S04.E13: Fork in the Road

[yeswedo]

Harvey and Louis take a drive to aid an out-­-of-­-town client to whom they both have deep ties; and Harvey uses the opportunity to force a confrontation between Louis and Mike about their trust issues. Meanwhile, in a flashback, we discover the root of Harvey and Louis’s competitive relationship in their early days at the firm. And Mike first learns the limitations of his genius when it comes to the law.

[bros402]

The instrumental song in the flashback where Harvey is yelling at Louis for not playing fair and square makes the scene rather hilarious.

 

It's Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy.

 

[Jediknight]

Better than last week.  Good to see that Louis and Mike are repairing their relationship, and that Louis can fight.  I don't know why we needed to see Rachel getting hired, that was the definition of a random add-on scene.

 

Thanks USA for showing a preview of a movie I actually want to see.

[Crs97]

I don't know why they keep treating the problem as if everyone just needs to talk/hug it out and it will all be okay.  I wanted to see a follow up conversation after Louis said, "You've ruined my life.  You've ruined my firm."  Because he is right.  Instead, Mike pulled the orphan card and Louis suddenly was all sympathetic.  If they get caught, they will be disbarred and the firm will close and all the younger associates will have a huge taint on their resume.  The orphan story won't work on the state bar or the clients or the malpractice attorneys now suing them.  

 

If Louis brings up being named partner again "so I can do what I want" I am going to scream.  When I was working, the first named partner had a secretary who tried to play that card a few times.  He called her into his office and said because his name was on the door first, he actually worked for everyone else so he was the lowest employee, not the most important.  When I became partner, the only things that changed were the responsibilities and the expectations.  Oh, and clients have a big say on who represents them.  You don't just pass them off like that.

 

This is one of the few shows my husband watches that I can watch with him, and I think he just watches because my reactions are so funny.  This show drives me crazy.

[Congo]

Yeah, the CEO of the motor company and Harvey both made it explicitly clear that loyalty was #1 for them above all else. I don't think Mr. CEO would take too kindly to Harvey designating Louis and a newb like Mike to be his new lawyers, even if they are all part of the same firm.

 

Question for the legal experts: would a managing partner like Jessica have clients of her own, or would she be too busy overseeing the firm as a whole? We mostly just see her sitting on that damn couch in her office casually reading some document.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Congo

[Curious5]

Not that happy with this episode.  Really don't care about how it all started.  I do think it truly cemented the profile of Louis - mean, jealous, self centered prick.

[Jediknight]

Yeah, the CEO of the motor company and Harvey both made it explicitly clear that loyalty was #1 for them above all else. I don't think Mr. CEO would take too kindly to Harvey designating Louis and a newb like Mike to be his new lawyers, even if they are all part of the same firm.

Mike helped save McKernon Motors, and Dominic Barone, the guy who is the reason McKernon is so successful seemed to like Mike.  I don't think Barone, and the owner of McKernon (who bought it thanks to Harvey) would have a problem with Mike taking over.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Jediknight

[roomtorome]

Gad - these writers stink.  So redundant and dull - to me.

[FormerMod-a1]

I was bored by all the flashbacks.

[Happytobehere]

My only question about this episode is, "Are we supposed to care about the flashbacks to yesteryear?"

My only statement is, "Mike remains an entitled prick."

[Crs97]

I didn't care about the flashbacks.  As a matter of fact, Mike's flashback just made me annoyed that he continues his pretense that he's a lawyer when it ended so badly the first time.

[Congo]

I think the pre-Rachel Rachel hit the nail on the head: Mike really does have some mental issues to work out! He has some sort of compulsive lying problem.

[Curious5]

It is getting to the point I keep envisioning all the gals on Stair Masters to keep their figures.  It is turning into fashion show.

[Chicago Redshirt]

One of the worst things about this episode is that it lays the groundwork for not one, but two people who are likely going to resurface. Both the actual attorney and the ex then-law student will now know that Mike pretended to be a law student at Columbia. So when -- not if -- they cross paths with him again, they will likely suspect his pretending to be a Harvard grad is also false.

 

I really wish the writers would abandon the Secret. But they just can't quit it.

[DarkRaichu]

1. Khaleesi's translator is much hotter than Rachel Zane (even without that scene on the river ;) )

 

2. Mike's grandma yelling at Mike was probably the best part of the flashback

 

3. According to this timeline Harvey was a Junior Partner for less than 2 years before being promoted to Senior Partner.  If I was Louis I would hate Harvey too

 

4. I was hoping this would be the end of fake Mike saga.  Now they introduced 2 lawyers who knew about Mike's past and could jeopardize Mike's career.

[Orbert]

I still can't figure this out.  Louis was never going to forgive Mike.  Harvey got them in the car together, so obviously by time it was over, those two would kiss and make up (so to speak), but I still can't figure out why Louis finally decided to forgive Mike.  Louis had Mike in a headlock, yelling "You ruined my life! You ruined my firm!" (or maybe it was the other way around), then we go to a commercial, come back, and they're both leaning against the car, disheveled but calming down, and obviously they've come to terms.

 

I know, there was a little more to it.  Harvey broke them up, and Louis was practically in tears.  Was that all he needed?  To be able to articulate what he hates about Mike, get it out in the open?  Then what, Harvey went back inside to buy beverages?  Are we supposed to just assume that Mike and Louis had a meaningful conversation and it's okay that we didn't see it, because the point was that they're past it now and that's what's important?

[HawaiiTVGuy]

I think the reason that Louis and Mike "worked it out" was because Louis realized that all his anger about "ruining his life" and "ruining the firm" was really directed at himself. He is the one that broke the law completely independent of Mike's ongoing lie and put the firm at risk, and he was just looking for someone or something to project his own inner guilt on, thus his crying after his beat down of Mike. Also, as Mike pointed out, Mike isn't "patient zero" it is actually his best buddy Harvey, and all of this is actually Harvey's fault. Why Harvey just didn't hire Mike as a paralegal is a question that no one seems to want to ask.

[candall]

I watched this when it was new and liked it, but then it became tiresome and I gave up on it.

 

So I checked in with this brand spanky new 2015 episode and look!  It's EXACTLY the same as Season One:

 

"We have conspired in this numbnuts move and now We Have To Keep Mike's Secret, but uh-oh,  a couple of people are in a particularly good position to ferret it out and ruin us all."

 

Hell, even Grammy's back.

[wayne67]

I have an idea for what this firm really needs "CORPORATE RETREAT"

[Roseanna]

On ‎16‎.‎2‎.‎2015 at 4:39 AM, Congo said:

I think the pre-Rachel Rachel hit the nail on the head: Mike really does have some mental issues to work out! He has some sort of compulsive lying problem.

Just as Clark Kent has, only in the opposite way.

Also Clark Kent pretends to be someone he isn't, in order to have a normal life and but also in order to make sure that people like him as a person, without his super powers. Mike pretended to be a law student because he wanted to date a girl like Claire, but he also wanted to help an immigrant because he cared. Claire's boss rejected Mike's suggestion after learning that Mike was no law student, without checking if Mike's suggestion was good or no and thus failed the immigrant. To the boss, just as to Claire, it didn't mean anything what Mike could do in reality, only his formal position. (BTV, why did the boss check Mike and tell Claire? Because he was interested in Claire himself.) 

Instead, what Mike do can and how he is means to Harvey and Rachel more than his lack of diploma. Of course, irl it would be no excuse, but the same has been a crux of the matter in hundreds of novels and movies. "Yes, he pretended to be Ruritania's king, but doing so he showed that he acted just like the king should, unlike the real king."     

The problem Mike really had before was his short attention span and his willingness to do anything his only friend Trevor asked him to do. I am sure that if Claire had become his girlfriend, he would have gone to the law school. But because Claire dumped him, he abandoned his plan. He should have listened to his grandmother, not Trevor.