Suits: "One-Two-Three Go..."

June 11, 2014 7:34 PM - Season 4, Episode 1

Mike - and his big secret - have fled the nest of Pearson-Spector to an investment banking firm, which shortly leads to him picking a fight with his former mentor, Harvey.

Pour a scotch and curl up on the couch with some of USA Network's best eye candy. Glamorous clothes, sleek sets, witty bitchy banter galore.

posted by dnash (18 comments total)

This is a bit of a test post, because I'm not sure I know anyone other than myself who enjoys this show, but damn, I just think it's great fun. It's all sleek settings, sleek costumes, finely hewn banter, a healthy dose of comic relief in the form of Lewis Litt... It's what NPR's Monkey See blog calls "working stiff TV", but of all the USA Network show that fit this category, it's my favorite.
posted by dnash at 8:14 PM on June 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Let's not forget Harvey's fab record collection (although everybody I know who has that many records takes better care of them).
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:48 PM on June 11, 2014

I'm a fan. Great clothes, fun characters (Louis is my fave), office porn galore (the windows! the glass walls! the chairs! the desks!), such great dialogue.

DB Woodside was intriguing as new love interest Schmeff Schmalone, hope he becomes a regular.

I've wondered several times while watching if the women on the show are instructed to walk a certain way. They all take giant strides and swing their arms in a way that is unique to the show. Jessica and Donna especially.
posted by the webmistress at 9:52 PM on June 11, 2014

Yeah, Rick Hoffman has done a lot of great work, but Louis Litt may be his piece de resistance. I haven't seen this episode yet (so much DVRing, so little time), but I'm always up for some Suits dish once I do my homework.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:00 PM on June 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Haven't seen this episode yet either--it seems I can never catch up on my TV watching, but I really wish they'd be bold enough to de-cartoonize Louis. Yes, we know he's a goofball, but he's also smart enough to work his way up the corporate law ladder. I'd love to see him win some, and not just cases, how about if he bests Harvey once in a while. Or at least battles him to a draw. I just want the competent, fearsome Louis to show up once in a while, not the universal whipping boy.
posted by sardonyx at 1:51 PM on June 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

I think they did that a bit in the end of last season, or attempted to. Louis saved the firm's bacon in court, his break-up with the Harvard woman whose name I have spaced out was treated seriously, and he and Harvey are sort of forging a friendship-ish thing.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:46 PM on June 12, 2014

It seems like whenever they give him a small victory, they immediately turn around and make him do something exceptionally buffoonish the counteracts the win. I know that he has a certain role to play on the show, and I'm definitely not the leader of Team Litt, but I can't help but hope for a bit more substance for him, just so the conflict he gets involved in has higher stakes.

I liked the idea of Louis with Harvard woman (I can't recall her name either). Now, except for Mike and Rachel, nobody is part of a couple--and who knows how long that relationship will last?. It would have given him something different to set him apart to be married guy with a wife who gets him and backs him up.
posted by sardonyx at 4:52 PM on June 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

Really, a character with a domestic life would be innovative. I think the pragmatic plot construction reason for the break-up is probably that if you had that couple together in the world of the show, they would inevitably chat about Mike Ross.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:58 PM on June 12, 2014

I re-watched the previous season finale right before the new one last night, and Louis has some great moments in it. When the guy he'd fired, but Mike later used to set up witness-silencing lawsuits, was being questioned by the Feds, it was Louis who was sent in to get him to shut up.

I think I initially hated Louis because he was too cartoonish. But it's nice that over time they've given him times to show some major smarts, and it's made him a better character to me.

This new Harvey v. Mike direction could create new opportunities for Louis to step up, maybe.
posted by dnash at 5:01 PM on June 12, 2014

Talking about relationships on this show - I see a couple of you say you haven't watched this ep yet, but there's a development on that front.
posted by dnash at 5:04 PM on June 12, 2014

Litt's ex-gf is Sheila (Rachael Harris).
posted by the webmistress at 5:06 PM on June 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

If the development suddenly creates two or three free hours every day, I'm all for it. That way I won't be hind on this, on Orphan Black, and on Graceland (and on whatever else comes on and off during the year). If it's just a rewatch of earlier seasons, I know I won't have time for that either.

I do hope this show continues to be reviewed, as I'm looking forward to the threads, especially since I'm not usually troubled by spoilers.
posted by sardonyx at 5:18 PM on June 12, 2014

I meant on the "character relationships" front. :)
posted by dnash at 5:26 PM on June 12, 2014

Ah, that.

I did take a peak at the AV Club's recap/review earlier in the day. Assuming what I gleaned from that articles was accurate, I'm not sure I like the idea of Harvey/Jessica, especially if Jessica supposedly has a relationship ongoing. But I guess we'll see how it plays out.
posted by sardonyx at 5:37 PM on June 12, 2014

I'll step up and be the leader of Team Litt.

This episode made it seem like there are only about two dozen people in all of Manhattan.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 5:39 PM on June 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

I've watched Suits since the beginning, but found the end of season 3 to be somewhat annoying, particularly wasting Donna*. I really feel like the show got its game back with this episode, from the use of lines from The Princess Bride and Game of Thrones (without actually saying where they were from, which made it all the better) to the snappy dialogue throughout, but especially between Jessica and Harvey.

However, was anyone else thrown off by the similarity between Harvey's floor plan and Shmeff Shmalone's, particularly the large kitchen island? No, just me. Never mind, then.

*I've considered that Donna seems to be a nomenclature device for kick-ass assistant/sidekicks, from NYPD's Donna Abandando to The West Wing's Donna(tella) Moss to Doctor Who's Donna Noble. Given that Suits plays itself as an homage to great cinematic/television creation, am I crazy to think "Donna" was selected to evoke a particular character type?
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 10:50 PM on June 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

However, was anyone else thrown off by the similarity between Harvey's floor plan and Shmeff Shmalone's, particularly the large kitchen island?

Oh my gosh. I thought of mentioning it but yeah. I noticed it too and found it disorienting. Now I'm wondering if they live in the same building.
posted by the webmistress at 5:26 PM on June 15, 2014

Late to the convo. I found the show on Amazon Prime.

I'm leaning more and more team Litt. At first I really loathed Lewis but really he's just about the most interesting character on the show. He's an asshole, but he's also so damn earnest and longs for connection and inclusion in a way that's so relatable for me. At this point I care more about his emotional life than I do Harvey's or Mike's.
posted by bunderful at 4:46 PM on February 27, 2018