Suits: Full Disclosure (7x07)

I'm a little sick of Harvey and Mike being at odds, but it's hard not to find the situation a little compelling. Let's get started.

Cons:

Flashback episodes are a staple on Suits, and sometimes they feel a little slow and unnecessary. This was another case where the information imparted in the flashbacks could have been explained in just a few lines of dialogue. The only reason to really show it all play out was that Jessica got to come in and be in yet another episode of this TV show she's supposedly not on anymore. For example, we rehash the rivalry with Louis and Harvey again, and we see how Donna puts Harvey before her personal relationships again, and we see how Harvey is brash and hotheaded sometimes but ultimately Jessica keeps him in line, again. The only new pieces of this puzzle were the stuff with Alex, which I'll get to in a second.

We also see, in flashback, the origins of Louis' relationship with his therapist. And this rubbed me the wrong way SO hard. Louis walks in, hears the therapist's German accent, and immediately calls him a Nazi. When the guy explains that he's actually Jewish, Louis later actually doubts that, and calls him a "supposed Jew" and then throws the word "Nazi" around again. Calling a Jewish man, whose parents were in Germany during the War, a literal Nazi is a shitty, horrible thing to do. I get that Louis, as a Jewish man himself, has a lot of traumatic baggage associated with the Germans and the Nazis. But this exchange felt very blunt, and frankly out of touch with our current political and social climate. I could have done without it.

Also - I get that Mike isn't going to let the prison case go, but his whole thing about not lying to Harvey but not volunteering the information was just a little dumb. It amounts to the same thing. Mike was going behind Harvey's back again, and it totally sucks.

Pros:

We learn the truth about Alex's connection to the prison conspiracy. Basically, in the past, Alex fought to bring Harvey on board at his firm, and Harvey promised to jump ship on Jessica and Daniel. When he backed out on the deal, Alex's career was ruined. His firm didn't respect him anymore. When Alex was brought in on a new case, he became inadvertently implicated in a conspiracy, and when he discovered the truth, his own firm explained that he was linked to this thing on the highest level. Alex couldn't come forward, for risk of being arrested for something he didn't even know about.

Meanwhile, Mike tries to pass the case off on Anita Gibbs and make it a criminal case instead of civil, thereby not breaking the agreement anymore. Anita won't bite unless Mike has proof of the conspiracy that doesn't break privilege. Mike finds it through shady means (Ben hacks a database) but Harvey manages to cut Mike off at the pass by signing the other part of the conspiracy as a client of PSL, meaning that no matter where Mike gets the information, it's privileged and Gibbs can't use it.

This whole thing is deliciously tangled up, and I love how much Harvey is struggling with it. After screwing Alex over in the past, he promised to do him a favor some day. Now, Alex is in big trouble unless Mike drops his case, but Harvey knows that Mike isn't going to do that. He has to maneuver a way to force Mike to let it go, even knowing that Mike went to prison for him, and he owes him as well. All the while, Harvey can't tell Mike what's really going on, because he doesn't trust Mike not to use the information in order to help the prisoners. I love that I can see this issue from all angles, and sort of understand where Harvey is coming from along with where Mike is coming from.

The best scene of the episode is the very last one, where we cut between Harvey telling Donna, and Alex telling Mike, the truth about Alex's involvement with this whole mess. Alex wants Mike to understand that his career and his safety could be on the line if Mike continues to pursue this, and Harvey wants to explain to Donna why in this case, he had to back Alex instead of Mike. Everybody's motivations and reactions felt so spot-on in this instance.

Next week is Suits' 100th episode. I never would have believed they'd make it this far, to be honest, but I'm glad I'm still around for the ride. Now if we could only put an end to the Harvey and Mike disagreements! I'd love to see them back on the same side before we go on hiatus.

7/10