Suits: Pulling the Goalie (7x14)

This is an interesting episode, because it seems to be wrapping up a lot of the elements of the story, leaving us with something of a clean slate going in to next week's two-part finale. Is that so we can focus all our energy on Mike and Rachel leaving? We'll see!

Cons:

I guess... I mean... I'm happy for Louis that he gets to be with Sheila and all that, but there are a few things about this that really rub me the wrong way. For one, Sheila was pretty clear that she didn't want kids. As a woman who is constantly being told that she'll change her mind about not wanting children, it miffed me just slightly to see Sheila caving on that. It's fine to change your mind, obviously, but it seems like Sheila has decided to sacrifice her own desires for Louis, and that sucks. The other thing is... sure, Sheila's fiance was a dick, but is Louis actually any better? We're supposed to think he's a good man because he sacrificed the chance to humiliate his rival, all because Sheila asked him to. But Louis was only in a position to humiliate him because he decided to pick a fight with the guy and screw him over all to maintain his honor. That's such a nasty, petty thing to do!

Pros:

That being said, Louis' plot thread this week did have a couple of really good elements. For one, it saw the return of Katrina, who will be elevated to a main role next season to try and fill the gaping hole in our hearts made by Mike and Rachel's departures. She's such a fun character, and her enduring love and support for Louis makes her all the more fun to root for. I might not always like Louis, but I admire Katrina for never turning her back on him. We also got a great little moment with Harvey and Louis, where Louis helps Harvey with a work thing, and in turn Harvey gives Louis relationship advice. It's nice to see a scene with the two of them where they aren't yelling at each other every once in a while. With Mike gone next season (sniff sniff), Louis and Harvey's relationship might very well be a bigger focus.

Donna nearly loses the firm their lease, but with Rachel's help, she saves the day and actually gets a 10% cut on the cost of the lease. This was a fun plot thread because it shows Donna settling in to her role as COO, and gives us a chance to see Donna and Rachel working together. Their friendship never got a ton of screen-time, but it's been an enduring presence on the show for seven seasons, and it's yet another relationship we're going to have to say goodbye to next week. I like that Rachel is a good, competent attorney, and that Donna has her gift for reading people, and that these two things together are what takes down the slime-ball who was trying to knock Donna's feet out from under her. This was a fairly standard plot thread in a lot of ways, but it was well placed in the season. After all the love triangle shenanigans, it's nice to see Donna kicking ass in her job, even if she makes a few blunders along the way. And now we see that she has claimed her place as COO and is capable of doing the job. She and Harvey even share drinks together at the end of the episode to celebrate Donna being back where she belongs.

And then of course there's Mike and Harvey. This is probably the last time we'll get to see them team up and be the awesome duo that they are, and I've got to say, I was pretty pleased with how it went. They set out to help the judge on Mike's fraud case, and along the way, we see that Mike pulled Harvey in for help because he wanted to help distract him from his breakup with Paula. The two talk about the Donna situation, they make movie references, they get into an argument about making sacrifices, they apologize to one another, and at the end of the day they win victory for their client and talk more about Harvey's relationship. It was... pretty perfect. Mike is settled. He's got Rachel, he knows what he wants with his life, and I'd bet almost anything that next week we're going to see him go off with Rachel to do something to help the little guy. It's Harvey who is now in an uncertain place in his personal life. It was so smart to have Mike and Harvey talk about that, so we can see Mike's support for him just as he's getting ready to say goodbye.

And let me tell you - the whole "sacrifice" thing was just excellent. Mike accuses Harvey of being unwilling to sacrifice a client for the sake of helping the judge, a woman who, it turns out, was instrumental in keeping Anita Gibbs from tapping Harvey and Mike's phones. Essentially, without this judge's integrity, they would have both ended up in prison. And when Harvey stands firm that they won't help this woman when they find out she lied to them, Mike points out that he went to prison for Harvey. To throw that in his face was a pretty low blow, but Harvey comes to apologize to Mike, knowing he's been on edge lately. In turn, Mike says he never should have questioned Harvey's willingness to sacrifice his professional matters, since he knows Harvey has sacrificed for him hundreds of times. "More like thousands," Harvey grouses, and Mike smiles. It's... kind of adorable.

God, I'm going to miss them together so much. I'm cautiously optimistic about next week's two-part episode. I want Mike and Rachel to be happy together, and I think we're going to get to see that. We can imagine them together off-screen, being a happily married couple, while we go on with the business of the law firm. I'd be shocked if the show survives more than one additional season, and in some ways I don't think it should. But as is almost always the case with me, I'll be sticking it out until the bitter end.

8.5/10