Chicago Redshirt

Needs a sprinkle of dick-measuring too. :) It's hard to get behind the show when it doesn't make much sense. The whole "Mike and Harvey were colluding" thing doesn't make sense, with Mike arranging a restraining order to stop Harvey from buying Gillis shares, with Harvey going to Gillis and telling him about Mike's drug-dealing past, with the two setting up a private auction where they are the only bidders (and thus would drive the price up higher than if one or the other just straight up making an offer). GIven that the Mike and Harvey were colluding doesn't make sense, I'm not sure what we're supposed to make of a world where a) Harvey and co. don't bother to point this out b) Sean is able to convince a judge to sign off on a search warrant in an effort to prove his nonsensical theory c) the SEC is continuing to invest the resources they are into pursuing this investigation. The threat of going after Sean for malicious prosecution wouldn't make any sense at all in the real world. Prosecutors are essentially immune for most of their actions. Otherwise, every prosecutor's office would be tied up in lawsuits defending every decision they'd make.

It's been a while, but I do think there was a flirtation Janet felt for Jack. It was just too loose of a show to have anybody "pine" for anyone. Similarly, Carla I'm fairly sure did have some interest in Sam, and there was a joke about it. Troi didn't have romantic feelings for Picard, but she did for Riker that culminated in them getting married in Nemesis. And there certainly were hints of Uhura having a thing for Spock in TOS, and Kirk explicitly wanted to hook up with Yeoman Rand but let his devotion to duty keep him from acting on it. (Although there was some person it was hinted that he hooked up with after the ship's Christmas party.) I think it's common in both real life and fiction for their to be romantic crushes and relationships amongst people who spend tons of time in the workplace or wherever.

Iris could end up doing research into many of the Rogues, the effect of whatever they're calling the STAR Lab explosion on people, or various other things. Hopefully she will get to be defined as more than love interest/daughter of cop/Damsel in Distress.

A purported genius with a photographic memory and (admittedly fake) credentials plus two or more years' experience at Pearson Specter has more options than either taking a job offer with Forstman or returning to Pearson Specter. At the very worst, he could open up his own shingle and take the fighting-for-the-little-guy cases he claims to love so much. Assuming PS operates on anything close to the real world, Mike conservatively made $300k or more for his first couple years. He certainly spent a good portion of that on Grammy's place and just Manhattan living, but he is presumably not in such dire shape that he immediately needed to latch on to the first skeezy job offer that came along or going back to being a fraud.

People's mileage may vary, but to me a hypocrite is someone who advocates one set of standards for himself and another for other people. Mike kissed Rachel while he was in a relationship with Jenny and slept with his married high school girlfriend. He is a cheater. The fact that Mike's romantic cheating was all prior to his getting serious with Rachel does not IMO make him any less of a hypocrite for getting as angry as he did about Rachel's cheating and the related issues (her not coming clean initially, her still having feelings for Logan and whatnot). I wish that they didn't write Rachel as much as a wet noodle as they did. I wish they gave her the fire to say, "Listen up. Yeah, I was confused for a few seconds about my feelings for Logan. Yeah, I should have told you. But if I wanted him, I could have him. I could be with him in a heartbeat. I don't want him. I want you. I cut him off. I'm not going to have a personal relationship with him. I'm not going to have a professional relationship with him. He's out of my life. If you're not going to forgive me for my 15 seconds of weakness, then that's on you. I'm sorry I hurt you. I hope you forgive me, because we've been good together and I love you." On another point, I do like the fact that the show brought up that Harvey has issues over cheating because his mom was a cheater. But I'm fairly sure that he knows that Mike got his ass kicked for cheating with a married woman and he never criticized Mike about it. Am I remembering that wrong? I suppose it's more in character that Harvey would give Mike a pass, but from a broader perspective, it's somewhat disappointing.

In fairness, one of the things that led to Briggs being as broken as he is was that Jangles essentially did something similar -- get him addicted to extract information. For all his various facades, Briggs is an addict in recovery who attends NA meetings regularly. So I could see that playing off another addict's weaknesses and torturing him would have a personal effect on him in a way that killing people, lying to people etc. would not.

In fairness to Jeff, Louis said Jeff's work was good enough that 99 out of 100 lawyers would not have spotted the problem, and he just happened to be the 100th. So I don't think it's fair to make it out like his work flat-out sucked. That said, it would be good if they gave Jeff something else to do besides look good and flirt with Jessica. Like his job of getting the SEC off the firm's back. Would it have killed them to have him have scenes with Harvey or with Woodall or whoever the Woodall puppet is again. (I am getting old. I had to go to IMDB to remember DB Woodside's character name. While there, I noted that there have been two episodes of Suits without Jessica and two without Louis. Those must have been weak. Then again, IMDB claims that there was an episode without Mike, which I can't believe is the case.) With regard to Mike and Rachel, I don't meant to say that Mike should forgive Rachel. He's perfectly entitled to break up with her on any of a number of grounds -- the kiss itself, the hiding of the kiss, the fact that it was with Logan, it being the culmination of a crappy week, whatever. I personally would have preferred some forgiveness or truly letting them be done, because I would love to minimize the relationship drama and I think we all suspect that Mike and Rachel remain the one true pairing so the "let's spend a couple episodes with them sniping at each other" is extra annoying. Alternatively, as long as there are relationship issues, I wish they could really deal with the ones that are there and are going to remain there in an intelligent, adult way. Rachel worked herself into a hospitalization for exhaustion and Mike's level of concern for her (at least as shown) was no more than emotions-are-for-the-weak Harvey. Rachel still has the fraud issue to deal with (which reminds me....I want Big Daddy Zane back on our screen). They were on opposite sides of what was supposed to be an all-consuming case. I should add again how remarkable it was what Louis did for Mike. I don't really care if it's in character or not, or if it makes sense or not. (And I suppose it is mostly not). He had his chance to get whatever reward he wanted short of becoming a name partner. He was set to position himself for making a run at patching things up with the (perceived) love of his life. He put all that on the backburner, and all the other possibilities he could have asked for, in order to bring Mike back. Now consider: As far as Louis knows, there's no real reason why PS wouldn't want to take Mike back -- he was an excellent employee while there and personally worked under one of the two named partners. So to give up a valuable chit as he had to ensure Mike's return seems a little much. Also, what has Mike done for Louis lately? He made Louis look like a chump. He played on his feelings for Sheila. He caused a rift between Louis and Harvey. He basically is responsible for Louis being in a position where he had to make the Faustian bargain with Forstman. Prior to that, Mike agreed to be Louis's associate only to backstab Louis and go back to Harvey.

I was super scared that they were writing Louis out when he was talking about wanting to be with Sheila. I'm glad that they at least left open the possibility of him being a named partner. I hope that Louis figures a way to take Forstman down without going down with him. Sorry, but if someone is going to offer me a million dollar signing bonus, it'd be pretty hard to say no. Worst case scenario, you quit or get fired and you're still a millionaire. Mike not telling Rachel about his being a fraud is just the tip of his hypocrisy. Mike not only kissed Rachel when he was with Jenny, he slept with a married woman. Mike also helped numerous people cheat on their LSATs. For him to come back to the firm knowing that he's putting it at risk again is pretty awful. And for him to cost Louis his reward is also pretty messed up. Given that Rachel is not played by the strongest actor, it's probably a mistake to have an episode revolving around her being an emotional wreck.

One of the questions I would have is whether this is supposed to be a prequel to the next DC Movie Universe Batman, or its own universe like Smallville. I know there was a story recently saying Arrow and Flash are separate from the movie universe, but I don't know if it mentioned Gotham.

Since Season 1, Episode 1. And I say that as a general defender of Rachel.

I thought for 100 percent the mole was Jessica. She has seemed intent on getting Mike to shut down the operation and undermined him in various ways.

I don't mind that Louis occasionally is a whiny baby, but at some point, he needs to stand up for himself. I would pay good money for Rick Hoffman to get the scene where he shoves Harvey's hypocrisy down his throat. Louis's judgment turns everything to shit? How about all the times he managed to save the day? How about his amazing billables? How about the fact that he's whipped the associates at that place into shape? And the last I checked, Louis did not try to undermine Jessica, did not have two investigations of him, one of which caused the firm to lose millions and one of which is now threatening Pearson Specter again. I wish he would have woken up and said, "I don't need this." I wish the writers could have refrained from kicking Louis when he was down. There was absolutely no need to have him be forced to do something illegal to compromise his victory. The whole Rachel/Logan/Mike triangle...It's awful for Rachel that she either a) was too stupid to realize that the last thing she needs to do is to be alone with Logan or b) she was secretly wanting Logan to make the moves he did. I hate, hate hate the whole "Your mouth says no but your body says yes" deal so much. I can't picture why Mike didn't say "Why would I want this to be a deal-breaking term." Nor can I understand the "Let Harvey choose whether he wants to keep Logan or go with Mike as a client" deal. I guess if it were played better, it would be an interesting development for Harvey as a character -- one where he lets emotion get the better of him and he makes the absolutely suboptimal decision from a business perspective. I mean, Mike is a nice guy and all, but Logan does a billion dollars worth of business. There's no question who he should go with. But instead of a revelation for Harvey it's absolutely no drama. And let's talk about the deal for a second. For most of this season, Mike was bitching and moaning about having given GIllis his word and about the welfare of the unnamed masses who would get shafted if a shark like Logan got his hands on the company and sold it for parts. So he's going to blow up a deal that would guarantee keeping his word to GIllis, saving these workers, etc., all because of his advice from Lady MacZane? Rachel referring to herself as Logan's lawyer when she hasn't even (if my understanding of the timeline is correct) finished her 1L year... Donna gave her awful advice. I am struggling to think of up points for this episode and coming up fairly dry.

Pretty much if LL's any role this side of G.W. Bridge, I'm down with it. Never watched Xena, but she's been good in everything I've seen her in, which is to say BSG, Spartacus and she even brought some life to the often sucky No Ordinary Family.

Lucy Lawless will be joining SHIELD in an unspecified role. http://time.com/3016047/lucy-lawless-agents-of-shield/ But I'm guessing it's as the Contessa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Allegra_de_Fontaine.

The thing is that actual practice of law often has little to nothing with what is taught in law school. A lot of what law school teaches is abstract theory, where people are asked to see both sides of an issue. Students are exposed to a lot of different cases and concepts. A lot of what Rachel would have been doing as a paralegal would be various practical and concrete things. Moreover, the sort of law that Rachel has been involved with as a paralegal has been generally corporate law. The typical first year curriculum has little to do with that. There's usually a class about contracts that her PS experience would help with a fair deal, but then there's criminal law, civil procedure, constitutional law, torts and legal writing where it would not necessarily be as useful.

Slimy guy's deal was that the contract would be written so that Sidwell didn't get any money out of it. Why he is doing that other than the mwa-ha-haedness and forced ethical dilemma for Mike of it all, I don't know. So there would presumably not be money to give Sidwell later -- it would be almost all Slimy Guy's. Even if there were money, Sidwell might not take kindly to originally being cut out of the deal. What Mike is doing is called a breach of fiduciary duty, and presumably Sidwell would have a cause of action against him. As to Rachel's stress level, the first year of law school is always inherently stressful. Add to that the stress of PS, and her relationship drama, and I could see it getting to be too much. Different professors have different ways of grading. One of my first year professors had us do a midterm, one had us take home essays, while most were the more prevalent 3 hour in-class essay. So it doesn't strike me as inherently unrealistic that one might assign a paper. From the start of the show, Rachel has had a spacious office as "senior paralegal." No, this doesn't make any sense p. Presumably she has kept that office as senior paralegal and quasi-associate/intern to Harvey.or have any parallel to the real world.

The prosecutor guy has an odd definition of "collusion" when it involves one "colluding" party obtaining a temporary restraining order against another, and the two parties getting in a private bidding war against each other, among other things. It seems odd that brokedown recovering drunk attorney from last season could uncover enough Harvey-related shadiness to have Harvey shaking in his boots and be willing to cave to him, but someone using the full power of the federal government, including literally having someone tail Harvey if we're to believe prosecutor guy, can't uncover ample evidence of the shadiness that Harvey has been up to in just the 3 seasons we've been watching him, let alone before. I do want a happy ending for Louis, but I think I'd prefer he and Donna to be friends. They were the best thing about the episode.

Well, as shown, Mike didn't know about new investor guy and didn't come up with the strategy on his own. Now maybe Mike could/should have. But as things played out, Louis's gloating not only inspired Mike to take a second run at finding backing when he was most deflated, but also suggested his sales pitch. Given that Harvey's probably accurate that his old adversary is clearly slimy, maybe he would have sided with Mike anyway because there was money to be made rather than because Harvey stuck it to him back in the day. I do wish that they would stop making Louis such a sad sack and make him more of the killer litigator and all-around shark that he typically was. I also wish they bring Katrina back on a more regular basis as more than Louis's hype person and ego-stoker and more as a kick-ass person in her own right.

Depending on what time frame and incarnation you're talking about, most of the folks you have named have had teams. And I also think it's unfair to say the teams that they have been in are not "basic" to their characters. Each of the heroes you name have both had been part of premier teams in their universes (Justice League for the DC characters and Avengers and/or Fantastic Four): Superman: his teammates have included Supergirl, Superboy, Krypto the Super Dog, Streaky the Super Cat, Guardian, Steel, and civilians like Lois, Jimmy, Maggie Sawyer, Dr. Emil Hamilton. I think there was even a "Superman Family" book for a while. Not to mention his frequent team-ups with Batman and (as Superboy) the Legion of Superheroes. Spider-man: in cartoons, he has had the Spider-Friends (Iceman and Firestar), in comics, he was partners with the Black Cat and has had regular allies. Thor: He is teammates with various Asgardians -- Sif, the Warriors Three and Balder. Wonder Woman: similarly, her team would include various Amazons. She also has had two Wonder Girls as partners. Hulk: There was a cartoon "Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H." In the comics, Hulk originally had Rick Jones and his Teen Brigade to watch his back. In WW Hulk, he had a bunch of gladiators as his teammates. Daredevil: He was longtime partners with Black Widow and part of Marvel Knights. And most of the characters pretty much had a bunch of supporting characters who were essentially their Team, except they were limited in what they could do because of their lack of knowledge of the hero's secret identity. Superman had all his people at the Daily Planet: Lois, Jimmy, Perry, and various other people who were thrown in the mix. Spider-Man had his Daily Bugle people (minus JJJ) and Flash Thompson and Harry Obsorn. Thor in various incarnations had Jane Foster.

IIRC, Marie Wallace did not actually kill little Jerry. Rowan/Eli did and pinned it on Marie so he could kill several birds with one stone: 1. Getting back at Fitz for screwing him over and demoting him 2. Getting Fitz re-elected on the sympathy vote both because he wanted Olivia to be happy and because he felt he could work with Fitz and 3. Getting the power to go after Marie. Harrison figured out that Rowan was behind it, and stupidly blurted this out to Rowan/Eli, leading to Harrison's apparent death.

I don't think Mike is representing himself or his new firm. I admittedly don't know much about corporate law, but surely business people can negotiate broadly without getting lawyers involved. Presumably they would bring in lawyers to finalize the details.

Weak male leads? Sure. I would concede that the guy who played Roman and Robbie Ammell are not likely to take home any awards any time soon. (Haven't watched much of the other shows). I do not think, however, their characters were anywhere in the Lana/Laurel/Cara territory that I was speaking of, and they are far better actors IMO than Kristin Kreuk (circa Smallville, anyway, maybe she's improved)/KC/Peyton List. Part of it may reside with the writing of shows -- it would be unthinkable to have a male lead be as thinly written as those three, especially in genre fiction that has the male lead as some sort of Chosen One. Anyway, I don't want to divert too much from the topic of what do we think Iris West will be like.

What makes you say there was no segregation in the MCU in the 1940s? In Captain America: The First Avenger, we didn't really get a global perspective of what life was like in the 1940s for Americans. We saw, if memory serves, a single black person in the movie, one of the Howling Commandos. The armed forces IRL were among the first to integrate. The notion that there was a black POW who gets captured alongside white ones doesn't say anything about segregation in general.

For every Nikita or Veronica Mars on the CW, there have been probably 3-4 Laurels, Lanas, or Caras. I want to be clear: I am not prejudging Candice Patton's work. In fact, to quote myself: "We obviously don't know how Iris will play out in her entirety in this show." I'm just saying that it strikes me as being perfectly reasonable to fear that her character gets the short shrift, or that she turns out to be more in the Laurel/Lana/Cara camp than the Nikita/Veronica camp. I have watched the pilot and I am not as enthusiastic as JayKay about the character or Candice. But I still am well aware that a pilot is just an opening salvo and that it takes both the writers and the actors time to develop (or fail to develop) a character. I'm definitely going to keep my fingers crossed. For what it's worth, my personal fears lie more with the writing rather than with Candice in the wake of viewing the pilot. In terms of males who are cast for their looks rather than their acting abilities and criticism of the same, I would point you to Arrow discussions of the guy who plays Roy Harper. I can't think of too many examples of lead actors on CW shows who struck me as being as weak at acting as the folks who portrayed Laurel/Lana/Cara. Granted, Tom Welling was often underwhelming in his own right, and but when he wanted to, I think he did a good job acting.

Iris being a poorly crafted character, IMO, is a natural concern when the trailer is seen in the context of a) a long tradition of female leads in comics/comic-based tv shows and movies who are mainly there to serve as damsels in distress, romantic interests from afar who do not actually date the hero or his alter-ego because of arbitrary reasons, nags, and/or self-righteous whiners who lack agency b) the specific precedent of Laurel from "Arrow," the show that Flash is spun off from and the product of many of the same writers/producers as Flash and c) the specific precedent of the CW/the WB/UPN, which has had a plethora of actresses cast primarily for their looks rather than their acting abilities.