SUITS’ latest, aptly titled “Inevitable,” saw the, well, inevitable conclusion of a couple of storylines. Following his decision to become a bad man at the end of the previous episode, Louis Litt came face-to-face with reality in SUITS 7×13 — and it wasn’t pretty. Meanwhile, Harvey Specter’s lies caught up to him, as his mother accidentally revealed that Paula was not the person who was responsible for reuniting her with her son. So, as Harvey was forced to make the decision that the series’ viewers could have seen coming from miles away, the only question was how well done the resulting drama would be. Spoiler alert: It was like drinking some of Donna’s special coffee: just the right mixture of bittersweet — with a little something extra.
The only actual healthy relationship here. I’m sick of putting these two last when they’re not going to be with us for much longer, so let’s discuss.
Mike was in the middle of “doing the impossible for Harvey,” (namely, trying to find a way to keep Curt Baxter from shipping manufacturing jobs overseas at a company that he’d rightfully bought) but he promised Rachel that nothing would keep him from their meeting with Father Walker. Unfortunately, for as prepared as Mike Ross always manages to be for anything involving the law — his task for Harvey took him all of about five seconds — he kind of sucks at planning for the future. In fact, he also happens to hate making big plans because it makes him feel “locked in,” something that’s probably particularly troubling for a guy who was once literally locked in jail (for less than five seconds).
While this should have surprised no one, it was still pretty upsetting to Rachel, who had her questionnaire all filled out and ready to go way in advance.
Mike promised he’d do his homework before the meeting. He didn’t, and Rachel let him know it. Just as it looked like there was trouble brewing in paradise and Machel wouldn’t get the happy ending they deserved, Father Walker said that he actually worried about Mike and Rachel less than the couples that came to see him and claimed to have everything all figured out. Needless to say, the pair was a little bit confused. “So, you’re saying we win because we fight?” But that…wasn’t quite it. “I’m saying you win because you’re honest with each other.”
Later, at home, Rachel explained to Mike that her parents were terrible at all of this planning stuff, too, but they used the word “bullshit” as a code to indicate that nobody was being forced to set anything in stone. Then, Mike gave this whole besotted speech about how he loved fighting with Rachel because they only fought about the important things in life…And it was this weird mixture of sweet and baffling.
Although Mike wasn’t ready to play the “bullshit” game right away, he came around after his latest big win with Harvey. Mike talked about his dream of moving to San Diego and running a legal clinic, while Rachel called the possibility of spending a year in beautiful Iceland “the adventure of a lifetime.”
Can we just take a moment to appreciate this? Honestly? SUITS is about to lose a relationship that, other than the fourth season misstep of which we shall never speak, has been incredibly well-developed and well-nourished since day one. Mike and Rachel have had their ups and downs, especially since Mike has been Peter Panning his way through life for most of his time at the firm, but they’ve always managed to find a way to support one another and work through their issues together. They’re proof that, on television, making a ‘ship canon doesn’t have to mean disaster; and they ought to be a shining example to their coworkers that, while certainly not a walk in the park, workplace romances don’t have to be toxic.
As beautiful as all of this is, though, it’s pretty infuriating to see that the creative team at SUITS is capable of seamlessly weaving this type of strong — and growing — relationship into the fabric of the series while, simultaneously, writing that other nonsense. I mean, I guess SUITS is really good at selling the narrative that there are definitely all kinds of relationships? Is that the takeaway here? Maybe we’ll ponder the point/counterpoint of it all sometime in the future.
But, for now, I guess it’s time to move on to some unpleasant realities…
The bad man has a rude awakening. Louis Litt’s first appearance in “Inevitable” featured yet another role-playing night with Sheila Sazs. As always, there was plenty of chemistry and light fun; and thankfully, unlike their first scene in last week’s SUITS episode, everything was consensual.
But, as a reminder, Sheila is still scheduled to marry someone named Xander. Not Louis.
Not knowing that Louis had kept up with the affair, Gretchen tried to spare his feelings by not bringing him his paper the next morning; it featured an announcement of Sheila’s marriage, which Gretchen knew would hurt Louis’ feelings. Louis, however, gave away exactly what he’d been up to when he couldn’t stop smiling at any mention of Sheila’s name. Louis claimed that he had made peace with the situation and was happy with what he and Sheila had, but the look on Gretchen’s face said exactly how much she believed him. (Same, Gretchen. Same.) And, no matter how much sense Gretchen tried to talk into him, he didn’t want to hear it.
For all of Gretchen’s (wise and rightful) disapproval, Rachel continued to be as supportive as ever. Rachel was uncertain whether or not to allow Louis a plus one for her wedding, so she went to Gretchen to get the dirt. Gretchen delivered a salty as hell line about how Louis was “seeing someone, alright” and then proceeded to dodge Rachel’s questions, being all, “I’M SORRY. I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THIS RICKETY COPIER.”
Yes, in all caps. Yes, that’s a direct quote. Yes, we love Gretchen.
Nobody messes with Rachel Zane when she wants to know something, though, especially not when the conversation takes place in the copy room where she and Mike first consummated their relationship; so she unplugged that noisy copier — and all of Gretchen’s excuses — and learned that Louis was still carrying on his affair with Sheila. And, um, Gretchen thought he was nuts. Once Rachel knew what was going on, she approached Louis, telling him that he was welcome to bring Sheila to the wedding and that, as promised before the whole, sordid affair began, she didn’t view him any differently. It was somewhere around the time that Louis, yet again, claimed that he liked having this secret relationship that even Rachel was thinking her good friend needed a reality check.
Did Rachel tell Louis he was lying to himself? Nope! You could just see it all over her face. The thing is, the type of support that Rachel provided was exactly what Louis needed; the same could be said for the tough love that Gretchen had given him earlier in the episode. With Louis’ situation, SUITS has done an excellent job of showing that sometimes, even when making really bad mistakes, you need both kinds of friends: the ones that will tell you to stop “dipping your pudding pop in someone else’s candy cane” (whatever that means) and the ones who will remind you that they love you, no matter how many slumber parties Junior may have.
In Louis’ case, there’s also a need for about 50 more appointments with Dr. Lipschitz so he can maybe — one day — realize that he deserves better than this. But alas.
But, like Gretchen, let’s skip the part where we talk about how crazy Louis was for thinking this would ever work and get to the part where “disaster ensues.” Rather than taking Sheila’s cues as agreed upon, Louis decided to demand his own bonus meeting. Upping the ante, he even dictated that they bang in her office, while he played the part of some Dean or another whose accent sounded mysteriously like Dr. Lipschitz’s. (I don’t want to think of the Freudian implications here, especially given SUITS’ history with patients, therapists, and inappropriate sex.)
Louis’ seduction did not go as planned. He appeared in Sheila’s office, ready to get it on, just as her fiance also happened to be there. Awkwardness and — to use the episode’s title — inevitable heartbreak ensued. As a bonus, Louis even got to stand outside Sheila’s door and overhear some insults while he was trying to pick up the pieces.
Please let this be over, SUITS. Please. If not, please let Sheila make some major amends. Louis Litt deserves so much better.
Break out the vanilla coffee, and sing it with me now: “Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey hey-ey, GOODBYE.” I love SUITS. I especially love this series’ ability to turn a terrible plot point into something that has me on the edge of my seat. The way that these writers manage to make predictability both entertaining and satisfying is seriously some kind of witchcraft; and while this all may seem like some sort of backhanded compliment, it honestly isn’t. With just the right dash of angst and temporary misdirection, SUITS delivered the only natural conclusion to this storyline but, somehow, in a way that was both expected and completely on the level of, “oh, but they wouldn’t go there.”
They went there. You might even say it was inevitable that they did.
Anyone with a pulse and a brain cell knew that Paula Agard was wrong for Harvey Specter. The seeds have been planted for this relationship to fail since before it even started. For one, Paula was Harvey’s therapist; and she was the “professional” he sought out when he was having panic attacks from losing Donna as his secretary — not his friend or girlfriend, just an employee who moved down the hall. He had morning after dreams about Donna, complete with the perfect cup of coffee. Our sadly misguided Mr. Specter even told his mother that someone special to him had convinced him to make amends…which he’d later outright lie to Paula about, telling her that she, not Donna, was the reason he’d made peace with Lily.
Harvey was busy trying to sell this tall tale as recently as the closing moments of SUITS 7×12.
But that blatant disregard for the truth came about for a reason; major contradictions don’t just come out of nowhere here, unlike on other shows. SUITS viewers are intelligent, and we also happen to remember every tiny detail about our favorite characters and the journeys they’ve taken these last several years. Fast forward to the beginning of “Inevitable,” when Harvey revealed to Paula that vanilla was the “something extra” in his coffee, yet another purposely planted reference.
Awkward pause.
Oops! For those of you who don’t have Mike Ross’ eidetic memory when it comes to every Darvey reference ever, Donna was the one who started putting vanilla in Harvey’s coffee, way back when they first started working together. When he initially turned down Donna’s special brew, claiming he didn’t take vanilla in his coffee, Donna promised Harvey he would after trying it. And he did. In his dream of the perfect post-coital world with Donna, Harvey even said that the coffee she brought him was “the best coffee [he’d] ever had.”
Despite promising Paula that he was no longer going to keep things from her, Harvey didn’t bother to share where he’d learned his coffee secrets. It was almost as if having another woman’s influence so deeply entrenched in his daily routine spelled trouble for whatever it was that he thought he had with the woman in front of him. So, instead of mentioning the D word, Harvey tried to be Mr. Romance and offer Paula a night out, saying the date would be a way “to remind ourselves why we’re together in the first place.”
The problem, of course, was that the why just never existed. It still took Harvey way too much time to figure this out, of course, but that’s what created some top-notch SUITS drama.
Picture this: You’ve had a “rough” time with your girlfriend because the woman you’re actually in love with kissed you. You finally smooth things over, plan a dinner date, and then get a surprise phone call from your mom. Mom also wants to have dinner with you tonight, so you talk your girlfriend into meeting her, even though this is just the kind of big step that said girlfriend was allergic to (and with good reason, for once) just days ago. The dinner goes amazingly well, but when your mom gets ready to leave, she unwittingly proves you to be a giant liar.
Yep. That happened!
Remember how Harvey lied and told Paula that it was her, not Donna, who helped him to make peace with Lily? Well, all Lily remembered was that “someone special” convinced her son to reach out. Cue the most awkward and awful pause of all time when Lily thanked Paula for the evening, only to have Harvey try to cover by saying his mom was just grateful that Paula allowed the change in plans…all while Lily was the embodiment of that blinking guy gif.
But it gets better!
“When you and I mended our fences, you said the only reason you did it was because someone special in your life encouraged you to. Well, it’s obvious that someone was Paula.”
Nope! Not obvious!
As every SUITS viewer with a memory knows, it was Donna who convinced Harvey to visit Lily in “The Painting,” and it was Donna who was his “someone special.” This is the smirk and sip coffee (with vanilla) portion of the evening, folks. It was inevitable that we would come to this point, but it still feels oh, so good.
Ok. Deep breath. This is where it starts to feel oh, so bad. Buckle up!
After dinner, Paula confessed that she had some skeletons in her own closet: Not only had her ex cheated on her, but it was with someone at work. She’d always felt like there were three people in the relationship, just like she was feeling now. And while Paula hated that she was about to do it, she asked Harvey to do the one thing that anyone with even one iota of knowledge about Harvey’s character would never do: She asked him to choose between her and Donna. Paula was afraid that, with Donna in the picture, the relationship just wouldn’t survive.
Paula, sweetie, if you knew you were playing second fiddle to The Donna Paulsen all along, why did you want to be here in the first place? We get it: Harvey’s pretty. That’s no reason to ruin three lives.
Anyway!
How this was even a choice for Harvey, much less how he thought he was going to trick Donna into leaving on her own without ever finding out, I will never know. But it made for a tasty SUITS episode, so we’ll go with it.
Harvey’s plan was simple: Have Stu, the firm’s former tenant and stock-trading gunslinger extraordinaire (we love that guy, by the way), offer Donna a job. But Harvey told Stu way too much about the Malik case…and Stu made the mistake of bringing it up. Donna being Donna, she knew that something was wrong.
And off to Harvey’s office she went to murder me him with feelings. And if, after both this scene and her next one, you don’t understand why Sarah Rafferty is, as far as I’m concerned, SUITS’ greatest asset, I really don’t know what to tell you.
Donna demanded that Harvey tell her what was happening. She also wanted to know why, instead of sending Stu with a job offer, he didn’t come explain the situation “or even have the balls to just fire [her].” Harvey claimed to hate the situation — and for his part, the struggle was pretty evident, especially considering The Great Harvey Specter doesn’t usually hide from difficult tasks — but said he didn’t see another way out of it. He also reminded Donna that she’d put him in this position, which is kind of…not true? Paula was the one who made the ultimatum.
If the situation were reversed, Donna never would have made that demand because Donna cares about Harvey enough to not make him make impossible choices; she knows him and knows how important the people he cares about are to him. Every single one of those people, even Paula, who never deserved it. This is the same Donna who stepped aside for Scottie, after all. (I can’t believe I have to keep bringing this up.)
After the most soul-crushing Darvey conversation in SUITS history, Donna even humbled herself by trying to apologize to Paula for kissing “her” man. Specter Litt’s COO all but groveled, tearfully pleading with the other woman for a chance to simply keep the job that she’d earned after thirteen years of hard work. But Paula refused, especially since Donna paused for a split second before answering whether or not she could guarantee that she’d never kiss Harvey again. (Mmmm but Donna said the kiss didn’t affect her. Ok, sis! We knew you were lying, but we love confirmation!)
How anyone could sit across from a crying Donna as she was actually pleading to simply not let one personal indiscretion ruin her entire professional life and not break, I’ll never know. But I think that’s further proof that Paula Agard just flat out didn’t belong here. The real women of SUITS have a tendency to stick together. Men don’t come between the women of SUITS to the point where the hard work they’ve put in to advance their careers is in jeopardy. Period. See also: Rachel and Donna, Jessica and Donna, Gretchen and Donna…any questions?
With even her last, desperate attempt at keeping her job a failure, Donna did the only thing she could do: She spared Harvey from having to fire her and left her resignation before exiting Specter Litt with her head held high. But the folks at SUITS are suckers for a dramatic juxtaposition of moments, so as Donna was giving one last glance back at the building, Harvey was (about to have another panic attack and) rushing from the building to hail a cab.
Oh, and did I mention that a dramatic reading of Donna’s resignation letter was part of the background noise? We love pain!
Harvey wound up at Paula’s place, rather than chasing Donna down. If, at this point, you were throwing things at your television, you’re not alone. Gotta add one more ounce of bitterness to that vanilla SUITS coffee to keep the flavor interesting, after all.
Paula, thinking she’d won, gave Harvey a fake apology for forcing him to send Donna away. But Harvey was finally ready to wake up: ”You didn’t make me do it. I chose to. And now, I’m choosing to undo it. I’m sorry, Paula. I wanted this to work more than you know, but I can’t give you what you need. I hope you find someone that deserves you.” (So, he hopes Paula finds someone who is grossly manipulative trash.)
Harvey’s next stop was, to overuse the episode title as we do: inevitable. He went to see Donna and make a big show of tearing up her resignation letter. Because the one constant that we’ve had on SUITS is that Harvey can’t be Harvey without Donna, and she is the one thing that he can’t give up. He never will. And Donna, with the exception of that one kiss, will always put Harvey’s needs above her own. Even as Harvey was making a big, dramatic display of where his priorities were, Donna had to ask him about his relationship and make sure that he was going to be ok:
“Does she know?”
“She does. It’s over.”
“Are you ok?”
“Will you come back?”
(nods) “Yes.”
“Then, I’m ok. See you tomorrow.”
Because, regardless of what feelings Harvey thought he had for Paula, he’s only ok if Donna will be there for him, by his side, like she has been for the last thirteen years.
Someone come cry over the can opener with me.
It’s kind of like the Biblical story of the wise King Solomon. When two different women claimed to be the mother of a certain baby, he tricked them into showing their true feelings for the kid by saying he’d simply cut the infant in half so the two women could split him. The child’s real mother, who actually loved him, couldn’t stand the thought. On SUITS, the ripping-in-half was more along the emotional lines than literally chopping a living, breathing human into pieces or whatever…But the message still stands.
It was Donna who cared for Harvey all along. It was always Donna; it’s always going to be Donna. If SUITS hadn’t made that so blatantly obvious in its six seasons, we might have even needed this Paula storyline to make us see the light. But it did. And we didn’t. Just like when, in “Bad Man,” Harvey lamented having to choose between Jessica’s legacy and his father’s, Donna assured him that he wasn’t making a choice but, rather, doing the right thing, there was no choice to be made in “Inevitable,” either. Ending things with the manipulative hack of a therapist and keeping Donna in his life was just Harvey doing the right thing.
So, good riddance.
Also: “Not tonight” seems rather loaded…That’s not the same as never, now, is it?
Wayward contemplations with a can opener:
- Other delicious things in this latest SUITS episode: The Marvey banter. I don’t even care if some of it was so heavily-laden with foreshadowing as to be oppressive. It was good, and it gave me all sorts of feelings about Patrick J. Adams’ upcoming exit.
- Exhibit A: “You know I’m not just going to let you keep calling yourself Superman and get away with it, right?” “Because that leaves you with Aquaman?” “He can breathe underwater! All right. Fine, Harvey, you can still be Batman. Or Green Lantern. Or Wonder Woman. I can just keep doing this. How about Hawkman, huh? Ok. Silent Man it is.” (I just really hope Mike didn’t think he was emasculating Harvey by suggesting Wonder Woman, the baddest badass of the bunch…)
- And more evidence of Marvey greatness for the record: “You say that now, but someday, you’re going to miss me, buddy. Trust me.” “Am I?” “Nothing lasts forever.” No, really. Thank you for hitting me over the head with the fact that Mike Ross is gone soon…and, somehow, managing to really hurt me in the process, Captain Obvious.
- If only Harvey had had Father Walker for a therapist instead of, say, Paula. He might have learned about honesty in relationships. Also, Donna can go ahead and be honest about her feelings any day now…
- “You know, for someone who doesn’t cook, you make surprisingly good coffee.” This makes negative amounts of sense, as does everything about Paula Agard.
- We love Gretchen here, but why wouldn’t Rachel go to Donna, who knows everything and is a mutual Louis bff, when she needed to know whether or not the guy was seeing anyone? Was Donna busy? Is Rachel waiting to have girl talk with Donna until after she and Mike are done with the parent-trapping? I need answers!
- “Unfortunately, I didn’t prove myself worthy as your friend. I put myself first. Therefore, it’s time for me to go.” Who taught Donna Paulsen that friendship is always putting yourself last, and how do I get away with murdering them? Will we ever learn more about what made Donna this way? Ever? More Donna, please.
- No, really. More Donna. Because, as I already said and am going to reiterate: Sarah Rafferty is SUITS’ greatest asset.
- “She could talk the stripes off a zebra. She’s loyal, and she knows the big picture about keeping people happy. If I were you, I’d hold on tight.” No, really. We love Stu. Is he the only intelligent man here? And this was after Stu asked Donna if anyone had ever told her she was “good for the eyes.” Harvey Specter would never be able to string that sentence together. If he doesn’t get his shit together — and soon — Harvey can lose Donna to Stu, for all I care.
- “Louis, do you have a minute?” “For you, Rachel, always.” I LOVE FRIENDSHIP.
- “Rule 29: No L word.” That, right there, says it all. Louis couldn’t even say he loved the sex because it made Sheila too uncomfortable…Warning bells. Bad. Warning.
- “Yeah. You know, the meal people usually eat in the evening?” Lily is so sassy. Wait until she meets Donna and realizes that her son is out here, falling in love with a woman that has her same talent for one-liners.
- “I hate that I feel weak and insecure…” I hate absolutely everything about you, so.
- What did they say about letting him go if you love him and, I don’t know, having him be yours forever if he comes back? How many times does Donna have to walk away to save Harvey in order for that old adage to apply?
- Mike tells Harvey he should know not to mix emotion with business. Donna Paulsen, Emotion-Mixed-With-Business Herself, makes her first appearance in SUITS 7×13. It’s all so clever, I can’t even.
- “But most of all, I want you to be there for me now like I’ve been there for you every single day!” GET HIM, DONNA. SLAY ME, SARAH.
And that’s all she wrote.
Don’t miss the next all-new episode of SUITS on Wednesday, April 18 at 9/8c on USA.