Episode Title: “I Want You to Want Me”
Writer: Jon Cowan
Director: Roger Kumble
Previously on “Suits:”
Episode 3.01 “The Arrangement”
Breaking up is hard to do, but sometimes making up proves even harder. The second entry in “Suits’” third season is chock full of gossip-plagued dysfunctional relationships, sappy rom com quotes and the rekindling of a bromance at the expense of another.
Despite multiple mea culpas, Harvey (Gabriel Macht) will not forgive Mike (Patrick J. Adams); which opens the door for Louis (Rick Hoffman) to take him on as his associate, with Harvey’s blessing. Louis’ wines and dines Mike while the two fight an eminent domain case that threatens one of the city’s finest steak houses. It’s a near impossible case to win, but like he always does, Mike finds a way to turn things around at the eleventh hour.
But it’s not the big win that has Mike considering a move to Team Litt; it’s the way Louis treats him. Sure, what man doesn’t love a good cheesecake and a mud baths? But it’s Louis’ respect that leads Mike to take him up on his offer.
While Mike and Louis bond over Jerry Maguire, Harvey is forced to work with Jessica (Gina Torres) to keep oil baroness, Eva Hessington from going down on bribery charges. Harvey’s old mentor-turned-nemesis, Cameron Dennis (Gary Cole) is determined to shame his former protégé. But like always, Harvey is one step ahead of the opposition. He and Jessica target Cameron’s star witness and force him to make a deal.
“I Want You to Want Me” offers up the usual last minute table-turning and trash talking we’ve come to expect from “Suits,” but it’s really all a big metaphor for Harvey’s relationships with Jessica and Mike. Like Harvey, Eva Hessington was betrayed by her protégé, Nick. However, unlike Harvey, she realizes the position Nick was put in and admits that she’ll miss him.
As for Jessica, Harvey tells Cameron she was his mentor, not him. Does this mean Harvey’s willing to get past their past? Jessica compares their relationship the epic Hatfield and McCoy family feud, suggesting it’s gone so far neither one can really say who started it. And honestly, neither can I.
The same can be said for Rachel’s (Meghan Markle) beef with Donna (Sarah Rafferty) for interfering in her budding relationship with Mike on Harvey’s behalf. The back-and-forth drama of “Suits” can be dizzying at times, packing in all the twists and turns of a decade-long soap opera into a single season. But the difference between “Suits” and every other show of lesser quality is its characters, not necessarily the drama du jour, episode to episode.
On the character note, we get some great moments with Louis in this hour, like a view of his mud-covered butt and watching him feed Mike cheesecake. Despite their past differences, Louis and Mike turn out to be a great team. Unfortunately, it’s short-lived. After Donna convinces him to forgive Mike, Harvey offers Mike his old job back. Initially, Mike declines, telling Harvey he’s given Louis his word. Not one to take “no” for an answer, Harvey presses until Mike relents, or at least appears to, exchanging high-fives as Louis is about to walk in the room with a cake to celebrate his new partnership with Mike.
It’s another sad moment for Louis who keeps trying to redeem himself only to get kicked in the gut, again and again. During a mid-mud bath chat, Mike tells Louis he has a knack for showing people his good side only to turn on them moments later. Now, it looks like Louis is getting a taste of his own medicine. But does he really deserve it?
By the end of the episode, Harvey and Mike are back together and so are Mike and Rachel. Harvey’s still has it out for Jessica, now holding her accountable for Mike’s disloyalty. Hopefully, Mike’s latest betrayal isn’t just fodder for Louis’ on-again, off-again feud with Harvey. With no associate to call his own and no real friends at the firm, Louis is once again an island. But if Mike keeps burning bridges, he too may find himself alone and adrift, yet again.
