Episode Title: “Shadow of Doubt”
Writer: Genevieve Sparling
Director: Felix Alcala
Previously on “Suits:”
Episode 3.04 “Conflict of Interest”
All Harvey (Gabriel Macht) has wanted for the last few weeks is to put Eva Hessington back in control of her company and take Jessica’s away from her. With the conclusion of “Shadow of a Doubt,” he’s accomplished the first part but isn’t so sure he still wants to go through the second.
With Eva set to go on trial for murder, corporate raider, Tony Gianopoulos looking to take over Hessington Oil and Harvey’s one-time mentor, Cameron Dennis on the attack, Pearson Darby has to make some swift legal maneuvers to pull this one off. That’s nothing new for Harvey. But going to Jessica (Gina Torres) for help – the woman Harvey wants to force out of her own company – is definitely new ground.
Of course, that’s after Harvey enlists Stephen’s help on approaching Gianopoulos. The two bet on who has the better strategy and it turns out neither is a match for Gianopoulos, who burns a fifty-thousand dollar bond in front of them just to demonstrate his disinterest in money. For Gianopoulos, it’s about winning, something Harvey can relate to. When appealing to his bottom line doesn’t work, Stephen (Max Beesley) targets Gianopoulos’ personal life, subpoenaing his daughter. Gianopoulos retaliates by dumping Hessington oil stock. That’s when Harvey goes to Jessica for help.
And here we see why Jessica’s name is on the door. Instead of eliminating Gianopoulos, Jessica suggests he retain ownership of the company while letting Eva Hessington run it. The deal goes through, but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of Cameron Dennis (Gary Cole) and his wicked ‘stache.
Like most of the episodes this season, the firm’s business takes a backseat to its personal matters. Now that she’s spent some time under Edward Darby’s thumb, Jessica has a better understanding of how Harvey felt when she was his taskmaster. With that in mind, she offers to make Harvey a managing partner. Always suspicious of kind gestures, as any Pearson Darby employee should be, Harvey questions Jessica’s motives. Does she just want him to take her side against Darby? No, this time it’s not about taking sides, but rather being on the same side, as Jessica explains to Harvey. He’s got the power play he wanted, but the game is always changing at Pearson Darby (Specter?).
In other developments, a couple of relationships – some serious, some casual and some comedic – are put to the test. When Mike (Patrick J. Adams) learns that Rachel (Meghan Markle) is having dinner with her parents, he’s saddened to learn she didn’t invite him. Naturally, Rachel is worried that her Harvard-alum dad will figure Mike out, but she’s also got a secret of her own in the form of an application at Stanford.
The news causes a temporary rift for the Pearson Darby power couple who are working together on an embezzlement case involving a couple whose relationship shares some interesting similarities to their own – like keeping secrets that could land someone in jail. In the end, Mike gets over Rachel’s Stanford visit (she’s got an interview coming up), but he worries about what toll keeping his secret will take on their relationship.
The firm’s other power couple, Donna and Stephen are also on shaky ground and surprise, it involves Harvey. Donna decides it’s time to tell Harvey she’s sleeping with Stephen (why, I’m not really sure). Harvey doesn’t care until Stephen accuses him of being upset about it. Donna tries to call the fling off, but Stephen wants to “extend” their arrangement. Needless to say, as mad as she is, Donna wants to as well… but will Harvey allow it?
Finally, we’ve got another love triangle to contend with and it involves Louis (Rick Hoffman), Nigel (Adam Godley) and Nigel’s cat, Mikado. As much as Louis can’t stand Nigel running the associates’ show, he does love cats so when business takes Nigel out of the country, Louis’ offers to catsit. And while Mikado may not appreciate Bruno’s origami collection, she does love Louis, who is equally smitten with the high-maintenance feline. Either Mikado will put an end to Louis and Nigel’s mud slinging or the claws are about to come out.
