S03.E14: Heartburn

[Tara Ariano]

Harvey and Mike have unpleasant work to do; Louis faces a challenge; Rachel tries to collect an old debt.

[Zalyn]

Louis' story continues to carry so many interesting elements for the show.  I found the marriage negotiation with Sheila Szass to be very real, and to see a person who could be considered childfree presented fairly but in a situation of conflict was very interesting (especially since it was the woman who didn't want children).  I have friends who are CF, and they've suffered in several serious relationships in the same way as Louis and Sheila - so very sad!

[Lisin]

Poor Louis forever!

Mike is bugging me though. He's too smart to be this delusional. He knew the second he stepped into the first courtroom and presented himself as an attorney that he'd never be able to actually become a real high powered attorney. It's stupid to act like he could go back and "fix" his situation. Everything Harvey said is exactly correct.

[random chance]

I can see how Mike didn't think of it, since he went from scratching out a living to making good money practically overnight.  At first all he noticed was how much better his life was.  Once things became more of a routine, he finally looked around and realized he was in a cage.

I never wanted children, so it baffles me why someone would give up "the love of their life" in the present for potential children in the future. 

[Zalyn]

I can see how Mike didn't think of it, since he went from scratching out a living to making good money practically overnight.  At first all he noticed was how much better his life was.  Once things became more of a routine, he finally looked around and realized he was in a cage.

I never wanted children, so it baffles me why someone would give up "the love of their life" in the present for potential children in the future. 

Yeah, I went through a time where I was working contracted jobs and it was a very hand-to-mouth situation, so I agree that it's easy to get swept up in the "Wow, I'm making so much money!" dazzle.  Even though it puts Mike in quite a bind, I appreciate that the show is willing to bring that reality in at last.

On the children thing, I think that it's taken as such a given and until recently, was fairly invisible/outsourceable for men, that we as a society don't have a good way to talk about it effectively and maturely. Only recently has adoption become more accepted (see: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt) and nontraditional families in general become more recognized. For many people, biological children are more "real" than adopted, and heck, some still have issues with interracial children (see: Cheerios commercial). 

Marriage had become equated with love, and all the trappings that go along with it - living together, producing children, etc - have been rolled in without question ("if you love them, you'll compromise"), but now we're finally able to start talking about these as things in themselves.

[Curious5]

Mike probably is the only character I really don't care for.  I was surprised to realized I was hoping he would get burned a couple of times. His story was a good entry for the show but maybe it's time to get him out of the law firm.

Harvey is still my favorite and don't like his little girlfriend.  Anyone who demands to know every secret you have strike me as a dangerous person. She could turn on him at any time.

[random chance]

I can never think of that actress as anyone but BlahBlah on How I Met Your Mother. She's on Rectify too, and I have the same problem there.

[Danny Franks]

So when did this happen? Rachel has become my favourite character on the show. She was such a waste of space in the first season, and in most of season 2, and yet she's become completely awesome in season 3.

I think it's the exposure to Louis, who is on his own journey of awesomeness, that's done it. I said back on the old TWoP forums that I'd love to watch a spinoff of Louis, Rachel, Donna and Katrina starting up their own little firm, and with each episode, I wish it could happen more. And, looking back, that first season, she had scenes with no one but Mike, up until the season finale, where she had a scene with Donna. I'm glad the writers belatedly realised that she needed to have relationships with her other colleagues, in order to become an interesting character.

Harvey has reverted to his old, mildly douchy self, which is a huge improvement on the colossal asshole he was for most of this season so far. I did like his unabashed enjoyment of Rachel getting one over on Jessica, I have to say. That was a fun moment, in a show that has been forgetting how to have fun moments. Rachel openly uses her insider knowledge of Harvey (learned via Mike) to her advantage, and Harvey just grins about it, because it's caused Jessica some medium level irritation.

I felt so bad for Louis, that he briefly had everything he wanted, and then had to give up a big part of it. But at least he still has the respect of his colleagues, and the knowledge that Harvey said yes to being his best man. I hope they don't have him sabotage himself and act like a jerk to them all again, in the wake of this breakup.

Mike is finally figuring out that he's on a hiding to nothing, and can never get anywhere? Yeah, that was obvious from the start, wasn't it? As soon as he attracts any attention, and people start asking questions, he's compromised. And Harvey was right, he can't go to law school now, because that would bring up too many questions as well. Not sure what the outcome of this storyline is going to be, but the storyline, like Mike's career, seems like a dead end right now. I'd rather they just handwaved all of that stuff and quietly forgot that Mike is a fake.