Roush Review: ‘Pearson’s Jessica Isn’t the Glamorous Queen Bee We Met on ‘Suits’

Jessica, what happened? I get that being disbarred is a drag, but in the days on Suits when she flashed those piercing eyes as queen bee, she was great, glamorous fun.

Not so much on the dreary spinoff Pearson, which bears the name of Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), whose wardrobe is still a stunner but whose new gig as fixer for a brash and ethically compromised Chicago mayor (Morgan Spector) is about as enjoyable as a root canal. This is the sort of self-righteous drama where calling its formidable star “the biggest, baddest operator around” isn’t meant as a compliment.

It doesn’t help that Jessica’s first move to get her high-profile job results in the eviction of her tiresomely proud cousin, Angela (Chantel Riley), and her kids.

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Or that Jessica’s boss is a charmless cheat with allies in all the wrong, and usual, places, plus a literal skeleton in the family closet that could bring his administration down. Or that her other coworkers, an uptight press secretary (Eli Goree) and an eager assistant (Isabel Arraiza) who’s a Dreamer, are such earnest drips.

Is it wrong for me to wish that when Suits ends this year, she finds a way to set up shop with Donna (Sarah Rafferty)? That’s a buddy show I’d watch.

Pearson, Series Premiere, Wednesday, July 17, 10/9c, USA