Previously on Suits...
Mike took a deal and everyone left Pearson Specter Litt, except for Jessica, Louis, Harvey and Donna.
Season 6 promised a clean slate for the writing team, once the main conflict was resolved the overused plot points through the last 5 seasons about Mike getting caught were behind them.
The problem now rested on how they were going to juggle the firm storyline with Mike's. Was the series going to become Orange is the new Suits? Well in this case Blue. From what the first episode delivered, no, it won't.
Something Suits excels at is the kind of montage the episode starts with. A parallelism of how Mike enters his new life and how the rest of the characters are left to deal with his absence. The cold colors, with a low saturation, mixed with shadows plaguing the framing choices hint the darkness inside the characters. The blueish tones, not only present inside the prison setting could be a wink to the new dress code Mike has, but also it sets the mood for the rest of the episode.
While Mike finally gets a haircut and is introduced to the prison life, nothing like in the movies; the firm is like Babylon. Everyone left and they're getting sued for every case Mike was involved with. The tension is high and the lighting, color palette and technical aspects of the visual composition work as a mere mirror of how the characters are feeling. Completely and utterly lost.
Donna gets hold of a list of all the new business addresses and Louis plans to serve everyone electronically, and surprisingly there's someone else that hasn't left. Benjamin the IT guy, but when he's about to work on it, a new problem arises, the list is fake. Louis loses it and calls names on Donna in front of Harvey and Harvey doesn't take it very well, there's fighting until Rachel arrives and calms everyone down with a heartfelt speech about family and what Mike did for them. Everyone is defeated, Harvey leaves, Louis talks to Jessica in a Louis move about letting him leave, and Donna goes after Harvey, to once more be his voice of reason. The problem is, that even if they don't quit, unlike so many other situations there's no solution in sight.
We find Jessica alone in what use to be her place when she started, and in the midst of everything happening she says to Rachel "For women, the rules are different. You can’t be everyone’s friend and invite them to tea because warm means you’re weak. I wasn’t gonna be weak. But now the flip side to that is, if you’re strong, they think you’re cold. And that’s why they’re all gone…because they see me as unfeeling and manipulative. I’m tired of it." And this dialogue doesn't only work to show the exhaustion she feels, but also the rest of the main 6, Suits delivers one of the best scenes in its history between 2 of the ladies. They don't talk about men, they discuss what it is to be a woman in power, and what loyalty means. And it's beautiful, because if the rest of the season follows this line of action, Rachel can be the best version of herself, and Jessica can be a mentor. It shows the complexity of the characters we have been watching grow for 6 seasons, and sometimes their evolution fell behind plot lines that felt flat.
This moment is also key because with some help from Mary Jane, the three managing partners find a solution to their problems and make a truce, or at least Harvey and Louis do. Not only the pace changes and how the characters act, but the little moments of humor increase, and the show becomes more similar to what it was in the pilot. A good deal of drama with some light moments, also reflected in the lighting I mentioned in the beginning. The shadows and somber tones are set aside to a more balanced photography. And it might seem repetitive that I'm paying attention to this kind of thing but I feel the crew deserves some love too. As much as the cast's performance that make it easy to empathize with their emotions. Also because Suits has a history of foreshadowing through the light setting, and the balanced, bright one gives us hope. That they will get out of this whole mess they're in.
Despite the fact the firm seems to have found the ground to keep working on a solution, Mike isn't so lucky. He gets played by what it seems to be his cell mate, he shares his story with him and after the inmate lends him his cellphone to text Rachel, a guard picks him up. The new fake roommate has an agenda of his own, a vendetta against Harvey (who was the one that put him behind bars). The camera pans out and we see Mike getting smaller and resting against his cell door. Feeling trapped.
The writers take advantage of this plot point to intertwined the storylines, leaving a cliffhanger and new conflict for the rest of the season.
Are you excited for the rest of season 6? Do you have theories of what will happen? share them with us in the comments.
Mike took a deal and everyone left Pearson Specter Litt, except for Jessica, Louis, Harvey and Donna.
Season 6 promised a clean slate for the writing team, once the main conflict was resolved the overused plot points through the last 5 seasons about Mike getting caught were behind them.
The problem now rested on how they were going to juggle the firm storyline with Mike's. Was the series going to become Orange is the new Suits? Well in this case Blue. From what the first episode delivered, no, it won't.
Something Suits excels at is the kind of montage the episode starts with. A parallelism of how Mike enters his new life and how the rest of the characters are left to deal with his absence. The cold colors, with a low saturation, mixed with shadows plaguing the framing choices hint the darkness inside the characters. The blueish tones, not only present inside the prison setting could be a wink to the new dress code Mike has, but also it sets the mood for the rest of the episode.
While Mike finally gets a haircut and is introduced to the prison life, nothing like in the movies; the firm is like Babylon. Everyone left and they're getting sued for every case Mike was involved with. The tension is high and the lighting, color palette and technical aspects of the visual composition work as a mere mirror of how the characters are feeling. Completely and utterly lost.
Donna gets hold of a list of all the new business addresses and Louis plans to serve everyone electronically, and surprisingly there's someone else that hasn't left. Benjamin the IT guy, but when he's about to work on it, a new problem arises, the list is fake. Louis loses it and calls names on Donna in front of Harvey and Harvey doesn't take it very well, there's fighting until Rachel arrives and calms everyone down with a heartfelt speech about family and what Mike did for them. Everyone is defeated, Harvey leaves, Louis talks to Jessica in a Louis move about letting him leave, and Donna goes after Harvey, to once more be his voice of reason. The problem is, that even if they don't quit, unlike so many other situations there's no solution in sight.
We find Jessica alone in what use to be her place when she started, and in the midst of everything happening she says to Rachel "For women, the rules are different. You can’t be everyone’s friend and invite them to tea because warm means you’re weak. I wasn’t gonna be weak. But now the flip side to that is, if you’re strong, they think you’re cold. And that’s why they’re all gone…because they see me as unfeeling and manipulative. I’m tired of it." And this dialogue doesn't only work to show the exhaustion she feels, but also the rest of the main 6, Suits delivers one of the best scenes in its history between 2 of the ladies. They don't talk about men, they discuss what it is to be a woman in power, and what loyalty means. And it's beautiful, because if the rest of the season follows this line of action, Rachel can be the best version of herself, and Jessica can be a mentor. It shows the complexity of the characters we have been watching grow for 6 seasons, and sometimes their evolution fell behind plot lines that felt flat.
This moment is also key because with some help from Mary Jane, the three managing partners find a solution to their problems and make a truce, or at least Harvey and Louis do. Not only the pace changes and how the characters act, but the little moments of humor increase, and the show becomes more similar to what it was in the pilot. A good deal of drama with some light moments, also reflected in the lighting I mentioned in the beginning. The shadows and somber tones are set aside to a more balanced photography. And it might seem repetitive that I'm paying attention to this kind of thing but I feel the crew deserves some love too. As much as the cast's performance that make it easy to empathize with their emotions. Also because Suits has a history of foreshadowing through the light setting, and the balanced, bright one gives us hope. That they will get out of this whole mess they're in.
Despite the fact the firm seems to have found the ground to keep working on a solution, Mike isn't so lucky. He gets played by what it seems to be his cell mate, he shares his story with him and after the inmate lends him his cellphone to text Rachel, a guard picks him up. The new fake roommate has an agenda of his own, a vendetta against Harvey (who was the one that put him behind bars). The camera pans out and we see Mike getting smaller and resting against his cell door. Feeling trapped.
The writers take advantage of this plot point to intertwined the storylines, leaving a cliffhanger and new conflict for the rest of the season.
Are you excited for the rest of season 6? Do you have theories of what will happen? share them with us in the comments.
