USA Network’s Suits aired its sixth midseason finale last night, capping off what has been a frustrating season, so far. The series had found a second wind in the back half of season five earlier this year, but showrunner Aaron Korsh swung for the fences in the finale and ended up hitting a dribbler back to the pitcher’s mound.
At the end of season five, the show had left Mike in prison, and Pearson Specter & Litt in tatters. However, the sixth season has had some difficulty sustaining much interest in Mike Ross’ prison storyline; those rarely work well because they separate characters from the main action (see also Justified, Empire, and Sons of Anarchy for recent examples). Suits thrives on the chemistry between Mike and Harvey, and they were not only separated for much of the season, when they were together, it was in a prison visiting room to work on a deal to get Mike out of prison that fell apart and had to be put back together an exhausting number of times. The prison storyline also saw a frustrating aborted arc with a therapist played by Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
Rick Hoffman was also stranded in a bad romantic storyline this season. His character, Louis Litt, evolved into something of an actual cuckold — he’s now engaged to a woman who is pregnant with another man’s baby, after he wooed his would-be fiancée out of a polyamorous relationship. What?
Elsewhere, Donna — the MVP of Suits — was completely wasted this season, given no storylines of her own. Meanwhile, Rachel — who has somehow managed to continue working full time at Pearson Specter & Litt while in law school — spent most of the year pining over Mike and working on a death penalty case that has had less of a relationship to the actual law than most Suits cases. At least it wasn’t resolved with a manilla folder.
It was the death penalty case that Jessica (Gina Torres) eventually got tangled up in, wanting to redeem herself for losing a similar case earlier in her career that has haunted her all of her life. In the midseason finale, Suits teed up its A Few Good Men homage, and Jessica rattled a witness during a cross examination with made-up evidence. Leonard Bailey was freed and allowed to return to his family.
It was a redemptive moment for Jessica, so redemptive in fact that she decided that she could no longer be a bottom-feeding lawyer for Pearson Specter & Litt. After declining a merger with Robert Zane, Jessica informed Harvey and Louis that she was leaving the firm. This wasn’t like those times when Mike or Harvey or Donna “left the firm.” Jessica is actually leaving, moving to Chicago with her ex-boyfriend.
Gina Torres has left the show.
She may return in a guest capacity at some point, but this is it for her as a series regular. Gina Torres had asked to be written off the show so that she could return to Los Angeles for personal reasons. It’s probably for the best; Jessica was one of the best reasons to watch Suits for several seasons, but of late, her storylines have become repetitive. After Jessica had taken over as the managing partner of Pearson, Specter & Litt, and after having held off several would be challengers to that position, the show had completely exhausted the character.
Farewell, Jessica Pearson.
It does, at least, give Suits some new opportunities in the back half of the season. There will be a position to fill as managing partner, and Harvey and Louis will no doubt argue over it for much of the year (without Jessica there to play moderator). Robert Zane could also come in and take over in a merger situation. In either respect, as the episode’s final seconds teased, the back half of this season will finally see Harvey and Donna make an earnest attempt at a romantic relationship again. That should put Donna back where she belongs: Front and center.
