Standard Of Review: Framing A Subpar Suits Episode

All too often, Hollywood screenwriters use framing devices unnecessarily, according to culture columnist Harry Graff.

As you will see, I am not the world’s biggest fan of framing devices, but even I agree that they can occasionally benefit a narrative. The framing device in The Princess Bride – in which a grandfather (Peter Falk) reads to his sick grandson (Fred Savage) – works because it underscores the fantastical nature of the film, plus it allows for both Falk and Savage to provide commentary on the story. The framing device in The Usual Suspects – in which criminal Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) is interrogated by customs agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) – works because it presents a classic “unreliable narrator” problem (is there any unreliable narrator problem that isn’t “classic”?) and is integral to the twist at the end of the film.

But too often, Hollywood screenwriters use framing devices unnecessarily, as they add absolutely nothing to the film or television show. A great example of this is the 2014 film The Imitation Game, which was inexplicably nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. That film opens with a police investigation into a burglary at the house of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch). As the cops begin to suspect Turing, the film flashes back to tell the story of Turing’s work for the British government during World War II. The film cuts back and forth between the investigation and World War II, until about halfway through the film, the cops begin to interrogate Turing and the film reveals that the flashback World War II story was being told by Turing during the interrogation. If that sounds confusing and pointless in print, it was even more confusing and pointless to watch. To make matters worse, during the flashback, there is another series of flashbacks to Turing’s time as a child at boarding school. The clumsy framing device in The Imitation Game is an extreme example, but it illustrates that filmmakers often utilize framing devices for no purpose whatsoever, unnecessarily complicating an otherwise simple story.

All of that is a very roundabout way of of saying that I did not like the framing device in the July 22 episode of the USA legal television show Suits, or, alternatively, I just wanted a forum to criticize The Imitation Game (this column will contain spoilers up through that episode, because, as I have stated before, I have to write these one week behind). This episode opens with Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) recounting a dream to his therapist Dr. Paula Agard (Christina Cole) in which his former secretary Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty) is in bed with his rival, attorney Travis Tanner (Eric Close). Paula argues that Harvey is only suffering from the dream because he is adverse to Tanner in a case. The episode then flashes back to tell the story of the case against Tanner, all while intercutting back to Harvey’s session with Paula. This framing device added nothing to the narrative, and ended up distracting from a pretty straightforward legal story. It was also unclear whether the therapist scenes were only one session or multiple sessions spread out over numerous days.

It didn’t help that the therapy sessions were very strange. At one point, Paula and Harvey play poker to see if Harvey has a “tell” (he doesn’t; he is no Teddy KGB from Rounders). I do not purport to be a therapy expert (or an expert in anything except being annoyed by clumsy framing devices), but this seems like an odd exercise. At another point, Paula asserts with confidence that the woman in the dream is not Donna, but is instead Harvey’s mother, who had not been mentioned at all in the episode previous to that point. This revelation comes so far out of left field that it is positively Matt Holliday-esque.

Suits is clearly telegraphing a romance between Harvey and Paula, which I predict will occur within the next two episodes. Hopefully that will integrate Paula more into the story, instead of utilizing her as a clumsy framing device. I can’t wait until the scene where they play Yahtzee.

While Harvey is off fighting Tanner in the A story, fellow partner Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) leads the B story, in which he attempts to take on this season’s “Big Bad” Jack Soloff (John Pyper-Ferguson), head of the firm’s Compensation Committee.  A few weeks ago, Soloff (with Louis’s help) was able to alter the firm’s partner compensation structure to be based solely on billables, and not on contingent fees, thus hurting Harvey. Now feeling guilty about his role in Soloff’s plan (and spurred by the firm’s Managing Partner Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres)), Louis tries to trick Soloff into changing the compensation structure back to its previous incarnation by promising him half the contingent fees of a huge putative client.

When that plan predictably backfires, Jessica is forced to get involved. Jessica threatens Soloff, due to his role a few weeks earlier in Louis’s purposeful leak of Harvey’s salary to the entire firm. Soloff realizes that he is at risk of being fired, so he accedes to Jessica’s proposed changes to the firm’s bylaws.

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I find the behind-the-scenes law firm politicking to be much more interesting than the “case of the week” or Harvey’s constant issues with his secretary/therapist/mother. That is especially true with the competent Jessica involved (as opposed to the borderline incompetent Louis). Jessica has not had much to do this entire season, so it is nice to see her flexing her muscles against Soloff. But if next week’s episode begins with the framing device of Soloff in 2035 bouncing his grandkids on his knee and recounting the story of his halcyon days of yore on the Compensation Committee, I will be very unhappy.

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Suits


Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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