"Suits" SnapCap: Gee, I Didn't See THAT Season Finale Cliffhanger Coming

As I mentioned the last time I wrote about USA Network's fun summer drama Suits, I came late to the show, but thoroughly enjoyed it once I discovered it. However, one thing bugged me from the very beginning — that Mike Ross (Patrick Adams) is only pretending to be a lawyer, and that every time he and Harvey Spector (Gabriel Macht) presented Mike to a client or the court as a lawyer, they were committing AN EXTREMELY SERIOUS CRIME AND TOTAL BREACH OF ETHICS!

Solution? Have the writers mostly ignore reality.

And since the show never gave me a really convincing reason Harvey would do something so dumb in the first place — he couldn't find a different mentor-worthy attorney? Seriously? — I've watched every episode with a little voice in my head saying, "I don't buy this."

In last night's season finale, in a twist surprising only my cat who sleeps through every episode anyway, the final scene showed Mike's best friend Trevor, pissed that Mike is showing his "jurisprudence" to Trevor's ex, about to expose Mike's secret to Jessica.

Gee, what a surprise.

The episode also had Harvey working feverishly to free an innocent man Harvey helped put away while working for the evil Gary Cole back when Harvey was a prosecutor's assistant and Cole was hiding evidence. We now know definitively just how golden Harvey's heart of gold really is ... except for, oh yeah, THAT TOTAL ETHICAL BREAKDOWN OF HIRING A LAWYER WHO ISN'T REALLY A LAWYER!

All in all, the episode was fine for a season finale (if not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination) and I'm glad that next season will kick off dealing with the fact that Harvey and Mike have been committing some serious malfeasance. Jessica is gonna be pissed! And Louis going to be so excited he'll probably pee himself.

(Unless this was all misdirection, and Jessica never actually learns the truth because an earthquake or hurricane suddenly hits. In that case, I'll be really annoyed.)

But here is my SnapCap take on the first season.

BEEFCAKE: Both Macht and Adams are very easy on the eyes and if we only occasionally got to see them shirtless, Harvey Spector knows how to dress. Which isn't to say the show couldn't use a bit more of the Matthew Bomer/Neal Caffrey shirtless factor from over on White Collar.

HEART: Speaking of White Collar, I'm not as invested in Harvey and Mike's relationship as I am in Neal and Peter's. I suspect that's because in most respects, on Suits the stakes are lower. Where I don't really get Harvey's decision to commit fraud by hiring Mike, I'm totally invested in finding out whether or not Neal is going to ultimately reward Peter's faith in him, and whether or not Neal and Mozzie's friendship can survive. 

AFTERELTON BAIT: For a show set in New York City, the GLBT quotient was way too low.

HUMOR: Suits was no better and no worse than these sorts of shows. They certainly played Louis for a lot of laughs, but that's a bit like shooting fish in a barrel.

PRODUCTION VALUES/ACTING: No complaints here. While the writing wasn't brilliant, it was more than serviceable, especially for the hot summer months when I can't think that hard anyway. All of the actors are appealing and make their characters work. I'd actually argue that the secondary cast is a little stronger than the two leads. Meghan Markle has me really hoping that Rachel and Mike end up together. As Donna, Sarah Raftery makes every one of her scenes count. Rick Hoffman manages to make Louis the fool, yet believable as a very shrewd attorney. And Gina Torres is awesome as always, if sorely underused here. Someone give this woman her own show.

Okay, that's my take on the first season of Suits. What's yours?