Should I Check This Out - Suits season 3 (part 1)

When I last wrote about Suits, I praised season one for making the case-of-the-week formula actually work as it provided interesting new scenarios for each episode, but when season two abandoned this approach with longer storylines that covered a single season, the whole thing started to feel a little dull and far too serious given the foundations created by its pilot episode. I then concluded by stating that season three looked to be improving, but having seen the first part - as it goes on hiatus for a short while - I'm starting to doubt whether I'll even return and just check out now as the show looks to be taking a strong nosedive.

So where is it going wrong then? Well the first season had a sense of genuine wit, charm and managed to find a good balance between the melodramatic and the more lighthearted elements of the show. This time, however, the contrast between the light and serious feels jarring with very little payoff.

With Louis now turned into a comic buffoon, I felt that the writers didn't really know what to do with him as this season focused around an incredibly dull plot line - Hessington Oil. All taking place offscreen, as a pipeline is built far East, a person is murdered over land dispute by a hired gunman and the blame falls on the CEO, played by Game of Thrones star Michelle Fairley. Now its up to Mike and Harvey to set aside their differences and get to the bottom of 'whodunnit'.

The whole case takes place again within the rather bland office of Pearson Darby as characters walk up and down which starts with them addressing a problem, thinking of an idea but wait that will never stick, oh dear what are they going to do, oh wait what about X, Y and Z? Ok you do that while I do this. Rinse and repeat, and it gets dull fast.

We never see where this murder happened, which we're meant to care for as there is supposedly a lot at stake but the writers rush through anything important so it all comes across rather light on emotional investment. But then the show occasionally takes a more serious turn and becomes all dramatic and angry etc but by this point, we don't care. The defendant is unsympathetic as are Mike and Harvey who are also becoming increasingly so. It just then boils down to a bunch of over smartly dressed people taking shots at each other who have very few redeeming qualities.

Meanwhile a romantic sub-plot develops between Mike and Rachel which is clumsy at best, and reduces the supposedly intelligent Mike to making dumb decisions. Donna is also given more screentime but is reduced to gossiping with Rachel while the all-too serious oil case is going on and Louis trying to steel the British stereotype's cat. The whole thing feels unbalanced and unengaging. The continuous backstabbing, or should I say planning to do so, never sells as we know that Jessica will remain head of the firm and that Harvey will never try to take that away - the show has cemented its main characters into their roles and whatever happens, the core dynamics will never change. Whereas other shows might rock the boat by killing someone off or at least having a plot twist, Suits plays it annoyingly safe like a sitcom when it comes to character development at times.

So far this is looking like a rant but is there anything good? Well, while the show feels like it should be done with Mike's past and move on, one of the few decent episodes goes back several years, exploring another chapter in his life when he was still friends with Trevor. The episode actually brought some much needed variety to the show and, while we know where Mike will end up, watching him loose in a rigged game of cards was way more exciting than any part of the Hessington Oil saga, even if it only took up a small portion of the episode.

That single episode reminded me that this season hasn't been a total waste and that there is potential but it certainly needs to sort itself out if it wants to consider doing another case that covers ten episodes and actually make it interesting. The air of smugness, arrogance, pomposity etc is all starting to grate more and more. While the performances by the two leads are good, the writing leaves their characters underdeveloped when we need to know more about them and have at least some sort of character arc.

But the season is not over and now *Minor Spoiler* that dull case with Hessington is over - or at least I hope so - hopefully the show might - and I rarely say this - go back and adopt the case-of-the-week formula that worked so well in the first season. Or why not extend the cases over several episodes, so long as it keeps things moving and we have reason to care.

Ultimately this season will probably be the most divisive among viewers as to whether to continue watching. Should you check this out? If you're in it for the characters, and the cases aren't a big deal, then you'll enjoy this. Otherwise, if you're looking for something more meaty, it's hard to really say why you should stick it out and see where it goes. Hopefully part two will patch things up.