Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson/Vulture and Photo by USA Network
With the arrival of Suits’ midseason premiere, USA has hit the royal jackpot in what’s otherwise a standard legal procedural: Meghan Markle, a.k.a. Prince Harry’s soon-to-be bride, will leave the series after its season-seven finale, effectively putting her acting career behind to hobnob with the Windsors.
For royal watchers tuned into Suits for the first time to support the future duchess, here’s what you need to know: Markle plays Rachel Zane, an amiable and sharp summer associate who worked her way up the corporate ladder from a paralegal gig. She’s also engaged to the firm’s junior partner, Mike (Patrick J. Adams), after years of a slow-burn romance. To be honest, Rachel is rather … meh. Suits is good, as far as basic cable legal dramas go, but the day-to-day thrills of a Manhattan law firm can only get so wild, which means Rachel’s stories tend to revolve around boardroom meetings, filing cabinets, and occasional show-downs between distrustful clients.
Got it? Each week, we’ll dutifully provide a recap of every notable thing that Meghan Markle does on Suits for the remainder of the season. Let’s dive into Marklemania, shall we?
Markle-cap, week one
She flirts with her work boo.
She smooches her work boo!
She and her work boo argue about a trucking company case.
Power walking alert! There’s a break in that trucking company case. Justice will be served … as the New York state law dictates.
Another smooch!
That’s all for now, folks. Come back next week for further Markle-tastic exploits.
We should’ve known that Darvey kiss wouldn’t be the happy beginning of Donna and Harvey’s long-awaited pairing. The aftermath of the smooch played out in much harsher fashion during the Wednesday, March 28, episode of Suits, titled “Hard Truths.”
Not Just a Kiss
Harvey (Gabriel Macht) was furious with Donna (Sarah Rafferty) after she kissed him unexpectedly because he was in a relationship with Paula. His first instinct was to ask Paula to move in with him, but she declined, saying she didn’t want to rush things. Harvey proceeded to take out his frustrations on Donna at work, booting her from meetings and embarrassing her during an interview with a potential senior partner. Donna confronted Harvey and told him she felt nothing when she kissed him, but Harvey was still upset she’d made him a cheater.
Harvey decided to tell Paula — two days after the kiss happened — and she was understandably upset he’d asked her to move in with him right after locking lips with Donna. After Donna apologized and Harvey asked her for advice about making Mike (Patrick J. Adams) a senior partner, which she told him not to do, Harvey acknowledged that Donna has always put him before herself, and they hugged it out, leaving their relationship status up in the air — but what else is new? Later, Harvey told Paula about sleeping with Donna years ago, and her response was nothing but stunned silence.
Drop the Pearson
Though Jessica didn’t make an appearance, her impending disbarment was hotly debated. Harvey and Louis (Rick Hoffman) tried to stall the announcement, but ultimately, time wasn’t on their side. Louis suggested the firm put out a statement disavowing Jessica so they could get approval from a former name partner to restructure and buy Jessica out. Harvey reluctantly agreed to endorse it once he had Jessica’s blessing.
Team-Up
Alex gave Mike one of his major clients, and of course, it came with a problem. Mike asked Rachel (Meghan Markle) to help him with the case, but she said she was too busy. Mike sensed something shady was going on with the company, so Rachel looked into it further and discovered fraud. She and Mike teamed up, which led Mike to suggest they work together on cases more often. Rachel countered that they should collaborate on something else: planning their wedding.
Suits airs on USA Network Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox!
Change is in the air on Suits.
After seven seasons, the USA Network drama will bid adieu to original series stars Patrick J. Adams and Meghan Markle when their characters, Mike and Rachel, make their final appearance in Season 7B’s two-hour finale (airing April 25).
RELATED Patrick J. Adams Leaving Suits With Meghan Markle — Get Details on Mike and Rachel’s April Farewell
While viewers are already anticipating the exits, the pair’s departure will come as somewhat of a surprise to the engaged couple themselves, executive producer Aaron Korsh tells TVLine below.
Read on as Korsh previews what drives the duo to depart and teases the aftermath of that “Darvey” kiss in this Wednesday’s premiere (USA Network, 9/8c).
TVLINE | Are there going to be hints leading up to the finale as to how we will be saying goodbye to Mike and Rachel?
Yes. We lay the groundwork in a subtle way, and then we also have some actual logistical things that happen within the show. But if we hadn’t made the announcement that they were leaving, I do not think you would have seen them leaving coming.
TVLINE | Now we’ll be reading into everything instead.
Yeah. I don’t think that they knew, Mike and Rachel.
RELATEDSuits Promotes Amanda Schull to Series Regular for Season 8
TVLINE | What can you say about the circumstances under which they’re going to be leaving? Is it a business thing, a personal decision?
Mike and Harvey, at the end of Season 6, made the deal about “one for you, one for me,” meaning “one pro bono case for you, and one corporate case for me.” And the truth of the matter is that’s a tough thing to maintain. Do you want to be a pro bono attorney that helps people? Or do you want to be a corporate attorney that’s about money? It’s hard to have a major foot in both camps. And in large degree, Season 7 is about Mike realizing that, and the back six [episode arc] codifies that in his mind through one particular incident that happens on a case that he’s trying.
TVLINE | And how does Rachel play into it?
Also in the back six and in Season 7, they’re finally getting down to, “Listen, we put this wedding off. You’re now out of prison. Are we going to focus on it or not?” And the front half of Season 7 was them saying, “Let’s put it to the side a little bit,” and then the back half of Season 7 is them saying, “Let’s put it on the front burner a little bit.” And in putting it on the front burner, I wouldn’t say it forces you, but when you’re getting married, you tend to think about what you want out of life. Where do you want to spend it? How do you want to lead it? There’s a particular episode where that comes to the fore with them, and that plays into what’s going on with Mike, professionally — and collectively, they make this decision.
RELATEDSuits Spinoff Starring Gina Torres Gets Series Order at USA Network
TVLINE | Looking at the more immediate future and the premiere, where does it pick up, and what state of mind are Harvey and Donna in?
It picks up right where it left off. The state of mind that Harvey is in is he’s in shock. He walked into a room to tell Donna that Malik had come after Jessica. She was going to lose her license and, basically, her name has to come off the wall. So he was already in shock when he walked into the room. And he’s in a relationship with Paula. Donna plants a kiss on him, and he is clearly affected by that kiss. He was already in shock, and he has an unforeseen major thing happen to him that is obviously going to have ramifications on his current relationship. Donna’s state of mind leading up to that kiss was Mike got in her head, Louis got in her head, and she had to know what her own feelings for Harvey were. She didn’t know about what the future would hold for them, and she just did something, a bold thing, spur-of-the-moment. I’m going to leave what effect that kiss had in her brain to the episode.
SUITS returns tonight at 8.30pm on Foxtel’s Universal channel — with all eyes on co-stars Meghan Markle and Patrick J. Adams, both leaving the series after seven seasons.
Markle, of course, will marry Prince Harry May 19 at Windsor Castle. She plays Suits lawyer Rachel Zane, who’s engaged to Mike Ross (Adams), the brilliant legal mind and one-time faux lawyer who’s now legit, splitting his time between the firm and pro bono work.
“Having them both leave at the same time has allowed us to give them a happy ending,” says series creator Aaron Korsh. “Had one [actor] left before the other, we might not have been able to do that.”
Korsh says there were some “logistics involved” in shooting the season, including “heightened security,” once Markle and Harry’s romance heated up.
“There were some days we knew Meghan couldn’t shoot, which is common with actors,” he says. “But on set it was the same as always. In terms of within the family of the show it felt the same to me.”
Korsh does admit that Markle’s upcoming royal wedding has had a huge impact on Suits, a fan favourite which will return for an eighth season with new co-star Katherine Heigl.
“Without a doubt it’s jacked up our visibility,” he says. “All we really get is linear TV ratings and those were not affected as much by [the romance], but in terms of awareness of the show … it’s exploded. Any time somebody in your cast that finds someone and falls in love is great — whether they’re famous or not.”
This article was originally published on the New York Post
