Should I Check This Out - Suits (Season 1 & 2)

USA Network's Suits is one of those shows that fell right under the radar and I didn't know a thing about it until a friend who had the first season on DVD suggested watching it. The best way to sum up the show, or at least the first season, is light, bright and breezy. Following Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), a stoner who takes other people's exams for money, he manages to get by through his intelligence, but through his bad habits and unreliable childhood friend, he finds himself in a tricky position, unknowingly walking into an interview to become a lawyer at a top firm with Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht). Through Ross' ability to consume information, he gets the job without a Harvard law degree and the show goes from there.


Season one adopts the tried and tested crime-of-the-week scenario through most of the season, and it works, offering something new and engaging each time. Law jargon etc is tossed around all the time, but the show never demands you to understand it all and maintains a light atmosphere.

Keeping the show moving are the charismatic duo between Adams and Macht, who have great chemistry. The supporting cast are also good, featuring a couple of 'I've seen that guy before' actors, including Rick Hoffman and Gina Torres.

The show keeps moving and manages to end the first season on a nice cliffhanger, setting up season two. From here, I started to notice some changes in tone that didn't really work, most notably throwing out the crime-of-the-week formula in favour of focusing the season around problems within the firm.

Without wanting to spoil anything, I found this tone to be kind of awkward in comparison with the lighter aspects of the show. Within a single episode, the story will have rushed along, going through a range of motions, using even more jargon but expecting you to understand it this time. Unlike the first season where there were victims who we could sympathise for, here its a battle between old and new members of the firm, which wasn't quite as exciting as it could have been. The overall impression left by this felt too serious and was trying to almost be bigger than the sum of its parts. Losing the formula of the first season also lost some of the show's variety, focusing most of the action within the walls of the firm, which can become a little stale over time.

Having said that, the dynamic between the two leads remained present and was enjoyable to watch. New cast members were added, including a rather stereotypical Englishman but it manages to liven up a rather longish season. The script also remained sharp and witty for the most part, but never quite reached the level of entertainment achieved in the first season.

Season two undoubtably has some problems, but it's a clear sign of the creators wanting to move the story forward before it becomes just another crime show. With Macht's charm and Adams' charisma, the two kept me invested in the show, and looking at season three so far, the show has managed to find a stronger balance between the melodramatic and lighter moments.