Suits Mid-Season Finale Review: P.S.L. (Season 6 Episode 10)

I’m not sure I even know where to begin.

Suits Season 6 Episode 10, appropriately titled “P.S.L.” manages to bring the show back to its roots while also taking us in an entirely new direction.

Mike is home now, and the episode opens with him meeting Harvey for drinks. Harvey orders every kind of scotch there is so that Mike can have whatever he wants. He’s so happy to have his friend and protegé home — and safely.

More importantly, Harvey hands him a job offer. It’s one that makes perfect sense, too. Mike can come back to Pearson Specter Litt, not as a lawyer, exactly, but as a consultant.

Mike is hesitant at first. He still feels guilty about everything that’s happened, and he doesn’t want any favors. That guilt is going to haunt him for a while, but we all know he has to go back.

Harvey’s solution is necessarily a favor to Mike, either.

Harvey: I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for me. I miss working with you.

Harvey needs Mike. Because as much as Harvey has been a mentor to Mike, Mike has helped Harvey learn a few things himself. It’s the relationship between these two that drives the show, which makes the beginning of the episode so significant. Harvey and Mike have become brothers, and with the bombshell we get at the end of “P.S.L.,” Mike’s going to probably need to come back.

Unless you’d heard that Gina Torres had plans of leaving the show, the twist at the end has to be a complete shock. The focus is really on Jessica as she re-discovers the reasons she became a lawyer in the first place thanks to Leonard Bailey’s trial.

It was never her plan to become a corporate lawyer — instead, she wanted to help people who needed it. When she makes the decision to stay and fight for Leonard rather than run off with Harvey and Louis to save her firm, she’s making the decision to give that life up altogether.

The kind of work these guys do is rarely pretty. It’s always competitive, and sometimes they break the rules to get things done. It was bound to break someone on the team eventually. Jessica, Harvey, and Louis have all walked that line — and crossed it — a few times, and there’s no doubt that Mike serves as a bit of catalyst here.

I just hope he doesn’t end up taking the blame, and that it doesn’t interfere with his relationship with Harvey.

Perhaps the most emotional scene — well, the second most emotional scene — is Harvey looking out the window of his office, holding back tears. We don’t often get that kind of emotion from Harvey, but Jessica has been such an important part of his life.

As he says, she was his mentor — and quite frankly, she was also his family. The fact that just as Harvey gets his protegé back, he loses his mentor, is going to be an adjustment. It’s likely going to be one that affects his character on a deep level too. Let’s not forget what happened when Donna left him and he wound up suffering from panic attacks.

I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happens here. 

At least he has Donna by his side. I swear, I could probably hear all of the Darvey fans screaming through Twitter when they reached for each others’ hands.

Again, I don’t think it’s the romantic relationships that drive this show. I think the relationship that drives it has and always will be the one between Mike and Harvey. But that doesn’t mean I’m not dying to see Harvey and Donna end up together before this is all said and done.

Speaking of romantic relationships, I’m happy with the way they handled Jessica’s departure in that it isn’t simply a decision to run off with Jeff. She’s not leaving the firm for him, which she makes abundantly clear. She’s leaving for herself. And if that means she also gets to be with the love of her life, that’s even better.

She also gets to go out with what she calls the most satisfying moment of her career.

Because what is truly the most emotional moment of the episode is Leonard Bailey going free. Mike lends his advice to Rachel on the case (and his love of film). He also helps to encourage Rachel.

But make no mistake, it’s still the women who get it done. It’s Rachel’s eye for detail that brings her to realize the truth about the victim’s father, and it’s Jessica’s trial skills that pull everything together.

Gina Torres last (maybe not last) performance on the show is, of course, incredible. She’s a badass in the courtroom, and wins a case that will change an innocent man’s life — and allow him to have that life.

One of the reasons I’m devastated that Jessica is leaving is how much I was enjoying her dynamic with Rachel. I recently compared Jessica & Rachel to Harvey & Mike in the way she mentored her, and the way they worked together. I’d hoped that was something we could see more of.

With Jessica out, unless they decide to merge with Zane (if that offer would even still be on the table) it’s Harvey’s name that would now be first. That’s significant, and it would definitely be nice to see his character put in that position.

Alright, so I can’t end a review of this episode without talking about Louis.

Here’s the thing: I think we all want to see Louis end up with someone. I think we all want to see him happy. But for him to propose to this woman he barely knows, all ready to help raise her child? I feel like he’s going off the deep end somehow, and I don’t trust Tara one bit.

I’m worried about that, because I hate to see Louis get burned again. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he’s diving in head first, and for once, that’s a good thing. It remains to be seen, I suppose.

Other Thoughts:

• This episode is full of satisfying moments — like Stu saving the day and understanding Harvey’s movie quote. I love it.
• It’s super weird seeing Mike in something other than a suit. Okay, yes, we saw him in a prison uniform for most of this season, but now that he’s out, it throws me off to see him in a regular shirt and jeans.
• Is anyone else wondering if Harvey will get his painting back? I hope we see that before the end of the season.

What did you think of this episode of Suits? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

Suits returns to USA in 2017.

9 TV Couples We Wish Would Get Together Now