‘Suits’: How the Firm Will Stay Together After Mike Goes to Prison

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Patrick J. Adams as Michael Ross and Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter in Suits

It’s a new day at Pearson Specter Litt, and the future isn’t looking so bright for our legal eagles on Suits.

Picking up hours after Season 5’s shocking finale, the long-running drama is upending its original concept as the partners deal with the fallout of fake lawyer Mike Ross’s indictment for fraud and their roles in protecting his secret.

“We had decided Mike would be found out—he was destined to be caught!” executive producer Aaron Korsh says. “Imagine the pressure this is going to put on everyone.” With its rep in ruins and no staff, it could be case closed for the disgraced firm. But according to the statements we took from the unlawfully appealing cast, this crew has what it takes to bail themselves out.

Patrick J. Adams as Mike Ross on Suits
Ian Watson/USA Network

Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams)

Before you can say “Shawshank,” Mike is faced with the sad reality of dealing with a mercurial jailhouse counselor (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) and a fellow inmate (Erik Palladino) whose crime just so “happens to be playing out in the [same manner as] what Harvey’s dealing with at the firm,” says Adams, adding that getting Mike out of the pen is the No. 1 priority for the team at Pearson.

There is also a “threatening force within the prison,” he says, that is hell-bent on using Mike to exact revenge on one of the phony lawyer’s former colleagues.

Suits
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Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht)

It’s a good thing the slickster addressed his anxiety last season, because Mike—and what’s left of Pearson Specter Litt—needs this guy’s A game.

“The worst has happened,” Macht says. “So Harvey’s simply in business mode thinking, ‘I’ve got to get this kid out.’” At the same time, Harvey will show a softer side as he, Louis and Jessica attempt to rebuild the firm. “You’re going to see people really trying to get back to square one, to make amends and say, ‘Look, I’ve made mistakes, I’ve never apologized to you guys face to face.’” (We can neither confirm nor deny that a “peace pipe” of sorts is smoked in the season premiere.)
Rick Hoffman as Louis Litt in Suits - Season 5 - 'Toe to Toe'
Shane Mahood/USA Network

Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman)

“Louis is in S–tsville with everyone else,” cracks scene-stealer Hoffman, describing his mud-bathing PSL partner as “devastated” by both the collapse of his firm and Mike’s imprisonment. “He’d grown on Louis as one of his closest friends.”

After the opener’s hilarious bonding powwow with Jessica and Harvey, Louis is set to make a “heavy but very tender” realization while working with an architect (Carly Pope) hired to redesign the scandal-rocked office. “He wants to find love.”

Suits - Season 6 - Gina Torres as Jessica Pearson
Ian Watson/USA Network

Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres)

While Harvey is in business mode, the decimated firm’s founding partner is “in warrior mode,” says the always regal Torres. “At the beginning of this season she’s very much, ‘Mike’s in jail … Oh, well! Time to start dusting ourselves off.’ She’s intent on fixing it.”

Exactly how does she plan to salvage her empire? We’re legally bound to protect that secret, but we’d invest our life savings in what Jessica and her pals come up with.

Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane on Suits - Season 5 - 'No Puedo Hacerlo'
Shane Mahood/USA Network

Racchel Zane (Meghan Markle)

On the heels of their aborted wedding, Mike’s fiancée finds herself in a state of transition … and maturation. “[That means] she becomes much closer with Harvey,” Markle explains, quickly dismissing any chance of a romantic angle. “They’re grieving the loss of Mike.”

But her wallowing won’t last too long: Markle’s paralegal turned part-time associate is set for new challenges at Columbia Law School and will score a fabulously fierce mentor when she takes on the firm’s unlikeliest case.

Suits - Sarah Rafferty as Donna Paulsen
Ben Mark Holzberg/USA Network

Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty)

Like Jessica, the world’s greatest executive assistant “is going to do whatever it takes to save what, to her, is her family,” says Rafferty. “The most important element to that is keeping Harvey on track…so she’s going to kick his ass a little.”

That means #Darvey shippers will have to wait for these two to hash out their unresolved “will-they-won’t-they-or-did-they?” “The stakes are too high to start meddling in that,” Rafferty says. Instead, Red will work her formidable wiles to bring cash back to the firm with “an idea she makes Louis think is his,” the fan-fave laughs. “That’s one of her superpowers.”

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Suits, Season Premiere Wednesday, July 13, 9/8c, USA.