USA’s popular drama Suits has always been fun and a little cheeky, with pop culture references populating the pages of its scripts and funky, sometimes outrageous clothing modeled on its actors and actresses. Suits has never been afraid to be a little over-the-top, and with the drama hitting USA’s schedule for a fourth season this Wednesday, we expect the series to offer some more thrilling curveballs, especially considering the myriad of ways Season 3 panned out for the show’s various characters.
Honestly, Season 3 shook things up at the firm of Pearson Specter in ways that should change the way that stories are told on the series moving forward. If you're not completely caught up yet, we highly suggest you jump on it before Wednesday’s big premiere. However, if you are all caught up, here are the five biggest, most spoiler-filled changes going into Suits’ Season 4.
Mike’s New Job
Suits has been built and marketed as a series about a guy with an eidetic memory secretly pretending to be a high-profile New York lawyer. While that is a pretty wild premise, it’s that mythology that has separated Suits from the other lawyer dramas on television. Now, the drama is planning to flip its key premise on its head.
At the end of Season 3, Mike waffled with taking a job as an investment banker. Despite his loyalty to Harvey, becoming an investment banker would ensure he would no longer have to live a lie as a pseudo lawyer. When the U.S. Attorneys office came sniffing around, Mike took the job, and he’ll spend Season 4 as a client of Pearson Specter. Previews for the new season show Mike and Harvey in an antagonistic relationship with one another, as they are now playing on opposite sides. As Harvey noted in Season 3, Mike’s “still in the majors—it’ll just be a different sport.” At the time, I don’t really think he understood exactly what that could mean for his friendship with Mike, but I think their newly antagonistic relationship should spice things up quite a bit.
Scottie’s Gone
Harvey Specter has always come across like a man who lacks the capacity to keep up a relationship. However, when Scottie showed up on the scene, he behaved in ways that showed he was capable of change, inviting Scottie into his home and his firm. However, he couldn’t share his most intimate secrets with her, hiding information about Mike and about the Harold Gunderson lawsuit from her. It became clear late in Season 3 that Scottie would have to go.
Moving into Season 4, Scottie should mostly be out of the picture, although executive producer Aaron Korsh did tell TV Line that the door is always open for Scottie to return in a guest stint. The good news is, Harvey’s relationship with Scottie has taught him a little bit about trust, as well as the give and take required in fruitful relationships. Hopefully, she’ll be the catalyst that allows Harvey to open up to another individual in the future.
Troubled Waters For Rachel And Mike
Rachel and Mike have always had an up and down relationship on Suits. It took the two numerous seasons to get on the same page about dating, and it took Mike even longer to let Rachel in on his giant secret. By the end of Season 3, the two finally seemed to be on the same page. Rachel had a big hand in convincing Mike to take the banking job, and the two had moved in together. However, Mike’s new position might make things a little sticky for their relationship.
Mostly, it seems like Mike’s upcoming fight with Harvey will cause waves across the firm, affecting not only Harvey and Mike’s relationship. There’s plenty of teasers featuring a pouty-mouthed Rachel looking somberly at Mike. In one, Mike notes, “We said that we wouldn’t let this come between us,” an ominous reminder that every decision he makes tends to hurt or at least affect someone close to him. We’ll have to wait and see whether Rachel and Mike are enough of a golden couple to weather the storm.
Problems With The Powers That Be
Season 3 introduced us to U.S. Attorney Eric Woodall, who tried to get to Harvey by using Mike and Harold as pawns. Things ended pretty quickly during Season 3 when Louis Litt came in and shook things up, convincing Harold not to speak about the case Woodall was investigating. During this time, Mike also committed another felony, convincing his hacker friend to get into the system and say he’d passed the bar. With prominent guest star Zeljko Ivanek playing the role, it seems safe to think these problems with the bar and the U.S. Attorneys office will crop up again.
Or they may not. Early footage from Season 4 has mostly focused on Mike’s career transition and the butterfly effect that decision has caused. There’s no sign of Eric Woodall and no hint that the settlement that put Harvey on Woodall’s radar will crop up again. However, with 16 episodes slated for Season 4, I’d expect the writers to bring this plot back up when there is a lull in the action.
Post Heart Attack Louis
Louis Litt became a different person during Season 3. He’s always been a fine lawyer, but Season 3 featured plenty of personal changes. Litt gave up and won back the associates. He began grooming his own protégé in young Katrina. He very nearly got married but instead suffered a terrible break-up. He had a heart attack and made it back to work. All of this is leading Litt down new paths and revelations, and it looks like he’s going to try to become an even bigger name in Season 4.
We don’t get to see much of Litt in the early previews for this season, but we have seen one key moment between Litt and Katrina. They are chatting in their normal conspiratory manner, and it seems that Litt has his eyes on a prize—getting his name on the wall. Pearson Specter Litt does have a nice little ring to it, but I doubt Jessica Pearson will feel quite the same way.
New episodes of USA’s Suits begin airing on Wednesday, June 11 at 9 p.m. ET.
