Suits: Back on the Map (6x03)

Oh boy. I did not see that coming. This is intense. I'm dying to find out what's next! The really cool thing about this episode is that there were four different story lines going on, and somehow things didn't feel crowded at all. I'm going to start with my few complaints, and then get straight in to looking at each plot thread.

Cons:

No Rachel/Mike. Obviously, you all know I'm here for the Harvey and Mike material. But I'm a little twitchy about the fact that Harvey has gone to see Mike several times already, and Rachel hasn't even gotten a phone call. I hope that changes next week. I want to keep rooting for Mike and Rachel as a couple, but when their relationship is barely even given lip service, that becomes a little difficult.

Louis' plot thread was pretty good in a lot of ways, but it bothered me a little bit that it involved him screwing up again. I wish we could see some plot threads where Louis actually pulls out a win, without first ridiculing him. It's a small thing, but I'm wary of the continuing "Louis is a screw-up" pattern becoming a problem again.

Suits: Accounts Payable (6x02)

This show is killing me with its awesomeness. This wasn't a perfectly executed episode, but it hit all the elements of this show that I love the most, so it's going to get quite a bit of leniency from me.

Cons:

Each of the two main plots tonight had one small problem. It wasn't enough to detract from my generally favorable impression, but still.

First of all, in the "Save the Firm" plot thread, we have the return of Jack Soloff. This character vacillates in my mind from totally useless to potentially quite interesting. The trouble with him is that I think we were meant to feel sympathy for him, since he is one of the many partners of PSL who has been screwed over because of Mike. Jessica even makes amends with him in the end, agreeing to pay for his buy-in so he can work at Robert Zane's firm. But this act of generosity from Jessica came after Jack trying to sue her, and Jessica's line about getting him out of the mess because she was the one who caused it just didn't ring true for me. I'm interested, in theory, in the idea of exploring the grievances of other PSL employees and partners who had to scramble to save their careers because of Mike... but is Jack really the best spokesperson for that group? We know too much about his slimy ways for me to feel too much sympathy.

Suits: To Trouble (6x01)

Yayyyy! My favorite show is back! I love Suits with an unreasonably amount of fervor, but how can I help it? Great acting, awesome script writing, and a general story that actually pushes things forward instead of getting entrenched in boring and familiar patterns? I'm all in!

Cons:

I don't really have any complaints, but I do have one potential concern. In Mike's side of the episode, which I'll talk about more in a moment, we learn that there's a prisoner who is in there thanks to Harvey. He wants to take revenge on Harvey, and plans on using Mike to do it. I love, love, love the potential here, but I also feel slightly worried that Mike going to prison is going to end up being about Harvey, rather than about Mike. Last season we got a lot of focus on Harvey's character development, and I want this plot thread, with Mike being in prison, to teach us about Mike's character, too. But like I said... that's not a complaint. It's a concern about the trajectory of the season, and I'm more than excited to see where they take it.

Outlander: Dragonfly in Amber (2x13)

So, we finally get the jump forward that book fans have been looking for all season. Twenty years have passed since Claire said goodbye to Jamie and traveled back to her own time. Her daughter Brianna is an adult, and Frank Randall is dead. Oh yeah, and we have to keep flashing back to the preparation for the battle of Culloden, too. Can't forget that.

Cons:

This episode was split up between the final preparations for the Battle of Culloden, and flash-forwards to Claire and her daughter Brianna twenty years later, in the year 1968. I enjoyed almost everything in the episode on its own merit, but there was too little of the stuff in the past, and too much of the flash-forward stuff. As a result, this episode felt like a solid Season Three premiere, rather than a Season Two finale. Usually finales are supposed to wrap up the plot threads of the season, but we didn't even so much as see Charles Stuart in this whole episode, and the battle wasn't depicted at all. I think we'll probably get some of that next season, but for me it left a very incomplete feeling to the season, to not be able to see how some of these things were resolved.

As a result of the Culloden stuff getting so little screen time, a lot of plot had to happen very quickly. In short, Jamie and Claire discuss the possibility of assassinating Charles Stuart to prevent the battle from taking place. Dougal overhears, and attacks Jamie. Jamie is forced to kill his uncle in self defense. Rupert then walks in and sees Jamie leaning over the dead Dougal, with the knife still buried in his chest. Rupert promises to give Jamie two hours before he tells everybody what he's seen. Jamie rushes to make preparations - he signs a deed giving over Lallybroch to young Jamie Murray, his nephew and namesake, so that the land won't be seized after the failed rebellion. The Murrays never rebelled, after all. Jamie entrusts the deed to Fergus and sends him off to ride for Lallybroch. Then, Jamie has to take Claire to the stones at Craigh na Dun. They say their final goodbyes, and Claire goes through the stones.