Suits: Windmills (9x03)

I had some issues, but they were mostly little things. I still over-all enjoyed the episode.

Cons:

I'm flip-flopping on Donna and Harvey week to week. I want to be happy in the way I know the Darvey shippers are... I want to think that they're just so cute and perfect together. But their banter just seems performative for me, in a way that Harvey and Mike's never did. And in a way that Donna and Harvey usually don't. They were good at flirting with each other before they were together, but now? It feels unnatural. For example, when they're out to dinner together they fall silent when they realize they have nothing to talk about outside of work, which makes them both anxious. But then Harvey saves the day by telling Donna that she reminds him of the mother of a friend he had growing up, who he always had such a crush on. Donna thinks it's romantic, and nice to know they can still learn new things about each other. I think it's kind of creepy and weird, and feeds way too much into the idea of Harvey thinking of Donna like a caretaker. She's been looking after him for way too long, and the power imbalance is still there.

I get trying to make Faye into a bad guy by showing her pushing people around, but I thought it was ridiculous of her to ask Donna to be her temporary secretary. That's not a realistic thing that someone would ask. She could have asked Donna to help her find a secretary, sure. But to ask the COO of the company? It's completely stupid and contrived.

While for the most part I did like Louis' plot this week, I have to admit a little bit of frustration, because suddenly we're told that it's his life-long dream to be a judge. He's given the chance to make that dream come true, and must choose between this new adventure, and sticking with his team during their hard time. Predictably, he chooses to stay with the firm. But why did I not know Louis wanted to be a judge? If it's been brought up on the show before, it's been sparingly. In order for that to be a good conflict in this episode, it needed to be established a lot earlier on.

Pros:

But like I said, I did mostly like Louis' plot thread. It was nice to see him handling his demotion with grace - more or less. Sure, he's freaking out and overreacting to things, but that's pretty much inevitable. We see him talk about it to Sheila, we see him doubt Harvey and Donna but actually have a mature conversation with Harvey about it... all in all, he's not spiraling the way Louis from past seasons would have done. I also like the idea of Sheila, Donna, and Louis having a girl's night. It's what they all deserve.

I want to zero in on a really clever joke in this episode, too. There's a longstanding tradition of Harvey making pop culture references, and his chemistry and natural friendship with people is somewhat demonstrated by how well they are able to banter with him on this kind of thing. It's what made Harvey and Mike so likable onscreen, and it's short-hand to show that Harvey and Alex get along well. Louis also makes pop culture references, in an attempt to connect with Harvey, but there's always something off - Louis' references and Harvey's never seem to gel. In this episode, Louis makes a Don Quixote reference, and Harvey doesn't get it, but tries to banter back at him anyway. I just thought that was a good touch on a long-standing joke. It was also funny that Louis says "tilting at windmills" is from Man of La Mancha. Which... okay, of course he'd go for the musical, instead of the novel!

Sam and Alex had a little plot thread, where Alex has Sam over for dinner with his family, and she witnesses a fight between parents and child. Even though that makes things a bit awkward, it still ultimately makes Samantha realize how important family is, and she decides to go looking for her biological family. This seems like a bit of a weird jump, but I don't mind it. Samantha and Alex had a necessarily confrontational relationship to start, so it's nice to see them being friends now. It's sweet that Alex takes the time to know that Samantha needs companionship, and he makes that happen for her. It's also nice that Alex is keeping Samantha on a leash a little bit, stopping her from going after Faye for what she did to Louis.

Harvey makes a move against Faye, and it doesn't pan out. The details are relatively unimportant. This plot thread is basically just reinforcing the dynamic we've already seen. Harvey and the others don't want to give up control to Faye, but Faye is, at least thus far, unimpeachable. This plot thread didn't actually take up much of the run-time, as more personal character beats filled most of the episode. I like that Faye continues to be legally untouchable, even if her attitude is prickly. She's right. And that's more interesting than if she were a total villain.

Finally, we've got Katrina. Since Mike didn't get even a mention this week, I'll end the review with my other favorite character on the show. Katrina gets blackmailed by an associate who wants to work with her. This woman has figured out that something must have been going on between Katrina and Brian. Katrina asks for Samantha's advice in how to handle it, and Samantha tells her that if she gives this person an inch, she'll take a mile. So... Katrina calls her bluff.

I loved so much about this. Katrina played dirty when she first started at the firm, and she remembers what it is to be a young woman trying to make it in a demanding, male-dominated career. She won't put up with blackmail and manipulation, but she also doesn't want to totally stomp on this associate for being assertive and going after what she wants. This is a great mix, and could make for an interesting dynamic going forward. I hope we get to see Katrina in that mentor role again, since things didn't exactly go smoothly with her and Brian. Katrina deserves the best!

And that's where I'll stop for the time being. I like Faye as an antagonist for the season. I like the way our team is handling the situation, and I like the fact that it's making them confront their issues. Just one more Mike-less episode left before the glorious return!

7.5/10