Suits Summer Finale Recap: "High Noon"

I don’t normally recap Suits on a weekly basis, mainly because the show is just too awesome for me to do anything other than stare at the screen in awe for 60 minutes. But I’m making an exception tonight for the summer finale, “High Noon.” The episode was everything I could have possibly hoped for and more with one fantastic moment after the next. I loved it and thought it was a brilliant way to cap off the first part of what has been an amazing second season. That being said, there were a few flaws, but let’s save those for later and jump right into the awesome, shall we?

Things were awry at Pearson Hardman as the senior partners prepared to vote on who should be managing partner. I wasn’t surprised when the vote came fairly early in the episode, nor was I surprised when Daniel Hardman came out on top, despite being a lying, cheating snake. But there would have been a lot less drama if Jessica had won right away so I was okay with waiting to see how the whole thing played out.

Mike was a mess after last week’s tragic ending when Rachel showed up to tell him that his grandma had died. I’m still not over this either, because Grammy was the best, but Mike’s solution was self-destruction. He headed out and bought some pot. He didn’t want to talk about it at work and he didn’t want to tell Harvey what was going on, even though Rachel thought he should. As Mike was hanging on by a thread, Louis, busy being Daniel’s puppet, was purposely trying to keep Mike away from Harvey.

I’m going to interrupt myself for a minute and talk about Louis. I always defend him. I feel bad for him because I see him as being so desperate to play with the cool kids that he’s making stupid mistakes and going about it all wrong. But after these last two weeks, I have been giving Louis the side eye and I no longer have any excuses for him. I want to see him taken down A LOT of pegs. Granted, he did get something right in the episode (more on that later), but it is not even close to being enough to make up for all his errors in judgment lately. You don’t go against the family, Louis.

Getting back to the episode, Harvey was ready to walk out the door, but Jessica insisted that it wouldn’t take long for Daniel to hang himself and she was going to be patient, especially since they had a no compete clause and she wasn’t about to stop working for a year. Louis gave Harvey some small case to work on and warned him not to pawn it off on Mike. Harvey went to do just that and Mike lost it, screaming at him in the middle of the associates’ pen and then Harvey sent him home. Mike proceeded to get high and pass out until Rachel showed up to escort him to his grandmother’s funeral the next day.

I’ve been hard on Mike in the past. I love Patrick J. Adams, but I feel like Mike makes the same mistakes over and over again and never learns anything so he tends to get on my nerves. In this episode, he broke my heart when he stood up and gave his grandmother’s eulogy. He talked about how he’d lost his parents and she’d taken him in and it was just so beautiful and touching and heartbreaking and I’m still mad at the show for killing her. At the funeral, Mike introduced Rachel to Tess, his first girlfriend, who had come to pay her respects. Mike and Tess flirted, but once he found out she was married, he sent her away.

Meanwhile, Donna and Harvey were settling into their new spaces since Daniel had forced Harvey out of his office. Donna no longer had her intercom so Harvey had to shout for her. Donna was not amused by any of the changes. Louis tried to tell her that Harvey was on his way out and there would always be a place for her there and Donna quickly let him have it and told him that she and Harvey were one and even if they weren’t, she’d never work for someone like him who went against the team. Louis tried to say he’d never been part of their team, but Donna insisted that he had been.

Harvey showed up at Mike’s and told him that when he’d sent him home, he’d never meant it to be permanent. Mike confessed that his grandmother had died and Harvey said he knew; he asked Mike if he’d been wrong trying to keep him busy with work. Mike said he wasn’t. Harvey helped himself to some pot and the two of them got stoned together and it was hilarious and awesome all rolled into one. Harvey told Mike that even though he grew up with two parents, they had their problems and he’d caught his mom cheating on his dad. He told Mike he knew what it was like to be alone. I cannot gush enough about how perfect Gabriel Macht and Adams are as a mentor/mentee. I loved everything about this scene, including Harvey telling Mike he wanted to pee in Hardman’s office like he had in Louis’s.

The two headed to the office to do just that, but Harvey felt something wasn’t right. He said they needed the can opener. Mike asked what they did with that and Harvey said, “Well…” and that was it! The scene shifted to Louis trying to break into Harvey’s computer by misspelling and pronouncing basketball player’s names. If I wasn’t mad at Louis, I probably would have laughed, but he’s in time out. Anyway, we didn’t get the story of the can opener, but when Harvey found Louis in his office, he tried to take a swing at him. Mike was able to stop him and reminded him that it would only help them win. Something was triggered in Harvey’s mind and he realized Hardman would do anything to win, including plant evidence.

Harvey and Mike realized that Hardman had been the one to plant the memo with Donna’s signature and that was why she’d never seen it – he’d been setting the whole thing up from the beginning. (I have to give credit to my mom; she’s said all along that someone set Donna up). Harvey took the theory to Jessica and suggested she call a partners’ meeting. She agreed to as soon as they found her some proof. So Harvey got into the boxing ring with Tanner and pretty much beat the truth out of him. But it still wasn’t concrete proof and Louis had another trick up his sleeve. He wanted to have Harvey drug tested because he’d smelled the pot on him the night before. When Harvey refused, he fired him. But Harvey insisted on a partners’ review first.

At the meeting, Harvey laid out the accusations against Daniel and Jessica backed him up, insisting that if he goes, she goes (I love her). Daniel was not impressed and demanded proof. Mike was supposed to be out getting that by going back to the client to get him to sign an affidavit, but the client refused. Mike didn’t let that stop him though. He went back to the office, threw the file on the table and claimed the client had signed it, catching Harvey’s eye and giving him a signal that it was a lie. But Harvey and Jessica made it work. When Daniel called for a vote to fire Harvey, he lost. Jessica called for a vote immediately after to remove Daniel and she easily won with Harvey, Louis and even Mike raising his hand for good measure.

Daniel wasn’t keen on leaving quietly though and warned Jessica that Harvey would come after her eventually. Jessica more or less told him not to let the door hit him and then was celebrating with Harvey, Mike and Donna. It was great to see them victorious after all the ups and downs at the firm this season. Personally, I thought that should have been where the episode ended, but the writers had other ideas.

Mike and Rachel shared a kiss and he told her that he was tired of doing the smart thing and that what he wanted was to be with her. But Rachel needed time. Mike called Tess and decided to ignore the fact that she was married and hook up with her. The two were in bed together and there was a knock on the door. Mike assumed it was the pizza guy, but of course it was Rachel. She decided that she didn’t want to do the smart thing either…and then she saw Tess walking by in a sheet. I’m not a big fan of Rachel’s, but I really felt for her there. However, as far as cliffhangers go that need to keep the viewers enticed until January? This one was a failure and it was very disappointing after all the awesome this season has brought so far.

But ending aside, I would give this episode a solid A+. I loved seeing the good guys come out on top and I thought the way Harvey helped Mike was perfect and so them. Harvey Specter is not a hug it out kind of guy. He’s the kind of guy who lights up a joint as well and then wants to go urinate in the boss’s office. In other words, he’s the best.

See you in January, Suits’ fans!