SUITS viewers were promised a love story for Louis Litt in SUITS season 6, but the way his relationship with Tara began caused a lot of criticism. Do you agree that this storyline was problematic, or are people being too sensitive?
Shana: So, Mike Ross’ prison storyline was entertaining, yet kind of unsatisfactory. Louis Litt’s choice to manipulate a woman with a fake job, just to get her to notice him? Not entertaining and massively cringe-worthy. It smacked of everything that’s wrong with male entitlement, and the payoff wasn’t even in the realm of satisfying. What a way to sink a ship before it ever starts its journey.
Lizzie: UGH. In my head, I want to believe the same writers who did so well with Jessica and Rachel didn’t write this craptastic storyline, because…really? Louis has been hard to like at many points in this show’s six seasons, but never has he come off as such an entitled asshole as he did in SUITS 6A. People being too sensitive? No. Writers not understanding what they’re writing because they’re also privileged? Yes.
Laura: I’m not comfortable with this relationship. Louis manipulated Tara; and while doing so the writers presented it as if it were a romantic gesture. Jessica would roll her eyes, and so would we. And we did.
Jenn: This story was the worst and it was creepy and it was weird and it was, again, validated by the writers. Louis lying to Tara was somehow seen as endearing? Cute? Romantic, even? Ugh, gag me with a spoon. I love the complexities of Louis Litt, but this particular storyline was immensely problematic and romanticized lying to get what you want in a relationship. Hard pass.
Cammie: My criticism with this storyline for the majority of it (the first three-fourths of it, perhaps) mostly had to do with my general distaste for Louis being a trope-y social villain for comedic purposes. Rick Hoffman does a great job with more complex emotional scenes with comedic elements, and I felt this storyline really dragged toward the Louis-is-a-joke-at-a-woman’s-expense route. And I get that perhaps the writers didn’t realize that we’d still be offended at a woman being treated so inappropriately if she’s a new side character we don’t even know; but here we are, caring and saying, “don’t do this.” So, hopefully, they’ve had some corner time to think about their behavior.
Let’s transition to how the mid-season finale set up some potential storylines for SUITS 6.5. The final image of the first half of the season involved Donna and Harvey holding hands and gazing out over the city. Do we think this means good things for Darvey shippers? If so, what would you like to see happen with that relationship as we move forward? If not, what are some other possible implications?
Shana: They held hands (fangirl flails)!
Ok. Now that that’s out of my system: Yes, I believe that the closing scene in “P.S.L.” was a good sign for Darvey shippers. No, I don’t think it’s necessarily the hand-holding that created that positive outlook. The actually important part of that gesture is two-fold: First of all, someone made the choice to end the SUITS mid-season finale with that image, meaning they wanted the picture of Donna and Harvey together to be viewers’ lasting image of those characters until the series returned. Secondly, Harvey Specter admitted to not wanting to be left alone to brood. That’s a big deal for the character, folks.
Lizzie: It’s been too long. It’s time. It’s really, really time. This show can make it with Darvey as a couple. I promise you: It can. Please give it to me, SUITS.
Wait. That wasn’t the question? Fine, I do think this means good things because that’s the image they chose to leave us with. I’m legit just hoping we get a chance to see a relationship. No more stalling, no more “I don’t know how I feel” or “I can’t admit it now that I do know.” A relationship. A real one.
Jenn: I want to believe this means good things. I really do. That hand hold was such a big step for both of them! I’m overly cautious when it comes to SUITS because it doesn’t seem like Korsh will ever pull the trigger on these two, totally. He likes to dangle bait, and (having seen the midseason premiere) that will likely continue in the back half of the year. That aside, I think that Harvey took a huge step in letting Donna into his vulnerabilities. He’s always concerned with her seeing him at his best — always polished, always winning, always saving the day. And I think this time around, she expected it to be like every other. But Harvey being willing to open up at his weakest moment is a sign that he’s growing in the right direction. Who’s to say where Harvey and Donna could go from here, but I’m hopeful their relationship will grow and evolve into something deeper.
Laura: I can’t stop saying that that image was important because, as Shana said, someone chose to have that as the final image of the midseason finale. And as Lizzie pointed out, it has been too long! I’m not even going to dwell on the fact that they have purposely not touched each other for years; but for me, the thing that makes me be hopeful is that the cliffhanger ended with them, together, looking out at the window, as a classic movie would use the trope for the leads to look over their future. (And they were holding hands!!! – fangirl moment over.)
It’s been 6 seasons, so it’s time for this dynamic to move forward and not go back. Even if, as Donna said several times, you can’t.
Cammie: What I’d like to see in the back half of SUITS season 6 for Harvey and Donna is a clear path. We as viewers don’t need to be hand-held through a path of lovely flowers only — we can go through a bit of angst and stress — but I’d like to see some indication that the story we are trying to follow is actually the story the creators are trying to tell. While I find the dynamic between Harvey and Donna (as well as their individual arcs) has been leading them to each other and the character growth seems to be going there, it has been slow and up-to-interpretation for so long we’re left to wonder not if they’re going to get together but when that story will start. Certainly, we can cite moments prior to this season which were (in my hopeful opinion anyway) leading there, but it’s nice to see that begin to take shape on screen.
Harvey and Donna have been such a fan-favorite part of the show for so long, it really does seem a bit late-in-the-game to just now feel that their storyline is starting. I loved the ending of them holding hands after the midseason crisis, and I’m hoping this is the beginning of a rich and complex storyline for them. As lovely as a happily-ever-after scene will hopefully be someday, I think we’d all definitely like the path there, and I’m hopeful that said path is starting.
Concluded on next page…
