Suits: She's Gone (6x11)

Okay. So. I'm happy and I'm not. I don't know what's going on with this show right now, but there's this one character who's just getting... assassinated in terms of development. And no, it's not Louis. It's not Rachel. It's not even Donna...

Cons:

It's Mike. I want to start this review by discussing the one very big problem I had with this episode. That's not to say that the episode was all bad, because I actually liked everything it's setting up, and I think we've got a promising half-season ahead of us. But then there's Mike. What has this show done to him?

We see that Mike is trying to strike out on his own, and help people. He doesn't want to work for Harvey as a consultant, even when Harvey basically begs him to come back. He wants to get his own work. The trouble is, he knows that nobody is going to take him seriously in the legal field now that he's a convicted felon. I'll talk in the "Pros" section about his time as a teacher through his church, which I quite liked, but then we get to the problem. See, Harvey tries to help Mike by going to Anita Gibbs, and asking her to endorse Mike as an ethical candidate for the bar. This backfires just as badly as you'd expect, and Anita actually shows up to Mike's place to tell him off and promise that she'll do everything in her power to stop him from getting a degree. So what does Mike do? He goes to Harvey and he yells at him. He tells him that even if he does end up with a law degree somehow, Specter Litt is the last place he'd ever come to work. He tells Harvey to stop screwing up his life, and storms away angrily.

Like, first off, this is an overreaction. And secondly, it's building on something I noticed a lot when Mike was in prison: he's kind of an ungrateful little shit. Whenever something isn't going his way, he gets really mad at Harvey. And Harvey, although flawed in myriad ways, is actually a saint when it comes to dealing with Mike. He bends over backwards for the kid, neglecting his other responsibilities and reaching out to people he hates just to try and help Mike however he can. And Mike never sees it. He never appreciates that Harvey would do anything for him. In fact, he knows that Harvey has abandonment issues, like, actually serious issues, and he not only refuses to come back to work for him (which I'm totally fine with, by the way) but actually yells at him and basically tells him to f**k off. Why, Mike? Why?!

In my reviews of the prison arc, I discuss Mike's anger towards Harvey, and how that could have been an interesting avenue to explore. Maybe Mike is lashing out because he still subconsciously blames Harvey for his situation, even though he was the one who decided to fall on his sword. But they're not exploring that angle - they're just making Mike come across as a jerk! This episode is so full of Harvey caring about Mike and missing Mike and loving Mike, and I couldn't even enjoy it properly because I was so annoyed at Mike for being a dick!

Pros:

That being said, let's talk about the rest of the episode. Hopefully I won't ramble on quite as much.

Mike ends up taking a job through his old church, teaching a classroom full of delinquent kids. Predictably, he doesn't do a good job at first, and when the kids find out he was in prison, they all taunt him and don't take him seriously. I thought this story was going in a very predictable direction, where Mike would come in and tell them all about the horrors of living in prison in order to whip them into shape. Instead, however, Mike tells them all the truth about why he's replacing their old teacher: the old man is dying of cancer. Mike had him as a teacher when he was younger, and they spend the class sharing stories about the man. In the end, one of the parents finds out that Mike is a felon, and unfortunately he's not welcome to continue teaching.

I liked that this plot thread didn't do exactly what I expected it to. I also thought the kids were realistically disdainful of Mike. He does look young and sort of gullible, and it makes sense that he wouldn't be able to get their respect right off the bat. But instead of doing an after-school special where Mike is able to change their lives, he lets the memory of their old teacher do that for him, as they all share in something together. Of course, it doesn't really go anywhere, since Mike can't keep the job. It's almost a shame, since it was kind of nice to see Mike as a teacher. But of course that wouldn't provide very good momentum for the show as a whole.

Rachel, meanwhile, is facing a dilemma. She's about to become a lawyer, but she's anxious about passing the ethics section of the bar, due to her continued relationship with Mike, and her desire to work at the firm that hired him. Her father offers her a job at his firm. Robert Zane not only has a more stable job for Rachel, he also has a job that will cast less suspicion on her ethical integrity, even with the nepotism angle considered. It's an interesting dilemma, and I'm glad that Rachel didn't get all righteous or unreasonable about the whole thing. She honestly considered her situation, and then made the choice we all knew she would make, when Louis makes her a formal job offer.

Speaking of Louis, he does his predictable song and dance, wherein he goes off the handle and messes up, and then tries to apologize. What I sort of loved about this, though, is that it was used as an opportunity to show how Harvey is going off the deep end, too. Louis and Harvey are both floundering without Jessica, and it shows. Basically, Louis works with Katrina to poach Robert Zane's associates, and he actually succeeds, with Robert Zane's blessing. But he almost screws up by trying to go after one of Zane's clients as well, not realizing that Robert is actually trying to be helpful. In the end, he pulls back and goes to talk to Harvey to tell him that he's not ready to be managing partner, and that Harvey should definitely take the lead. But before he can do that, Harvey is screaming at him about undoing everything Jessica worked so hard to create. It's a brutal scene, and it's one that feels earned and logical. You can see how both of these men are struggling to hold up the kingdom without their supreme queen Jessica Pearson.

The best parts of this episode are in the quiet moments. As a resolution of Rachel's plot thread, Louis offers her a job and she accepts. As a resolution of Louis's plot thread, he succeeds in recruiting a new class of associates, and then he goes to Rachel and offers her the job - as a second year associate. It's a beautiful gesture, and they even share a hug. I love how these two stories converge in that perfect moment.

Gretchen and Donna both fulfilled their typical support roles, yelling at people when they needed to be yelled at, comforting them when they needed that. I'd be annoyed, but I really do enjoy seeing both of these women get shit done, even if the way the need to do that is by blending in to the background sometimes. And Donna certainly didn't start the episode in the background... we see Harvey having a dream where he and Donna are sleeping together, and she brings him coffee in bed. The dream turns into a nightmare when she says that she can't work for him now because of their personal relationship, and she basically taunts him about Jessica being gone.

That brings us to Harvey Specter, who once again is getting a generous amount of nuance. It makes me even more bitter about the bludgeoning of Mike Ross's characterization, but I'm still happy that Harvey's getting such a good examination. Basically, his abandonment issues have come back, full force. He essentially says as much to Donna. He yells at Louis after the altercation with Mike, clearly devastated at all the people in his life suddenly leaving him. Jessica is gone, and Mike, who he just worked so hard to free from prison, isn't coming back to work with him. Donna brings up Harvey's mother, saying that he needs to reconcile with his family while he still has a chance. His work family can never fill the void. This is really insightful of Donna, and it brings a whole added element of drama to the show.

I guess I'll stop there. In summary, if it weren't for the way Mike is acting, I think I would have really, really loved this episode. As is, I liked it a lot. I'm still excited for what's next. But I do hope that Mike and Harvey patch things up... I don't want any more drama between my boys!

8/10