Suits LA Recap: Desperate Measures

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We open with Samantha handing Rick a new case: one of their clients, some washed-up actor, is sitting in jail for carving a penis into his neighbor’s hedge. She wants her new head of entertainment and Stuart to partner up to get him out of jail. Since Stuart has about as much finesse as a pitbull and the actor shares his hot head, Rick is meant to act as a social buffer, preventing the two men from clashing because not an episode can go by without the writer’s reminding us he’s the show’s designated “nice guy.” Stuart is more than happy to partner up with Rick, so long as he promises to attend a D&D tournament he’s hosting that weekend.

The D&D comes up again later in the episode, and though it’s relatively inconspicuous, it feels representative of the general humor the show is desperately trying to inject these characters with. It’s not charming or endearing; these little comedic bits feel so out of place precisely because they’re filled with cultural references that are unnatural and tacked on. There are shows that are funny and shows that are intelligent and witty; Suits LA is neither while secretly deluding itself into thinking that it is both.

Stuart and Rick visit the actor and ask him about penis-gate. Their client claims he’s innocent, but neither man believes him. Later, we find out that his neighbor once pranked him, making him grovel over a parking fine with a made-up police officer on the line. The recording of this (supposedly) humiliating phone call has been hanging over his head, which naturally meant the only thing he could do to hold onto his dignity was carve a penis and some balls into his hedges and get caught by the police in the process — another pedestrian attempt at humor on the show’s part.

On the other side of town, Erica and Ted are teaming up because the studio is trying to remove the name of their producer client Lester (the one who was accused of Abraham Lincoln-ing his business partner in the pilot of the show) off the credits of their latest film because his trial violates the morality clause in his contract. It would be a slam dunk for Erica, who is used to bulldozing lazy in-house counsel, but the lawyer representing the studio has a history with her boss: that lawyer is Samantha. Erica is clear this case belongs to her when she talks to Ted. She’ll let him ride shotgun if he can keep his mouth shut and not aggravate his ex. How well do you think that goes?

Samantha is irking to me (most of these characters, in truth, are irking to me), but this time, she has a point. If there’s any crime that could be considered proof of amorality, it would be shooting someone in the head. I’d remove that man’s name from my film quickly, too.

They love throwing Ted and his ex together, hoping with enough interactions, we’ll perhaps buy them as old lovers (we don’t; in fact, it feels like as time progresses and we see the two in separate contexts more, the stranger they seem as a pairing) so we get a face to face pissing contest in which Samantha points out the damage to Lester’s reputation done by a trial will be enough to get the studio to push him away from the project. Ted’s solution? Try to convince their client to agree to an expedited trial, assigning the roles of good cop/bad cop between he and his right hand woman Erica. They’re a fun pair to watch mostly because Ted is less emotionally constipated in her presence. He’s unguarded, less self-serious. Operation Manipulate-A-Client is a success; Lester agrees to the trial being moved up, giving some vague cinephilic “this film saved me” plea as reasoning for his cooperation on the matter. The sooner this trial happens, the sooner Hollywood can sweep it under the rug and get Lester back on top.

Ted, though, senses that the district attorney they’re facing — the ever so slimy Ms. Smith — will be harder to convince. He enlists the help of Amanda, who has a history with the lawyer to help him. At court, the district attorney scrambles to stop the judge from moving up the trial date, in the end saying that a new witness whose testimony she must corroborate has made themselves known, a task that’ll take up to a week. Amanda swoops in and makes it apparent to the judge that this is a trick the lawyer has used to buy time before, citing several of her previous cases. The judge grants team Ted the win, meaning Amanda’s dramatic entrance into the courtroom was somewhat warranted.

I bet you’re wondering where all the lovely flashbacks are in this episode. This time, we’re treated to some in which we see the kingpin mob boss that Ted is after back in his New York days come by the diner Eddie works at with a threat to drop the case. It’s your run-of-the-mill intimidation, but when Samantha finds out, she expresses concern for Eddie. At home, Ted brings up the fact that she’s gotten an offer in Los Angeles to work at a law firm there (which she says she’s not interested in), and she warns Ted to stop being reckless, especially since it could cause Eddie trouble. It’s not like either of the things brought up in these conversations are relevant in any way. [Stares directly into the camera.] The flashbacks aren’t as jarring this week, mostly because of who appears in them: Harvey Specter.

We’re reunited with him at a baseball game, of all things (in the original series, he was a sucker for the sport), and honestly, it pissed me off because all his appearance did was remind me of how good we once had it. Ted and Harvey are buddies, trading barbs and game plans. They’re nostalgia milking like their life depends on it, and they do it so well. It makes me want to turn off their show and rewatch the original series all over again. Harvey’s appearance isn’t just to rub our faces in it, though. He tells Ted that he’s got a mole in his team, someone who is leaking the mobster information, which is how they knew to kill off his star witness. Gabriel Macht doesn’t miss a beat, and the charisma chasm between the two men is diabolical. Gabriel, come home. The kids miss you.

In the present day, Ted still isn’t in the clear about getting his client’s name back on the credits, namely because the head of the studio Bill can’t stand the man and has always been looking for an excuse to bury him. After giving it some thought, Ted decides the best way to get what he wants is to start issuing some threats of his own: if Bill won’t release the film because of his petty dislike for his (alleged) murderer client, he’ll start talking to some of the A-List clients he represents and tell them to never work with a studio exec whose willing to tank an entire film out of spite (Denzel’s name is thrown around and I’d personally, I’d pay millions to see him react to the show). It’s a bluff, of course, but it works. The film is getting released and it has Lester’s name on it. Another day, another Black & Associate slay.

Amanda waltzes into Ted’s office with an eviction notice in her hand. Turns out Ted is strong arming her into moving downstairs to keep an office on the same floor as the rest of the team because he sees her as a valuable asset. The episode ends with Rick opening a present from Ted, congratulating him on his promotion. They’re mending their relationship it seems; I can’t help but hope there aren;t many happy days on the cards for these characters. Maybe that way the show would be more interesting.

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2025-03-17 06:21