Summary
Suits season 7 comes to a close with a double bill finale. Harvey is helping out an old friend, Mike is stuck in the middle of the firm and the law clinic and Louis, Alex and Donna are trying to do everything in their power to save the firm from ex-partners.
The double bill finale presented the most problems for the firm. As far as finales go, this was not one that left you feeling excited. There was something disappointingly disjointed about Tiny Violin and Good-Bye that I hope they can avoid next season. There were no cliffhangers, no moment where you sensed danger, and it lacked that customary emotional charge. There is almost the feeling the show’s writers were tasked to put this part of the story to bed, as I am confident Mike was never intending to leave, especially after the long and drawn-out prison case.
Both episodes covered the same story. The firm is in a lot of trouble, and as usual in Suits, no problem is minor. Ex-partners are placing a lawsuit against the firm that could put them under. The door opened for this opportunity when Louis decided to publically oust Jessica, which helped the ex-partners state that their reputations have been harmed since the infamous restructure. Suits seem to be using the same ingredients for every story where ex-colleagues just come back to try and bitterly dismantle everything. I wonder how these people get on with their jobs.
Anyway, Mike is pulled back into the law clinic to help a serious lawsuit against a company that has seriously harmed children with lead poisoning. Once again, Mike is conflicted with juggling corporate law and cases where he has the freedom to help disadvantaged people. This is good-natured and everything, but the narrative has been transparently forced since mid-season, to provide a gateway for Mike and Rachel to move to Seattle to run their own firm which helps people sue against monster corporations. You see Mike at his most aggressive in the courtroom, where he performs multiple slam dunks to force the company to pay each family with poisoned children and give them 1 million dollars each.
There is a side story to this entire season finale, one that I felt betrayed by as a long-time viewer. Harvey is unable to save the firm because Jesicca demands that he goes to Chicago to help her with a case where housing and communities are under threat by shady property developers. Everyone in Chicago for some reason is extremely villainous, which has led them to remove Jessica’s law license due to the public ousting by Harvey’s firm. This story felt like a complete and utter waste of time. To make matters worse, the finale even included a single minute of when Jessica was a young girl getting lectured by her father, which was the most pointless crap I have seen in the show at present. In the end, Harvey could not help her against the corrupt people trying to destroy this area of housing, which happens to have Jessica’s niece residing in it, and he returns home before the case is even resolved. I think this is Suits’ way of bringing Jessica back after her swift and dramatic exit in season 6. If not, what a useless side story that served no use to the development of the story back at the firm. Also, the resolution to this was unforgivably flawed, as Jessica decides to team up with the crooked city mayor. Nothing added up in this story and it was the most significant mistake Suits has made so far.
The season finale does not serve any major dilemmas, except when Harvey instructs Mike to not allow the law clinic to get in the way of their attempts to stop the ex-partners taking their firm down. There is one scene, in particular, where Mike is challenged on this promise, and Donna asks Mike to stop what he is doing so he can help Louis with a trivial problem to save the firm. Mike does what he is told and instantly solves the firm’s problems entirely by just asking Rachel’s dad to partner up with the firm to save them. After building all that nervousness surrounding the firm’s existence the show decided to quickly sidestep it. Two episodes for what? For Mike to convince the overly stubborn Robert Zane to help Harvey’s firm out in quick fashion? What a mess. The reason why they did all these curveballs and empty dramatic scenes that meant nothing is because it all directed to Mike and Rachel’s wedding, which they brought forward very quickly, amongst a near take-over of the firm. All the characters rejoiced at the wedding, laughed, smiled and provided the audience with slow-motion bullshit wedding dancing.
As for Donna and Harvey, the finale did the usual odd loving glance and smile before they both proceeded to the dance floor, but predictably the show ended before any progress. Suits have chosen to drag the potential romance into next season, regardless of the fact that it reached its peak in season 7. The writers continued to tease the story, with another old flame surfacing to ask Harvey how he is doing and if Donna is still a problem in his life. My fear is after season 8, Suits is canceled and this story is never resolved.
And that is it. Suits is over for another year and I have to say, although I enjoy the legal drama, this season was one of the weakest so far. I get it could not be helped with the major change in the cast, but I expect better storytelling. Season 7 felt labored and rushed – they were trying to get it over and done with like a long-term married couple going through the routine of having the same sex. I will be back next season, of course.
