Suits Review: Preparing for War

On last week’s episode of Suits, it was a battle of the Zanes as paralegal Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) stepped into the forefront to take on her father, Daddy Zane, in a lawsuit involving underachieving women and the fathers who step right over them. Oh, I’m sorry. I got mixed up. The suit is actually about sexual discrimination, but that’s until Rachel and her father’s unresolved issues get into the mix and it becomes more a case of who’s going to blink first. But then, just like that, it becomes yet another “Will Pearson Hardman survive?” situation which is popping up far too frequently to give me ease. Start placing your bets, because here it goes.

It’s Rachel’s birthday and she’s meeting up with Daddy Zane for breakfast. They’ve barely ordered and it’s obvious that their relationship is strained. With quick succession he downplays her recommendation for lunch, tells her he’s going to war with Pearson Hardman (and to stay out of it), and to top it off he says he doubts that she has what it takes to be a lawyer. Ouch. Granted it does seem to be taking Rachel a while to move to make it into law school. Knowing little to nothing (read: nothing) about the LSAT, I’m willing to give Rachel a break on this one. Daddy Zane, unfortunately, is not.

It’s this dismissal of Rachel’s lawyer prospects that spurs her to go to Mike and request to be the paralegal on this case. Mike agrees, though he’s a little wary about Rachel’s personal interest. She assures him that she can handle it. But in the first deposition for the case things get a little uncomfortable when Daddy Zane attack’s the client, painting her as a woman looking for someone to blame because she’s incapable of handling the job. There’s this whole awkward moment where there’s an elephant in the room because it looks like a barb at Rachel. Mike cuts the depo short; a move Rachel doesn’t appreciate. She tells him to never embarrass her like that again, but Mike cuts her short by telling her she’s lost her focus. This isn’t about her; this is about the client. And it is the client who was attacked in there, not Rachel.

Daddy Zane, though, is completely focused. First he tries to blackball Jessica into accepting a paltry offer to save the firm’s reputation, (you know, the whole blood in the water thing). Everyone knows Pearson Hardman’s weak, and wouldn’t a victory look good right about now, no matter the cost that might come with this victory. Jessica doesn’t happen to agree so she sends Harvey to cut Zane off at the knees. This Harvey does, when he presents Zane with a class action lawsuit on behalf of the hundreds of women who Zane’s client has passed over for promotion in favor of men. Harvey points to the trends in the women’s employment review calling them “high-strung” and “aggressive” to deny them the promotion. And thus, a million dollar case became a multimillion dollar one. And just like that, Zane’s gone…

I’d like to give it to him and say that Zane finally saw the error of his ways. He does eventually patch up things with Rachel (basically he loves her too much and hates seeing her being afraid to succeed) and he steps out of the case against Pearson Hardman (citing Conflict of Interest). And while all that’s good, it does seem a little cowardly. The real war’s about to begin and you’re stepping out of it? What’s with that? Maybe I’m being optimistic in hoping that Pearson Hardman is going to ultimately come out on top and win this thing. So Zane bailing on what I pray is a losing battle reeks a bit of uncertainty. But the world doesn’t exist inside my mind so they very well could lose; which means that Zane’s stepping out on dealing what could be a very lucrative deathblow to Pearson Hardman.

So who now has the opportunity to deal that blow? That would be Daniel Hardman, who’s going to take over this case from here. I’m getting the feeling that they should have just killed his career when they had the chance. When Daniel left the firm, he was weak and vulnerable with charges over his head that could have gotten him disbarred and even put in jail. But now that that’s been hushed up to save the firm a fight, Daniel’s had time to regroup and get himself in a position to take down the company once and for all. And for what it’s worth, I think he can do it. Or at least damage them irreparably. With this considered, I’m thinking Zane’s “conflict of interest” was orchestrated by Daniel Hardman himself. He is a sly manipulator, that one.

Also on Suits, Katrina Bennett (Amanda Schull) starts her first day and immediately gets into war with Louis Litt. It’s childish, hilarious, involving U.S. presidents, nail clippers, and one very lovely mug shot. Louis and Katrina eventually call a cease fire, but the fact that Katrina’s willing to engage in a war with Louis is promising for their future endeavors. Speaking of promising, Louis finally gets a sign that things are back on the mend when Harvey plasters his mug shot all over his office. This might upset lesser souls, but to Louis, who just last week Harvey said was as good as dead, this return to their former antics is an acknowledgment that they’re heading in the right direction.

Season 2, Episode 13: “Zane vs. Zane” (original airdate January 31, 2013.)

Suits airs Thursdays at 10/9c on USA Network.

Images courtesy of USA Network.