Suits: LA Season 1 Episode 5 Review: You’re on Your Own

Ted puts a dent in a valuable relationship on Suits: LA Season 1 Episode 5, “You’re on Your Own.”

After spending his time adamantly defending Lester’s innocence and seeking help from those around him to prove it, Ted makes another typical mistake.

Meanwhile, Rick and Erica’s situationship hits new depths when she enlists his help in Lester’s case.

Don’t Bite the Hand that Helps You

Lester’s trial is officially underway, and it’s already headed for its downfall.

Willing to do anything to garner more time before facing Elizabeth in the courtroom, Ted hides Lester in his apartment to buy them twenty-four hours. The only hangup: he keeps it a secret from Amanda and Kevin.

Instead of being transparent, Ted sends the two on a mission to get concrete proof that Elizabeth fabricated evidence to move the trial up.

It’s a messy situation that comes back around to slap Ted in the face, but it provides Maggie Grace with the perfect opportunity to prove, yet again, why she is the perfect choice for Amanda Stevens.

Amanda is a multi-faceted character who is easily taking the spotlight thanks to her fervor, charisma, and fierce composure. She stands for everything good, making rooting for her much more effortless.

In her quest, Amanda discovers that the same reporter helping Elizabeth this time is the same man who helped her in the past. This time, she makes sure Elizabeth isn’t getting away with it.

Amanda: You know who was supposed to be protected? Dante Everson. And you as good as killed him. You don’t do this, I’m gonna march upstairs, and I’m gonna inform your paper you let a sitting ADA feed you stories with no sources and no verification. You might be protected in court, but they’ll fire your ass, and I’ll slap you with a wrongful-death suit that will leave you with nothing whether you win or lose. Try me.

After leaving it all on the field to help Lester, Amanda finds out about Ted’s mischievousness and is rightfully upset. She has been putting her reputation on the line to help him, but it never crosses Ted’s mind. He doesn’t ever think about the consequences that come to those who support him.

In Ted’s eyes, Amanda agreed to help him, so she decided to be on board with whatever he saw fit to prove his client was innocent, no matter the lengths he goes. With the budding friendship between the two now damaged, it’ll take an immense amount of effort on Ted’s part to make up for his actions.

As we saw on Suits: LA Season 1 Episode 4, “Batman Returns,” Ted presents the same issue with Erica. He thinks that despite not running point on a case, whoever he works with is supposed to let him lead. He’s not a team player but is constantly relying on the help of others. And at the end of the day, all of his work could favor a murderer. 

Your Honor, He’s Guilty

Actors are famous because of their effortless ability to pretend to be someone else and memorize pages and pages of dialogue. So, it’s unusual that neither Ted nor Kevin thought to cross-examine his statements with past roles until now.

Nevertheless, Kevin’s instincts kick in, allowing him to finally crack the case of Lester’s innocence. Spoiler alert: he’s guilty! It’s not much of a revelation for the audience, but it completely flips Ted’s case upside down.

Unaware anyone would ever know about his scripts that have never seen the light, Lester uses that dialogue in an attempt to get out of murdering his partner. This truth only comes to light thanks to Kevin and his truculence in confronting Lester.

This revelation makes it abundantly clear that Ted is heading for a devastating loss.

Rekindling Feelings?

In Kevin’s quest to figure out the truth, he seeks Erica’s advice, who then approaches Rick for help. Through this, we learn not only Lester’s devious misdirections but also that Erica and Rick used to have a spark between them.

However, once Erica understood Ted would pass her up for a promotion for Rick, she set her sights on competition. In turn, she cut off all personal interactions with him because it would have been too hard.

Now, though, the two no longer work together and aren’t vying for the same title or fighting for Ted’s approval. While on the fence in the past, I am entirely on board with Erica and Rick attempting to work things out.

Kevin: You trust this man to keep this all to himself? I mean, trust him with your life?

Erica: I do

The two would be a power couple in the entertainment law world. It would also add some flare and drama to the relationship. Eventually, the two would cross paths and compete for the same clients. For a regular couple, it could be a devastating situation, but for them, it would only spice things up.

Other Thoughts:

• I wish Rosalynn had more screen time. The series seemingly wants us to like her simply because she’s in Ted’s corner, but that’s not enough.
• Ted and Stuart throwing punches in an office where business is conducted is such a typical macho-man response but so fitting for the situation.

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Suits: LA airs Sundays at 9/8c on NBC.

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