TV 411: Suits, Series Intro

The Hook: A law firm drama and the fact that one of their best associates is a fraud!

I’m not sure what’s deal but seems I’m a sucker for shows where the underlying premise is someone who isn’t who they say they are. I mean, love Psych. And I love White Collar. And now this? Well, I’m not sure if I love … ah, who am I kidding? Legal drama? Definitely one of my favorite topics.

So, overall story arch.

The main focus of this series is Mike Ross. The series starts off with him needing money to keep his grandma in the nursing home facility so she can continue to have the best care. Down on his luck, he reluctantly accepts a “job” from his best friend which involves him participating in delivering a suitcase of marijuana to this guy in some hotel. The thing about Mike? He has a photographic memory, so while on his way to delivering the suitcase to this guy, he notices two people who look like they work at the hotel, but they don’t. He figures them to be cops and while running away from them, he happens upon this interview session of prospective first-year associates for some fancy law firm. The secretary, instructed by her boss, gets down on him, he says something witty to impress her, she sends her into her bosses office for the interview winking her approval.

This happens, that happens, and then BAM! Mike Ross becomes first-year associate to the prominent Harvey Specter and a show is born.

Suits is going into its 5th season come January 2016 and I am enjoying it enough to have stayed with it this long. Granted this was a show I didn’t start watching until a few months ago, and I’m already halfway through season 4, but it doesn’t change that I like watching it.

The dialogue is witty enough and the minor story arcs and character developments are enough to piqué my interest. The continuing conflict is still the fact that Mike Ross is practicing law without having gone to law school nor has taken the bar, but he’s good at being a lawyer in spite of that. And he gets along with Harvey, who doesn’t let many people into his inner circle.

There’s a growing plot line in Season 4 that I’m intrigued about, but we’ll get to that when I review each season.

Cast of Characters (#SpoilerAlert)

As with any good show, you need to have a good cast of core characters. Here is the core cast of Suites:

Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams)- First year associate to Harvey Specter at one of the top law firms in New York. He hasn’t gone to law school and hasn’t taken the bar which proves to be quite a big deal considering your working for one of the top law firms in New York.

Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht)- One of the top closers in one of the top law firms in New York. He is good at what he does. Takes on white collar head on, every time. All I can think of when I watch this show is, “I could never ever afford to hire him.”

Donna Paulson (Sarah Rafferty)- My idol! Seriously, she’s Harvey’s assistant and she totally rocks. If I was still an office assistant, I’d totally aspire to be like her. She’s sharp, she’s good at what she does, she’s … Donna.

Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres)- The top lawyer and managing partner in Pearson, Specter, and Litt and one pit bull of a lawyer. What I love about her is that she’s a female who dominates in the mostly male profession, and she owns the law firm. She is awesome in her own right.

Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman)- He balances out this core cast by being the comic relief. He’s so absurd you just have to feel for him, but he’s a good lawyer. He’s the one with all these quirks and the one who is ALWAYS one step behind everyone, but when the team needs a hail mary, he’s usually the one to count on, even though he screws up. A lot.

Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle)- A paralegal in this top-notch law firm and she’s so good at what she does she’s a paralegal with her own office. Between her and Louis, the share the secondary spotlight in this core cast, but she makes the starting line up as far as this core cast goes.

There are other minors, recurring characters that I’ll get into with each season, but here’s your starting line up.

I’m excited to see this show through. I’ve enjoyed the plot lines and various perspective and corporate law and how the game is played. The dialogue is witty enough (but, if you ask me, it doesn’t come close to Gilmore Girls. Na uh, no way), the characters interesting enough, and the world of corporate law contentious enough. There’s so much material to work with white collar crime I’m thinking this show can go on for a few more seasons. Hopefully, the character developments can keep up and continue to grow in the ways I’ve seen them do so far.

And there you have it. Suits. Another show to add to your TV line up.