Suits: LA Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Dester

Suits: LA Season 1 Episode 6, “Dester,” packs a punch and properly concludes multiple lingering questions.

After maintaining a steady rhythm of progression with each passing episode, “Dester” is a home run.

Tackling many different storylines in the forty-two-minute outing, it provides insight into the final moments between Samantha and Ted, a conclusion for Lester, and repairs a handful of relationships.

Innocent from the Beginning

After spending the past six weeks gearing up for the final verdict in Lester’s murder trial, everyone in Ted’s corner comes out unscathed.

Picking up where we left off on Suits: LA Season 1 Episode 5, “You’re on Your Own,” Lester elaborates further on his interactions with Simon, admitting he pulled the trigger. However, rather than the heated build-up of aggression leading Lester to attack his partner, as many believed, the situation is flipped.

Spiraling after his secret of stealing money came to light, Simon behaved as if he was going to hurt himself before turning the gun on Lester. A battle over the gun ensues, and Lester takes his opportunity to avoid being shot by killing his friend first.

All of this information only comes to light, though, because Elizabeth presents a witness of the interactions between Simon and Lester. It’s their testimony that forces Lester to come clean on the stand.

However, it’s not only his testimony that helps garner his innocence but also the tape Kevin made four days prior. Due to Lester giving his confession prior to the court date, it was allowed as evidence in court, and the rest is history.

It’s a satisfying conclusion to Lester’s storyline and gives hope that something even better will come. Now that Ted’s focus is no longer on working as a defense attorney, hopefully, the series will return to having a celebrity guest appearance in each episode.

Digging up the Past

Using everything at his disposal, Ted talks Amanda into opening up about Dante Everson on the stand. Not only does it help his case, but it provides a sense of closure for Amanda.

Through this sequence of events, the audience finally learns about the case that haunts Amanda. Dante was a 19-year-old sent to prison for a murder he didn’t commit because of evidence Elizabeth fabricated.

When new evidence is exonerated in the case seven months later, Amanda works to appeal his conviction. But that’s when Elizabeth takes it upon herself to fabricate an article against Dante, leading to his murder in prison.

Proving she’s a one-trick pony, Elizabeth uses the same strategy in her quest against Lester, allowing Amanda to use her past mistakes as a way to take her down a peg. Despite the grim nature of the material, it is a joyous moment for both Amanda and the audience.

With the series being more than halfway through the first season, the only persisting mystery about Amanda is what she helped Erica with in the past.

The Final Straw

After Ted’s many mistakes, “Dester” pinpoints the exact moment of the straw that broke the camel’s back in his relationship with Samantha. After her client, Cameron, was murdered for helping Ted, she takes it personally. And honestly, rightfully so.

Ted comes off as an emotionless moron, only focused on winning his case and proving that Cameron’s death wasn’t his fault. His stubbornness reigning prevalent, Ted skips Cameron’s funeral, knowing Samantha is grieving and needs him to be with her.

In the present timeline, after Lester’s trial concludes, Ted embraces Samantha in a last-ditch attempt to apologize. He admits to not being present in their relationship and that he should have been by her side, leading to an embrace from Samantha.

Samantha and Ted’s back-and-forth squabbles throughout the season have provided some entertainment, but ultimately, it’s been a bit of a bore jumping between timelines. With the truth of their downfall coming to light, we still need the flashbacks to reveal the exact details of Eddie’s death.

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Undeniably, “Dester” is Suits: LA‘s best outing thus far. The writers are meticulous about tackling multiple storylines at a time rather than focusing a majority on one. While Ted and Lester’s trial has had a majority of the focus, it hasn’t affected the series’ ability to give proper character progression for others.

Other Thoughts:

• Bryan Greenberg and Josh McDermitt’s interactions towards the end of the episode provide the best comedic moment. I’m not religious, but I pray we get to see Rick and Stuart playing Dungeons & Dragons before the end of the season.
• We need more interactions between Erica and Leah! Two episodes in a row without Leah is too much.

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

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