[Warning: Spoilers ahead from Thursday's episode, "Blood in the Water."]
Pearson Hardman is in a heap of trouble, and Thursday's Suits didn't help matters.
All episode long, senior partner Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) found himself on the outs thanks to nemesis Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), resulting in him courting another offer from a competing firm led by Alison Holt (Diane Neal). The tension between Louis and Harvey, two former allies, culminated in a dramatic showdown that nearly saw Louis ankling Pearson Hardman. Surprisingly, it was Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) who turned Louis around.
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Harvey also made his intentions to be a name partner of the firm known to Jessica (Gina Torres). As creator/executive producer Aaron Korsh told The Hollywood Reporter, his quest to move up the ladder will be "a struggle" for the hotshot closer. Read on for what Korsh and Macht told THR about Louis' near departure, Harvey's quest to get his name on the door and what's next.
The Hollywood Reporter: How does Harvey and Louis' confrontation affect their working relationship moving forward?
Aaron Korsh: That blowup, in the way we see it, Harvey ends up half-forgiving Louis, and he does it for several reasons, one of which is because Jessica said [to him],"You want to be management, you have to let things go." That’s his first step. There will always be a push and pull between Harvey and Louis where they come together and go apart.
Gabriel Macht: Harvey was basically going to let him go and didn't want anything to do with him, didn't trust him, didn't believe him, didn't like him. Louis does indeed show some of his talent in helping in a case he's involved in, so Harvey understands that's his way of asking for forgiveness. It looks like Harvey's going to give him another shot. They're working it out. There's a lot to work out, but they're working it out.
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THR: Louis came very close to actually leaving the firm, but stayed in the end. Were there any discussions about actually seeing through his threat?
Korsh: It would [cause more friction]. Now that you’re pitching it, maybe sometime in the future, I guess I could see it. If you’re going to do that, it'd have to be the case for a while. There’s something called “schmuck bait,” and you don’t want to threaten something that everyone knows is never going to happen, like Louis dying or something like that. We thought rather than actually have him leave or threaten him to leave, we thought it was maybe too soon for that. He does make the decision to go but with the decision to go, it doesn’t linger very long -- and you make it a moral, ethical dilemma. Ironically, it is Mike who saves him and leads him back. I was not totally in the room for all the discussions of what we should do, but I liked what we landed on.
THR: The Harvey-Louis blowup certainly adds another wrinkle in their ever-evolving dynamic. What should we expect for Louis in the coming weeks?
Korsh: He does work himself back in. That happens in the last six. The inherent flaw of the Louis character is no matter how many steps forward he takes, he take some steps backwards because he shoots himself in the foot because of who he is. Interestingly, Harvey does the same thing but in a different way. Everyone has their flaws and everyone’s flaws keep them from moving forward and getting where they want to be.
THR: How successful is Harvey in getting his name on the door?
Korsh: The real answer is, you’ll have to tune in to find out. His desire to get his name on there is going to compete with his past actions and the place that the law firm finds itself in the aftermath of the civil war. Those things are not all acting toward the same goal; some of them are acting in contradiction to each other. It’s going to be a struggle for him.
Macht: Jessica and Harvey aren't seeing eye to eye and they have to work it out over the next [few episodes], and I don't know if they're going to. It's a legitimate question. He's been there for a while. He is a major player in the firm and whether or not he's ready for the front office, that's up to Jessica. There is an idea that some guys are better on the field than in the front office, and I think he needs to convince her that he's good at both.
Suits airs 10 p.m. Thursdays on USA.
Editor's note: Korsh and Macht were interviewed separately.
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
