We start in therapy where Louis is telling Dr. Lipschitz about his continued affair. Seeing Sheila with her fiancé the other night made him feel like someone was "ripping my heart out, shredding it to pieces, and setting it on fire right in front of me." Good description.
The doctor is pleased by this, because it means Louis is ready to face the truth, as that feeling will only continue to grow as the affair continues. Louis agrees - it's time to let Sheila go.
It's going to be hard to do that, though, when Xander - Sheila's fiancé - shows up at Louis' office under the guise of telling him to quit trying to recruit associates from Sheila. But really, he's totally there to taunt him. The two men have a quick shouting match and Xander threatens Louis to stay away from his fiancée.
Mike is walking down the sidewalk just minding his own business when Judge Ralls, the judge from his trial, shows up asking for help. She's being accused of overturning a verdict for personal gain and she figures he owes her a favor.
Mike passes this on to Harvey, but he wisely says they shouldn't get near the case with a 10-foot pole. Once Mike pitches the idea of them taking on the case as a team as a way to cheer post-breakup Harvey up, the partner gets on board.
Louis visits the office of Katrina - aka the girl from Center Stage - for the first time all season? It’s legit been ages since we’ve seen her. Katrina gives Louis the dirt on Xander and convinces him he can take him down in court. Louis takes her up on the suggestion visits Xander - great name, btw - for no other reason than to essentially bug him. He drops a suit on him that somehow involves Xerox, but trust me when I say literally no one cares about the details of this case. It’s all a facade for two men to brutally insult one another over and over.
Mike and Harvey are in a batting cage now, for reasons Harvey places on Tom Cruise, and who cares because this is easily my favorite scene they’ve ever had. BASEBALL ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, PEOPLE.
Mike catches Harvey up on what's going on in Ralls’ case. As they talk it out, they realize this whole thing is just a ruse to get the judge out of court for six months while her accusers slip another case through the docket. So if the guys - WHO ARE STILL IN THE BATTING CAGES, I will never get over this scene - get her to recuse herself from that case and they’re sure the case will be dropped.
They head over to see Ralls, who refuses to recuse herself because she didn’t do anything wrong. She came to them for a defense, and she expects one.
Meanwhile, Donna goes back to see her crush object with a real estate license and drops off the letter proving the stability of the firm. Fox is all “that’s great,” then hands her a 90-day eviction notice. Donna’s letter proved that the firm violated their lease when they restructured. He did the whole thing as a ploy. ”I saw the new girl on the block get promoted to a job she'd never done before and took advantage,” he says. Well that's low. Her options are to embarrass herself in front of Harvey by confessing her mistake, or quietly agree to a 3 year, 100% rent increase. Ouch.
Fox also expects Donna not to take this personally, and wants to make sure she knows the flirting was sincere. Okay, dude. Sure. She’s just going to fall into your arms now.
Back to another failed couple, Sheila would like to talk some sense into Louis. But he’s not having any of it. "I don't get the girl. I don't get to be happy,” he defends himself. But at least he gets to beat Xander in court. She’s just terrified this means her fiance will find out about their affair, but Louis that won’t happen.
At the office, Donna rushes to talk to Rachel and opens with this amazing line, "I need you to drop whatever it is you're doing and come up with a lawsuit that sends the son of a bitch that owns this building to prison for the rest of his miserable life."
I love Donna.
Rachel says you need to get Harvey and Louis involved - I also love Rachel, because I’m pretty sure she’s the only sane person left at this firm - and Donna says that's not a good idea. She fesses up to kissing Harvey and suggests they avoid any awkwardness by doing this on their own.
Cut to the guys chatting at a bar, and suddenly this is a romantic comedy, because - who’d have thunk? - they’re also discussing the kiss! Shocking! Harvey is still blindsided by the kiss.
Mike's like, dude, EVERYONE saw that coming except you, then confesses that he encouraged Donna to share her feelings.
Somehow, this makes Harvey realize that they can just bluff their way in with Smith and Duvane, the people trying to get Ralls off the bench, since they don’t know that the judge hasn’t recessed herself. He suggests that they fake a little paperwork to find out what’s going on, but Mike’s hesitant.
"I don't know if i'm comfortable crossing that line," Mike says, which is just like, roll your eyes dumb when you consider the last 7 years worth of schemes they’ve pulled. Harvey reminds him that they’ve done way worse. Which is true.
Also, Fox’s rent ploy was almost exactly this same plan.
Oops! Turns out the whole argument was a fantasy Louis is describing to Dr. Lipschitz. Doc is over it, and basically says Louis needs to get his act together or he can no longer see him as a client. He is literally giving Louis an ultimatum or else he’ll end the relationship. Louis freaks out.
Donna visits the landlord jerk yet again, handing him paperwork that she thinks will get them out of trouble. She’s already filed a suit against him, so he’s stuck… or so she thinks. Turns out, by filing first, she’s violated their lease and he can terminate the lease in 30 days.
Just so everyone’s clear, Donna makes sure to point out that he has dealt in bad faith twice. Fox is super unconcerned about this, since he’s still the owner of like a bajillion beautiful Manhattan properties.
Harvey and Mike visit the person bringing the suit against Ralls to say she’s going to recuse herself, but she doesn’t care. "What this is really about is removing a judge from the bench who's demonstrated an inability to follow the law," she explains, referencing a case from 12 years ago revolving around someone named Sullivan. She thinks Ralls takes matters into her own hands. Which… Valid. She let Mike get away with a whole heck of a lot.
Mike, also recognizing this, jumps to Ralls’ defense. The guys rush back to see the judge and ask what the Sullivan case was, and she explains she merely showed mercy to a kid with a terrible public defender early in her career. She explains that this one newbie error shouldn’t taint her entire career, and not-so-subtly reminds Mike that she and everyone else knew he was a fraud but she was good to him during his trial.
They owe her. “Our system relies on having people like me up on the bench so that when people like you get in front of us, you don't go straight to prison,” she says pointedly. Welp. Can’t argue with that.
Katrina goes to see Louis in his office because she's figured out what to do with Xander’s case. She has a magical document that solves everything. But Louis wants her to do take him down because he doesn’t want to be tempted in the heat of the moment to gloat about the affair to Xander.
Tensions are running high between Mike and Harvey as the junior partner researches the Sullivan case. Harvey isn’t surprised that Mike has felt the effects of Ralls’ guilt trip. “It's why she came to you in the first place. It's because you're a sucker.” Well, dang! Mike fights back equally as dirty, “I’dd rather be a sucker than someone who refuses to sacrifice something for anyone else.”
Harvey reminds him that he sacrificed his girlfriend this week because Mike “couldn’t keep his mouth shut” - that really feels like he’s completely ignoring Donna’s emotions entirely, but that’s par for the course for Harvey. So Mike pulls out the big guns.
"As long as we're talking about sacrifice and prison, one of us went to prison for the other one, and the woman you're about to cut loose? She's the reason that was possible."
You go, Mike!
After a commercial break featuring no fewer than 3 Avengers ads - HONESTLY, IS ANYONE NOT ALREADY GOING GO SEE THIS MOVIE - we're back.
Louis drops the magic paper that solves everything on Xander’s desk, and instantly wins the case. He wants to avoid the case, so when Xander asks what he needs to settle this out of court, Louis asks for $30 million and a line in the settlement that proclaims Louis as the superior lawyer. Seriously.
Xander doesn’t love this, but he has a great point. ”If that's what it takes to make you whole, then we have a deal. But one thing, when I get home tonight, remember who's waiting for me." He goes on to really rub it in about how Sheila chose him. Louis, about to burst, doesn't reveal the affair, just raises the price to $50 million.
Harvey and Mike have a quick apology fest, and it turns out Mike has solved the case. The entire suit was a set up - if they get the judge ousted, all of her cases from the last 7 years will be questioned, and they need one of those rulings overturned.
Sheila visits Louis in his office to thank him for not revealing their affair to her fiance. She asks Louis to give up the case so Xander can save face. You know what? I’m honestly over her. “Please do this for me, because if you don't, you might as well have just told him about us in the first place,” she begs. Huh? What? What are you talking about? Sheila - you're ridiculous. You've started an affair with a man head over heels in love with you and now you're demanding that he do all of this because you're getting married and you don't want anyone's feelings getting hurt. WHAT ABOUT HIS, SHEILA? I don't like her.
Growth!
Also, that may be the longest these two have gone without yelling at each other since the show started.
Louis decides to drop the case and Katrina is angry, but ultimately understands why he’s doing it. “You're a good man, Louis Litt. And someday you will find someone who appreciates that,” she says. WAIT. Is it her? Is it Katrina? Are Katrina and Louis going to get together next season? Crazier things have happened on this show.
Meanwhile, Rachel and Donna stroll into Fox’s office, beautifully sculpted legs leading the way - did they get all gussied up just to make him down? I’m willing to bet absolutely, yes. They’re pretty insulting toward Fox, patronizing him for being a pathetic guy who clings to his expensive proprieties to feel like a man. Turns out, they bought up all the air rights across from six of his most prominent properties, which essentially renders them completely worthless if they build something.
Okay, that’s genius. It’s also a little unbelievable to me that Fox wouldn’t already own the air rights, but whatever, this is TV.
Rachel and Donna demand a 10% reduction on their lease as well as a reimbursement for the air rights. I think this was supposed to be a girl power moment because they talk about tampons to make him uncomfortable, but I'm not sure why it had to be. They just killed it, plain and simple.
As the night wears down, Harvey visits Mike in his office to discuss Donna. Harvey wants to know why Mike pushed Donna to confess her feelings. Mike says it’s because he’s rooting for the two of them to get together. Interesting. I’m glad they cleared that up, because Harvey was upset with Donna for kissing him when he had a girlfriend, but seemed cool with Mike encouraging it. After their chit chat, Harvey rushes to explain that the’s not rushing to be with anyone at the moment, so it’s all good.
… Said the liar. Harvey immediately goes to Donna’s office to ask about the new lease sitting on his desk. I would've loved for them to have quoted the exact price of that rent, btw. Donna says the reduced rent is thanks for keeping her. Rachel should get some credit for those all nighters, too! “If I knew it would make you do stuff like that, I'd consider firing you more often,” Harvey jokes. Yay! Their banter is back!
Wait. Is he going to kiss her?
No, I’m imagining things, he just wants to share a drink. And just like that, Donna and Harvey are back to normal.
Continuing national Meet People On The Street Day, Louis is about to walk into his apartment when he spies Sheila waiting for him on the sidewalk. She broke up with Xander! "I love you, and I may have forgotten it for a while," she tells Louis. She appreciates how hard he’s fought and sacrificed for her. When Louis brings up the very valid point that she doesn’t want kids and he does, she says she’s not on birth control. Louis looks like he's going to cry as he takes her hand and they head inside.
