In which deals are on and off and off and on, and I’m sorry to say that the plot reversals have come to feel more like time fillers than organic, inevitable outcomes of a well developed story.
The end result of the incessant back and forths on who will inform on whom is that Mike convinces Kevin’s wife Jill to testify against her father in exchange for full immunity. That’s after we learn that Jill only agreed to the insider trading scheme to begin with because she found out Sutter’s fund was a big Ponzi scheme and she hoped they could make some quick gains to square things with their investors. In other words, William Sutter is the worst, and Jill and Kevin are collateral damage to his horribleness. Also, Harvey played Jill a recording of Sutter saying it would be better for Jill to go to jail than for him to, and Donna approached Jill on the street, and redheads should stick together, and since Donna’s dad was also a criminal, her advice is to get out now.
Harvey starts the episode with Jessica, in a fetching shade of pink and a very tight skirt, commanding him to win Sutter’s case (for the sake of the law firm) since Mike’s deal was called off anyway. Harvey gives Sutter’s defence a good go for a bit, blows off Cahill, and discredits a key prosecution witness in a deposition, but he ends the ep by persuading Sutter to plead guilty and make his own deal for a reduced sentence.
Mike and Kevin (or, as Gallo amusingly calls them, while channeling my mother – Frick and Frack) start off this week by making up, but when Mike comes clean about informing on him, Kevin beats him up in the kitchen. Later, after Jill agrees to testify against her father, Mike and Kevin make up again. Since Mike cut a new deal with Cahill in exchange for delivering Jill, it looks like he’s going to get out of prison. It looks like it enough that he tells Rachel he’s coming home, and Donna and Rachel go out to celebrate his release. But he’s not out yet. Not with two more episodes still to come before the show goes on its mid-season hiatus. He’d better be out by then, though. Or I will be doing a lot of sad head shaking and disappointed finger wagging.
And what about Gallo, you ask? Gallo pressures Mike to pressure Harvey to get moving on that motion to have Gallo paroled. Harvey admits he hasn’t done anything about it yet because he thought that if Mike got out, Gallo should stay in. Mike urges Harvey to get to it, and convinces Gallo to use his influence with the guards to get Kevin out of solitary after the kitchen fight. Gallo delivers but warns Mike that violent retribution will ensue, inside or outside of jail, if Mike double crosses him. So we’ve got that to look forward to.
This episode was directed by Gabriel Macht, BTW, so I have him to thank for making my screengrabs easier to grab by occasionally using shots that show two characters facing each other in the same frame. Thank you, Gabriel! Anyway, Rachel & Jessica tell Leonard Bailey his alibi witness is dead, but there is another way to delay his execution – if he can come up with, say, a relative who would attend the execution but can’t for 60 days because she’s not well. Amazingly, Bailey has such a relative! – the aunt who raised him but thinks he is guilty and has not seen or spoken to him in years. Rachel pays the woman a visit. The aunt has no intention of witnessing the execution, but when Rachel implores her to sign an affidavit saying she would like the execution to be delayed, she does.
When Bailey hears about this, he gets all pissed that Rachel didn’t make his aunt care about him, as if that’s more important than whether he lives or dies, and he accuses Jessica of being cold and heartless. Afterwards, Rachel tries to be sympathetic to Jessica, but Jessica is like, just go find some evidence to clear the SOB, will ya? And late at night in the law firm library, it looks like Rachel might have found something she can use in the case …
Louis confides in Donna, wearing a kicky full-skirted dress that is a flattering departure from her usual flattering dress styles, that he doesn’t know if he can be the Other Man with Tara. Donna mentions that she broke up with the never-seen-and-only-recently-talked-about Mitchell person she claims to have been dating because he wanted to move in with her, and she knew he wasn’t the One. But Tara does seem like the One for Louis, so he should keep trying. And why are all the Suits scenes lit so darkly, even daytime office scenes?
On a dinner date with Tara, Louis makes a scene with the maitre d’ that is all about Louis’s inability to share her with anyone. Tara is inexplicably charmed by this outburst, and they go home and have what Tara calls ‘magical’ sex, after which Director Gabriel treats us to this rather frightening if comical aerial shot of the lovebirds. Louis thinks his yeoman sex work means Tara will now break up with her other guy, whose name is Josh. Except Tara is not ready to do that, and Josh is coming to town soon.
What do you think – will this Josh be way better looking and charming than Louis, and play on all his insecurities, or will he be Rick Hoffman, playing a dual role? That would be kind of funny, actually. Or maybe Josh could be Gabriel Macht playing a dual role. That would be even funnier.
While in court making a motion on Bailey’s case, Jessica runs into her old flame Jeff Malone. Jeff has softened somewhat since leaving the law firm and their relationship in a major huff. Jessica says she hasn’t called him because she’s still embroiled in all her law firm’s shit but she cares about him. They go for dinner, and Jeff says he loves her for herself, cold heartlessness and all. Awww. She invites him to spend the night, but he wants to go slow. That is, he’s looking for a job reference from her, because he’s moving to Chicago. She gives him a good one, and he leaves, though not for good, if I know this show.
Next week: Cahill tells Mike his deal to get out of prison is off (again). Sigh.
Kim Moritsugu is a Toronto novelist and sometime TV show recapper whose latest novel is a suburban comedy of manners called The Oakdale Dinner Club.
