Episode Title: “Bad Faith”
Writer: Ethan Drogin
Director: Christopher Misiano
Previously on “Suits:”
There are three things that all “Suits” fans should know by now: Louis loves cats, Harvey loves winning and Donna is always right. All three factors come into play in this episode, especially the last one.
Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Mike (Patrick J. Adams) may be brilliant legal strategists, but when it comes to women, they’re clueless. Harvey thinks taking Donna (Sarah Rafferty) out for breakfast and a new designer handbag gives him the right to throw her disastrous relationship with Stephen in her face when she offers him advice on Scottie. Donna’s made mistakes, but she’s learned form them, something Harvey still struggles with in his own life.
Case in point, Scottie, Eva Hessington and the dissolution of the merger. Jessica (Gina Torres), Harvey and Louis (Rick Hoffman) come up with a plan to poach clients from Darby before the terms of the “divorce’ are finalized. It’s a smart move, even it is a little dirty, but after what Darby and Stephen pulled, it’s certainly justifiable.
Louis volunteers to work out the details of the settlement, claiming his cooler head will prevail while Jessica and Harvey go after clients. But that all goes out the window when Louis gets in a room with Nigel (Adam Godley), who reveals he’s been withholding Louis’ letters to Mikado. In case you need a reminder, Mikado is a cat.
Not that I’m judging; Louis’ relationship with Nigel’s cat has been one of the highlights, if not the best part of this season. Unfortunately, it also proves to be his undoing as Louis completely loses it when he learns what Nigel has done. In a fit of rage, he unwittingly signs an agreement fixing the client list, effectively stopping Harvey and Jessica in their tracks.
It’s a humiliating defeat for Louis, but it gives us one of the funniest scenes of the season as Harvey berates Louis for “losing your sh** during a negotiation because someone didn’t read your letters to a cat.” Hey, if you’re gonna lose, might as well do it like a grown man obsessed with your rival’s absurdly pampered cat named after a Gilbert and Sullivan opera.
What’s great about this particular loss, aside from its comedic value, is that this time not only does Louis redeem himself, but he actually gets Harvey to utter the three words he’s always dream of hearing: “I respect you.” Louis denies tearing up in front of Harvey, but I know I almost did during this scene.
So how does Louis make things right after his catastrophic (sorry, I couldn’t help it) screw-up? By making a play for Tony Giannopoulos. Louis proves he can effectively manage the corporate raider’s massive holdings, but his next in command doesn’t think Giannopoulos will take Louis seriously. But he will when Harvey’s vouching for him. Impressed by Louis’ work, Harvey takes him along to court Giannopoulos, who agrees to the deal.
While Louis redeems himself in brilliant fashion, Harvey and Mike will need to do the same with a few women in their lives – namely Scottie and Rachel. Mike makes Rachel (Meghan Markle) swoon when he asks her to move into the apartment he inherited from his grandmother. But things turn sour when Mike uses their relationship for leverage while negotiating with her father for Folsom Foods. It’s hard to believe Mike wouldn’t see this coming, but it might not matter, now that Rachel’s gotten into Stanford. Rachel and Mike’s relationship has been surprisingly entertaining to watch as it unfolds. It’s sweet, but not too cute and there are plenty of complications to make things interesting but not overly, or unnecessarily, dramatic.
As for Scottie (Abigail Spencer), when Hessington Oil fires the firm, Harvey assumes she’s behind it. To Harvey, it feels like an obvious betrayal after he pulled the Folsom Food revenue from the records as a favor to Scottie. Donna urges him to hear her side of it before acting, but being diplomatic has never been Harvey’s strong suit. Instead, he and Louis approach Giannopoulos, tipping the scales of the dissolution well in his and Jessica’s favor.
But Rachel and Scottie’s gripes are nothing compared to the wrath of Eva Hessington, who’s suing the firm for malpractice – meaning no matter how Darby and Jessica slice the pie, it’s probably going to taste bad, all around.
