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.

I don't think I have a single bad thing to say about this plot thread. Oddly enough, after all the stuff I said about Jack Soloff in last week's review, I liked him a lot better as one of the good guys! He's sort of chaotic neutral, and he says whatever is on his mind, stripping away a lot of the cunning politics that the other characters use. It's actually refreshing. I did think there was some potential for Harvey to get jealous of Mike and Jack working together, but I guess the episode was crowded enough without that. In any case I thought Jack was really good here.

Daniel Hardman was in this episode, but he didn't have much to do. I'm not complaining, though... clearly this was just a warm-up, and he'll be back. He's the best villain this show has ever had, and they're wise to keep using him when they can.

The best part of this plot thread, though, was the focus on the relationship between Jessica and Mike. Jessica telling Mike that he's the best associate she's ever seen... well, that is something else. It's the kind of thing that's so freakin' gratifying for Mike to hear, but of course the compliment only comes at a time of extreme stress and pain. Mike being offered junior partnership is going to have such huge implications for the show going forward. It brings me back to my constant question - how does this show end? Like, when Suits is cancelled, (hopefully not for years to come) how are they going to end it? The entire firm is going down once Mike's secret comes out. Does Mike end up in jail? The best I can guess is that Mike will tell the truth, and he'll be able to save Rachel by cooperating. Rachel goes on to become a great lawyer, and Mike stays home and takes care of their kids. That could be a potential ending... but then what about Harvey, Jessica, Louis, and Donna? There's just too much going on!

This plot thread had some great moments of comedy mixed in with the drama. I loved Mike and Jessica's earlier conversation, when she told him to work with Jack. "If I started handing out pink slips for troublemakers..." and then there's Mike's startled question: "You know who Harold Gunderson is?" Great stuff!

There was pretty much no Mike/Harvey stuff in this episode, which is a bummer, but there was the significantly adorable moment when Mike told Jack Soloff to make things right with Harvey, because otherwise they couldn't be friends. They are such bros!

Moving on to the other plot thread... Harvey. Louis. Esther. Donna. Not a good mix.

Esther shows up at the firm with another legal problem. She goes to Harvey first, but he tells her that she should go to Louis. He antagonizes her, saying that she only wants Harvey to help her because she likes him and is too afraid to say so. Esther is appalled, and she goes to Louis. She later realizes that Harvey was doing that to get her to go to her brother, and she thanks Harvey. The case involves somebody accusing Esther's company of causing an allergic reaction. Esther wants to settle. Louis doesn't, and when Rachel finds out that opposing council is known for going public and ruining companies, Louis knows he needs to go against his sister's wishes. In the end, despite some arguing, Louis is able to help Esther.

Meanwhile, Harvey asks Donna to go out to dinner, like they do every year to celebrate working together. Harvey wants to celebrate their friendship, since they're slowly repairing the damage. Donna tells Harvey that he should come clean about sleeping with Esther, but Harvey says no. They get into an argument about it, especially because Donna has to lie to Louis about it. Later, Esther comes to talk to Harvey, attempting to ask him out again. Harvey says no. He realizes that he needs to come clean to Louis, and he can't break his promise a second time. Esther is upset, and when she goes to meet Louis and Donna for dinner, Louis notices. He puts the pieces together.

Louis runs to Harvey's office and yells at him. The two get into a fight. Louis antagonizes Harvey by saying that he's a serial womanizer who's clearly messed up by his childhood. Unknown to Louis, Harvey had just been opening up to Dr. Agard about his mother's betrayal. All of this hits home for Harvey, who punches Louis. As Louis rushes Harvey, he pushes him back, throwing him into his glass table, which shatters. Donna, meanwhile, knew there would be trouble, and rushed to find Jessica. Jessica shows up and tells Harvey to leave his office so she can help the injured Louis.

Oh noooooooo. Okay, I do have a complaint about this.

Louis really has no right to dictate who his sister should sleep with. I feel like this episode could have done a little more to acknowledge the fact that Esther is her own person, and that her decision to sleep with Harvey was her own. It doesn't have anything to do with Louis.

That being said, I did love this plot thread, and all of the promising things it's establishing for the coming weeks. Amy Acker was lovely as always, and I really feel like I understand Esther, both as a love interest for Harvey, and as Louis' sister. She had great chemistry with the other actors.

Donna and Harvey!!! I love the fact that Harvey seems to be sincere in his wish for friendship with Donna. He doesn't have an ulterior motive about stealing her back from Louis. I think Harvey has really grown up, in that he seems to be respecting Donna's wishes this time around. Dr. Agard has really helped in that regard!

That being said, Harvey's sessions with Dr. Agard have also brought a lot of really traumatic stuff to the forefront of Harvey's mind. He's a lot more raw and vulnerable to mentions of his past than he would normally be. Louis had no way of knowing that when he went off on Harvey, but it gives the audience a way to understand Harvey's violent reaction. Young Harvey was so cute and sad! Poor dear!

And ohhhh my God. This is not going to be good for Harvey, Louis, or the firm as a whole. I feel like the instability caused by this new rift will be the perfect opportunity for Daniel Hardman to begin his meddling once again. And add that in with Mike's new dilemma about his promotion? This is gonna get messy...

9/10