SUITS “Pilot” Season 1 Episode 1 – After viewing the pilot for this new series from USA, all I could think was: I smell another new bromance brewing. Judging purely from one episode I think that this one has the potential to be right up there with the ones on Psych, White Collar and my other favorite series.
On Suits, the bromance is made up of Harvey (played by Gabriel Macht), a somewhat conceited high-power lawyer who never loses cases and seems to have grown a bit bored by the lack of challenges in his life. When the firm insists that he hire an associate, Harvey tries to find someone more like himself and that’s when Mike enters the picture. Played by Patrick J Adams, Mike is everything that Harvey is not and yet I immediately saw how the two of them were basically made from the same mold. They both take chances and don’t follow the rules laid before them and had their places been switched, I think they both would have ended up in the other’s shoes. I could see Mike being in the same place that Harvey was if his life had he had the same opportunities handed to him that Harvey had. Conversely, I could see Harvey taking the same chances that Mike had been forced to, had he been hit with as many hard knocks as Mike had.
I enjoyed the fact that though Mike has this almost super-power of an incredible memory, that it isn’t necessarily all that he needs to get by in a law firm. Sure it impresses people, but when Harvey not only takes him on as an associate but puts him on his first case, Mike quickly learns that he has to work harder than he ever has before.
Though Harvey is the best at what he does, he finds himself soon learning a lot from this kid that he plucks from the streets puts into a new suit. So just as much as Harvey is the one teaching Mike the ways and hows of being a lawyer, I like that Mike was also teaching Harvey a lot about how to use street smarts to get what he wants.
Gabriel and Patrick have that sort of chemistry that you can just tell happened instantly. On my visit to the set in Toronto last week, Gabriel spoke with us for a while and mentioned that they noticed the chemistry between them right away. He even mentioned that if we thought the chemistry was good in the pilot, we needed to watch the next episodes, because they felt it was getting better and better with each one they shoot. It’s remarks like that which make me wish that time would go faster just so I could watch them already.
Joining Harvey and Mike are some great additional characters including Harvey’s boss Jessica (played by the always wonderful Gina Torres), plus Harvey’s rival at the firm Louis (Rick Hoffman), super-paralegal Rachel (Meghan Markle), and Harvey’s amazing secretary who knows everything, Donna (Sarah Rafferty).
What I liked about this show, despite the already amazing chemistry between the two leads, was the fact that neither of them were set up as infallible. Both Harvey and Mike have a lot of things going for them, but also have a lot of challenges to face as well. As the show goes on, I think that we will see that they are both going to need each other probably more than they realize.
Suits premieres tonight on USA Network at 10/9c. Once you’ve seen it, come on up and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you!
Follow me on Twitter @mokibobolink
Please make sure to read our comment policy before posting a comment.