Suits Season 3, Episode 2: "I Want You to Want Me" Recap/Review
Oh, Louis. I really, really love Louis Litt. It took me a while, but once I started, I just couldn't help myself. Unlike Michael Scott from The Office, I can kind of relate to him, and appreciate his role on the show, and especially his actor, Rick Hoffman, who is excellent at being such a weirdo character. Even when Louis is being a huge dick, it's usually pretty warranted, and even still, I love hating him as much as I love to love him. Seriously.
For being (or claiming to be) so smart, I have no idea why Harvey, Jessica, Mike, et al continue to be shitty to Louis. If we've learned anything about him the last 2+ seasons, it's that he's not really that complicated of a guy, not really. If you're nice to him, get him to believe you respect him, allow him to help you with things, and generally just make him feel like the actual person that he is, instead of making him feel annoying/uncool, the guy will ALWAYS be loyal to you. Like, the "walk with you to the ends of the earth" kind of loyal. And while he's not exactly full of the personal connections that I imagine are valued in the law profession, he is smart enough to have attended Harvard Law School, is a financial law genius, and knows nearly as much about the way people feel/behave and how to manipulate them as Harvey himself. He is, for the most part, an asset, and the rest of them are kind of assholes for always underestimating him, in my humble opinion. It'd be a lot easier for everyone if they at least tolerated him, if not just finally accepting and embracing him into the fold completely. But, if that were the case, it'd be a pretty boring show, eh? Moving on. Let's discuss how all this Louisness unfolded, yeah?
Previously, on Suits: Ava Hessington, Harvey's new client, was charged with bribing a foreign government to get her company's pipeline, and she freely admitted to Harvey that she's totally guilty of it during their interview; Harvey hasn't quite gotten over Mike's betrayal from last season, and yelled at him: "You think you're not replaceable? I've been doing this before I met you, and I'll be doing this long after I've forgotten all about you;" Louis fell right into Nigel's trap, and accidentally ended up losing control of the firm's associates when he became Pearson Darby's new quartermaster; Harvey played hardball with the US Attorney about the Hessington case, which resulted in Harvey's old boss, former D.A. Cameron Dennis, to be named the new prosecuting attorney in the case; Darby and Harvey made a secret wager: if Harvey wins the Hessington case, then Darby has to back him in his bid for managing partner, which revealed Harvey's plans of taking Jessica's job.
"Holy shit!" is our opening line this week, exclaimed by none other than Donna Paulson, in response to Harvey, who has just informed her of his super-secret plans to make a power play against Jessica. Harvey is like, "Is ['Holy shit!'] a good thing or a bad thing?" Donna: "Harvey, you just told me you're planning a coup! Give me a second to figure that out!" Harvey corrects her and clarifies that it's a "move," but Donna isn't really reassured. Showing where her priorities are, she asks, "Do I get my own office?" before getting back to the seriousness of the situation.
She gently reminds him that while she will back him up no matter what, and go wherever the hell he's going, he really needs to be sure that he's ready and willing to do this to Jessica, who has been his mentor and friend since he was hired forever ago in the firm's mail room. Harvey reassures her that he is indeed ready, so Donna's settled. "Then let's go beat the shit out of Cameron Dennis!" Donna is just completely realistic, honest, and awesome this entire episode. I wish she had story lines of her own, that didn't involve Harvey or Mike, you know? She would totally nail it. Same with Rachel, but I digress.
Mike ruins their moment by barging in uninvited. He starts off by rambling that he knows Harvey has no interest in seeing him, to which Harvey mutters, "And yet..." Mike cuts to the chase, and is all, "So I'm blackmailing Jessica with the fact that she blackmailed me, so this mess will never happen again." Harvey is like, "That's swell, but does nothing to change the fact that it still happened," and shoos him away like a dog. I get why he's pissed at Mike, but this level of butthurt really is beneath him, don't you think? Kiss and make up already, bbs!
As we pan over Mike packing up his office, taking down his fake diploma, etc, Louis is giving what I'm sure he believes is a heartwarming farewell speech to his associates. He gets teary eyed as he recalls all his fond memories, but the associates instead just look confused and side-eye each other. "There's a harsh reality that I need to inform you of, and it's a bitter pill to swallow. The truth is, a mistake was made--a fatal mistake--and as much as I hate to admit it, our time together is done. No more work, no more laughter. [he chuckles] Remember? [silence] No more mentorship, and, uh, no more anything. You see, I reached too high, and I fell...and my punishment is the end of my tenure with my associates." As he speaks, Mike, with his box of office stuff, is standing with Rachel in the doorway listening, and Rachel looks pretty sad, actually.
"So, I would like to leave you with the immortal sentiment of Robin Williams: There have been other associates before you, they believed they were destined for great things, just like you. If you just listen, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Carpe diem! Seize the day, people! Make your legal lives extraordinary!" Mike smiles and interjects, "O captain, my captain!" which, of course, causes Louis to break down in tears and run away.
Mike admits to Rachel that there was a point in time where he would have been relieved to get rid of Louis as head of the associates, but they both agree that this situation is just wrong. Mike adds that this whole merger is wrong, which leads Rachel to ask how things went with Harvey, so he quickly recaps what happened. Rachel laments their deal to keep their relationship on the DL at work, because she wants to give him a hug, so Mike pulls out a picture of a dog and pretends to be near-tears at the fake death of his fake dog to give them a cover story. It's very good fake-crying, but Mike wouldn't have made it this far if he weren't a good actor. Rachel just laughs at him and leaves him hug-less.
In Jessica's office, Louis is lamenting his own problems, in French, of course, to Jessica. She's pretty sympathetic to his plight, as she explains that since the merger is still new, she can't really get him his associates back. She does give him a consolation prize, which is that he can channel all of his associate-mentoring energy into one associate of his very own. Louis giggles with glee and asks if he gets to choose, and Jessica smiles; "You can have the pick of the litter!" As if we all don't know exactly which associate Louis will be choosing.
So, natch, Louis' next stop is to Donna's desk, where the two of them proceed to be hilariously awesome. He tries to facilitate an exchange of gossip, high-school-styles, by asking "if the Prom King and his boy-wonder are still an item." Donna is like, "Uh, what high school did you go to?" Louis is barely listening to her though, and wants clarification about whether they're broken-up-broken-up, or if they're just on a break. Donna quickly deduces what Louis' motives are and calls him out on going behind Harvey's back, but that's actually why Louis is there: he wants to ask Harvey, via Donna, if he can have Mike's hand in marriage or something. Donna refuses, of course, because it's way more entertaining for her if she watches Louis do it himself.
In Harvey's office, Louis has just pitched Harvey his plan for Mike, which does not involve forcing of any kind, because Louis wants it to be consensual, unlike that one time at prom with Sally Jones. Harvey is starting to get weirded out, and asks him if he just confessed to a crime, and he says some really gross things about Sally Jones that I'm not going to repeat. Harvey's laugh is so genuine that I couldn't help but smile, even if he's kind of being a dick. Finally, Harvey agrees that he can have Mike, if Mike wants him, because they're done and over. Louis is so pumped, you guys, it's kind of adorable, and he runs out the door after gleefully informing Harvey that Mike is going to be begging to be on Team Litt. Oh Louis, the things you do to my heart.
Jessica, not knowing about Harvey's last talk with Cameron Dennis, decides that she's going to go have a chat with him; if you recall, he's the new special prosecutor on the Hessington Case, now that the last guy recused himself, but he also lost his job as D.A. because Jessica blackmailed him. So, of course, Cameron assumes she's come to do that again. Jessica scolds him like a child, telling him not to take out his anger with her out on Harvey, and correctly figures that Cameron is actually pissed about Harvey choosing Jessica over him. He corrects her, saying that it's more about what they stand for. "I put bad guys away; you try to figure out how to let them do whatever they want." He ends their conversation by handing her a DVD that he swears is evidence that Ava Hessington is guilty of bribery, but we already know that. Jessica, though, looks surprised at this new evidence coming to light.
Meanwhile, Louis and Mike are eating lunch at a nice steakhouse; it's pretty clear that Mike is a little wary of Louis and is trying to puzzle out what his ulterior motives are. In an attempt to get him to relax, Louis feeds Mike a huuuge hunk of cheesecake with a fork, despite Mike's desperate protests.
Of course, Louis is tight with the restaurant's owner, who comes up behind Mike as he chokes down that cheesecake and starts affectionately like, massaging his shoulders as he and Louis bond over whatever. Mike's no fool, though, and somewhat-convincingly plays along by complimenting the quality of the steak, and nods his head understandingly as the owner talks about how his employees are family, blah blah blah. Mike's like, "I understand!" but when the owner smiles and leaves, Mike turns to Louis and whispers, "I do not understand." Hee! Louis drops all pretense and says simply, "eminent domain," which is enough for Mike to immediately blanch, because no one wins eminent domain cases. Louis is determined to win, because "winning an unwinnable case" means that not only does his favorite steakhouse get to stay open, but Louis gets to fulfill his dream of rewriting the law. Yeah, I don't get it either. Mike is game, though, and asks Louis what he wants him to do.
Harvey meets back up with Jessica at the firm, and she apologizes about her inability to talk Cameron down. Harvey's more pissed about the fact that now, Cameron thinks that Harvey needs Jessica to fight for him, so Jessica tries reassuring him otherwise by saying that she only wants to fight with him, like OJ Simpson's dream team. Harvey is like, "That's really not a high bar, you know," but Jessica only cares that they won. Harvey finally concedes as she walks away, shouting, "Fine! But I'm Johnny Cochran."
Rachel approaches Donna in the hall, to talk to her now that she knows that Mike and Rachel are together; Donna's still a little annoyed with her, though, for the Richard Gere lie from last week. "It's not that you violated the sanctity of our friendship, it's that you violated the sanctity of Richard Gere! Something I would like to do, but not the way you did it."
Rachel apologizes, and explains that her intention was to help mend Harvey and Mike's relationship, because she's afraid that their break-up will affect her friendship with Donna. The two agree that the best way to keep the boy's shit from their own shit is to not talk about it at all, and Donna changes the subject to Rachel and Mike. And by "Rachel and Mike," I actually mean, "the size of Mike's dick." She eventually just holds her index fingertips together and slowly moves them apart to determine the length. It's pretty hilarious, but Rachel plays mum and skips away. Donna's nail polish is amazing and I want it.
In the library, Mike enters to find Louis already busy researching eminent domain cases starting at 1905, which makes Mike feel guilty. He apologizes for his lateness and asks why he's researching, if Mike was the person who was supposed to be doing it, and Louis is like, "I do [want you to do it] but if I don't do it too, how can I help you?" Mike's brain literally short-circuits trying to understand the concept of someone helping him with a case, since Harvey just expects him to do all the heavy lifting all by himself with absolutely no assistance or explanations of any kind. The conversation turns to the case, and Mike makes a Jerry Maguire reference ("Help me help you! Help me help you!") that Louis completely misses, per usual, so Mike gets to the point; nobody wins eminent domain cases because there's "no chink in the armor." Louis believes that they need to make their own chink in the armor, and off they go! They really do make a nice team, and after this scene, I think Mike is starting to see it, too.
Ava Hessington is having a meeting with Jessica and Harvey, and they've all just finished watching the video of her pretty much openly bribing a foreign official with a suitcase of money. Thankfully for our team, the video has no audio. Jessica asks her if she actually said the word "bribe" when this all went down, and Ava is like, "I may be brazen, but I'm not a fucking idiot, you guys," and explains that if there were audio, they would hear the colonel expressing his thanks for the "pollution remediation fee" that had already been taken care of prior to this meeting. Harvey doesn't think this video is enough to get Cameron a win at trial, and starts to think of what else he could have on Ava. Since the foreign official is a diplomat and thus untouchable w/r/t the law, the only other person who could implicate her is her second-in-command, Nick Howell.
Ava refuses to consider that thought, because they've worked together for a decade and were very close. Harvey, though, has recently experienced the sting of betrayal, and draws on his continued butthurt-ness toward Mike to sell his point: "You would be surprised what people you trust would do when they think they don't have a choice." All the while, he's giving Jessica massive stink-eye, but she tries to turn the metaphor to the person doing illegal things (ie: Mike Ross the fraud). Jessica suggests Ava call Nick, but of course it goes straight to voicemail, despite Ava's protests that he always answers her calls. Harvey helpfully translates the voicemail greeting for her: "Hi Ava, I'm not here because I'm cutting a deal to sell you out."
Mike is still working in the library, though it's dark, and Rachel walks in to catch up with him. She asks how working with Louis is going, and Mike is surprised to hear himself say that it isn't bad. However, it's been like hours since they last touched each other, so of course Mike is super horny and ready to have another office rendezvous. Unfortunately for him, Rachel nips that in the bud quickly, since Louis could be back any time now. She brings up the fact that there's a 99% chance that Louis is trying to seduce him into being his new associate protegée, but Mike is like, "Can we please pretend like this is just two nice people working together and not another plot in Louis' agenda?" Yeahh, no, we can't, because we've actually seen this show before.
Since being Pearson Darby's quartermaster is a pretty lucrative position, Louis wheels a big, beautiful, fruit-topped cake on a tea-service-like cart, and Rachel takes this opportunity to skedaddle, but not before picking a strawberry off the cake and eating it seductively before she leaves. Mike, being Mike, has already found something awesome that could help them with their case, and Louis is incredibly thrilled. Mike mentions he got the idea from Moneyball, and he's shocked to learn that Louis has actually seen it, since he hates sports. Louis corrects him, "It's not about sports, it's about math!" Oh, you kids. Mike also adds that there's one problem-- whatever argument they're using is outside the scope. Louis claims that they just need to get the other side to put it in the scope for them. I still have no idea what the fuck they're on about, to be honest.
Harvey decided to drive over in his vintage Mustang to Cameron Dennis' house to be obnoxious and adorable, per usual. Cameron's like, "I see you're still trying to be Steve McQueen," but Harvey retorts that he is Steve McQueen. "This is the scene where he corners the asshole." The topic changes to that little DVD Cameron gave Jessica, which Harvey says means nothing because there's no audio. He continues to taunt Cameron, by 1) threatening to have him sanctioned for withholding evidence, and 2) saying he is onto Cameron's game, which is that he was banking on them focusing on the video and not pay attention to the fact that they have Nick Howell and are planning to use him to testify against Ava. Cameron tells him to get his "piece of shit" off his driveway, and goes back inside.
In court, Louis is giving his testimony about how amazing Peter's steakhouse is, and emphasizes that steamrollering it isn't a public benefit. The nameless Opposing Counsel is all, "blah blah here's a precedent where public benefit was determined on a quantitative basis," but Mike was ready for that. He stands up and brings up that case the Opposing Counsel just cited, and says that it was decided eight years ago, and since then, nothing has been built yet and no money was made. "Just because they say it will be better, doesn't mean it will be." They all bicker a whole bunch, and the judge decides that Louis and Mike's case just isn't strong enough, and declares that the building will be demolished next week. Mike remembers aloud that in Moneyball, the A's never actually won the World Series, and apologizes to Louis for fucking it up, but Louis replies that it's not the time for apologies. When Mike asks what time it is, he just smiles a little. Cut to...
Louis' favorite mud place, of course, where he is completely naked and laying in a stone bathtub full of weird looking mud. Mike is standing beside his own mud tub, but is still wearing a towel and looking miiiiighty uncomfortable. Louis reassures him that there's nothing wrong with a couple's mud bath, and reminds him that they each have their own "self-contained unit." Mike: "If I get in, will you stop saying words?" Louis kind of dances, as much as you can dance when you're in a mud-bath, and does the zipped-lip thing. Mike drops his towel and is about to get in when Louis mentions that if he goes in his boxers, they'll be too ruined to wear later and he'll have to free-ball it. Eyes bugging, Mike reluctantly drops his boxers and gets in the mud. Rick Hoffman, you are the fucking best. And he's about to get even funnier.
Ava is back in her office with Harvey, looking out her window and swearing under her breath about her former right-hand Nick. Harvey, who is still milking the Mike thing for all it's worth, is like, "I totally know how you feel!" She's totally not here for that, though, and points out that from what she's heard, he prefers to work alone; however, unlike him, she doesn't. She concedes that the first couple of years she worked with Nick, she was above him, but for the last several years, they have been equals working side by side. "I'm not a sentimental person, but it meant something to me. And I thought it meant something to him." Harvey says he deserves to be shot, and while Ava does agree, she thinks it would be better if she promoted him and gave him a raise. Harvey speaks for all of us when he says, "You're suggesting bribing a man to get out of your bribery charge." Ava just shrugs. "In for a penny, in for a pound, as my mother always used to say." I kind of love her.
Harvey's dawning realization that Cameron wanted this to happen about smacks him in the face-- he didn't give them the video so that they would be too distracted to notice Nick being flipped, he wanted them to realize it so that way Ava would try to bribe Nick so he wouldn't testify, so Cameron could then catch her in the act, giving them the evidence they needed to actually take her down. Ava wants to make a run at him, but Harvey is like, "Please, allow me-- I have a lot of pent-up Mike feelings that I need to let out in a way that won't require me to be near him."
Back at the mud house, Mike and Louis are each dozing in their mud baths, each with cucumbers on their eyes. Mike: "Louis...this is the best damn mud I've ever had." I love how many nods to Louis' weirdo obsessions we get, especially after all his mud-talk last season. Ice now broken, Mike confesses that he knows why Louis has been so nice to him lately. Louis calmly responds that he wouldn't have chosen Mike if he wasn't smart and curious enough to figure it out on his own. Mike asks why Louis didn't just come right out and ask him, but Louis isn't an idiot; he knew that Mike would say no, especially after all the shit they've done to each other. Louis just wanted to remind Mike about the good parts of being friends/partners with him. He goes on to say that Mike's words about Louis' actions mattering made him want to change; "You make me want to be a better man!" Mike is confused, so Louis explains it's a quote from As Good As It Gets, which Mike hasn't seen. This show has so many movie/TV show/book references I am seriously going to have to start a list of stuff to watch just to understand them. Louis adorably tells Mike that he's lucky, because he can still see the movie for the first time.
<3<3 Louis Litt <3<3
These words give Mike another one of those dawning realizations that he and Harvey are prone to getting-- Mike explains to Louis that the judge wanted to rule in their favor, but couldn't. Mike tries to elaborate, but Louis cuts him off. "Oh no no no, I cannot mix work and mudding. Let's hit the showers!" He stands up in all his naked glory, and I about die from laughter. Rick Hoffman must be suuuuch a good sport to do a scene like this. I made the mistake of watching this episode with my dad, who is also a big Suits fan, and he literally gagged at the sight of Louis' mud-covered ass and groaned, "I really could have lived without seeing that." I'm a nurse, so I have a much higher tolerance to nakedness and body fluids and whatnot, so it was just funny to me. Louis asks if Mike needs a hand getting out of the tub, as Mike aggressively stares at literally anything else in the room. Oh, this show.
Harvey finally found the hotel room Nick Howell is being held, and knocks on the door impatiently. Nick opens the door and immediately senses who he is. "I know who you are. You shouldn't be here." Harvey retorts that it's actually Nick who shouldn't be there. He tells Harvey that he'd like him to leave, but Harvey doesn't budge. "No, you wouldn't. You'd like to give me five minutes to see if I can get you out of the box you're in before you sell your soul." Nick sighs and allows Harvey entry, as he insists that he didn't want to do this. Harvey believes him, and replies that he wouldn't have let him in on what's happening if he did. Nick explains that he was under the impression that Ava was fucked on the bribery charge with or without his cooperation, but Harvey states that that it's just what Cameron wants him to think. They discuss the video, which Nick believes to be damning evidence, to which Harvey responds that he believes it could be spun in a more flattering light if Nick just keeps his head down and his mouth shut. Nick is tired, and cuts to the chase: "Just do what you came here to do, threaten me or offer me a deal."
Meanwhile, Louis, Mike, and the still-nameless Opposing Counsel are meeting with the judge from earlier in his office, where he asks them why the hell they're all there. Louis insists that they need to be heard before demolition starts. Opposing Counsel is all jerky to Louis about his sob story from earlier, but Mike calmly interrupts and says that they thought it was fair to get a new valuation on the property, based on the new zoning or something. The judge looks pretty pleased as Mike hands him a file, but is stunned after he skims the document-- the new valuation is 100 million dollars. Opposing Counsel immediately assumes this property value is bullshit based on "voodoo math" where they inflate the value based on "crazy assumptions." Unfortunately for Mr. OC, Louis rightly points out that they did the same in the case he cited in court, but he didn't have a problem with that, since that suited his interests. Opposing Counsel ignores Louis and appeals to the judge, and claims that Louis and Mike chose that number because it makes his project seem to expensive to be feasible, but Mike adds insult to injury by muttering in response, "Well, even if that were true, we have every right to do it." Bazinga!
At Pearson Darby, Rachel approaches Donna as she's getting coffee, and compliments her dress, which makes Donna giggle, before she finally cuts the bullshit-- she knows that they agreed that Harvey and Mike's problems aren't their problems, but Louis is pretty blatantly stealing Mike, which is a problem. Donna smiles weakly and explains that it's not stealing if they're free to be taken, which makes Rachel's eyes bug out of her head. "You knew?" Donna informs her that Louis came to ask Harvey if he could mentor Mike and Harvey gave him his blessing, and then adds that she didn't say anything earlier because they agreed that the boys' problems aren't their problems. Rachel claims that Harvey doesn't really want to let Mike go, and that Donna needs to help him get over it.
Donna's usual jokey personality shuts down as she closes the plate-glass door to the break room, as if that will afford them privacy. Then, she levels with Rachel: Donna only tells Harvey what she believes, and in this case, what she believes is that Mike betrayed Harvey. Rachel points out that he was being blackmailed, but Donna is about as pissed at Mike as Harvey is, she's just way better at concealing it. "I just spent the last year hiding your boyfriend's double life. I'd say I'm a pretty understanding person. But what I don't understand, is when someone takes loyalty like that and throws it in the garbage. Would you like me to say that to Harvey?" Rachel is stunned and a little upset, and apologizes quietly that it won't happen again before scurrying off. I like Rachel, but Donna isn't really lying, even if I do think that they should get over it and forgive Mike already.
As Donna leaves, Rachel hears Mike and Louis talking behind her. She walks up to Mike, their hands briefly grazing each other while Louis isn't looking, and tells him it sounds like they won. Mike reveals that the judge won't be ruling until the next day, so they're celebrating the fact that they've made progress, since they didn't have a chance of winning before now. Rachel is happy for them, but clearly upset in general, which Mike quickly notices. She confesses that she got in a fight with Donna when she asked her for help regarding him and Louis, and Mike about chokes on his coffee. "You told Donna about me and Louis?" Rachel tells him that she was just trying to help, and Mike unfairly kind of yells at her, because telling Harvey (directly or by Donna-proxy) what to do never ends well, especially when it's coming from Rachel, since Harvey forbade him from telling her the truth.
Rachel realizes the implications of this bombshell (that they broke up because of Harvey, not because of Mike, etc) and yells at him when he defends Harvey for risking it all for him. "I hope you know as you stand here defending him, he has no intention of forgiving you, because I found out when Louis asked Harvey for his blessing, he said 'Take him, he's all yours.' So instead of getting mad at me for trying to get Harvey to forgive you, maybe you should get pissed at Harvey and think about moving on." OH SHIT. She's not wrong either, really.
Instead of doing what Rachel said, again, he just runs to Harvey's office to yell at him some more. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Mike asks, because that will TOTALLY endear him to Harvey now. He expounds on that point, saying that Harvey has to forgive him eventually, after listing all of the things he's done to earn back his trust.
Harvey, instead, lists all the things that Mike did against Harvey's orders, and then points out that he told Rachel about his secret too, to make matters worse. Mike reminds him that he told her after he got fired by Harvey and blackmailed by Jessica and at his lowest point, and she was there for him then AND still is there for him now, which garners only a "Congratulations" from Harvey. Mike, who has worked himself up to a full rant now, goes on to say that though he tried to send Mike to Louis to punish Mike, it failed, because he actually likes working for Louis. Harvey clarifies that he didn't send Mike to Louis as punishment, he sent him to Louis because he doesn't give a fuck what he does now, because they're done. For good. Jesus, will it ever end?
Up on the roof, Harvey is a little too pissy to really want to deal with Jessica, so when she makes her way over to join him, he angrily sips his cocktail and orders her to get to the point. She brings up the fact that Cameron is up to something shady, but Harvey's like, "old news," since he already figured out the whole tricking-Ava-into-bribing-Nick game. He explains that he got Nick on their side by appealing to the fact that he cares about Ava and doesn't want to betray her, which Harvey knows a lot about these days. Jessica is so over this argument that they seem to have been having over and over and over for the last two episodes, so she asks him if he knows who started the fight between the Hatfields and McCoys. He hilariously replies that he never saw the miniseries, but he's missing her point-- regardless of who started it, the other side will likely call bullshit on it.
This leads into having the same argument that Jessica already said she's tired of having: Jessica organized the merger behind Harvey's back; Harvey picked a fight with Darby behind her back; Jessica blackmailed Mike behind Harvey's back, which she claims she was only able to do because he brought a fraud into her firm in the first place. Harvey, knowing a loss when he sees it, doesn't even try to argue that point, and merely states that Jessica blames him for it. Really, though, Jessica confesses that she hates where they are right now, and is trying to get them back to where they were before. Harvey wants some proof, and asks why he is even on this case, anyway. Jessica admits that it was Darby who pushed for Harvey to be on the case, and she made it look like she fought for him so that way he would forgive her. He's not thrilled at this information, though he already figured it out about a half a second after she did it, and asks if she would do it again if she had the chance. She ignores that question, though and brings up Cameron's deposition the following day: does Harvey want her to be there, or not?
We don't hear Harvey's answer, but either way, he and Jessica are both there at the deposition with Ava the next day, where Cameron is acting like a smug jackass, per usual. He accuses Harvey of witness-tampering, which they didn't, since Nick is an employee of Hessington Oil, who they are representing in this case, so Harvey threatens him with a slander lawsuit if he says it again. Cameron, not to be outdone, brings up that "somehow" Hessington Oil's shareholders got hold of the video of the bribe, so now they're pissed, which makes Team Hessington even MORE pissed. Ava correctly assumes that Cameron leaked it, so Cameron parrots Harvey by threatening to slap HER with a lawsuit for slander if she says THAT again, and ughhhh this dude is so awful, I want to smack HIM, period.
He informs them that Nick didn't fall for Harvey's ploy, and mocks him for not being the guy he mentored anymore. Harvey retorts that Jessica was his mentor. "You're just a fast-talking car salesman who hides behind the line 'I do good.' Now get out of my face while I confer with my client." BOOM! When he's gone, Ava pissily thanks him for making things way worse for her, but Harvey compares it to an illness that gets worse before it gets better. When she asks what that means, Jessica cuts in and urges her to see how she feels in a half hour.
Donna confronts Rachel in the ladies' room to try to apologize and smooth things out between them, but Rachel is noticeably frosty towards her. When Rachel calls her out on the fact that she's heard that Harvey has final say on to whom she talks, Donna immediately realizes that Mike told her about Harvey forcing him to lie to her, back when she still thought he was a legit lawyer who was just being a dick to her for no reason. Donna tries to explain that Harvey was trying to protect her as much as he was trying to protect himself, Jessica, Mike and Donna, but Rachel isn't convinced, and reminds her that Harvey doesn't know her at all-- if he did, he would know that she would never tell anyone.
Donna tells her that she should be pissed at Donna too, because Donna told Mike to do the same when she dragged him into Harvey's office and told him to let her go. Rachel is furious now, and almost near tears. "Was this before or after I came to you and told you that I kissed him and that I called him and told him how I felt?" Of course, we all know the answer is "after," which Donna does seem to feel bad about, but that doesn't really give Rachel much comfort. She tries to put this as delicately as possible, but the words still sting-- no, she didn't tell Rachel the truth, she tried to help Rachel move on, because in the end, that secret wasn't hers to tell. Rachel angrily tells her that Donna cares more about Harvey than about her friendship, and Donna is like, "That's my job." Rachel hits her where it hurts: "I get that jobs are important, but this is about LIFE. But I guess you wouldn't understand that." OUCH. Donna: "I'm going to walk away, before we can't go back." Ladies, please don't fight! Go back to going to bars at 4pm and pretending to be different people!
At the depo, Nick is expositing about everything that went on in the video that we already covered this episode, while Cameron listens and videotapes everything that is being said. Harvey cuts in to say that the video has Nick sliding the briefcase full of money towards the foreign official, to which Nick responds that he knew it was a bribe. Jessica turns the discussion to Ava, how she treated him as an employee, if she trusted him and appreciated his help, to make the story look more like Nick was behind all of this. Getting harsher, she brings up the fact that he betrayed her after she spent so long mentoring him and molding him into the businessman that he is today. Harvey picks up on that narrative, and asks Nick if he would be in line to get Ava's position if she were in jail, and Nick admits that if it happened, that would likely be the case. Oh, shit!
Cameron interjects that this isn't a courtroom, so that information doesn't have anything to do with anything, but Harvey just wanted to give them all a taste of what the trial would be like, especially considering the fact that Nick hasn't looked Ava in the eye once during the course of this deposition.
Meanwhile, Mike answers his apartment door to find Louis, who reveals that they won their case. Woo! The conversation turns to Harvey, who Louis says is different from Louis and Mike.
Conflicted, Mike sighs and thinks a whole bunch about what the fuck he's going to do.
Harvey is ready to leave the firm for the night when he runs into Cameron, and he jokes that it's pretty desperate for Cameron to be here for an interview now that he's fired. Cameron concedes that if they go to trial, Harvey will tear Nick apart on the witness stand; but, he's still got video and witness testimony, and he will get the jury to believe. Harvey's like, "So, why are you here, then?" The reason is, despite Cameron's protests, the powers that be want to make a deal. Harvey rubs it in that they can't beat him, and states his terms, which is the original offer: Hessington Oil pleads no contest, they pay a 50 million dollar fine, and the criminal charges are dropped. Unfortunately, Cameron has added one non-negotiable term: Hessington Oil pleads guilty, which technically makes it a win for Cameron. "I can beat you, and I did. And it's going to eat you up. Dennis 1, Spector 0, take it or leave it."
In Jessica's office, Harvey has just informed her what has just happened, and calls the deal bullshit. Jessica thinks Cameron can say whatever he wants, because Darby considers it a win either way and that's what matters. Harvey disagrees, obviously, but Jessica doesn't want to risk five years of Ava's life just to prove that Harvey's better than Cameron. Harvey's under the assumption that Cameron knows he's got a loser, which is why he changed the deal. Jessica argues that it's the same deal with one little technical change.
Instead of fighting with Harvey, Jessica simply says. "I would." Harvey is confused, and Jessica clarifies: regarding Harvey's earlier question about whether or not she would do it all over again, she would. Getting angrier, she reiterates that if he put her in that position again, she would do whatever she had to do. "Because we win." Harvey asks if this means she wants him to kick Dennis' ass, but no; she wants him to let it go, because he ass has already been kicked, apparently?
Mike pays a visit to his girlfriend, and they instantly apologize to each other for their fight from earlier. Mike confesses that Louis asked him to be his associate, and that he asked for some time to think about it before running straight to Rachel's to tell her. Rachel correctly assumes that Mike apologized because he needed advice, to which he responds, "Oh, and sex." She tells him he can have one or the other, and he decides that he really doesn't need any advice before throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her to the bed.
The next morning, Harvey meets with Ava in the conference room and reluctantly advises her to take the deal. She's nervous about returning to London without her right-hand man, but Harvey reminds her that he totally fucked her over, so in the end, she's better off. She explains that it doesn't really change the fact that she's going to miss him, despite what he's done to her, and the motives behind it.
They say their goodbyes, and Donna slips into the room just as Ava is leaving. She admits that she thought working with Jessica would cause Harvey to rethink his plan about taking her down. He argues that it didn't, because Jessica confessed to him that she would do it all (blackmailing Mike, going behind Harvey's back, etc) again if she had the chance. Over Harvey's shoulder, Donna spots Mike down the hallway, and suggests that if this whole thing is Jessica's fault, perhaps Harvey should reconsider taking Mike off his shit-list. Of course, since Mike is just about to say yes to being Louis' associate after Harvey insisted that he didn't give a fuck about it, he's choosing NOW to finally stop being butthurt. Ughhhhhhhh! I wanted them to get over themselves and make up, but not at the expense of Louis' feelings! This will set back Louis' progress MONTHS.
Mike swans into Louis' office, and quotes, "You make me want to be a better man!" Louis is thrilled that he watched As Good As It Gets, and reveals that he also watched Jerry McGuire, so the inevitable quote-fest lasts for quite a few minutes. Louis looks so excited that my heart breaks even before the badness happens; he runs off to get something that Louis claims will be "the perfect thing to consummate our relationship."
Cue Harvey, who ducks into Louis' office after he leaves and insists that he can't let Mike do this. Mike raises his eyebrows and is like, "Let me?" Harvey corrects himself, and pleads with him (or, as much of a plea as Harvey is capable of making, anyway) not to work for Louis. Mike really does look torn, and informs him that he already told Louis he was going to work for him, so he can't back out now. Harvey: "You're not backing out. You're going back where you belong." Mike agrees, and apologizes, but Harvey already knows he's sorry, and suggests he take the night off and spend some time with Rachel. Mike goes to shake Harvey's hand, as Louis approaches the office with a huge cake in his hands. The boys don't notice though, because as always they are in their own little world. Harvey's like, "No, we're going up top!" which tickles Mike pink, and he's like, "Really?" Harvey: "Really. But if you come in late tomorrow, you're fired." Mike's skeptical about that, but they high-five like bros, and Louis is so upset, you guys. He turns and walks away quickly, throwing the cake in the bin as he fights back his tears. We pan onto the cake in the trash, and it says, "Welcome to Team Litt." Ohhhhhh, my heart! This is bad, bad news.
Next week, according to the promo: Cameron fucks over and/or just generally tricks Harvey and Jessica, which pisses them both off; Ava gets arrested for something or other; Louis no-doubt acts like an asshole as he deals with his betrayal by Mike & Harvey for the millionth time; Donna eyefucks some new hottie from London.
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[screencaps from this Screencapped.net album]
NOTES/SPECULATION:
-This whole thing with Louis is going to bite Harvey and Mike in the ass, somehow, isn't it? And, if there's some kind of power struggle going on with Jessica, I can totally see him getting in on that too; he may have eventually taken her side with Hardman, but I still don't think he completely trusts her.
-I have a feeling that Cameron has a long-term plan to fuck over Harvey and/or Jessica re: Ava as well. Maybe he knew that Harvey would eventually settle for the deal, and has some backup plan to get Ava? I'm curious to see what happens.
-How many more episodes until Mike's little secret comes into play again? Who is next to find out? Louis? Darby?
-I hope Donna and Rachel make up soooon. Ladies gotta stick together, especially in this show!
What did you guys think?
For being (or claiming to be) so smart, I have no idea why Harvey, Jessica, Mike, et al continue to be shitty to Louis. If we've learned anything about him the last 2+ seasons, it's that he's not really that complicated of a guy, not really. If you're nice to him, get him to believe you respect him, allow him to help you with things, and generally just make him feel like the actual person that he is, instead of making him feel annoying/uncool, the guy will ALWAYS be loyal to you. Like, the "walk with you to the ends of the earth" kind of loyal. And while he's not exactly full of the personal connections that I imagine are valued in the law profession, he is smart enough to have attended Harvard Law School, is a financial law genius, and knows nearly as much about the way people feel/behave and how to manipulate them as Harvey himself. He is, for the most part, an asset, and the rest of them are kind of assholes for always underestimating him, in my humble opinion. It'd be a lot easier for everyone if they at least tolerated him, if not just finally accepting and embracing him into the fold completely. But, if that were the case, it'd be a pretty boring show, eh? Moving on. Let's discuss how all this Louisness unfolded, yeah?
Previously, on Suits: Ava Hessington, Harvey's new client, was charged with bribing a foreign government to get her company's pipeline, and she freely admitted to Harvey that she's totally guilty of it during their interview; Harvey hasn't quite gotten over Mike's betrayal from last season, and yelled at him: "You think you're not replaceable? I've been doing this before I met you, and I'll be doing this long after I've forgotten all about you;" Louis fell right into Nigel's trap, and accidentally ended up losing control of the firm's associates when he became Pearson Darby's new quartermaster; Harvey played hardball with the US Attorney about the Hessington case, which resulted in Harvey's old boss, former D.A. Cameron Dennis, to be named the new prosecuting attorney in the case; Darby and Harvey made a secret wager: if Harvey wins the Hessington case, then Darby has to back him in his bid for managing partner, which revealed Harvey's plans of taking Jessica's job.
"Holy shit!" is our opening line this week, exclaimed by none other than Donna Paulson, in response to Harvey, who has just informed her of his super-secret plans to make a power play against Jessica. Harvey is like, "Is ['Holy shit!'] a good thing or a bad thing?" Donna: "Harvey, you just told me you're planning a coup! Give me a second to figure that out!" Harvey corrects her and clarifies that it's a "move," but Donna isn't really reassured. Showing where her priorities are, she asks, "Do I get my own office?" before getting back to the seriousness of the situation.
She gently reminds him that while she will back him up no matter what, and go wherever the hell he's going, he really needs to be sure that he's ready and willing to do this to Jessica, who has been his mentor and friend since he was hired forever ago in the firm's mail room. Harvey reassures her that he is indeed ready, so Donna's settled. "Then let's go beat the shit out of Cameron Dennis!" Donna is just completely realistic, honest, and awesome this entire episode. I wish she had story lines of her own, that didn't involve Harvey or Mike, you know? She would totally nail it. Same with Rachel, but I digress.
Mike ruins their moment by barging in uninvited. He starts off by rambling that he knows Harvey has no interest in seeing him, to which Harvey mutters, "And yet..." Mike cuts to the chase, and is all, "So I'm blackmailing Jessica with the fact that she blackmailed me, so this mess will never happen again." Harvey is like, "That's swell, but does nothing to change the fact that it still happened," and shoos him away like a dog. I get why he's pissed at Mike, but this level of butthurt really is beneath him, don't you think? Kiss and make up already, bbs!
As we pan over Mike packing up his office, taking down his fake diploma, etc, Louis is giving what I'm sure he believes is a heartwarming farewell speech to his associates. He gets teary eyed as he recalls all his fond memories, but the associates instead just look confused and side-eye each other. "There's a harsh reality that I need to inform you of, and it's a bitter pill to swallow. The truth is, a mistake was made--a fatal mistake--and as much as I hate to admit it, our time together is done. No more work, no more laughter. [he chuckles] Remember? [silence] No more mentorship, and, uh, no more anything. You see, I reached too high, and I fell...and my punishment is the end of my tenure with my associates." As he speaks, Mike, with his box of office stuff, is standing with Rachel in the doorway listening, and Rachel looks pretty sad, actually.
"So, I would like to leave you with the immortal sentiment of Robin Williams: There have been other associates before you, they believed they were destined for great things, just like you. If you just listen, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Carpe diem! Seize the day, people! Make your legal lives extraordinary!" Mike smiles and interjects, "O captain, my captain!" which, of course, causes Louis to break down in tears and run away.
Mike admits to Rachel that there was a point in time where he would have been relieved to get rid of Louis as head of the associates, but they both agree that this situation is just wrong. Mike adds that this whole merger is wrong, which leads Rachel to ask how things went with Harvey, so he quickly recaps what happened. Rachel laments their deal to keep their relationship on the DL at work, because she wants to give him a hug, so Mike pulls out a picture of a dog and pretends to be near-tears at the fake death of his fake dog to give them a cover story. It's very good fake-crying, but Mike wouldn't have made it this far if he weren't a good actor. Rachel just laughs at him and leaves him hug-less.
In Jessica's office, Louis is lamenting his own problems, in French, of course, to Jessica. She's pretty sympathetic to his plight, as she explains that since the merger is still new, she can't really get him his associates back. She does give him a consolation prize, which is that he can channel all of his associate-mentoring energy into one associate of his very own. Louis giggles with glee and asks if he gets to choose, and Jessica smiles; "You can have the pick of the litter!" As if we all don't know exactly which associate Louis will be choosing.
So, natch, Louis' next stop is to Donna's desk, where the two of them proceed to be hilariously awesome. He tries to facilitate an exchange of gossip, high-school-styles, by asking "if the Prom King and his boy-wonder are still an item." Donna is like, "Uh, what high school did you go to?" Louis is barely listening to her though, and wants clarification about whether they're broken-up-broken-up, or if they're just on a break. Donna quickly deduces what Louis' motives are and calls him out on going behind Harvey's back, but that's actually why Louis is there: he wants to ask Harvey, via Donna, if he can have Mike's hand in marriage or something. Donna refuses, of course, because it's way more entertaining for her if she watches Louis do it himself.
In Harvey's office, Louis has just pitched Harvey his plan for Mike, which does not involve forcing of any kind, because Louis wants it to be consensual, unlike that one time at prom with Sally Jones. Harvey is starting to get weirded out, and asks him if he just confessed to a crime, and he says some really gross things about Sally Jones that I'm not going to repeat. Harvey's laugh is so genuine that I couldn't help but smile, even if he's kind of being a dick. Finally, Harvey agrees that he can have Mike, if Mike wants him, because they're done and over. Louis is so pumped, you guys, it's kind of adorable, and he runs out the door after gleefully informing Harvey that Mike is going to be begging to be on Team Litt. Oh Louis, the things you do to my heart.
Jessica, not knowing about Harvey's last talk with Cameron Dennis, decides that she's going to go have a chat with him; if you recall, he's the new special prosecutor on the Hessington Case, now that the last guy recused himself, but he also lost his job as D.A. because Jessica blackmailed him. So, of course, Cameron assumes she's come to do that again. Jessica scolds him like a child, telling him not to take out his anger with her out on Harvey, and correctly figures that Cameron is actually pissed about Harvey choosing Jessica over him. He corrects her, saying that it's more about what they stand for. "I put bad guys away; you try to figure out how to let them do whatever they want." He ends their conversation by handing her a DVD that he swears is evidence that Ava Hessington is guilty of bribery, but we already know that. Jessica, though, looks surprised at this new evidence coming to light.
Meanwhile, Louis and Mike are eating lunch at a nice steakhouse; it's pretty clear that Mike is a little wary of Louis and is trying to puzzle out what his ulterior motives are. In an attempt to get him to relax, Louis feeds Mike a huuuge hunk of cheesecake with a fork, despite Mike's desperate protests.
Of course, Louis is tight with the restaurant's owner, who comes up behind Mike as he chokes down that cheesecake and starts affectionately like, massaging his shoulders as he and Louis bond over whatever. Mike's no fool, though, and somewhat-convincingly plays along by complimenting the quality of the steak, and nods his head understandingly as the owner talks about how his employees are family, blah blah blah. Mike's like, "I understand!" but when the owner smiles and leaves, Mike turns to Louis and whispers, "I do not understand." Hee! Louis drops all pretense and says simply, "eminent domain," which is enough for Mike to immediately blanch, because no one wins eminent domain cases. Louis is determined to win, because "winning an unwinnable case" means that not only does his favorite steakhouse get to stay open, but Louis gets to fulfill his dream of rewriting the law. Yeah, I don't get it either. Mike is game, though, and asks Louis what he wants him to do.
Harvey meets back up with Jessica at the firm, and she apologizes about her inability to talk Cameron down. Harvey's more pissed about the fact that now, Cameron thinks that Harvey needs Jessica to fight for him, so Jessica tries reassuring him otherwise by saying that she only wants to fight with him, like OJ Simpson's dream team. Harvey is like, "That's really not a high bar, you know," but Jessica only cares that they won. Harvey finally concedes as she walks away, shouting, "Fine! But I'm Johnny Cochran."
Rachel approaches Donna in the hall, to talk to her now that she knows that Mike and Rachel are together; Donna's still a little annoyed with her, though, for the Richard Gere lie from last week. "It's not that you violated the sanctity of our friendship, it's that you violated the sanctity of Richard Gere! Something I would like to do, but not the way you did it."
Rachel apologizes, and explains that her intention was to help mend Harvey and Mike's relationship, because she's afraid that their break-up will affect her friendship with Donna. The two agree that the best way to keep the boy's shit from their own shit is to not talk about it at all, and Donna changes the subject to Rachel and Mike. And by "Rachel and Mike," I actually mean, "the size of Mike's dick." She eventually just holds her index fingertips together and slowly moves them apart to determine the length. It's pretty hilarious, but Rachel plays mum and skips away. Donna's nail polish is amazing and I want it.
In the library, Mike enters to find Louis already busy researching eminent domain cases starting at 1905, which makes Mike feel guilty. He apologizes for his lateness and asks why he's researching, if Mike was the person who was supposed to be doing it, and Louis is like, "I do [want you to do it] but if I don't do it too, how can I help you?" Mike's brain literally short-circuits trying to understand the concept of someone helping him with a case, since Harvey just expects him to do all the heavy lifting all by himself with absolutely no assistance or explanations of any kind. The conversation turns to the case, and Mike makes a Jerry Maguire reference ("Help me help you! Help me help you!") that Louis completely misses, per usual, so Mike gets to the point; nobody wins eminent domain cases because there's "no chink in the armor." Louis believes that they need to make their own chink in the armor, and off they go! They really do make a nice team, and after this scene, I think Mike is starting to see it, too.
Ava Hessington is having a meeting with Jessica and Harvey, and they've all just finished watching the video of her pretty much openly bribing a foreign official with a suitcase of money. Thankfully for our team, the video has no audio. Jessica asks her if she actually said the word "bribe" when this all went down, and Ava is like, "I may be brazen, but I'm not a fucking idiot, you guys," and explains that if there were audio, they would hear the colonel expressing his thanks for the "pollution remediation fee" that had already been taken care of prior to this meeting. Harvey doesn't think this video is enough to get Cameron a win at trial, and starts to think of what else he could have on Ava. Since the foreign official is a diplomat and thus untouchable w/r/t the law, the only other person who could implicate her is her second-in-command, Nick Howell.
Ava refuses to consider that thought, because they've worked together for a decade and were very close. Harvey, though, has recently experienced the sting of betrayal, and draws on his continued butthurt-ness toward Mike to sell his point: "You would be surprised what people you trust would do when they think they don't have a choice." All the while, he's giving Jessica massive stink-eye, but she tries to turn the metaphor to the person doing illegal things (ie: Mike Ross the fraud). Jessica suggests Ava call Nick, but of course it goes straight to voicemail, despite Ava's protests that he always answers her calls. Harvey helpfully translates the voicemail greeting for her: "Hi Ava, I'm not here because I'm cutting a deal to sell you out."
Mike is still working in the library, though it's dark, and Rachel walks in to catch up with him. She asks how working with Louis is going, and Mike is surprised to hear himself say that it isn't bad. However, it's been like hours since they last touched each other, so of course Mike is super horny and ready to have another office rendezvous. Unfortunately for him, Rachel nips that in the bud quickly, since Louis could be back any time now. She brings up the fact that there's a 99% chance that Louis is trying to seduce him into being his new associate protegée, but Mike is like, "Can we please pretend like this is just two nice people working together and not another plot in Louis' agenda?" Yeahh, no, we can't, because we've actually seen this show before.
Since being Pearson Darby's quartermaster is a pretty lucrative position, Louis wheels a big, beautiful, fruit-topped cake on a tea-service-like cart, and Rachel takes this opportunity to skedaddle, but not before picking a strawberry off the cake and eating it seductively before she leaves. Mike, being Mike, has already found something awesome that could help them with their case, and Louis is incredibly thrilled. Mike mentions he got the idea from Moneyball, and he's shocked to learn that Louis has actually seen it, since he hates sports. Louis corrects him, "It's not about sports, it's about math!" Oh, you kids. Mike also adds that there's one problem-- whatever argument they're using is outside the scope. Louis claims that they just need to get the other side to put it in the scope for them. I still have no idea what the fuck they're on about, to be honest.
Harvey decided to drive over in his vintage Mustang to Cameron Dennis' house to be obnoxious and adorable, per usual. Cameron's like, "I see you're still trying to be Steve McQueen," but Harvey retorts that he is Steve McQueen. "This is the scene where he corners the asshole." The topic changes to that little DVD Cameron gave Jessica, which Harvey says means nothing because there's no audio. He continues to taunt Cameron, by 1) threatening to have him sanctioned for withholding evidence, and 2) saying he is onto Cameron's game, which is that he was banking on them focusing on the video and not pay attention to the fact that they have Nick Howell and are planning to use him to testify against Ava. Cameron tells him to get his "piece of shit" off his driveway, and goes back inside.
In court, Louis is giving his testimony about how amazing Peter's steakhouse is, and emphasizes that steamrollering it isn't a public benefit. The nameless Opposing Counsel is all, "blah blah here's a precedent where public benefit was determined on a quantitative basis," but Mike was ready for that. He stands up and brings up that case the Opposing Counsel just cited, and says that it was decided eight years ago, and since then, nothing has been built yet and no money was made. "Just because they say it will be better, doesn't mean it will be." They all bicker a whole bunch, and the judge decides that Louis and Mike's case just isn't strong enough, and declares that the building will be demolished next week. Mike remembers aloud that in Moneyball, the A's never actually won the World Series, and apologizes to Louis for fucking it up, but Louis replies that it's not the time for apologies. When Mike asks what time it is, he just smiles a little. Cut to...
Louis' favorite mud place, of course, where he is completely naked and laying in a stone bathtub full of weird looking mud. Mike is standing beside his own mud tub, but is still wearing a towel and looking miiiiighty uncomfortable. Louis reassures him that there's nothing wrong with a couple's mud bath, and reminds him that they each have their own "self-contained unit." Mike: "If I get in, will you stop saying words?" Louis kind of dances, as much as you can dance when you're in a mud-bath, and does the zipped-lip thing. Mike drops his towel and is about to get in when Louis mentions that if he goes in his boxers, they'll be too ruined to wear later and he'll have to free-ball it. Eyes bugging, Mike reluctantly drops his boxers and gets in the mud. Rick Hoffman, you are the fucking best. And he's about to get even funnier.
Ava is back in her office with Harvey, looking out her window and swearing under her breath about her former right-hand Nick. Harvey, who is still milking the Mike thing for all it's worth, is like, "I totally know how you feel!" She's totally not here for that, though, and points out that from what she's heard, he prefers to work alone; however, unlike him, she doesn't. She concedes that the first couple of years she worked with Nick, she was above him, but for the last several years, they have been equals working side by side. "I'm not a sentimental person, but it meant something to me. And I thought it meant something to him." Harvey says he deserves to be shot, and while Ava does agree, she thinks it would be better if she promoted him and gave him a raise. Harvey speaks for all of us when he says, "You're suggesting bribing a man to get out of your bribery charge." Ava just shrugs. "In for a penny, in for a pound, as my mother always used to say." I kind of love her.
Harvey's dawning realization that Cameron wanted this to happen about smacks him in the face-- he didn't give them the video so that they would be too distracted to notice Nick being flipped, he wanted them to realize it so that way Ava would try to bribe Nick so he wouldn't testify, so Cameron could then catch her in the act, giving them the evidence they needed to actually take her down. Ava wants to make a run at him, but Harvey is like, "Please, allow me-- I have a lot of pent-up Mike feelings that I need to let out in a way that won't require me to be near him."
Back at the mud house, Mike and Louis are each dozing in their mud baths, each with cucumbers on their eyes. Mike: "Louis...this is the best damn mud I've ever had." I love how many nods to Louis' weirdo obsessions we get, especially after all his mud-talk last season. Ice now broken, Mike confesses that he knows why Louis has been so nice to him lately. Louis calmly responds that he wouldn't have chosen Mike if he wasn't smart and curious enough to figure it out on his own. Mike asks why Louis didn't just come right out and ask him, but Louis isn't an idiot; he knew that Mike would say no, especially after all the shit they've done to each other. Louis just wanted to remind Mike about the good parts of being friends/partners with him. He goes on to say that Mike's words about Louis' actions mattering made him want to change; "You make me want to be a better man!" Mike is confused, so Louis explains it's a quote from As Good As It Gets, which Mike hasn't seen. This show has so many movie/TV show/book references I am seriously going to have to start a list of stuff to watch just to understand them. Louis adorably tells Mike that he's lucky, because he can still see the movie for the first time.
<3<3 Louis Litt <3<3
These words give Mike another one of those dawning realizations that he and Harvey are prone to getting-- Mike explains to Louis that the judge wanted to rule in their favor, but couldn't. Mike tries to elaborate, but Louis cuts him off. "Oh no no no, I cannot mix work and mudding. Let's hit the showers!" He stands up in all his naked glory, and I about die from laughter. Rick Hoffman must be suuuuch a good sport to do a scene like this. I made the mistake of watching this episode with my dad, who is also a big Suits fan, and he literally gagged at the sight of Louis' mud-covered ass and groaned, "I really could have lived without seeing that." I'm a nurse, so I have a much higher tolerance to nakedness and body fluids and whatnot, so it was just funny to me. Louis asks if Mike needs a hand getting out of the tub, as Mike aggressively stares at literally anything else in the room. Oh, this show.
Harvey finally found the hotel room Nick Howell is being held, and knocks on the door impatiently. Nick opens the door and immediately senses who he is. "I know who you are. You shouldn't be here." Harvey retorts that it's actually Nick who shouldn't be there. He tells Harvey that he'd like him to leave, but Harvey doesn't budge. "No, you wouldn't. You'd like to give me five minutes to see if I can get you out of the box you're in before you sell your soul." Nick sighs and allows Harvey entry, as he insists that he didn't want to do this. Harvey believes him, and replies that he wouldn't have let him in on what's happening if he did. Nick explains that he was under the impression that Ava was fucked on the bribery charge with or without his cooperation, but Harvey states that that it's just what Cameron wants him to think. They discuss the video, which Nick believes to be damning evidence, to which Harvey responds that he believes it could be spun in a more flattering light if Nick just keeps his head down and his mouth shut. Nick is tired, and cuts to the chase: "Just do what you came here to do, threaten me or offer me a deal."
HARVEY: "I considered both."
NICK: "Cameron said you would."
HARVEY: "Cameron's wrong. I'm not going to do either, because I think you care about Ava."
NICK: "I do."
HARVEY: "Then think about this: whatever deal Cameron offered you, it's based on a lie! He doesn't have anything. He's just trying to use your fear to pit you against Ava. Look, I've seen it happen before, and the one thing I can tell you is, if you go through with it, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
NICK: "...because she'll never forgive me."
HARVEY: "Because you'll never forgive yourself."
Meanwhile, Louis, Mike, and the still-nameless Opposing Counsel are meeting with the judge from earlier in his office, where he asks them why the hell they're all there. Louis insists that they need to be heard before demolition starts. Opposing Counsel is all jerky to Louis about his sob story from earlier, but Mike calmly interrupts and says that they thought it was fair to get a new valuation on the property, based on the new zoning or something. The judge looks pretty pleased as Mike hands him a file, but is stunned after he skims the document-- the new valuation is 100 million dollars. Opposing Counsel immediately assumes this property value is bullshit based on "voodoo math" where they inflate the value based on "crazy assumptions." Unfortunately for Mr. OC, Louis rightly points out that they did the same in the case he cited in court, but he didn't have a problem with that, since that suited his interests. Opposing Counsel ignores Louis and appeals to the judge, and claims that Louis and Mike chose that number because it makes his project seem to expensive to be feasible, but Mike adds insult to injury by muttering in response, "Well, even if that were true, we have every right to do it." Bazinga!
At Pearson Darby, Rachel approaches Donna as she's getting coffee, and compliments her dress, which makes Donna giggle, before she finally cuts the bullshit-- she knows that they agreed that Harvey and Mike's problems aren't their problems, but Louis is pretty blatantly stealing Mike, which is a problem. Donna smiles weakly and explains that it's not stealing if they're free to be taken, which makes Rachel's eyes bug out of her head. "You knew?" Donna informs her that Louis came to ask Harvey if he could mentor Mike and Harvey gave him his blessing, and then adds that she didn't say anything earlier because they agreed that the boys' problems aren't their problems. Rachel claims that Harvey doesn't really want to let Mike go, and that Donna needs to help him get over it.
Donna's usual jokey personality shuts down as she closes the plate-glass door to the break room, as if that will afford them privacy. Then, she levels with Rachel: Donna only tells Harvey what she believes, and in this case, what she believes is that Mike betrayed Harvey. Rachel points out that he was being blackmailed, but Donna is about as pissed at Mike as Harvey is, she's just way better at concealing it. "I just spent the last year hiding your boyfriend's double life. I'd say I'm a pretty understanding person. But what I don't understand, is when someone takes loyalty like that and throws it in the garbage. Would you like me to say that to Harvey?" Rachel is stunned and a little upset, and apologizes quietly that it won't happen again before scurrying off. I like Rachel, but Donna isn't really lying, even if I do think that they should get over it and forgive Mike already.
As Donna leaves, Rachel hears Mike and Louis talking behind her. She walks up to Mike, their hands briefly grazing each other while Louis isn't looking, and tells him it sounds like they won. Mike reveals that the judge won't be ruling until the next day, so they're celebrating the fact that they've made progress, since they didn't have a chance of winning before now. Rachel is happy for them, but clearly upset in general, which Mike quickly notices. She confesses that she got in a fight with Donna when she asked her for help regarding him and Louis, and Mike about chokes on his coffee. "You told Donna about me and Louis?" Rachel tells him that she was just trying to help, and Mike unfairly kind of yells at her, because telling Harvey (directly or by Donna-proxy) what to do never ends well, especially when it's coming from Rachel, since Harvey forbade him from telling her the truth.
Rachel realizes the implications of this bombshell (that they broke up because of Harvey, not because of Mike, etc) and yells at him when he defends Harvey for risking it all for him. "I hope you know as you stand here defending him, he has no intention of forgiving you, because I found out when Louis asked Harvey for his blessing, he said 'Take him, he's all yours.' So instead of getting mad at me for trying to get Harvey to forgive you, maybe you should get pissed at Harvey and think about moving on." OH SHIT. She's not wrong either, really.
Instead of doing what Rachel said, again, he just runs to Harvey's office to yell at him some more. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Mike asks, because that will TOTALLY endear him to Harvey now. He expounds on that point, saying that Harvey has to forgive him eventually, after listing all of the things he's done to earn back his trust.
Harvey, instead, lists all the things that Mike did against Harvey's orders, and then points out that he told Rachel about his secret too, to make matters worse. Mike reminds him that he told her after he got fired by Harvey and blackmailed by Jessica and at his lowest point, and she was there for him then AND still is there for him now, which garners only a "Congratulations" from Harvey. Mike, who has worked himself up to a full rant now, goes on to say that though he tried to send Mike to Louis to punish Mike, it failed, because he actually likes working for Louis. Harvey clarifies that he didn't send Mike to Louis as punishment, he sent him to Louis because he doesn't give a fuck what he does now, because they're done. For good. Jesus, will it ever end?
Up on the roof, Harvey is a little too pissy to really want to deal with Jessica, so when she makes her way over to join him, he angrily sips his cocktail and orders her to get to the point. She brings up the fact that Cameron is up to something shady, but Harvey's like, "old news," since he already figured out the whole tricking-Ava-into-bribing-Nick game. He explains that he got Nick on their side by appealing to the fact that he cares about Ava and doesn't want to betray her, which Harvey knows a lot about these days. Jessica is so over this argument that they seem to have been having over and over and over for the last two episodes, so she asks him if he knows who started the fight between the Hatfields and McCoys. He hilariously replies that he never saw the miniseries, but he's missing her point-- regardless of who started it, the other side will likely call bullshit on it.
This leads into having the same argument that Jessica already said she's tired of having: Jessica organized the merger behind Harvey's back; Harvey picked a fight with Darby behind her back; Jessica blackmailed Mike behind Harvey's back, which she claims she was only able to do because he brought a fraud into her firm in the first place. Harvey, knowing a loss when he sees it, doesn't even try to argue that point, and merely states that Jessica blames him for it. Really, though, Jessica confesses that she hates where they are right now, and is trying to get them back to where they were before. Harvey wants some proof, and asks why he is even on this case, anyway. Jessica admits that it was Darby who pushed for Harvey to be on the case, and she made it look like she fought for him so that way he would forgive her. He's not thrilled at this information, though he already figured it out about a half a second after she did it, and asks if she would do it again if she had the chance. She ignores that question, though and brings up Cameron's deposition the following day: does Harvey want her to be there, or not?
We don't hear Harvey's answer, but either way, he and Jessica are both there at the deposition with Ava the next day, where Cameron is acting like a smug jackass, per usual. He accuses Harvey of witness-tampering, which they didn't, since Nick is an employee of Hessington Oil, who they are representing in this case, so Harvey threatens him with a slander lawsuit if he says it again. Cameron, not to be outdone, brings up that "somehow" Hessington Oil's shareholders got hold of the video of the bribe, so now they're pissed, which makes Team Hessington even MORE pissed. Ava correctly assumes that Cameron leaked it, so Cameron parrots Harvey by threatening to slap HER with a lawsuit for slander if she says THAT again, and ughhhh this dude is so awful, I want to smack HIM, period.
He informs them that Nick didn't fall for Harvey's ploy, and mocks him for not being the guy he mentored anymore. Harvey retorts that Jessica was his mentor. "You're just a fast-talking car salesman who hides behind the line 'I do good.' Now get out of my face while I confer with my client." BOOM! When he's gone, Ava pissily thanks him for making things way worse for her, but Harvey compares it to an illness that gets worse before it gets better. When she asks what that means, Jessica cuts in and urges her to see how she feels in a half hour.
Donna confronts Rachel in the ladies' room to try to apologize and smooth things out between them, but Rachel is noticeably frosty towards her. When Rachel calls her out on the fact that she's heard that Harvey has final say on to whom she talks, Donna immediately realizes that Mike told her about Harvey forcing him to lie to her, back when she still thought he was a legit lawyer who was just being a dick to her for no reason. Donna tries to explain that Harvey was trying to protect her as much as he was trying to protect himself, Jessica, Mike and Donna, but Rachel isn't convinced, and reminds her that Harvey doesn't know her at all-- if he did, he would know that she would never tell anyone.
Donna tells her that she should be pissed at Donna too, because Donna told Mike to do the same when she dragged him into Harvey's office and told him to let her go. Rachel is furious now, and almost near tears. "Was this before or after I came to you and told you that I kissed him and that I called him and told him how I felt?" Of course, we all know the answer is "after," which Donna does seem to feel bad about, but that doesn't really give Rachel much comfort. She tries to put this as delicately as possible, but the words still sting-- no, she didn't tell Rachel the truth, she tried to help Rachel move on, because in the end, that secret wasn't hers to tell. Rachel angrily tells her that Donna cares more about Harvey than about her friendship, and Donna is like, "That's my job." Rachel hits her where it hurts: "I get that jobs are important, but this is about LIFE. But I guess you wouldn't understand that." OUCH. Donna: "I'm going to walk away, before we can't go back." Ladies, please don't fight! Go back to going to bars at 4pm and pretending to be different people!
At the depo, Nick is expositing about everything that went on in the video that we already covered this episode, while Cameron listens and videotapes everything that is being said. Harvey cuts in to say that the video has Nick sliding the briefcase full of money towards the foreign official, to which Nick responds that he knew it was a bribe. Jessica turns the discussion to Ava, how she treated him as an employee, if she trusted him and appreciated his help, to make the story look more like Nick was behind all of this. Getting harsher, she brings up the fact that he betrayed her after she spent so long mentoring him and molding him into the businessman that he is today. Harvey picks up on that narrative, and asks Nick if he would be in line to get Ava's position if she were in jail, and Nick admits that if it happened, that would likely be the case. Oh, shit!
Cameron interjects that this isn't a courtroom, so that information doesn't have anything to do with anything, but Harvey just wanted to give them all a taste of what the trial would be like, especially considering the fact that Nick hasn't looked Ava in the eye once during the course of this deposition.
Meanwhile, Mike answers his apartment door to find Louis, who reveals that they won their case. Woo! The conversation turns to Harvey, who Louis says is different from Louis and Mike.
LOUIS: "I just wanted to say one thing. You know, if Harvey had the power to become Mariana Rivera, he would, because he doesn't love the law. It's just his vehicle of forcing his will on his opponents. For winning. But you see Mike, that's not how I feel about the law. I love the law, and I'd never trade it for anything."
MIKE: "I love the law too. But I also like winning."
LOUIS: "I know. You know what I think? I think you're half-Harvey, and half-me. But you had your time with him. Now have your time with me."
Conflicted, Mike sighs and thinks a whole bunch about what the fuck he's going to do.
Harvey is ready to leave the firm for the night when he runs into Cameron, and he jokes that it's pretty desperate for Cameron to be here for an interview now that he's fired. Cameron concedes that if they go to trial, Harvey will tear Nick apart on the witness stand; but, he's still got video and witness testimony, and he will get the jury to believe. Harvey's like, "So, why are you here, then?" The reason is, despite Cameron's protests, the powers that be want to make a deal. Harvey rubs it in that they can't beat him, and states his terms, which is the original offer: Hessington Oil pleads no contest, they pay a 50 million dollar fine, and the criminal charges are dropped. Unfortunately, Cameron has added one non-negotiable term: Hessington Oil pleads guilty, which technically makes it a win for Cameron. "I can beat you, and I did. And it's going to eat you up. Dennis 1, Spector 0, take it or leave it."
In Jessica's office, Harvey has just informed her what has just happened, and calls the deal bullshit. Jessica thinks Cameron can say whatever he wants, because Darby considers it a win either way and that's what matters. Harvey disagrees, obviously, but Jessica doesn't want to risk five years of Ava's life just to prove that Harvey's better than Cameron. Harvey's under the assumption that Cameron knows he's got a loser, which is why he changed the deal. Jessica argues that it's the same deal with one little technical change.
Instead of fighting with Harvey, Jessica simply says. "I would." Harvey is confused, and Jessica clarifies: regarding Harvey's earlier question about whether or not she would do it all over again, she would. Getting angrier, she reiterates that if he put her in that position again, she would do whatever she had to do. "Because we win." Harvey asks if this means she wants him to kick Dennis' ass, but no; she wants him to let it go, because he ass has already been kicked, apparently?
Mike pays a visit to his girlfriend, and they instantly apologize to each other for their fight from earlier. Mike confesses that Louis asked him to be his associate, and that he asked for some time to think about it before running straight to Rachel's to tell her. Rachel correctly assumes that Mike apologized because he needed advice, to which he responds, "Oh, and sex." She tells him he can have one or the other, and he decides that he really doesn't need any advice before throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her to the bed.
The next morning, Harvey meets with Ava in the conference room and reluctantly advises her to take the deal. She's nervous about returning to London without her right-hand man, but Harvey reminds her that he totally fucked her over, so in the end, she's better off. She explains that it doesn't really change the fact that she's going to miss him, despite what he's done to her, and the motives behind it.
They say their goodbyes, and Donna slips into the room just as Ava is leaving. She admits that she thought working with Jessica would cause Harvey to rethink his plan about taking her down. He argues that it didn't, because Jessica confessed to him that she would do it all (blackmailing Mike, going behind Harvey's back, etc) again if she had the chance. Over Harvey's shoulder, Donna spots Mike down the hallway, and suggests that if this whole thing is Jessica's fault, perhaps Harvey should reconsider taking Mike off his shit-list. Of course, since Mike is just about to say yes to being Louis' associate after Harvey insisted that he didn't give a fuck about it, he's choosing NOW to finally stop being butthurt. Ughhhhhhhh! I wanted them to get over themselves and make up, but not at the expense of Louis' feelings! This will set back Louis' progress MONTHS.
Mike swans into Louis' office, and quotes, "You make me want to be a better man!" Louis is thrilled that he watched As Good As It Gets, and reveals that he also watched Jerry McGuire, so the inevitable quote-fest lasts for quite a few minutes. Louis looks so excited that my heart breaks even before the badness happens; he runs off to get something that Louis claims will be "the perfect thing to consummate our relationship."
Cue Harvey, who ducks into Louis' office after he leaves and insists that he can't let Mike do this. Mike raises his eyebrows and is like, "Let me?" Harvey corrects himself, and pleads with him (or, as much of a plea as Harvey is capable of making, anyway) not to work for Louis. Mike really does look torn, and informs him that he already told Louis he was going to work for him, so he can't back out now. Harvey: "You're not backing out. You're going back where you belong." Mike agrees, and apologizes, but Harvey already knows he's sorry, and suggests he take the night off and spend some time with Rachel. Mike goes to shake Harvey's hand, as Louis approaches the office with a huge cake in his hands. The boys don't notice though, because as always they are in their own little world. Harvey's like, "No, we're going up top!" which tickles Mike pink, and he's like, "Really?" Harvey: "Really. But if you come in late tomorrow, you're fired." Mike's skeptical about that, but they high-five like bros, and Louis is so upset, you guys. He turns and walks away quickly, throwing the cake in the bin as he fights back his tears. We pan onto the cake in the trash, and it says, "Welcome to Team Litt." Ohhhhhh, my heart! This is bad, bad news.
Next week, according to the promo: Cameron fucks over and/or just generally tricks Harvey and Jessica, which pisses them both off; Ava gets arrested for something or other; Louis no-doubt acts like an asshole as he deals with his betrayal by Mike & Harvey for the millionth time; Donna eyefucks some new hottie from London.
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[screencaps from this Screencapped.net album]
NOTES/SPECULATION:
-This whole thing with Louis is going to bite Harvey and Mike in the ass, somehow, isn't it? And, if there's some kind of power struggle going on with Jessica, I can totally see him getting in on that too; he may have eventually taken her side with Hardman, but I still don't think he completely trusts her.
-I have a feeling that Cameron has a long-term plan to fuck over Harvey and/or Jessica re: Ava as well. Maybe he knew that Harvey would eventually settle for the deal, and has some backup plan to get Ava? I'm curious to see what happens.
-How many more episodes until Mike's little secret comes into play again? Who is next to find out? Louis? Darby?
-I hope Donna and Rachel make up soooon. Ladies gotta stick together, especially in this show!
What did you guys think?
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