Suits Review: Coral Gables (Season 8 Episode 8)

Suits Season 8 Episode 8, “Coral Gables,” flounders a bit as it tries to develop the relationship between Harvey and Samantha.

Until now, the dynamic between the two of these characters has been fun to watch, and it certainly has potential, but something about the way the two of them interact on this episode feels forced.

Their sincere moments — pizza in the office, Samantha sitting with her feet up on the couch, Harvey trying to get her to open up to him — it’s something that sounds good on paper, but it doesn’t come across as believable.

Where their interactions are shining the most are when they’re at odds or when they’re bantering. (Raise your hand if you also want to see them in a boxing ring together.)

It does seem like an important shift to put Samantha in this position, however. She’s not only vulnerable and in need of help from Harvey, but we actually see her lose, and that’s a good thing.

It’s only eight episodes into the season and we’ve seen a lot of layers to her character already.

It’s on “Coral Gables” that we learn that she’s actually buried evidence in the past, but that her reasons for doing so were ultimately good. They were about keeping an innocent person out of prison. There’s still more to her that feels mysterious, though.

Samantha isn’t the only person in need of help on this episode.

Poor Gretchen. She makes a simple mistake — barely a mistake at all, in fact, considering it was Donna who accidentally swooped up that document — and that mistake nearly costs her her job.

Even though the secretary who refuses to help her is probably right not to, that network and that sense of helping one another is something that Gretchen has depended on, and it’s something that suggests a different kind of world.

My heart breaks for her, but much like Samantha in her need for help, no one is able to give it. She does get to keep her job; Alex isn’t willing to go that far, thankfully. But she still has to face the fact that she couldn’t fix the situation, even though she’s so used to being successful in handling anything that needs to be handled.

There isn’t much I love more than a scene between Gretchen and Donna, and they have a couple of great ones on this episode. The funny one is one thing, but Donna giving Gretchen advice is just a really sweet moment between friends.

It’s a striking parallel in the advice that Donna gives her, also. Donna brings up Mike going to prison and how that affected Harvey — and Harvey uses the same anecdote in giving advice to Samantha.

As for Louis and Shiela, they continue trying to have a baby, now with the help of a fertility specialist. That fertility specialist, unfortunately, turns out to be the guy who bullied Louis in high school.

I love how much this season has been exploring Louis’s character, but I almost want it all to slow down. We still haven’t even revisited the mugging incident, which feels like something that should have been brought up again by now.

Thanks to spending some time with Dr. Lipshitz, Louis is able to confront his past self and work out his feelings, which is a really sweet moment — and interesting storytelling.

Young Louis is great to see again, and focusing on this piece of Louis’s past gives us even more insight into a character that has grown and developed so much already.

What did you think of this episode of Suits? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

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Suits airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on USA.

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