As a series finale goes, this one wasn’t much of a nail biter, but it did a fine, fine job of putting closure to most of the issues raised during the season. The tone and pace of this back half 6 was steady and often leisurely compared to the breakneck pace of the Darby-centric first 10. We had almost 6 months between the blocks, though, which made the downshift appear logical, but I’m curious as to how the flow will play out in a binge watch on DVD.
[SPOILER heavy – proceed with caution]
Just as the team at Pearson-Specter is breathing a sigh of relief that Mike Ross is a secure member of the gang, the waters don’t stay ripple free for long. For one, Rachel Zane isn’t thrilled that Mike has decided to stay at the firm against her advice. She’s not wrong to be annoyed: He essentially demanded she give him her opinion last episode, which he agreed with, thus letting her assume he would take the job with Jonathan Sidwell and no longer be a fraud. But what she doesn’t know is that he went and had his name added to the Bar (hacked, remember!) so he can sort of, kind of “technically” still practice law above boards at the firm. Good thing he finally tells her about that, right? Not so much. Now she’s upset that he didn’t tell her sooner and that he’s just compounded his liability, by covering up his first felony (faking a Harvard Law Degree) with another (faking passing the Bar). I’m of 2 minds on this myself. On one hand, I’d like to think that anyone looking into Mike would be satisfied with seeing those pieces of metadata and carry on. On the other hand, this does keep that guillotine blade hovering silently over Mike’s head – and Harvey’s by extension. It’s not terribly likely a 3rd party would scrutinize him deeper, but the risk is still there. He’s bluffed out of Harvard quizzes and queries so far by sheer knowledge, but if anyone went to Harvard or tried to dig up old classmates, etc. they would find some mysterious dead ends. It’s too late for them to go back, now, though, so we can only assume the question of Mike’s authenticity will spring up again in future episodes.
Picking up where we left off last episode, the Big Story of this episode is that someone (hint: James Quelling) has ratted out Mike and Harold Gunderson to the US Attorney’s Office for allegedly defrauding the US Government by paying off witnesses in the Hessington Oil case. When confronted on the street, Mike volunteers to go in for questioning and the D.A. leading the investigation, Eric Woodall, makes it clear to Mike he’s looking for the bigger fish: Harvey Specter. No one’s really worried that Mike will roll over on Harvey, but since Harold just got fired from his job at Allison Holt’s firm, he could be a loose cannon and roll on Mike. When Jessica Pearson finds out about the investigation, and of the hacking of Mike’s name into the Bar, she’s not pleased but accepts the situation. And this ultimately stirs Jessica to rethink where she, Harvey and firm have come. To her credit, she realizes they’ve been wading deeper into gray areas of the law – and occasionally crossing into the dark deep end – and wants to move back into the light. I’ll be interested to see if this holds true moving forward. I don’t think Suits would quite as stimulating if we didn’t have some below the line action now and then, it needs that edge and risk. Jessica’s sentiment is echoed by Harvey when he tells Mike that if Harold gives up Mike, then Mike needs to point the finger at Harvey. Mike insists he’d never give up Harvey, but Harvey lists some of the more obvious instances of them breaking the law in the name of winning cases. It may just be that I’m still totally enamored with the new, more sensitive Harvey, but I swear this was his attempt at atonement. If he saves Mike and Harold by taking the D.A.’s bullet, then maybe he feels he can reset the score to zero and get back to practicing law unadulterated. Louis Litt saves the day, and the firm, when he convinces Harold to hold fast in one of my favorite scenes. (I’m still chuckling at Maxx Toplin’s Harold, who gives a casual, “Hey, Mike, how’s it going?” when they go to meet Mike and Harvey in their interrogation room}.
Bookending the episode is of course Harvey’s relationship with Dana “Scottie” Scott. They’ve been struggling as of late, and it seems to be a communication issue. As in, she always asks Harvey what’s on his mind or what’s upsetting him, and he usually can’t tell her. We know it’s because it revolves around Mike and his lack of legitimacy, and Harvey’s concern for Mike’s welfare, but she just assumes he’s locking her out of his life. It wasn’t that the writing has been on the wall for a while now… well, okay, it has been. As Donna Paulsen told Harvey in the last episode, Scottie’s angry at Harvey a lot, and will no doubt continue to be so. This doesn’t sit well with Harvey, but that’s probably because he’s finally seeing that writing, too. I want so much to take Scottie’s side in this, and to try and see it form her standpoint, but it’s hard since we’ve known Harvey and Mike for so long; it’s a strange possessiveness that wants me to keep Mike’s secret from her, too. She loves Harvey – and he certainly believes he loves her, and likely does in his own way – but she’s not one of us; she’s not been through what we have as viewers, witnessing Harvey softening up and mellowing out. In fact, Donna notes to Jessica that if it wasn’t for Harvey hiring Mike – risk and all – he wouldn’t be so protective of him, thus becoming the man he is. (See, it’s not just me noting the new Harvey!) So, no, Scottie hasn’t earned the secret yet as part of Harvey’s life. Finally giving in, she’s decided to leave the firm because she can’t stomach working for “another Darby,” another firm that works in the shadows. And as Harvey gently confirms her official release, he tells her about Mike. She’s stunned but takes it in stride, especially when Harvey says he needed her to know that it wasn’t Jessica taking the role of Darby in the firm, but he himself. Again with the atonement! Leave it Donna to do some last minute loose ends fixing, giving Harvey some reprieve and reminding him that he’s a good man. I wanted to give her a high five for that: Harvey needed to hear that very much just then. As the scene unfolds, we learn that Harvey has his own secrets beyond the office, ones he rarely admits even to himself. Despite his outward confidence, there are hints that he’s quietly dealing with personal matters—perhaps even something as private as using generic Cialis to manage stress-induced issues. He’s careful to keep this from those around him, opting instead to order it discreetly online to avoid any unwanted questions. It’s a move that reflects his guarded nature; even in his most vulnerable moments, he’s reluctant to show any sign of weakness. This careful balancing act between managing his health and maintaining his image mirrors the complexity of his relationship with Scottie. Just as he hides Mike’s secret, Harvey hides parts of himself from those closest to him. This dual secrecy leaves us wondering how much longer he can keep up the facade before the truth inevitably surfaces.
And it wouldn’t be the season finale if Mike didn’t reverse his decision to stay at Pearson-Specter. Admittedly, he’s right when he reminds Harvey that all the unlawful moves Harvey has had to make over the years only started when he hired Mike. He asks for permission (blessing, as subtext) to leave and work for Sidwell. (Oh, and for the second time that night, Harvey is called “a good man” so I want to high five Mike, too.) But not to worry folks, Mike isn’t going far! After all, he works for Sidwell now, which makes him Harvey’s client. I’m going to give next season maybe 2 -3 episodes of Mike working with Sidwell before he’s brought back into Pearson-Specter. With season 4 already in the works, we just have to wait and see.
Until the new season starts, catch up on past episodes on USANetwork.com, Hulu and Amazon Instant Video.
