Suits Review: Teeth, Nose, Teeth (Season 6 Episode 13)
What starts as a problem for Rachel could end up being a solution for Mike.
On Suits Season 6 Episode 13, Rachel’s hopes of getting into the Bar are thwarted when she receives a letter that she won’t even get a chance. Luckily, she has Louis and Harvey to fight to her.
Meanwhile, Mike continues to fight for a client, but is increasingly frustrated that he can’t actually try the case. And Donna gets a pretty entertaining surprise from the IT guy.
What I think is most important about this episode is the growing relationship between Harvey and Louis. With Jessica gone, the two men are now on an equal playing field, and they each have to set aside their pride to learn to work together.
A big part of that is being able to admit their own weaknesses while also admitting each others’ strengths.
That’s why Louis has Harvey look into the letter Rachel gets saying she’s not being granted an interview for the Bar. Louis admits this is the kind of thing Harvey is better at, and let’s be honest, we all know that too.
It is somehow too convenient to me that the letter isn’t about Mike, but rather about a guy who needs Harvey to handle something for him. I feel like we’ve seen this sort of thing before, and it just doesn’t feel genuine.
Still, I always enjoy seeing Harvey deal with guys like this. No one knows how to put someone in their place quite like he does.
More satisfying than that is seeing Harvey do exactly what Louis did. He admits his own weakness and asks Louis for help in something he’s good at — financials.
I do still miss Jessica, don’t get me wrong, but Harvey and Louis figuring out how to work together seems like something the show has been working toward from the very beginning.
As for Mike, he’s still trying to fight the good fight, but he’s not winning. At the legal clinic, he continues to show leadership and use skills he clearly learned from Harvey in that process, right down to him telling Oliver to repeat “we’re going to win this” over and over until he believes it.
It’s heart-wrenching that it doesn’t work. Oliver freezes in trial when the opposing side brings in new evidence, and Mike sits helpless in the back of the courtroom, knowing exactly what Oliver could do to fight it.
He yells “objection,” and hopes Oliver will figure something out, but instead, the case winds up being dismissed.
Now, let’s back up a bit, because this marks a change for Mike. Earlier in the episode, Harvey’s visit with the committee member who wants his competitor sued in exchange for helping Rachel pass the Bar becomes a way for Mike to get into it.
Harvey figures out what this guy is hiding and convinces him to do the right thing without anything in return, but he says he’ll find a way to sue his competitor for something else.
This still feels like a stretch, but it’s a way for Mike to become a legitimate lawyer. At first, Mike refuses Harvey’s help yet again, which only makes me groan.
Maybe that’s now how I should feel, but Mike has been bordering on nauseating for most of this season. He wants to do the right thing, and he wants to be a good person, but sometimes it feels like his efforts cause more harm than good.
Not being able to speak up and help a client — a woman who deserves the help and the money she’s asking for — is the thing that changes his mind.
And it’s exactly what Harvey points out. At this point, Mike isn’t actually practicing law, and he can’t fully help people the way he wants until he’s able to try his own cases.
Other Thoughts:
- I don’t trust Louis’s fiancé, though I can’t quite figure out why — besides the fact they haven’t known each other for very long. I would love to see it work out and for Louis to have a family, but I’m nervous.
- I love Louis going to Harvey for advice. I love this quote from Harvey even more: “Louis, I don’t speak for all handsome men.”
- Mike and Rachel’s wedding is back on, and Harvey and Donna will be best man and maid of honor, respectfully. That’s going somewhere, right?
- My favorite line of the episode, which made me BURST out laughing, comes from Mike: “We also need to make sure that you don’t [cough] Donna at the wedding.”
- The Donna! I would so much rather have Donna on my phone than Siri, wouldn’t you?
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Suits airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on USA.
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Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.