Screens: USA
When you watch Suits, do you ever wish there were an episode in which the other associates at Pearson Hardman Darby get together to complain about the blatant favouritism the senior staff show Mike (Patrick J. Adams)? Because it's pretty shocking. The latest episode even begins with a gathering of all the associates so that Louis (Rick Hoffman) can gracefully step away from his role managing them -- an alteration in his job tasks that has really broken his heart -- and yet we barely ever see him interacting with any of them. I get that this is probably partly for practical reasons (specifically, the production not having the resources to have any tertiary players recur in their roles), but still, if I were a Pearson associate, I'd be spending a lot of time polishing my résumé. And that résumé would be in sterling condition, because I would have nothing else to do.
Louis having been relieved of his associate-managing duties, Jessica (Gina Torres) offers him the opportunity to take on a protégé. The end-of-Season 2 rift between Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Mike has yet to be smoothed over, which means that Louis is going to make the only reasonable play and try to replace Harvey as Mike's mentor. So don't worry, you're not going to have to learn another associate's name.
Mike is suspicious of Louis at first, which makes sense, because the show started from the premise that Louis is a weasel and only recently has started giving him attributes that render him real to the viewer as a three-dimensional character. We know, as Mike may be only vaguely aware, that Louis is actually a talented lawyer and a sensitive soul, and that, for him, a partnership with Mike wouldn't be a power move (or wouldn't only be that) -- that he would take it seriously as a chance to pass on his knowledge and bring along a younger colleague in ways he may feel no one did for him. And, indeed, Louis turns out to be a pretty great mentor on their first case together: he takes Mike out for a very nice lunch while introducing him to the client (and, in the introduction, shows Mike the kind, thoughtful side of himself that no one at the office really knows -- Louis cares about the client, and the client cares about him, too, having learned so many details about Louis's private life); he takes him to a spa to lie in some mud (showing vulnerability in the form of total nudity); and he brings Mike in on a case that, while seemingly a lost cause, could be very exciting to fight for exactly that reason.
And all along he's...nice to Mike? Treats Mike as though Mike has a lot to contribute? Doesn't motivate him through scorn and abuse? All of this is foreign to Mike -- and yet, throughout, Mike keeps trying to mend fences with Harvey. Even Rachel (Meghan Markle) gets in on it -- against Mike's will, but still. I know it's partly that Mike feels guilty for his part in Harvey's merger screw-over, even though the alternative would have been pretty dire for Mike, but for God's sake, no one died, and Harvey is being a child about it by not empathizing with the position Mike was in, like, at all, so at a certain point you have to decide you've done all you can and get on with your life, which is ultimately what Mike does by accepting Louis's offer of mentorship...
...which, of course, is exactly when Harvey decides he wants Mike back. And Mike does not even hesitate about going back on the word he'd just given to Louis about forty seconds earlier: they high-five on it, and fuck Louis, that chump! I guess I have to say what no one else will, which is that Mike and Harvey's relationship is totally dysfunctional and abusive. In fact, this behaviour of Harvey's is the most childish of all: he only decides he's interested in playing with Mike when Louis has him. And since it certainly felt true when Louis told Mike earlier in the episode that the law wasn't Harvey's passion but the means by which he exerts his will on the world, it's arguable that Mike might have learned more from Louis, and become a better fake lawyer, than he will with Harvey the big baby.
From the show's perspective, the worst effect of this will probably be that Mike and Harvey will have an enemy in Louis again, as opposed to reports of this incident spreading through the firm and letting everyone know that Mike's word ain't shit. But from my perspective, Louis just became the real hero of the office, and Mike never deserved his beautiful cake anyway.
