S04.E04: Leveraged

[yeswedo]

 

Having lost his partner on the inside, Mike moves to a hostile takeover of Gillis Industries. On the other side, Harvey and Louis pull out all the stops to make sure they win this takeover fight, and things take a personal turn. Meanwhile, Jessica and Malone come face-to-face with Sean Cahill, the attack dog with the weight of the SEC behind him, bent on bringing The Firm down.

 

[Jediknight]

Really, I watched this over the the first hour of the top 10 players in the NFL?

 

What in the world happened to this show?  Louis and Donna (mainly because of her interactions with Louis), are the only characters who my likeness of hasn't taken a dive this season.

[FormerMod-a1]

So, are we watching Mike's descent?  Completely losing who he was?  I know it's already noted how he's changed and losing his compassion, but this seemed over the top/headlights flashing/lookie here kind of development.  Of course, the end was in montage so it could be ambiguous.  

 

I still enjoy watching Harvey, even when he annoys me and he did that a lot this episode.  The same isn't true for Mike.  I hope he fails, gets fired and leaves the show.  Not that I expect that, this is all set up to get him back into the firm, I'm sure.  I don't hate him, but I'm not enjoying this.

 

It's sad that I prefer Rachel in her scenes with everyone else except Mike.  And I find Mike has more chemistry (friendship, romantic or otherwise) with everyone that he does with Rachel.  I hope this isn't just a bump in the road for them, and that they split permanently.  I like them both better separately.

[Lnmop]

How many times do they have to say "God damn" in each episode? Is this a drinking game?

[NJ RadioGuy]

This show is committing the ultimate sin in television. It's getting boring. On a macro scale, not micro.

 

Drama 101 is clearly in play here, with extra anvils thrown in for good measure. Break the protagonist down let him wallow then build him back up stronger and more relisiant. Lather rinse repeat. Eventually he Becomes Worthy of whatever the ultimate goal is that the storytellers have in store. They've done it a few times in the past, but I believe this time they're really going to put Mike through the wringer and take everything away from him, at least in the short term.

 

By the mid-season break in a few weeks my guess is that Mike is not just fired but disgraced to the point he could never work in investment banking again, the company he's so hot to save ends up getting sold off for parts or folds completely after the deal goes south, and Rachel....who knows. Or worse, she stays loyal be he winds up banging his assistant in a one night stand that will take another full season to explore and recover from.

 

And of course, in Season 4, Part 2, he comes crawling back to Lockhart-Gardner -- er -- Pearson-Specter, tail between his legs, and the story starts again with More Angsty Angst in the Rachel department, bridge building with Harvey and so on.

 

I agree with Jediknight, above. Louis and Donna are the only characters I actually give a crap about at this point, and damnit, I wish they'd stop writing Louis -- you know, the lawyer with huge billable hours and a winning record in his own specialty akin to Harvey's -- as such an incompetent moron both this season and last. He's quite honestly the only one on the show I really give a damn about, neuroses be damned. He has a soul and feelings, and in Harvey/Mike land, that equals weakness and ridicule. Just once, I wish they write a pro-Louis arc where he does more than just break even at the end, but actually wins a few rounds. Based on the couple of seconds from the preview for next week, I see a way for this to happen, too.

[hieronymous0no]

It saddens me that there is no joy or fun in—or in watching—this show anymore. It seems like a millennia ago that this was one of my favorite TV shows and I was annoying my sister with how good it was. I don't recognize the show, much less the characters anymore. I’m still going to watch for now, because there are still the occasional small moments that remind me of what it once was. I loved Donna taking up for Louis and what the writers are doing with their budding friendship. Last week’s scene where she gave him her photo was one of my favorites of all time. I don’t know if it will lead to romance and I don’t really care, but I hope they keep bringing us more of the two of them together. I don’t really care about anyone else either. I wish it wasn’t only the females who seemed to appreciate Louis. I don’t include Jessica in this group, because I feel that he is more of an amusement to her except when he’s the only one who can save her firm.

[jette]

Lnmop, Hubs and I have started keeping a running tally/episode of how many times the characters say "sh*t" in all its incarnations. Sad - we used to be focused on the plot.

[Happytobehere]

This show isn't even a summer pleasure anymore, it is sad and painful to watch.

Way too much of the dreadful Rachel and James (is that the name of the DB Woodside character?), who has made my girl Jessica dreary, and the who care battle between Harvey and Mike.

Not enough Louis, Jessica (sans DB character) and Donna.

I actually ff through a good portion of the show. Not a good sign. The show-runners better right the ship soon or I'll be gone.

[CleoCaesar]

Why didn't this show pick up on the general fan opinion that Suits simply doesn't do season-long arcs well? Season 1 was great with its case-of-the-week format and long arcs that didn't take up the whole show.

 

Rachel and Logan actually have chemistry. Unbelievable. I was so used to Rachel and Mike being completely chemistry-free blocks of wood that it is downright refreshing.

 

A lot of stupid in this episode. Harvey gets pissed off at Louis because Louis told Mike to go for funding to Harvey's enemies? Really? This was some kind of top secret strategy that Mike - wunderkind lawyer-meets-investment banker - wouldn't have come up with himself?

[bros402]

Why didn't this show pick up on the general fan opinion that Suits simply doesn't do season-long arcs well? Season 1 was great with its case-of-the-week format and long arcs that didn't take up the whole show.

 

Rachel and Logan actually have chemistry. Unbelievable. I was so used to Rachel and Mike being completely chemistry-free blocks of wood that it is downright refreshing.

 

A lot of stupid in this episode. Harvey gets pissed off at Louis because Louis told Mike to go for funding to Harvey's enemies? Really? This was some kind of top secret strategy that Mike - wunderkind lawyer-meets-investment banker - wouldn't have come up with himself?

 

They'd do a lot better with 2-4 episode arcs, with them leading up to something happening at the end of the season. They can't juggle two season long arcs at the same time.

[catrice2]

Jessica needed a man that was equal to her in power and presence.  It was a mistake to give her a boyfriend that now works for her.

 

I don't even know what to say about the rest. I am tired of Louis' insecurity and issues being the only thing that they focus on in his character.

Edited July 15, 2014 by catrice2

[DCSeawolf]

Small nitpick given the craptastically unrealistic story lines this show throws at us, but . . . it irks me every time Logan Sanders asks Rachel whether she is his lawyer or not.   Um.  No.  She's no one's lawyer.  She's a paralegal . . . (who, by the way, spends her days committing unauthorized practice of law . . . when, of course, she's not presumably spending 12 hours a day going to law school /studying at Columbia).  But, minor details . . .   I mean, what's one more non-lawyer practicing law at the greatest law firm in the universe ?

Edited July 15, 2014 by DCSeawolf

[romantic idiot]

Seriously - Rachel doesn't think to ask Logan to go to Harvey when he needs the big guns working for him for the board meeting? And how is Rachel getting work independent of Harvey?

A lot of stupid in this episode. Harvey gets pissed off at Louis because Louis told Mike to go for funding to Harvey's enemies? Really? This was some kind of top secret strategy that Mike - wunderkind lawyer-meets-investment banker - wouldn't have come up with himself?

 

I guess the thinking is that Mike wouldn't have known, without Louis there. about what went wrong with Tony Giano(sp?) and would have gone down the wrong path trying to fix that. Mike could have assumed his work wasn't good enough, or looked at Sidwell's other clients. He also would have had to look harder for that new investor guy. 

Edited July 15, 2014 by romantic idiot

[Chicago Redshirt]

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.

[hertolo]

Catching up slowly with the season, I have to agree with you in this thread. The show is getting boring and I do clink out of all the lawyery talk since a) it's getting more and more ridiculous, b) I know there's going to be a twist at the end that gives the other side new ammunition (happened in both case-arcs this week), a twist isn't twisty if we know one is coming..., but mainly I see the problem being c) too much set in the lawyer world. Now this sounds strange with Mike as an investment banker (but what does he do differently compared to last seasons?) and a show set in the legal world.

 

But I just feel the other seasons had a few topics outside, be that from the cases or from Mike's earlier life. I just feel the show would benefit a bit from that, Jessica is more interesting in her private life, but did they have to mix love and work there too? Just too much ;)

 

And lastly, I do watch the show on auto-pilot for the plot and just look at the witty "fight" dialogues and all the gorgeous visuals. But those should be toppings, not the main course, no?