S06.E08: Borrowed Time

[yeswedo]

Harvey counters Cahill's star witness. Mike tries to deliver a witness himself. Jessica and Rachel try to delay Leonard's execution. Louis adjusts to life as the other man.

[Athena5217]

So Mike, who is in prison for practicing law without a license, tells Cahill thst he is representing Sutter's daughter. Cahill has my permission to shake Mike and yell, "Have you learned nothing?!"

The Innocence Project client was apparently brought onto the show to help fulfill the quota of scenes with characters yelling at each other in an ill-conceived attempt to get what they want. If I was Jessica, I'd be tempted to let him fry.

[Cthulhudrew]

So, I figured the Louis romance would go along the lines of fall for girl and agree to polyamorous relationship, struggle with sharing girl, decide you can't share girl, drama ensues.

I just didn't figure it would happen all in the course of a single episode.

I love Carly Pope. I hate to see her saddled with such an unbelievable romantic storyline and plot element of a character. 

[marcee]

So lots of women are dying to have sex after they witness their boyfriend-after-a-2nd-date go ape-shit ballistic on the restaurant host over a missed reservation, right? I know I would.

[needschocolate]

I remember watching Suits a few years ago and, after the episode was over, I turned to my husband and said "I love this show!" Oh, those were the days - witty dialogue, intelligent cases, great fashions, heartfelt storylines.  Now? Great fashions is all that is left.  

They make everything so convoluted that every storyline becomes a multi-episode arc.  Mike can get out early if he gets info from his cellmate that will convict Sutter.  Mike gets that information, but his feelings get in the way and he tells Harvey he has nothing.  So Harvey gives Cahill the program proving that Sutter is guilty of insider trading.  But, for some reason, Cahill can't just use this program, as proof, he has to get one of Sutter's people to turn on him.   Then, either Cahill has found a witness and Harvey plays "bad cop" to try to smoke out who that witness is, or Harvey pretends to play "bad cop" to find the witness who doesn't exist yet, so that one of Sutter's people will turn on Sutter and Cahill will have the witness that Harvey is pretending to look for.  This witness is so good that Cahill's bosses don't follow through with Mike's deal, since Mike never gave them any info that would help convict Cahill.  Mike, of course, gets upset that they don't give him the deal after "all he has done" which, from the perspective of Cahill's people, is nothing.***  However, this witness, who was so good that Cahill no longer needed Mike to inform, is rendered useless after Harvey asks him 2 questions in a deposition.    

Meanwhile, Mike tries to get Kevin's wife to turn on her father.  He gets her to come to the prison and gives her some unconvincing reason that I don't remember as to why she should rat out her dad, instead of saying "Harvey is you father's lawyer and he told me that the prosecution got the program and has enough to convict your dad and, if he goes to prison, you will go to prison, so I suggest you take a plea and testify or your kids will be in foster care" Because, somehow it isn't legal for Mike to say that, but in the end, Harvey himself tells her basically the same story, but this time it is okay because Harvey is there to talk to his other client, Kevin, and, somehow, it is okay for Mike and Kevin's wife to just happen to be in the same room.  

It is like the writers are conducting some sort of science experiment to see how much stupidity viewers will put up with before they quit watching.  

*** Side note to Mike - it doesn't matter how much angst you have over everything, it doesn't matter how hard you work to get close to your cellmate, it doesn't matter what your cellmate tells you, if you don't give Cahill anything he can use.  Your deal was to give Cahill info that would convict Sutter, not get info to convict Sutter and not tell anyone.  

And Louis's big romance is so far from reality - any woman with any sense or self esteem would be telling Louis to stay away. This "romance" of his only works in the television world of romance.  I am surprised we haven't been subjected to standard TV trope of Louis and the girlfriend yelling at each other then magically, mid yelling, start passionately kissing.  And Louis hasn't exhibited any behavior that most woman would find irresistible.  Apparently, the designer is drawn to men who are creepy.  

As for the innocence project story, I am kind of hoping that Rachel and Jessica get him out and then he thanks them and tells them that he actually did commit the murder.  Rachel is too gullible to ever be a good lawyer. 

[rur]

I had hoped Mike would get out of jail in this episode just so we wouldn't have any more Harvey-Jessica-Rachel-Donna "Mike is in jail!" drama. But apparently we're going to be stuck with him in jail for the rest of this season. Rats.

[BlueJayFan]

1 hour ago, needschocolate said:

I remember watching Suits a few years ago and, after the episode was over, I turned to my husband and said "I love this show!" Oh, those were the days - witty dialogue, intelligent cases, great fashions, heartfelt storylines.  Now? Great fashions is all that is left.  

They make everything so convoluted that every storyline becomes a multi-episode arc.  Mike can get out early if he gets info from his cellmate that will convict Sutter.  Mike gets that information, but his feelings get in the way and he tells Harvey he has nothing.  So Harvey gives Cahill the program proving that Sutter is guilty of insider trading.  But, for some reason, Cahill can't just use this program, as proof, he has to get one of Sutter's people to turn on him.   Then, either Cahill has found a witness and Harvey plays "bad cop" to try to smoke out who that witness is, or Harvey pretends to play "bad cop" to find the witness who doesn't exist yet, so that one of Sutter's people will turn on Sutter and Cahill will have the witness that Harvey is pretending to look for.  This witness is so good that Cahill's bosses don't follow through with Mike's deal, since Mike never gave them any info that would help convict Cahill.  Mike, of course, gets upset that they don't give him the deal after "all he has done" which, from the perspective of Cahill's people, is nothing.***  However, this witness, who was so good that Cahill no longer needed Mike to inform, is rendered useless after Harvey asks him 2 questions in a deposition.    

Meanwhile, Mike tries to get Kevin's wife to turn on her father.  He gets her to come to the prison and gives her some unconvincing reason that I don't remember as to why she should rat out her dad, instead of saying "Harvey is you father's lawyer and he told me that the prosecution got the program and has enough to convict your dad and, if he goes to prison, you will go to prison, so I suggest you take a plea and testify or your kids will be in foster care" Because, somehow it isn't legal for Mike to say that, but in the end, Harvey himself tells her basically the same story, but this time it is okay because Harvey is there to talk to his other client, Kevin, and, somehow, it is okay for Mike and Kevin's wife to just happen to be in the same room.  

It is like the writers are conducting some sort of science experiment to see how much stupidity viewers will put up with before they quit watching.  

*** Side note to Mike - it doesn't matter how much angst you have over everything, it doesn't matter how hard you work to get close to your cellmate, it doesn't matter what your cellmate tells you, if you don't give Cahill anything he can use.  Your deal was to give Cahill info that would convict Sutter, not get info to convict Sutter and not tell anyone.  

And Louis's big romance is so far from reality - any woman with any sense or self esteem would be telling Louis to stay away. This "romance" of his only works in the television world of romance.  I am surprised we haven't been subjected to standard TV trope of Louis and the girlfriend yelling at each other then magically, mid yelling, start passionately kissing.  And Louis hasn't exhibited any behavior that most woman would find irresistible.  Apparently, the designer is drawn to men who are creepy.  

As for the innocence project story, I am kind of hoping that Rachel and Jessica get him out and then he thanks them and tells them that he actually did commit the murder.  Rachel is too gullible to ever be a good lawyer. 

And, sadly, yours is the short version.

[CaptainCranky]

1 hour ago, needschocolate said:

I remember watching Suits a few years ago and, after the episode was over, I turned to my husband and said "I love this show!" Oh, those were the days - witty dialogue, intelligent cases, great fashions, heartfelt storylines.  Now? Great fashions is all that is left.  

 

My sentiments exactly. This for me other than Elementary was the best show on TV. I've lost interest.

[nitrofishblue]

Oh my, why did they end Person Of Interest? Suits, Elementary, and Person of Interest were three series I loved. The writing was smart and interesting. Now all that is left is Elementary.

[bros402]

10 hours ago, nitrofishblue said:

Oh my, why did they end Person Of Interest? Suits, Elementary, and Person of Interest were three series I loved. The writing was smart and interesting. Now all that is left is Elementary.

They ended PoI on a high note, at least.

 

Unlike Suits, which will never end.

[CaptainCranky]

USA has a history of great TV shows like Suits i.e. Burn Notice and White Collar that are very good the first 4-5 years and then story lines get convoluted and the entertainment value is gone and become boring to watch.

[grannygeek]

Quote

USA has a history of great TV shows like Suits i.e. Burn Notice and White Collar that are very good the first 4-5 years and then story lines get convoluted and the entertainment value is gone and become boring to watch.

Yeah, too many notes/input from the suits at Suits.

And I'd say the first 2 to 3 early years at Burn Notice and White Collar. These shows, and even Person of Interest for a while always drift away from the foundational premise that established them, a case of the week or person of the week, and instead get into a season-long, convoluted, but no real forward movement story arc that could be told in a few episodes.

[tessaray]

I think I'm only watching Suits now is because it's the end of an era.  For a long time, USA shows were my favorites.  But nostalgia can only take you so far.  They really need to fix this mess if they want anyone to tune in to a S7. 

I haven't had a chance to watch this episode yet but the few comments don't make it sound appealing. (ETA:  I think I've said that more than once this season!)

Edited September 3, 2016 by tessaray

[mwell345]

On 9/2/2016 at 10:44 AM, needschocolate said:

I remember watching Suits a few years ago and, after the episode was over, I turned to my husband and said "I love this show!" Oh, those were the days - witty dialogue, intelligent cases, great fashions, heartfelt storylines.  Now? Great fashions is all that is left.  

Amen.

It also still bothers me that Harvey and Mike are the reasons why the firm has gone down the tubes, and yet whenever anyone is asked to "do it for Mike", they drop everything else and hop to it. 

[Minaboo]

Count me in as one of those who loved the first few seasons of Suits and continued to watch as it got less and less fun. But the writing is so awful and the plots so boring it has become almost unbearable. I don't hate-watch, I watch with one finger on the fast-forward button and a hope that never dies. I particularly detest that they have replaced characterization and wit with shi!, hell, damn, gdamn, and sonovabitch. 

I kept a log during this episode:

Shi! Or bullshi!  19 times

Damn or gdamn  12 times

Hell  12 times

Sonovabitch  2 times

That was during the current episode. During the previously on segment:

shi!  2

damn/gdamn  2

Sonovabitch  1

That is 50 profanities in about a 42 minute period. Even Gabriel Macht levels of pretty can't make up for that.

[catrice2]

So much truth in many of the previous posts.  I don't know if the fashion will keep me to the end. I fast forward through most of the episodes,which is anything that has to do with Mike, and sadly now Louis.  I find his storylines to be less than humerous and just more and more pathetic everyday.  The idea that any woman would be interested in his short man complex and variety of insecurities is laughable. 

I have no idea why they keep bringing back D.B. Woodside.  It should have been easy enough to cast a man who would seem capable and worthy of being a partner to Jessica, but we fall into the stereotypes of "strong black women" and relationships and/or business. 

I honestly have no idea what is going on this season and worse I don't care.  I agree with the poster who stated they are here for the memories.  I remember when I did not miss Suits, Burn Notice, White Collar, Monk!!!!  and the witness protection show that I must not have liked too much because I can't remember the name.   As I recall they ruined it as well by making the female character as annoying as Mike and Donna times two.  They also ruined Psych.  I even remember the shows that had a promise..like the excellent Cover Me, the Huntress and the cop buddy show that was no worse than anything else they had on.  I even suffered through episodes of Covert Affairs....but this, this is just sad.  I often feel bad for Gina Torres as I could easily see her as the lead in Scandal or How to Get Away with murder.....oh wait, I stopped watching those too after the first part of the first seasons.....

[tessaray]

In Plain Sight - I watched that to very end too. :-) 

I finally got around to this episode and am struggling to come up with anything I liked about it.  Well, I still like Jessica mentoring Rachel (in VERY small doses though).  It makes Rachel bearable. Nothing makes Mike watchable anymore. I hate, hate, hate the prison stuff and I hate it more with every passing episode. 

ETA:  I forgot, seeing D.B. Woodside for a few minutes was nice.  I wish we could ditch Mike and keep him. 

Edited September 4, 2016 by tessaray

[Cthulhudrew]

13 hours ago, CaptainCranky said:

USA has a history of great TV shows like Suits i.e. Burn Notice and White Collar that are very good the first 4-5 years and then story lines get convoluted and the entertainment value is gone and become boring to watch.

Oh my, Burn Notice. That show started to go downhill with the introduction of the Jesse character, but it still managed to turn out two pretty good seasons with him regardless (and he ended up being not awful by the end). That entire last season, though? Really should not have happened.

Same with Psych. I love, love, love the first two seasons. Season 3 was pretty good, up until the first Mr. Yang episode. Other than the ridiculously omniscient villain of that episode, it was watchable. But then they kept going with it and did 2 or three more Yang/Yin episodes. And they made Shawn more and more prominent and obnoxious, and tossed out the best part of the show, which was the ensemble cast, Shawn's relationship with his dad, and even eventually got rid of the clueing in and Shawn's detective skills (instead, having him increasingly stupidly stumble into a solution). The last episode was a good finale, but that show really should have ended a couple of seasons earlier, too.

Same with Suits. :(

[Slovenly Muse]

Hmmm. Just catching up on this one after vacation. I think I might be crazy, but I kind of... liked it? After this season dragging on and going absolutely NOWHERE, it was really satisfying to actually get some payoff. Finally, I felt some emotions over the Mike-in-prison storyline, and Harvey twisting the knife while informing Sutter that he'd been totally owned, that was the kind of thing that used to delight me about this show. That kind of win (even though it may not last long) used to happen in nearly every episode, now there's about one good one a season. Hopefully they keep the ball rolling right to the end!

However, despite some surface enjoyment, this show will NEVER stop with all the childish tantrums and ludicrous behaviour. Like Mike believing he was entitled to his deal, even though he didn't actually give Cahill anything (and actually withheld what he did know), like effort counts more than results. And Innocence Project guy treating Rachel and Jessica like they were his family counsellors rather than lawyers, because saving his life when no one else would even listen should have been their secondary goal after convincing his aunt he didn't do it? His whole storyline feels like a waste of screentime. It has nothing to say, it doesn't mean anything, it's just something to keep Rachel and Jessica busy, and while I'm not opposed to Rachel having something to do independently of Mike, I'm kind of over this guy. I'm not convinced he didn't do it, but they're not playing up any suspense or uncertainty around that, so why bother wondering? He's not compelling, and he's not making Rachel OR Jessica any more compelling while dealing with him (Jessica is, of course, compelling on her own, but her interactions with this convict whose name I can't even remember are the least interesting things she's doing right now).

And I have nothing against D.B. Woodside, but he never really brought much to the show, mostly because his character was poorly written and a little creepy (consistently violating Jessica's personal/professional boundaries that he had agreed to respect when he took the job, then getting mad at HER about it), so I'll be happy if he takes that Chicago gig and doesn't hang around. Jessica could do better.

Good use of Donna this episode. Believable, personal, minimal. Just right.

Mixed bag, of course, but I didn't regret watching it, and that's progress!

[Dowel Jones]

The writers are just glossing over the fact that Harvey and Cahill illegally colluded to get Sutter convicted of illegal trading.  That's a big deal in the legal world, but apparently, since, Sutter has been written as a nasty guy, it's okay.  I would laugh if Sutter recorded his last conversation with Harvey, and spilled the beans on him to the bar and the press.  Then Mike and Jessica could take hours away from building the firm back up to pursue Harvey's case.

Gallo and Mike aren't done yet. That won't end well, either.

[sabriiina2016]

I'm also catching up with this season and I dunno how I feel about it, but I'm gonna keep watching the upcoming episodes...

IMO they should've started this season with Mike getting out of prison after completing his sentence.. but somehow I also wanted to see how Mike adapts to life in prison and realise the reason why he is in prison (I haven't seen anything that indicates him regretting his actions.. what he did was wrong) and move forward.. That would've been an interesting storyline... but with this whole "let's get Mike out of prison/Sutter/Kevin" storyline, I feel like they screwed up the whole thing... 

Edited September 4, 2016 by sabriiina2016

[needschocolate]

16 hours ago, mwell345 said:

Amen.

It also still bothers me that Harvey and Mike are the reasons why the firm has gone down the tubes, and yet whenever anyone is asked to "do it for Mike", they drop everything else and hop to it. 

It made some sense when they had to protect Mike because they didn't want the secret out and bring down the firm.  But now the secret is out and the firm has been brought down, so why do they care so much about Mike that they will drop everything to "do it for Mike"?  they haven't made him so likeable for everyone to love him so much.  I can understand Rachel caring, and perhaps Harvey (Mike is his only friend, or because he feels some guilt that Mike is in prison and he got away with the whole fraud thing).  They haven't really shown us any reason why Jessica cares so much about what happens to Mike, although they did, sort of, have her, kind of, tell Harvey that he should put the firm before Mike, in a way. Actually, I don't understand why Jessica cares about Harvey.  

1 hour ago, sabriiina2016 said:

I'm also catching up with this season and I dunno how I feel about it, but I'm gonna keep watching the upcoming episodes...

IMO they should've started this season with Mike getting out of prison after completing his sentence.. but somehow I also wanted to see how Mike adapts to life in prison and realise the reason why he is in prison (I haven't seen anything that indicates him regretting his actions.. what he did was wrong) and move forward.. That would've been an interesting storyline... but with this whole "let's get Mike out of prison/Sutter/Kevin" storyline, I feel like they screwed up the whole thing... 

I agree.  Maybe do an episode about most everybody leaving the firm and a montage of what Harvey, Jessica, Louis (those three would be out getting clients - maybe one wins a prominent case and gives the firm a boost),  Rachel (finishes law school and passes the bar), and Donna (maybe 20 seconds of her saying "because I'm Donna as many times as she can) did for the next two years, then the second episode of the season would be Mike getting out.  He goes to work for the new firm as a paralegal and they actually have cases, and the biggest secret is "Who is Harvey/Louis/Jessica dating?" or "How can Donna afford that dress?"

[Rustybones]

Come on.  There's no way a layperson can understand all the twists and turns this season.  Maybe someone who's had experience can educate us if all their pranks are ligit or made up for TV.  To me it's all bullshit.

[grannygeek]

Why not Mike being a really good Jailhouse Lawyer, helping the wrongly convicted, bringing justice into the prison? Too obvious? Run his own Innocence Project from inside.

[backgroundnoise]

Mike and Rachel really expect everyone else in the world to accommodate their every wish, don't they?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 9/4/2016 at 1:10 AM, Dowel Jones said:

The writers are just glossing over the fact that Harvey and Cahill illegally colluded to get Sutter convicted of illegal trading.  That's a big deal in the legal world, but apparently, since, Sutter has been written as a nasty guy, it's okay.  I would laugh if Sutter recorded his last conversation with Harvey, and spilled the beans on him to the bar and the press.  Then Mike and Jessica could take hours away from building the firm back up to pursue Harvey's case.

Exactly what should happen.  Then Harvey can refuse to rat out Cahill and take the fall for both of them.  Then some law enforcement official who had nothing to do with prosecuting Harvey will ask him to inform on his cellmate, whose family member Cahill currently represents after leaving the SEC to join Pearson Specter.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 9/6/2016 at 1:00 PM, Rustybones said:

There's no way a layperson can understand all the twists and turns this season.  Maybe someone who's had experience can educate us if all their pranks are ligit or made up for TV. 

Cahill risking his reputation and giving up all pretense of professional ethics is exactly what Harvey did with Gallo, and Sutter was no murderer. The rest of the machinations and twists and turns are nonsense.

With respect to the Innocence Project case, if a death row inmate could get a new trial due to an allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel, as a result of said counsel failing to find an unreliable defense witness, even if said counsel signed an affadavit  declaring herself to have been ineffective (which is what I think happened), there would be a lot of new trials for death row inmates!  I also find it extremely unlikely that an execution would be delayed due to the prisoner's desired family member being unable to attend, but I have no personal knowledge of that.  It's all moot as it has been earlier pointed out that NY has no effective death penalty, as the death penalty statute was ruled unconstitutional in 2004 and in 2007 all remaining death sentences were reduced to life.  There is no death row in NYS. (The federal system differs.)