Suitsis easily one of the best legal procedural shows on TV, but it had to shed a core gimmick to reach its full potential in my opinion. The series originally began airing in 2011 on the USA Network, and while it received generally favorable reviews and enough attention to warrant the show running for a total of nine seasons, it was given a second life when the series hit streaming platforms like Netflix and began topping the charts.
The show follows Mike Ross and Harvey Specter as they become close partners and friends working for a prestigious law firm in New York city. However, not everything is smooth sailing, as Mike is technically not qualified to be a practicing lawyer.Suits' Mike Ross is gifted and intelligent, which means that he has made a living taking tests for others and passing to the specific percentage point that they request. This is impressive, and itsthanks to Mike’s eidetic memory, more commonly referred to as a photographic memory. However, the memory gimmick gets old quickly.
15 Best Shows Like Suits To Watch While Waiting For Suits LA
Suits remains one of television’s most beloved shows, and with Suits: LA arriving, here are more shows for fans of the franchise.
Suits Moving Away From Mike’s Photographic Memory Gimmick Saved The Show
It Made The Challenging Cases Too Easy
Mike’s incredible memory was a genuinely impressive and compelling part of the show in the first few episodes. However, thesame quirk that made him unique and interestingfrom the moment he first appears on screen was also responsible for making the character too unrelatable, too clever, and ultimately, too boring for the typical viewer like you or I. WithSuitsbeing a drama show, having Mike constantly find the answer with fairly minimal effort defeats the point and removes any tension or doubt that the team will find an answer.
While most newly practicing lawyers and associates would need to carefully comb through files to find answers, taking hours, days and weeks to prepare for trials,Mike could essentially quickly scan the documents, then pull them up in his mindlater on. This meant the show lacked tension, and Mike became a super lawyer who could put in less work, and enjoy greater success. The real excitement for shows like this has to come from the struggle to get answers, before finally finding the answer or solution and coming out on top.
Suits Abandoning Its Gimmick Made Me Care More About Mike And Harvey
It Levels The Playing Field And Makes Their Relationship Possible
BothHarvey and Mike are stubborn, intelligent, and defiant men, with standout personalities that could pit them against each other. Occasionally, this is seen in the plot asMike and Harvey challenge each other. Despite Harvey’s incredible experience, his glowing track record of cases won, and his strength as a lawyer, Mike, a young man with zero experience, is able to sweep in and try to match Harvey, often seeing things that everyone else misses. I might enjoy that once or twice, but after repeated use, it feels like a cheap and dirty trick.
While everyone enjoys an underdog story, and seeing Mike experience little wins against his mentor is a positive thing, his memory gimmick made this a certainty, and it sucked the fun from these moments. Harvey and Mike’s similarities makes them an interesting pairing, butthe memory thing only worked as a cheap trickthat felt like Mike had brought a calculator and Harvey was left with paper and pen. It wasn’t fair, and despite being interesting, it wasn’t entertaining. With less focus on the gimmick, their relationship blossomed and became so much more fun to watch.
Suits: LA Is Already Guaranteed To Do One Thing Better Than Suits After 1 Big Change
The world of Suits is expanding with the upcoming spinoff Suits: L.A., which is already on track to outperform the original series in one aspect.
Suits’ Best Episodes Were The Ones Mike And Harvey Didn’t Have An Easy Way Out
The Challenge And Adversity Provides An Opportunity For Growth
Imagine for a moment that two shows are playing simultaneously on two screens at opposite sides of the room. One features a documentary-style recording that shows a person walking on a flat road for a mile with considerable ease. The other shows a person climbing Mount Everest, with a snowstorm blowing, and a real potential for the man to fail at his mission of climbing. Chances are,you’d choose to watch the mountain climber, because there is tension, and the potential for failure. From the second you see the person walking on a road, there is no real doubt they will reach their goal of walking a mile.
WithSuitsbeing a drama show, having Mike constantly find the answer with fairly minimal effort defeats the point and removes any tension or doubt that the team will find an answer.
Similarly, TV shows need to have some degree of challenges to create a compelling and enticing offering. It keeps audiences engaged, and makes the characters more dynamic and interesting. Mike’s memory served as a get out of jail free card, and once it was dialed down, and he served literal time in jail, it created much more compelling stories. Thankfully,Suitslearned this lesson earlyenough that it could correct its course, and ultimately deliver one of the best legal dramas ever made.
Suits
Cast
Suits is a legal drama series that premiered in 2011, centering on Mike Ross, a college dropout with a photographic memory who lands a job at a top New York law firm despite lacking a law degree. Partnering with one of the city’s best legal closers, Harvey Specter, they navigate the challenges of high-stakes cases and firm dynamics.
