Warning: spoilers ahead for the midseason premiere of Suits Season 7 on USA.
Suits has been going strong on USA for seven seasons at this point with relatively few changes to the core cast, but that will change following the end of Season 7. Both Mike and Rachel are set to depart Suits after the season finale, with Patrick J. Adams feeling ready to move on and Meghan Markle set to marry Prince Harry of the U.K. Basically, it's unlikely that Markle at least will ever return to Suits after the end of the seventh season, and fans have to wonder how the two characters will be written out in any sort of definitive way. The Season 7 midseason premiere may have dropped some reasons the duo will depart.
The first--and most harmless--reason why Mike and Rachel might leave New York and the firm is simply that they don't see enough of each other. The two make a great team, and they managed to pull off a big win in the midseason premiere thanks to how well they work together. They also really enjoyed the case because it allowed them to work together, and the nature of their jobs at the firm tends to mean that they have to spend a lot of hours at work on separate cases. Mike suggested that they should make an effort to work together more often to spend more time together.
For her part, Rachel simply suggested that they work on planning their wedding rather than continue to neglect their wedding plans and spend more hours at work. Mike agreed that the wedding should take precedence over taking on more responsibilities at their jobs, and the episode ended their story with the happy couple determined to work on their upcoming nuptials. Still, Mike's desire to work more with Rachel may be a plot that continues in the rest of Season 7. Perhaps Rachel will come to agree with him and they'll decide to leave New York and the firm to pursue career interests together elsewhere. It would give them a happy ending, and do we really want to say goodbye to these characters without some happiness?
Another reason why Mike and Rachel might bail on the firm came when Harvey (with some encouragement from Donna) made the decision in the midseason premiere not to make Mike the next senior partner after the disbarred Jessica had to have her name removed from the firm. Mike was an obvious candidate for the job, and there's no denying his closeness with Harvey as well as how much Harvey--as managing partner--trusts him. When Harvey went to Donna for advice on the matter, however, she recommended that Mike not be promoted to senior partner, believing that he's simply not ready.
Mike might not take well to being passed over for the job, and Rachel might agree on behalf of the man she loves. If Mike doesn't see any opportunities to move up in the firm, he may want to chase a bigger job elsewhere. Rachel is ambitious as well; perhaps she'll want to get away from the town where she was once known as a paralegal rather than a lawyer and the daughter of big-name lawyer Robert Zane.
The third big potential reason why Mike and Rachel might leave has everything to do with the trailer for the next episode, which reveals Jessica back in the mix and messing things up for everybody left at the firm. While her request for a huge chunk of change (in an untraceable account) doesn't sound good for any of her pals in New York, it looks like Mike could get himself in a lot of trouble that could destroy his career. Take a look:
If Mike is caught for malpractice, he could be disbarred. His history probably wouldn't earn him the benefit of the doubt. Like Jessica, maybe being disbarred would make him want to leave New York City and pursue his interests elsewhere, taking Rachel with him. We can only wait and see. It has been confirmed that Mike and Rachel will depart in the final episode of the season that also serves as a backdoor pilot for Jessica's spinoff series, and Season 8 will be very different.
You can catch new episodes of Suits on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on USA. For more viewing options now and in the coming weeks, take a gander at our midseason TV premiere guide and our summer TV premiere schedule. If you're in the mood for streaming video, our 2018 Netflix premiere guide and 2018 Amazon Prime schedule can help you out. To discover which shows have gotten the axe in the 2017-2018 season, check out our rundown of TV cancellations and renewals.
