Gary McCurry reviews the fifth season of Suits…
The past collides with the present in this, the fifth season of Suits. Bigger than even Harvey Specter, the past continues to threaten to rip each “family” member of Pearson Specter Litt apart both professionally and personally. After what I thought was a lull year for Suits in season four this comes with tension and as many twists as Louis Litt’s favourite cocktail.
We come across Harvey Specter, the mighty Harvey Specter as a fragile being at the beginning of season five and that persists throughout the season. So needed is the timing to show at long last Harvey’s demon’s that we are allowed glimpses into others going down their own paths without his all seeing eye casting its gaze over everything. Talking about Harvey’s all seeing eye, Donna Paulsen is used as a play thing rather than a person as she took the decision to leave the desk she’s sat behind for twelve years and wonder down the hall to Louis Litt’s office. To this and many others we see consequences. Proper, fully fledged consequences and not the type that slightly alters the case so that later the payoff for winning will be greater. I’m talking, change the dynamic and future of the firm forever type consequences. Now, I could go through each episode noting the hit points, although this season is more about the journey and the struggle. In that is where the show grips you, different from all the rest is that maybe this can’t be fixed with a smile and a well placed speech.
We see many old faces pop up as the episodes go on, each normally serving a purpose to push either Jessica, Mike or Harvey forward in their own season plot. It’s the new faces that propel it however, take either Harvey’s psychiatrist, Paula Agard or Jessica’s new competition at the firm, Jack Soloff and you have an engrossing dynamic bubbling under the surface. Both grow in importance as the season progresses until they become essential cogs in the storytelling wheel.
Normally seeing Louis as the comic relief or placeholder for the audiences disdain we begin the show almost seeing him as a caricature of his former self, with the show somehow forgetting that he is a gifted attorney and a valuable asset. Later, thankfully this all changes and akin two many others, Louis gets given the opportunity to show why he has his name up on the door.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s all about how close to home this season can hit. It does a great job in continuing to push the line and characters to their breaking point in order to discover a side we haven’t yet seen. This is season five mayor strength, to portray these lives as flawed individuals that don’t have it all, even though on the surface it seems so.
Simply put, we have one of the best season yet in season five. The dialogue sharp and the actions even more so, Pearson Specter Litt showcases the very best in Suits drama, the characters. You’ll find yourself hearing “previously on Suits” often as you skip onto the next episode in order to find out what happens next.
Gary McCurry
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published June 7, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
