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Suits – “Fork in the Road” Review. Team Player.

Season 4, Episode 13

Air Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2015, 10/9c on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

“Put your seatbelt on because we’re about to take a trip down memory lane.” – Harvey

Patrick J. Adams as Mike Ross

I’ve never been a fan of flashback episodes because they always seem like an easy way for writers to provide a backstory or fill plot holes they previously missed. That said, “Fork in the Road” is less of a flashback episode and more an opportunity to shed a light on the events that created the divide between Louis (Rick Hoffman) and Harvey (Gabriel Macht).

As much as I enjoy the Louis/Harvey backstory, I find myself frustrated with the writers about Mike’s (Patrick J. Adams) story line Don’t get me wrong, it is very entertaining. The flirting and courtship Mike has with Claire (Troian Bellisario), an intern at a legal clinic, feels real and the chemistry is great. Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that Bellisario is Adams’ real life fiancé. Something about the dialogue and innocence in Adams’ behavior in “Fork in the Road” reminds me of the pilot episode when Mike first meets Harvey. There’s a spirit to that scene I can’t fully describe that I haven’t seen since; that is, until Mike meets Claire.

My disappointment stems from the rewriting of history that often takes place when a show has a flashback episode. In Mike’s case, the writers keep the core story but downplay how the death of Mike’s parents helped shaped his appreciation for the law. Instead, Mike’s motivation to become a lawyer seems to be driven by the need to impress a girl. It’s great that everything still fits into the original narrative but the emphasis shifts from his parents to Claire. My other issue is Claire is a carbon copy of Rachel (Meghan Markle), making me wonder whether Mike falls in love with Rachel because of who she is as a person or because of whom she reminds him of. Even their breakup feels vaguely familiar with Claire discovering the truth about Mike. It also diminishes the first meeting between Harvey and Mike as the idea of Mike pretending to have gone to law school in order to work on a case no longer seems out of the blue and by chance.

David Costabile reprises his role as Daniel Hardman in “Fork in the Road.” It doesn’t matter what year the scene takes place, you can count on one thing—Hardman is a jerk. Costabile has done an excellent job creating a character who makes you worry that something bad is about to happen just by the sight of him. I can’t help wondering where Harvey and Louis would be had Hardman not divided them the way he does. Some might argue it made them stronger; I think they were always strong and could have been stronger working together rather than against each other. As much as Louis’ antics have irritated the crap out of me the last few episodes, Hardman represents a totally different kind of ass.

What a cute real life couple.

With the casting of Bellisario in “Fork in the Road,” I wondered whether it was a PR stunt. Obviously not as she is not only perfect in the role, she has wonderful onscreen chemistry with Adams. The same can be said of Stephen Macht, Gabriel’s father in last week’s “Respect.” He, too, was perfect in his role. If searching the family tree of the Suits cast keeps bringing this quality of guest stars, I say keep going.

The writers do an excellent job laying the groundwork for a fitting resolution of differences between Mike and Louis. What could have been easily rushed is so perfectly written and acted, the transition from hatred to friend is seamless. The use of Harvey and the confines of the “badass car” provides a great environment for the tension to be worked out. One my favorite lines of the night is when Louis finally turns to Mike and says, “You’re not a fraud Mike, you just never went to law school.”

I recently said the show needs to get out of the office more. Who knew that would mean road trip? Although, as someone who has done two 48 state road trips, I’m not sure how long I could survive riding in a car with Louis, who can be trying at times.

“Fork in the Road” is a very entertaining episode. If we’ve learned one thing from the Back to the Future movies, though, it’s that anytime you go back in time and change one little thing, it can alter the future. “Fork in the Road” fills in some gaps but it also shifts some established emotions, as well as our view of certain situations. As much as I enjoyed this episode, I think a little piece of the innocence from Mike’s story was lost.

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “Fork in the Road.”

For more on the show, go to http://www.usanetwork.com/series/suits/.

Follow Suits on Twitter, as well as some of the cast: <Mike> Patrick J Adams, <Harvey> Gabriel Macht, <Rachel> Meghan Markle, and <Louis> Rick Hoffman.

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Photos: © 2015 USA Network, LLC, a division of NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.

Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.