Television

Standard Of Review: A New Character Does Not Give ‘Suits’ The Boost It Needs

It's difficult to take the show seriously when it goes ahead with outrageous storylines.

By Harry Graff on August 03, 2017 1:44 pm

Suits: Mudmare (via USA Network)

For a television show in its later years, adding new actors to the cast is a good way to shake things up. For example, while I certainly had my problems with the last few seasons of the American version of The Office, bringing on Ellie Kemper as Erin Hannon was definitely a bright spot. Breaking Bad added, among others, murdering exterminator Todd Alquist and everyone’s favorite character name, Lydia Rodarte-Quayle. Friday Night Lights added numerous new characters in its fourth season, most notably future movie star Michael B. Jordan as Vince Howard.

So it is no surprise that in its seventh season, the USA Network legal drama Suits brought in Dulé Hill as Alex Williams, a star partner at another firm, especially because co-star Gina Torres left Suits to join the about-to-be-cancelled The Catch on ABC (one day someone will explain to me why this happened). While I am all for bringing in new blood, the storylines related to Alex have been mixed bags so far (as usual, because I file these columns on Wednesday night, this column will contain spoilers through last week’s episode and will not mention last night’s).

Alex is attractive to Harvey Specter because (a) he is good friends with Harvey, and (b) Alex is a rainmaker, with many big clients including Pfizer. (Side note: every time they say the word “Pfizer,” I always ask myself if I am hearing correctly. Pfizer, as in the pharmaceutical company? Does Pfizer pay for this? Is Pfizer cool with being represented on television by a fictional firm that employs a known fraudster? I need to know more.) But Alex does not fit seamlessly with the rest of the firm.

First, one of his major clients is a construction company that does work for a prison that is being sued by one of Mike Ross’s pro bono clients. Mike argues to Harvey (who is now managing partner of the firm) that Alex’s client is merely shaking the firm down. Although Harvey has sympathy towards Mike’s position, he ultimately decides to accede to Alex’s wishes and force Mike to abandon the client.

This is a perfectly fine storyline, except for the fact that Harvey making reasoned decisions is diametrically opposite to the episode immediately prior, in which Harvey seemed to make terrible decision after terrible decision, including offering Alex a name partnership without consulting anyone first. This is a microcosm with one of my biggest issues with Suits: the show rarely portrays shades of gray. One character does one thing, and then by the next episode has swung 180 degrees. Slow and steady character development is not in this show’s vocabulary.

Second, the arrival of Alex drives Louis Litt into a tailspin. As it is, Louis is barely hanging on by a thread, heartbroken over a bad breakup that took place at the end of last season. Louis is threatened by Alex due to Alex’s close relationship with Harvey, because Louis wants to be Harvey’s best friend. The show initially plays this for comedy, but pivots at the end of last week’s episode, as Louis basically has a nervous breakdown. This is a perfect encapsulation of one of my long-held criticisms with the show: its inability to utilize Louis properly. He goes from buffoon to traumatized in a blink of an eye, over something that appears benign.

The show hints at a possible Louis and Mike team-up; despite often being at loggerheads, they have a common enemy in Alex. This would have been an interesting new wrinkle for Suits, a pairing of individuals who are not usually on the same side. But frustratingly, it never comes to fruition.

Finally, even though it has nothing to do with Alex, I would be remiss if I did not mention the storyline in which Rachel, despite being a first-year associate, somehow oversees all the associates and gives them work. Unsurprisingly, she does a terrible job. A midlevel associate gets upset about having to do junior-level work, complains publicly to Rachel, and then ultimately gets fired by Donna. Even though the midlevel certainly handles things the wrong way, she really has a fair point (even though I got the sense the show wanted the audience to take Rachel’s side). I understand that sometimes we have to suspend disbelief, but this would never ever ever ever ever happen. It’s difficult to take the show seriously when it goes ahead with outrageous storylines like this.

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 [email protected]. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.