike's relationship, felt like a distraction. A lot of plot was going on here, and I think the focus really should have remained on the resolution of the SEC plot, and of Louis' many mess-ups, rather than bringing in these recurring relationship subplots.

In the case of Jessica and Malone... I seriously want to kill Jeff. I don't understand where he gets off, treating Jessica like this. And the fact that their relationship gets outed in this episode makes me even more angry. You know what I realized? We're given no reason to understand why on earth Jessica would risk her career for this guy. We don't ever really see them having a good time together! They're always fighting!

With Mike and Rachel, I really did like the subplot, but I think it took up too much time in this episode, and wasn't given enough time for its own sake. You know, now that I'm thinking about it... why couldn't they have stretched things out a bit more? This episode - the twist with Cahill and Woodall, Louis quitting... this all could have been a great summer finale. It wouldn't have ended on a giant shocking cliffhanger, but it would have been a good stopping point. That would have given them one more episode of space to deal with such issues as Mike and Rachel's relationship after the Logan fallout. It would have given us a chance to see Mike back in his element before things get all ripped apart again. There's no settling period.

But I did say this was a stellar episode. Let's talk about why.

Donna: I love the fact that Donna tries to go to Jessica, and it fails. We tend to see Donna as this master manipulator (in a good way) who always gets what she wants when she demands it. Here, we see that Jessica is the boss, and not even Donna, as bad ass as she is, can always win. Her friendship with Louis has been well developed this season, and it was touching to see her defend Louis as best as she could. It was also really sweet and touching that she went with Harvey at the end, as Harvey planned on firing Louis. She was supporting Harvey and Louis by this act.

Rachel: I know I said the subplot with her and Mike was wasting time, but that's only because of what else needed to be accomplished in this episode. For what it was, I really enjoyed Rachel's practical yet remorseful attitude about her relationship with Mike. She's truly sorry, but there's nothing more she can honestly do to fix what happened. She needs to know if Mike has it in him to forgive her and move forward, or if they're doomed. I like how she made sure to get food for Mike that he liked and she didn't, and it was very adorable to see some glimpses of baby Mike and his parents in the photo album.

Katrina: Didn't have a lot to do this week, but in a surprising twist of fate, she's had really fun and endearing moments in two episodes in a row. Her loyalty towards Louis doesn't always make sense, but I enjoy her consistency, and I loved how she compared Louis' situation with Jessica to a mob movie. Louis' remark that the genre always seemed offensive to Italian people made me laugh.

Jessica: Although every scene with her and Malone pisses me off because of what a jerk this guy seems to be, Jessica was the Queen in this episode. Damn. Don't mess with her. I loved Jessica and Harvey being a bad ass team in confronting Cahill and Woodall, and even though I felt for Louis in this episode, I still admired Jessica for sticking to her guns about firing him. While it's true that Louis loves the firm and wants to do what's best, he does let his emotions get to him, and he does cause a lot of problems. He's a liability, and Jessica won't stand for it. (Although it begs the question - why doesn't she just freakin' fire Harvey and Mike and be done with the risk? I almost want to see her do it. You go, girl.)

Cahill, Woodall, and Forstman: Cahill has been a sort of pesky but not-too-evil antagonist all season, and I really enjoy the twist here, that he really was just doing his job. He had bad information from Woodall, who is truly the bad guy here. When Cahill finds out what's really going on, he backs down. He's not one to keep going because of a vendetta. This is sort of an interesting direction for the show, though, as we see yet again that Pearson Specter gets away with breaking the rules.

The nice thing about Woodall being the bad guy all the time is that... yeah. It's sort of like revealing that the bad guy was secretly the bad guy from the beginning. We already knew Woodall was the one with a vendetta. But to have the truth sneak up on Harvey, Louis, and Mike in this episode, and to see how Cahill was actually being fooled by this guy was... wonderful.

And Forstman is just the perfect obvious villain, with his sinister cigar smoking and his "I don't give a shit" attitude. He acted as a good smoke screen to what was really going on. All in all, the twists about the real bad guy in this episode had me guessing up until the last moment. Very nicely done. (Side note, though... what exactly did Harvey and Forstman do together, all those years ago? Will that get brought back in?)

Harvey and Mike: Mike's plot with Rachel was good, as we see he continues to struggle with what she did, but the best moments ever come in his scenes with Harvey. You know, it's weird... as this episode went on, I had resigned myself to the fact that this one was going to focus on Louis - which I'm fine with - but that it probably wasn't going to have much cuteness between Harvey and Mike. I mean, I've been so spoiled with all the amazing bromance between them lately, that I figured it would be okay to take this one episode off from that. Instead...

During that deposition, Harvey literally referred to Mike as his brother. Really. It happened. And Mike just has this little satisfied look on his face when Harvey says it. I think the strongest testament to this relationship is that this moment wasn't the focal point of the episode - it wasn't some emotional epicenter of everything. It's just how Harvey thinks of Mike. Their fierce loyalty and friendship is no longer something either one of them doubts. They know what they are to each other. And speaking of loyalty, I love that Harvey can't help but brag about how awesome Mike is. I mean, this is a deposition. They're fighting for their lives here. It's not really the time to be going on and on about how Mike is fantastic and how "anybody would be lucky to have him." Aww! Also, there's the fact that Donna, in trying to get Harvey to keep Louis, and how does she try and convince him? By reminding him that Louis brought Mike back. Later, in Mike's attempts to defend Louis, he says the same thing to Harvey, knowing that Mike's presence in the firm is a big asset to Harvey. How adorable.

I also have to point out one other little thing... I was so happy when Harvey walked into Mike's office to talk about work. I know it's a small thing, but it means Harvey respects Mike as an equal. After all the time Mike has spent in Harvey's office, I loved seeing the reverse happen here.

And let us end with a discussion of... Louis. I never really liked Louis in the beginning of this show. He was such an annoyance to Harvey and Mike, and over the years, and even over this season, I've been irritated about his repetitive plot lines, wherein he messes up in order to gain Harvey and/or Jessica's respect. They yell at him, but the problem is solved and he's forgiven.

In this episode, we see that all come to an end. Finally, Louis has crossed a line he can't come back from. And even if he was only doing it for Harvey's approval, that doesn't make it okay. At the end of the day, Louis' actions are selfish. I love the fact that Louis still wants to help, and he actually manages to be part of the dream team one last time before leaving. And that letter... I don't think I even need to explain how awesome that was. I think honestly it's the perfect way for Louis to bow out (although, come on, I'm sure he'll be back. It's Louis). He showed his respect and love for the firm in the best way he knew how: by letting it go. It's the ultimate sacrifice, and it was a genuinely touching moment.

I'll end here. That promo is making me super super nervous, but I'm also extremely excited. Next Wednesday, here we come!

8.5/10