There’s a new suit on the block this season
Dulé Hill has joined the cast of the up-market legal drama as show prepares to celebrate its 100th episode this season, writes
WHEN Suits arrived on our screens, it piqued curiosity with an ambitious premise – a down-on-his-luck Mike Ross (playing dodgeball with some cops) stumbled into Harvey Specter’s (Gabriel Macht) office. He so happened to be at the right place at the right time – for a job, that is – as Harvey, one of the best closers in town, was looking for an associate and none of the applicants had sparked his interest.
The catch, however, is that Mike didn’t study law. However, his quick thinking and eidetic memory secured him the job. And for a while it was the perfect buddy bromance.
Of course, in such a cut-throat world, where mud-slinging and dirty politics make for comfortable bedfellows, Mike’s secret was eventually exposed, throwing many lives into a tailspin.
This legal drama got off to a brilliant start with Harvey becoming the man. Some fans swooned over him and others wanted to channel him.
But aside from Harvey and Mike headlining the show, the other characters added an interesting dynamic to the storytelling.
Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) played hardball in this maledominated world. She was no pushover, even when sentiments threatened to influence a situation. And her soft spot for Harvey has always been a thorn in Louis Litt’s (Rick Hoffman) side. The ambitious financial brain in the company is often seen licking his wounds, but he always rises to fight another day.
He adds comic relief and a palatable dose of warmth.
Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty) and Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) are the pillars of fashion, beauty, smarts and loyalty in the series.
With Torres’s exit – she was last seen in the second season of Shonda Rhimes’s The Catch – the writers have brought in a new character to fill the void.
They clearly don’t want anyone rushing to such judgements, so they have cast Dulé Hill in the new season.
Hill is best remembered for his role as Burton “Gus” Guster in the comedy crime drama, Psych. But he left quite an indelible impression with his earlier role as Charlie Young in the Emmy award-winning series, The West Wing.
More recently, he has been delivering quite a compelling performance in Doubt.
Over the past six seasons, Mike’s lie went from being a fascinating twist to the story arc to an overbearing problem. One of the best things about this show was how Harvey and Mike found loopholes and won high-profile cases. Yes, they had to turn on the pressure at times, but it was an adrenalin rush to watch them in action in court. However, the writers forgot to maintain that balance with the storytelling. And in the last two seasons, the obsession with probing the personal lives of the characters deviated too much from the strength of the series.
This time, they are trying to remedy that oversight.
Hill’s arrival as Alex, an old friend of Harvey’s with an attractive client index, will certainly help the company out of its current slump.
More so with Litt still in a funk over his break-up, Jessica gone, and Donna wanting more than picking up the pieces of everyone’s life.
Oh, and Mike is finally a lawyer, so Harvey has his favourite guy back.
By the way, Suits celebrates its 100th episode this season.
The stakes are still high, the cases challenging, romances on the blink and the egos still healing. And, let’s be honest, who can resist watching Harvey doing his thing?
Suits 7 airs on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) on Thursday at 8.30pm.