Suits has been going strong on USA for the better part of a decade now, and it will go through a major shake-up at the end of Season 7 with the departures of longtime regulars Meghan Markle and Patrick J. Adams as Rachel and Mike. The departures aren't all that shocking given Markle's upcoming marriage to Prince Harry and Adams' comments about the series, but fans still have to wonder about how exactly the show will say goodbye to two of its biggest characters. We already know that Season 7 will end with a backdoor pilot for the Jessica Pearson spinoff, which raised the question of whether Mike and Rachel would get their sendoff before the backdoor pilot. Suits creator Aaron Korsh has revealed how we can expect to see the big goodbye to Markle and Adams:
What I didn't want to do was to make the spinoff a completely separate episode on its own that wasn't connected to our world. The way the sendoff happens and the way the spinoff happens integrates into what's happening in the overall story, and they both ultimately happen in the same episode.
As much as the Season 7 finale will be a backdoor pilot to set up Jessica Pearson's Chicago-based sendoff, it will still feel very much like an episode of Suits and fit right in with the show. Aaron Korsh indicates that Suits will manage to send off and say goodbye to Mike and Rachel in the same episode that gets the ball rolling on Jessica's series. It's too soon to say what kind of role Mike and Rachel will have to play in the episode, but it's probably safe to say that a lot is going to happen if a single episode is going to send off two huge characters while also priming audiences for a new show.
Another question regarding the departures of Meghan Markle and Patrick J. Adams has been whether they could finally get a happy ending. Rachel and Mike have had some pretty rotten luck over the years so far, although sometimes they made their own messes. Suits isn't averse to giving characters seriously unhappy endings, and Aaron Korsh even toyed with killing off Jessica when Gina Torres decided to leave. USA stepped in to save Jessica. Korsh went on in his chat with Variety to hint that we don't have to worry that either Mike or Rachel will bite the dust, saying this:
The difference is that wanting someone to die is a very harsh thing, and we focused on giving Mike and Rachel a positive ending. And so they were on board with it from the beginning.
While Aaron Korsh didn't spoil whether this positive ending would involve finally getting married and riding off into the sunset for a happily-ever-after, his comments should be enough to allay the fears of fans who have wondered if Mike or Rachel could be killed off. Now we simply have to wait for Season 7 to get back into gear.
The midseason premiere of Suits Season 7 will air on Wednesday, March 28 at 9 p.m. ET. Suits Season 8 will have a new status quo with a few new regulars to fill in the blanks left by Meghan Markle and Patrick J. Adams, and it should be interesting to see how Season 7 sets up the next stage of the series. For more viewing options, take a look at our midseason TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule. For more shows that have already been renewed, swing by our rundown of TV renewals and cancellations.
