The notion that Meghan Markle — who has been in a long-term relationship with Prince Harry — might leave Suits does not come as a huge surprise. Should she ultimately marry Prince Harry, she would have to give up not only her American citizenship, but likely her acting career (as well as any thought of personal privacy). What’s surprising about the Deadline news is that Patrick J. Adams is also expected to depart the series at the end of the seventh season, when contracts for both actors are up.
Though it has not yet been renewed for an eighth season, USA Network is expected to bring their highest rated drama (and the last drama remaining from their “characters welcome” days) back for another season. It will be a strange place indeed without Mike Ross and Rachel Zane, whose will-they won’t-they relationship fueled much of the personal drama in earlier seasons, while the original conceit of the series centered on Ross, who practiced as a lawyer despite having no degree. With Mike’s fraud revealed and resolved, and Mike and Rachel’s marriage impending, it provides the characters with a natural exiting point.
Their departures come only a season after Gina Torres left the show. USA Network, however, has planned a spin-off series revolving around her character. The spin-off will premiere as a backdoor pilot in the seventh season finale, which is beginning to look like a very big episode for the series, since it will also be the end of the road for Adams and Markle.
Should it be renewed, the show will presumably move ahead with only three of the six original actors: Gabriel Macht, Rick Hoffman, and Sarah Rafferty. The good news is, the departures of Adams and Markle leave more opportunities for Dule Hill, the former Psych and West Wing star who was cast as a series regular after Torres left.
(Via: Deadline)
