Suits (American TV series)
Suits is an American legal drama television series created and written by Aaron Korsh. Produced by Universal Content Productions, it premiered on USA Network on June 23, 2011.
Set in a New York City corporate law firm, the series follows Mike Ross, a college dropout with a photographic memory, as he works as an associate for the successful and charismatic attorney Harvey Specter. Suits focuses on Harvey and Mike winning lawsuits and closing cases, while at the same time hiding Mike's secret of never having attended law school. It also features Rick Hoffman as Louis Litt, a neurotic, manipulative and unscrupulous financial-law partner; Meghan Markle as the ambitious, talented paralegal Rachel Zane; Sarah Rafferty as Harvey's legal secretary and confidante Donna Paulsen; and Gina Torres as the firm's wise but Machiavellian managing partner, Jessica Pearson. Although the show surrounds itself around legal action in corporate law, it also has a balance with personal lives as well as several love interests throughout the series.
On January 30, 2018, the series was renewed for an eighth season, but Torres, Adams, and Markle left the show. Katherine Heigl joined the cast as Samantha Wheeler. Recurring characters Alex Williams and Katrina Bennett were promoted to series regulars. The show was renewed for a 10-episode ninth and final season on January 23, 2019, which premiered on July 17, 2019, with Adams returning for three last-season episodes.
Suits was nominated for numerous awards, including individual attention for Torres and Adams. Besides two nominations recognizing her role as a supporting actress, Torres was awarded Outstanding Performance in a Television Series at the 2013 NHMC Impact Awards. Adams was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards. The show itself was nominated for two People's Choice Awards. Its success spawned a short-lived spin-off, Pearson, centered on Jessica Pearson's entry into Chicago politics, which premiered alongside the final season of Suits on July 17, 2019. Suits concluded on September 25, 2019, after nine seasons and 134 episodes. The show received an immense surge in popularity after it was added to Netflix and Peacock in 2023, prompting NBCUniversal to begin development on a new spin-off series, titled Suits LA starring Stephen Amell.Series overview
Season 1 (2011)
Mike Ross, a university expellee with a photographic memory, makes money by taking the LSAT and the bar examination for others. He does this to pay for his grandmother's living expenses, as she was his primary caregiver after both his parents died in a car accident when he was 11. In the pilot, Mike agrees to deliver a briefcase of cannabis for his best friend Trevor, a drug dealer, for a large payout. Mike astutely avoids being arrested in a sting, only to stumble into a job interview with Harvey Specter, a supremely self-assured senior partner at the prestigious Pearson Hardman, a law firm specializing in corporate law and one that only hires Harvard graduates. Harvey is impressed by Mike's tenacity and knowledge of the law and hires him as an associate, despite Mike's not having a license to practice law. Together they try cases while maintaining Mike's secret from the rest of the firm, though Harvey's insightful legal secretary, Donna Paulsen, finds out almost immediately. Mike meets Rachel Zane, an ambitious paralegal he is immediately attracted to, while trying to impress managing partner Jessica Pearson and avoid the suspicions of junior partner Louis Litt.Season 2 (2012–13)
Jessica learns Mike's secret, but other issues take precedence when the co-founding partner, Daniel Hardman, who left the firm in disgrace, returns in a power bid for control of the firm. Tensions rise as Jessica and Harvey find themselves opposed by Louis, who sides with Hardman after being promised a promotion to senior partner. Mike begins a romantic relationship with Rachel but wants to tell her the truth about his lack of qualifications. Harvey forbids him from doing this and so Mike breaks up with her. He pursues other women after his grandmother's sudden death. Harvey and Donna face accusations of burying evidence and must uncover the truth while keeping incriminating evidence from Hardman, who wants to use it to leverage a managing partner position. The increasing threat from Hardman forces Jessica into a merger with a major British international law firm called Darby International, that is owned and managed by internationally renowned London corporate lawyer Edward Darby. Ultimately, Mike reveals his secret to Rachel.Season 3 (2013–14)
Darby's presence in the firm gives Harvey leverage to seek a position as a named partner. Meanwhile, the merger causes Louis to clash with his British counterpart from Darby International, Nigel Alexander Nesbitt. Darby International client, British oil tycoon Ava Hessington, draws Harvey into a lengthy trial against former District Attorney Cameron Dennis, his former mentor during his time as an assistant district attorney at the New York County District Attorney's Office, and the lawsuit turns into a murder charge. Realizing that his fraud cannot continue forever, Mike leaves the newly renamed Pearson Specter for a job as an investment banker at Sidwell Investment Group, a hedge fund and investment management firm founded and spearheaded by Jonathan Sidwell. The firm, as part of a plea agreement in the Hessington Oil trial, rebrand to Pearson Specter as Darby is tricked into forfeiting his licence to practice law in America.Mike's new job puts him and Harvey on opposite sides of a takeover battle, causing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission prosecutor Sean Cahill and the entire SEC to accuse them of collusion. To satisfy Harvey, Louis goes the distance with shady billionaire investor Charles Forstman through an illegal route. When Mike is fired, Louis goes to extreme lengths to persuade Mike to return to Pearson Specter rather than work for Forstman, as working for him might expose Louis's wrongdoing. To do that, Louis demands that Jessica rehire Mike Ross. Meanwhile Rachel and Mike go through a rough patch as Mike returns to the firm. Louis resigns to avoid being fired but when he realizes Mike never went to Harvard, he extorts Jessica into rehiring him with the promise of making him a named partner, as he has long wanted. Mike proposes to Rachel; Donna leaves Harvey to work for Louis.Season 5 (2015–16)
Harvey struggles with losing Donna and begins to open up to his therapist Paula Agard about his broken relationship with his mother. Louis's insecurity and desire to undermine Harvey create an opening for Jack Soloff, an ambitious partner whom Hardman is manipulating. Rachel's wedding plans and her relationship with her parents are overshadowed by Mike's secret. Mike and Harvey both resign to protect their future and the firm's respectively, but Mike is abruptly arrested for fraud. More and more people involved realize the allegations are true, and facing tenacious federal prosecutor Anita Gibbs, Assistant US Attorney for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Mike accepts a plea bargain, pleads guilty, and turns himself in so that no one else will go to jail. Mike and Rachel decide to get married before he is imprisoned. At the wedding, Mike realizes that it isn't right and tells Rachel that he will not marry her now, but if she still wants him in two years, he will marry her after getting out of prison. Harvey escorts him to prison, saying their last few goodbyes. Jessica, Louis, and Donna return to the firm, but find every employee has left for another firm.Season 6 (2016–17)
A two-year prison sentence puts Mike at the mercy of Frank Gallo, an inmate with a grudge against Harvey. At Pearson Specter Litt, few employees remain to help. Rachel works an Innocence Project case for her law professor at Columbia University; Jessica assists pro bono but is distracted from matters at the firm and chooses to leave to pursue her own life. Mike's cellmate Kevin Miller proves pivotal in a deal Harvey made with Sean Cahill, in which Mike turns on Kevin in order for Sean to get to his father-in-law, investment firm head William Sutter, for fraud in exchange for Mike's freedom, which he ultimately wins when he secretly catches a murder attempt by Frank on camera. He struggles with his fraud being public knowledge but obtains a job as legal consultant/supervisor at a legal clinic called Eastside Legal Clinic. Harvey helps both Rachel and Mike pass the bar and persuades Mike to return to the firm.Season 7 (2017–18)
Everyone at the firm struggles to adjust to Jessica's absence. Donna takes a position as COO, and Harvey's friend Alex Williams joins the team. Harvey begins dating Paula; Louis' sessions with his own German therapist, Stan Lipschitz, have mixed results. Rachel begins her career as an attorney, having passed the bar. Mike continues to work pro bono cases at the clinic, with Harvey's blessing, but one of the cases puts Alex, Harvey, and others at risk. Louis and Sheila Sasz, Head of Admissions for Columbia University, reconnect, as does Jessica with her family in Chicago. Mike and Rachel accept an offer to found and run their own public interest law firm in Seattle that takes on class-action suits, and get married before leaving. As the season closes, a case that puts Specter Litt in danger is the work of top lawyer Robert Zane's partners, Ellen Rand and Eric Kaldor. When Zane finds out, he joins forces with Specter Litt.Season 8 (2018–19)
After a brief conflict over who will become managing partner of the newly created firm, it is quickly resolved that Robert will, and the firm is renamed Zane Specter Litt. Robert hires a new senior partner, his right-hand and fixer Samantha Wheeler. After a season-long battle between Wheeler and Alex Williams over who will be added first as a name partner, both names are ultimately added to the wall. Louis learns that Sheila is pregnant. Former ADA and ex–Pearson Hardman senior associate Katrina Bennett makes senior partner and struggles with romantic feelings for her married personal associate. Donna and Harvey finally admit their feelings for one another, but Donna's mishandling of client/boyfriend Thomas Kessler forces Zane to sacrifice his legal career for the good of the firm, and he is disbarred.