Suits: Thunder Away (9x09)

Katrina! Oh no!

Cons:

I am officially Extremely Worried about this finale. Here are some things that need to happen: Louis and Sheila get married. And have their baby, probably. Harvey proposes to Donna. They defeat Faye, get Samantha and Katrina their jobs back, and settle the question of Managing Partner once and for all. Mike and Harvey patch up their latest feud. Also, something big and Finale-ish needs to happen - something that's unexpected. Mike and Rachel moving back to New York? Harvey leaving the firm? Donna pregnant? Who knows, but you know it'll be something. And also Alex needs to have something to do in this finale because right now he is majorly on the sidelines. How is all of that supposed to fit into one hour? I wish this episode could have dialed back on the Samantha and Mike vs. Harvey and Louis stuff, because I really don't want to spend my last few hours with these characters watching them at odds with each other. It sucks.

I know it's ultimately silly to complain about the inaccuracies of this show when it comes to the legal stuff, but it just cracks me up. This idea that Faye could basically coerce Harvey and Louis into representing her... that's not how it works. And basically it doesn't matter if they win or lose, their goal is met either way. Either they win, and Faye leaves as she agreed. Or they lose, and Faye is gone because she is guilty of wrongful termination. So the stakes are poor, and the scenario doesn't make logical sense, and it's all so we can have Harvey vs. Mike because the writers can't come up with another compelling reason for Mike to be here. It's annoying.

I still don't really believe in Donna and Harvey as a couple. It annoys me that Harvey says "she's the only one who really gets me," because everything in the episode shows that Mike is also a person who "really gets him" and is there for him. Like, yes, my little Marvey heart is willing to die on this hill, but I also have to be honest that the chemistry between Donna and Harvey just doesn't really do it for me. I've tried so hard to be excited about them, and I've wavered back and forth on it all season. It just feels like she's his caretaker, not his partner, and the imbalance there doesn't go away just because Harvey talks about his feelings now.

Pros:

Because this is close to the end of the show, we are getting a lot of fan-service material that I frankly adore. We get Harvey admitting to loving Louis. We get Mike and Harvey in court, bouncing back and forth being bad-asses. We get Mike using his eidetic memory. We get movie quotes and Mike and Harvey reminiscing and speaking at the same time. We get hugs abound. All of that was very satisfying window dressing, even if some of the core things happening were in some cases less than ideal.

I loved Mike and Samantha teaming up together. It made sense for them to make peace at Harvey's mother's funeral, given everything going on. Mike is sorry that Samantha lost her job, and Samantha admits that she would do things differently if she had a chance to change things. I like that neither of them is strictly apologizing, here. They may have done each other dirty, but they are who they are. The point is, now they can work together to help Samantha get her job back, and to take out Faye. We see that they somewhat clash with one another in their styles and methods, but they actually put that aside to plan and do what they can to take Faye down.

When Harvey and Louis walk into the room and declare they will be representing Faye, there's obviously a lot of confusion. I love that Mike's first instinct is that Harvey is trying to divert suspicion, and that even when he learns that Harvey and Louis really are representing her, he thinks that something else must be going on. He's confused, and upset, but he knows that there must be a bigger picture he's not seeing. It's frustrating, but in a narratively satisfying way, that Harvey and Louis can't just tell the others what's going on. And then we see as Donna is looped in, then Alex, then Katrina... and yet still Mike and Samantha can't know. Sure, it's contrived. Sure, I just complained above about how it makes no real sense. But it did make for some good drama.

I love Katrina so much. Ever since Mike left the show, she has been my touchstone, the character I cared for the very most. I love that she tried to make the right decision with limited information, ended up making things worse, but then owned up to it with Faye. We know that Katrina was trying to act with dignity and honor, so the fact that she was fired for it was a real slap in the face. As always, Faye is not technically wrong about all of the shenanigans these people get up to. But we saw her fire Samantha for being duplicitous, and then now she fires Katrina for trying to make good on her mistakes. Katrina stood up for Samantha, and was willing to put herself on the line to protect another woman's career. The finale obviously has to include Samantha and Katrina getting their jobs back, or else what's the point?!

The funeral scene at the beginning was really quite lovely. I like that Harvey got emotional and cried while giving the eulogy, and that he tells his brother that he loves him. Harvey's glow-up as a character has been all about getting in touch with his emotional side, and there's something very sweet about seeing him achieve that, even though the circumstances are tragic. Harvey is vulnerable because of his recent loss, but the episode does a good job of toeing the line. He's not incredibly erratic, he doesn't make any irreversible moves. He yells at Katrina, which sucks, but he'll be able to make it up to her, and he realizes his mistake right away. He keeps a level head even though he's going through a rough time, and I like that even though he's experienced a personal loss, he's not totally off the rails.

The line in this episode that killed me dead was when Harvey and Mike were out for dinner as friends, and Harvey pulls out the subpoena, and Mike is all upset, and says "when did you stop trusting me?" It broke my heart. Harvey has been so miserable having to keep something from Mike and Samantha, the two of whom he describes as two of his closest friends. And here he's having to betray him right after the two of them have been having such a nice evening. I've complained in the past about Mike being too righteous, but in this circumstance, he can only react based on the information he has. He knows there's more going on here, he doesn't think Harvey is defending Faye just for the hell of it. But he doesn't know what, and he can't possibly understand why Harvey isn't being honest with him.

Mike and Harvey belong together, okay? Platonic, romantic, whatever. They just do. Sometimes I feel like the creators of this show don't understand what they've actually got in front of them, or what story they're telling. There's this moment when Louis quotes some movies to try and put Harvey in a better state of mind. It's cute, it's subtle, and then he fumbles an easy reference and Harvey just smiles indulgently. That's sweet, and it shows how much Louis cares for Harvey and wants to be there for him. But juxtapose it to the scene earlier in the episode, when Mike walks in to Harvey's apartment like he owns the place, making Batman and Robin references, and Harvey banters back. Juxtapose it to the moment when they're sharing drinks and they reminisce about an earlier experience and finish each other's sentences. They're so in sync.

So that's it. There's only one more episode of Suits and then it's time to say goodbye forever. I wish the whole episode could just be Mike and Harvey talking to one another and being bestest friends, but there's a lot we've got to unpack. I'm nervous that the finale will feel way too overcrowded and there won't be time to let the characters breathe. It was the same thing they did for Mike and Rachel's final episode, where they got married and then ran off before there was a chance to spend any real time with them. However, I'll keep my fingers crossed. In any case, I'm glad Mike is around for the end - it just wouldn't feel right without him!

7/10