‘Suits’ 1.03 Recap: “You Bought In, You Are the Firm”

In a move that seems uncharacteristic for him, last week’s episode of ‘Suits’ saw Harvey become too personally invested and emotionally attached to a case. For as much as he may lecture Mike about the importance of focusing on a big win at all costs, he’s not immune to caring too much. Of course, these two things don’t need to be mutually exclusive.

The main case in ‘Inside Track’ concerns a high-performance racecar manufacturer that Harvey has been representing for years. Because he has a passion for fast cars, this has been one of his favorite clients. Unfortunately, the founder and CEO recently passed away, and his imminent successor is a tightwad jerk who wants to outsource the whole company overseas. He’s willing to sacrifice the firm’s longstanding reputation for quality if it’ll save him a buck in the short run. Harvey does not find this acceptable.

It’s not Harvey’s place to interfere in how the company runs itself. He’s merely there to execute its wishes. Nonetheless, he concocts a plan to oust the incoming CEO before he can be officially sworn in by the Board of Directors. To do this, he needs Mike to seek out loopholes and errors in the company bylaws that Harvey himself drafted years earlier, which will delay the induction long enough for Harvey to find a better candidate. The man he chooses is the company’s chief engineer (Titus Welliver from ‘Lost’), who doesn’t really want the job and happens to hate Harvey, but would be the best suited to lead the company anyway.

When Louis inadvertently tips off the client, the interim CEO moves up the Board meeting and gets himself sworn in early, then fires both Harvey and the engineer. As soon as Harvey’s boss Jessica (Gina Torres) gets wind of this, she orders Harvey to stand down and sends Louis in to patch up the relationship. Naturally, Harvey isn’t done yet. He neatly solves all of his problems by convincing one of his rich car-loving friends (who he knows from an exclusive auto club they both belong to) to buy the company outright, fire the CEO, and hire the engineer back. Harvey always gets what he wants.

Meanwhile, Mike is juggling two problems. Louis has assigned him to host something called the Rookie Dinner, in which the newest associate must take everyone at the firm out to dinner. This is much more important to his prospects at the firm than he realizes at first. If he doesn’t pick the right restaurant, he may ruin his chances for future advancement. Because he knows next to nothing about good food, he needs the help of the hot paralegal he’s been flirting with.

At the same time, Mike keeps getting dragged back into the mess that his drug dealer friend Trevor has created. Trevor’s girlfriend Jenny, who Mike has been in love with for years, believes that Trevor has gone straight. Ultimately, Mike has to break off the friendship with Trevor and tell Jenny the truth. He kisses her, but feels terribly guilty about it and forces himself away.

This is another excellent episode, rich in character drama and smart plotting. I hope the show is doing well in the ratings (I haven’t been keeping track), because I’d like to see it last.

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