Suits Season 2 Premiere Review ‘She Knows’ – But What Will She Do?

USA Network’s Suits kicked off its second season last night with an episode full of intrigue, plot twists, and more questions that beg for answers. Set in the prestigious New York City law firm Pearson Hardman, Suits is the story of the firm’s most effective closer, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and his brilliant but shady legal associate Mike Ross (Patrick J Adams), who earned money cheating on exams and faked a Harvard degree to get hired by the firm. Although Harvey knows about Mike’s past, he continues to cover for him because of Mike’s incredible legal talent and photographic memory which have helped Harvey close many cases; but at the end of the last season, Mike’s old friend Trevor  (Tom Lipinski) spilled the beans to Pearson Hardman’s managing partner Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), and it seemed that Mike’s dishonesty was about to catch up with him.

Last night’s episode, ‘She Knows,’ starts off with Mike in a panic over being invited to dinner by Jessica, which he was sure meant that she had found out about his deception. Harvey tries to reassure him, telling Mike that she couldn’t possibly know … but Harvey is also concerned, and with good reason.

Donna (Sarah Rafferty), who had some of the best lines in the Season 2 premiere -- Photo by Robert Ascroft / © USA Network

The dinner scene with Jessica and Mike is wonderfully tense. As Jessica asks Mike question after loaded question in an attempt to trip him up, Mike continues to dodge the truth. Gina Torres (Firefly) is particularly good at portraying Jessica’s underlying anger and resentment in this scene; although she stays smoothly pleasant on the surface, she is inwardly seething at both Mike and Harvey for their deceit that has threatened to destroy her firm.

The dinner seemed to go well from Mike’s point of view, but in actuality Jessica wants Mike fired. When Harvey’s assistant Donna (Sarah Rafferty) learns this, she is horrified, and can’t even bring herself to listen at the door while Harvey does the deed. When Harvey (predictably) fails to follow through, Donna teases him for his lack of backbone (“Can I get you a glass of water? A tissue? A tampon?”), but Harvey knows she’s actually happy that he buckled. The question now is what Harvey plans to do to keep Mike at the firm.

Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), with the mild but menacing Daniel Hardman (David Costabile) -- Photo by Christos Kalohoridis / © USA Network

The plot gets even thicker when Harvey finds out that Alicia Hardman, wife of the former senior partner at the firm, has died. Hardman (David Costabile of Breaking Bad) was forced to leave the firm five years earlier by Jessica and Harvey, who blackmailed him with information he kept from his wife; but now that she is dead, he’ll be returning to the firm, and not suprisingly he’ll be out for revenge.

David Costabile is appropriately menacing as Hardman. Although he says all the right things, telling everyone that the time he spent with his dying wife changed him as a person, it’s clear no one at the firm believes it. Harvey actually attempts to blackmail him again, this time with Hardman’s daughter; but Hardman surprises everyone by coming clean and telling his daughter and the firm everything, which worries Harvey and Jessica even more.

Patrick J. Adams as Mike Ross --Photo by Christos Kalohoridis / © USA Network

Mike, meanwhile, was involved in the only actual procedural part of the episode, a rather forgettable case about copyright violation that frankly didn’t need to be there at all. He also ended up in hot water over his love triangle with paralegal Rachel (Meghan Markle) and Trevor’s girlfriend Jenny (Vanessa Ray), the latter who dumps him when she learns about Rachel. Mike, who is not having his best day ever, confronts Trevor and ends up telling him just how viciously he plans to ruin his life if Trevor doesn’t back off.

As the situation with Hardman gets more dire, Jessica changes her stance about Mike. Though she is still furious with Harvey, she agrees with him that they may need Mike in the upcoming battle with Hardman. The episode ends with Mike and Jessica alone in Harvey’s office. She tells him that she has agreed to let him stay, but in return he needs to tell her everything … and it appears Mike is planning to comply.

Suits has definitely stepped up the drama this season, and it’s clear that there will be many more plot twists and character revelations in the coming weeks. Let’s hope that the writers can keep the characters true and the plots believable in the maze of intrigue that’s sure to come.

Suits airs Thursday at 10 PM ET/PT on USA.