When the original Suits began in 2011, the biggest source of drama was Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Specter hiring Patrick J. Adams’ Mike Ross, who not only never went to Harvard, but also didn’t even have a law degree. Suits LA opted to go in a much different direction with its opening salvo of drama
The pilot that aired a little over a month ago on the 2025 TV schedule saw Josh McDermitt’s Stuart Lane backstabbing his partner, Stephen Amell’s Ted Black. While it was great to hear McDermitt open up about this twist in my recent interview with him, I was even more hooked by him recalling what it was like to act out Amell punching him in the face a few episodes later.
How Josh McDermitt Reacted When Learning About The Suits LA Premiere’s Twist
For those who need a refresher and don’t have the time to stream the first Suits LA episode with their Peacock subscription, it was shown that Stuart and Ted were moving forward with a deal to merge their law firm with the one run by Ted’s ex-girlfriend, Samantha. However, upset by how Ted had treated him during the negotiations, Stuart had secretly arranged for himself and other employees at the Black Lane firm to just go straight to Samantha’s firm, leaving Ted hanging out to dry. McDermitt explained how he reacted to reading this for the first time as follows:
I was like, ‘Oh, what a cool move. Why did he do that? And let's dig into why.’ Obviously I was reading it with my eyes on Stuart, knowing that that's who I was gonna read for. He had to have a justification that I felt like if it wasn't there, then he's just a jerk. Obviously it's not a nice thing that he did, but he had to do it for the preservation of the relationship and to set up the boundaries within these toxic behaviors that these two guys display toward each other.
Stuart Lane wasn’t the only main character on Suits LA who’d grown tired of Ted Black’s behavior, as Bryan Greenberg’s Rick Dodson accompanied Stuart to the other firm. Conversely, Lex Scott Davis’ Erica Rollins decided to stay with Ted and become the Head of Entertainment for what is now Black & Associates. But while Stuart had a legitimate reason for distancing himself from Ted, even if the execution left something to be desired, this twist posted a peculiar problem when it came time for McDermitt to do press for Suits LA. He continued:
So reading that, I thought, ‘Oh, that's a nice little twist in the middle of it.’ And it's interesting because in the press leading up to the show, we obviously can't talk about that. It's a spoiler, right? Which, coming from Walking Dead, I have no problem not talking about spoilers, but everyone wanted to talk about all these things that just weren't even things. They're like, ‘Oh, tell me about who's got the bigger office between you and Stephen,’ and ‘You playing any office tricks between Stuart and Ted?’ And this whole time I'm like, ‘I’m in a completely different firm and I can't even say this.’
The Suits LA promos certainly did a good job hiding that it would be following along with people at two law firms, not just one. So while Josh McDermitt had to take extra care not to accidentally spoil this while speaking to the press, he also got a kick out of the reactions to this twist that came so long after he shot the pilot. As he put it:
But it was funny because I had forgotten that we just started shooting and that was long in the past, that moment. To then see it and to see the reaction with everybody was really cool. It certainly shocked everyone.
So that covers the bases on Suits LA’s premiere, titled “Seven Days a Week and Twice on Sunday.”Then along came “You’re on Your Own,” which saw the tension between Stuart and Ted get so heated that the latter punched the former.
What It Was Like For Josh McDermitt To Be Punched In The Face By Stephen Amell
The punch was thrown when Ted showed up at Stuart’s office to accuse Stuart of leaking the transcripts of Valerie Thompson’s divorce proceedings from Lester, who was on trial for murder, to the press, as Stuart was handling the divorce. He denied this, and their argument escalated to the point of fisticuffs, as Stuart then charged at Ted and punched him in the ribs after he was struck on the face. Here’s what Josh McDermitt told me when I asked him what it was like to be punched by Amell:
Well I mean, look, it's not the first time I've been punched in the face on camera. A lot of times, you're being punched by someone who's never punched someone, I'm talking about stunt work. But Stephen and I both have a lot of stunt experience, he obviously a lot more than I did. My character on Walking Dead was always being protected by someone. It was seamless and quick and easy.
McDermitt’s mention of Stephen Amell having more stunt experience of course refers to his time playing Oliver Queen on Arrow. But like he also mentioned, he wasn’t lacking in action-related scenes when he was playing Eugene on The Walking Dead. Regardless, it was nice to learn these two had an easy time acting the scene out, with McDermitt adding:
We immediately already had a shorthand, having done it so many times before. It was quick and easy, and it was also a fun thing cause I don't think either of us expected to do something like that on this show. It’s a legal drama, you know? We just thought that's what we'll do, cut to someone's getting punched and the other person's getting spear tackled, and it's kind of great.
Although Stuart and Ted are on better terms following the conclusion of the Lester Thompson trial, Josh McDermitt mentioned later in the interview he doesn’t think things are “completely resolved” between the characters. Rather, the “seeds of reconciliation” have planted, and there at least isn’t as much “nastiness” between them anymore. Does this mean another physical altercation will follow? I have no idea, but you can follow along with the latter half of Suits LA Season 1 Sundays at 9 pm ET.
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