SUITS: SEASON TWO
(not rated)
MOVIE: *** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ***1/2 (out of 5)
STARRING
Gabriel Macht as HARVEY SPECTER
Patrick J. Adams as MIKE ROSS
Rick Hoffman as LOUIS LITT
Meghan Markle as RACHEL ZANE
Sarah Rafferty as DONNA PAULSEN
Gina Torres as JESSICA PEARSON
Created by: Aaron Korsh
Studio: USA
BY KEVIN CARR
I remember when “Suits” first started airing on USA Network. I didn’t watch it, but they publicized it quite heavily on similar shows like “White Collar.” As a fan of “White Collar,” I was somewhat reluctant to watch it. After all, just because one show works doesn’t mean the other one does.
However, when “Suits: Season Two” crossed my desk, I took the opportunity to watch it.
The story follows a ne’er-do-well named Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) who is actually a natural genius with a photographic memory. He managed to talk his way into a position at a law firm, fudging his experience as a Harvard graduate. His mentor who hired him, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) knows his secret but keeps him around because of his brilliant way of handling cases.
In the second season, Mike is full ensconced in the law firm, and Harvey has to wriggle around a bit to keep his past (or lack thereof) from being exposed to the other partners in the firm. Greater relationships are developed, between Harvey and both Donna (Sarah Rafferty) and senior partner Jessica (Gina Torres). Similarly, Mike has to keep his morals straight in cutthroat corporate law while juggling a few relationships, particularly one with lawyer hopeful Rachel (Meghan Markle).
After watching the show, I can see why USA tried to cross-pollinate this show with “White Collar.” It exists in the same wheelhouse, only the corner of the law in question is the people who work around it in a legal fashion. Mike is the outsider trying to work in the system for the betterment of others, similar to how Neal in “White Collar” is the outsider trying to work in the FBI to catch the bad guys.
The second season runs 16 episodes, which is plenty long enough. Any more, and “Suits” would fall into the unfortunate trap that USA’s other avarice show “Royal Pains” does. There’s only so much good Mike can do in the world of corporate law when the entirety of the business rides on money rather than right or wrong.
Mike is the anchor through the show, but when he stumbles mid-way through the season and faces a somewhat trite crisis of conscience, he loses his center and the show takes a tumble. All the well meaning from Rachel and Donna can’t keep the greed from surfacing and seeping into the show.
From a character perspective, “Suits” has a limited run. There’s only so far Mike can take the charade without being exposed, and those branches are being extended every other episode so far. It’s not a premise that would hold for five more seasons. Similarly, there’s only so much that Harvey or Jessica’s conscience is going to allow for money to be soft in the firm.
The show throws out too many dealings to be believable, and considering the process of the courts moves as fast as the line at the DMV, the lickety-split speed by which these cases are resolved gets a little silly.
Still, the show has some nice punch, and the cast of supporting characters (especially Rick Hoffman as the deliciously smarmy Louis Litt) makes for a fun ride at an hour a pop. There’s a danger of falling into the greed factor (leading to no sympathy from me) that “Royal Pains” dives into every week, but fortunately that hasn’t happened yet.
The four-disc set includes all 16 episodes, with several special features scattered throughout. These include commentaries on select episodes, deleted scenes, a slate of webisodes, a gag reel, plus the featurettes “Suits: Sophomore Success,” “The Style of Suits” and the “Suits Punch Reel.”