Suits - “Leveraged” Retrospective. Photoshop Engagement.

Season 4, Episode 4

Air Date: Wednesday, July 9, 2014, 9/8c on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

“I don’t need an appointment.” – Donna

Mike (Patrick J Adams) confronts Louis (Rick Hoffman)

I have never been that big into music but recently, I have downloaded several of the songs used during Suits. “Leveraged” is no exception as the show opens with “Awake,” by Electric Guest. Watching Donna (Sara Rafferty) walk almost to the beat of the music, you feel a commanding presence oozing from her as she makes her way through Sidwell Investment Group to pay Mike (Patrick J Adams) a visit. She is a woman with a mission.

Donna isn’t there for small talk, though. She’s pissed because Mike betrayed her trust when he used information she confided to him against Harvey (Gabriel Macht). When Donna tells Mike, “When you left our firm, you left me too,” it is clearly evident how upset and disappointed she is. This exchange stands out because this season has been filled with pissed off characters trying to get even with one another, especially Mike and Harvey. Donna’s anger feels different because her love for Mike as a friend makes the betrayal hurt even more. Despite being angry with Mike, once she says what she needed to get off her chest, it looks like their friendship will quickly return to the way it was. Sadly, the same can’t be said about Mike and Harvey.

I confess, I haven’t paid much attention to Mike’s secretary Amy (Melanie Papalia) simply because her role seemed so insignificant. That all changes in “Leveraged.” While she’s no Donna, Amy is fun to watch, especially when she meets Donna for the first time. Later, she tells Mike, “She’s even better than I imagined.” Amy displays a sharp wit about her that is enjoyable to watch, something that has been missing in the first few episodes. After watching Papalia’s performance in “Leveraged,” I hope the writers give Amy more scenes, but hopefully not as a love interest for Mike.

It doesn’t look good when Mike gets called into the office of Jonathan Sidwell (Brandon Firla), his boss. All signs point to Mike getting in trouble for making moves and spending company money without clearing it with anyone first. Instead, Sidwell praises Mike, telling him, “You did it like an investment banker, without permission.” Mike has always allowed his conscience to guide his decisions and I wonder if Sidwell’s cutthroat attitude is already rubbing off on Mike.

Is Jessica (Gina Torres) having second thoughts about Malone?

This season, Suits has been composed of two main storylines: (1) Mike and Harvey going head to head to gain control of Walter Gillis’ (Michael Gross) company, Gillis Industries, which can simply be described as an all-out, knock-down, drag-out fight fueled by male ego, and (2) the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) versus Pearson Specter legal battle..

First up, Mike and Harvey. They may be the two main combatants in this fight but there are plenty of casualties on both sides. Mike’s behavior and willingness to do anything to win appears to be pushing Rachel (Meghan Markle) right into the arms of her ex-lover, Logan (Brendan Hines). With the way things are going, it looks like Logan is going to ruin Rachel and Mike’s relationship. But, does he really love Rachel or is this about having what he can’t, or better yet, shouldn’t have? We already know he’s a cheater.

Poor Louis gets beaten by Mike not once but twice

Louis (Rick Hoffman) also gets caught up in the battle when Mike uses the news of Sheila Sazs’ (Rachael Harris) engagement to another man to distract Louis. The news throws Louis completely off his game, allowing Mike to win his argument in court. The only problem is Mike made up the whole thing; Sheila isn’t engaged to anyone! To say Harvey is furious that Mike plays Louis like that is an understatement as we see a level of rage from Harvey that has rarely been seen before. Donna once again provides the voice of reason, persuading Harvey to apologize to Louis after coming down hard on him. Unfortunately, the atonement doesn’t go over well when Louis confesses his feelings allowed Mike to get the best of him, yet again.

Louis: “It’s not fair, you know. I’m emotional. You’re cold. You’re loved and I’m hated.”

Harvey: “Louis, if I’m so cold, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”

As much as I enjoy seeing Mike take on Louis, the scenes are hard to watch because of the amount of empathy they evoke for Louis. Louis has always been at odds with both Mike and Harvey but this pales in comparison given the path of destruction the three former colleagues are headed down. Will their anger reach a breaking point where not even Donna can fix things?

Is Malone (DB Woodside) an asset or liability to the firm?

Next, the SEC. The news of the upcoming fight with the SEC is what initially compelled Jessica (Gina Torres) to hire former SEC prosecutor, and one-time boyfriend, Jeff Malone (DB Woodside). This storyline is the weaker of the two, especially when mixed in with the intense Gillis Industries’ battle. I’m not sure if it’s the writing, or something else, but the Malone character brings nothing to the show, and I find myself tuning out every time he’s on screen. I wish the writers had stayed with him just being Jessica’s love interest.

While the SEC storyline does little for me, I’m thrilled to see Neil McDonough guest starring in a recurring role as Sean Cahill, a bulldog SEC investigator who targets Pearson Specter. I have been a fan of McDonough since seeing him in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and enjoy his sharp wit and humor. We quickly see he’s an admirable foe based on his first encounter with Jessica and Harvey; based on this, I’m excited to see where the writers take Cahill. His addition to the cast will hopefully shake up the storyline and make the SEC fight more interesting.

Tune in to new episodes of Suits, Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET/PT, only on USA Network.

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “Leveraged.”

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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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.