Suits – Season 2 Episode 11 – Winter Premiere – Recap and Review – Blind-Sided

You guys, this is my very first Suits recap and review. I have something to admit before starting my take on the winter premiere, “Blind-Sided”… I’m kind of a Suits virgin. I know, how can that be? Well, I’d watched Suits prior to tonight, just not as an avid viewer. I feel like a band geek who thinks he got laid at summer camp. Still, this show is kind of great, no? Wait until after you read my recap before you decide to throw the book at me, super Suits fans. “Blind-Sided” gave Mike Ross a rude awakening after a case hit a little too close to home. There isn’t anything better than when a premiere episode shakes a character at his core. You never know what might happen next!

Season 2 Episode 11 began with Mike (Patrick J. Adams) and Tess (Elizabeth Hower) getting baked in celebration of Mike’s first day back at the office or in anticipation of Mike’s looming doom as he’d yet to talk to Rachel (Meghan Markle) regarding his scandalous affair. It depended on the drag, I guess.

The next day, Donna (Sarah Rafferty) gave Harvey (Gabriel Macht) crap about his covert courting of younger lady Zoe (Jacinda Barrett). Meanwhile, Harvey was still keen on roasting Louis (Rick Hoffman) as much as horribly possible after he just barely came through in his favor on the mid-season finale. “Barely” isn’t good enough for tough-nut Harvey.

Just as he’d anticipated, Mike’s sit-down with Rachel was more of a shut-out. Attempting to play the “dead grandma” card to get out of the fact that he’d embarrassed her by choosing her at first, then settling for his second choice, was a no-no. Sorry, Mike. Not even giving her the chance to change her mind before sleeping with a married woman was your nail in the coffin. Condolences, Mike.

The case this week surrounded client Jillian and her semi-cool/ mostly frustrating son Liam. Liam was the culprit in a hit-and-run accident. Allegedly, he left a party sober but ended up striking a pedestrian who popped up all out of the blue and uninvited. Mike was quick to jump down the boy’s throat about his drinking habits, but Harvey shut him down before hearing a peep. It was clear from the get-go that Mike was taking things too personally, considering the fact that his parents were killed by a drunk driver. Refusing to sit the case out, Mike attempted to check his personal life at the door, but we all know how Mike handles his cases. That’s what makes him such a special asset to the team. At least, that’s what usually makes him a killer team player. This time, it could screw everything up.

What Liam had in his favor was his genuine guilt over the incident. He phoned in his confession before he could even be tracked and accused. Mike related to him easily, even going as far as to say prison was out of the question when all of the facts were considered. It wasn’t too long ago that Mike was in his shoes from possession charges. However, taking into consideration the fact that what was thought to be a simple “bruised and battered” type of hit ended up killing the man, Mike became a ticking time bomb right out the gate. Katrina (Amanda Schull), the assistant D.A., was ready to take Harvey down from the start. Harvey is an awesome force in law, making his defeat a prize of sorts. Suddenly, Liam faced felony charges and a plea deal of ten years in prison.

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Mike did his digging, as he usually does, and managed to discover that the man Liam struck, a Mr. Chung, was no angel himself. In fact, all signs pointed to Chung leaving a graffiti tagging crime the night he was killed. Donned in all black, the fact that Chung was fleeing a crime changed things drastically. Coercing Katrina to rethink the plea seemed like a dubious task, until Mike met with her one-on-one and realized she had no true intention of taking Harvey down.  In fact, she was just trying to bust Harvey’s balls in an attempt to impress him enough that he’d offer her another associate position. Wow, everybody loves Harvey when he’s not yelling at them. Whatever, Harvey kind of made Katrina seem like a nincompoop when Mike passed along her plea deal, which was very very lenient. As in, the “community service for a death” kind of lenient. Still, Harvey could care less so long as his name remained unsullied, and things went virtually fairly. Looking to quickly seal the deal, he sent Mike over to the Chung residence to offer a settlement of around $100,000.

After sitting down with the victim’s family, Mike totally cracked, and rightfully so. I don’t know if I would have been able to get words out of my throat after hearing Chung’s sister sadly reflect on her brother’s troubled past. The family figured he was only worth around $20k, a.k.a. solely the cost of damages and funeral proceedings. Alright, if I were Mike I would have either bawled my eyes out or blacked out. Mike tossed them the full $100k, offering them dignity in an emotionally self-fulfilling manner. He never felt the cheap-ass lawyer who showed up offering him a settlement as a child justified his parents’ deaths. Thus, he made up for it with this case. Plus, he got tea!

Back at the office, Rachel and Mike finally had another run-in. This time, the gloves were off. You know Rachel had all of those lines planned out. She totally ran over that speech again and again in her brain on the way to work. Mike wanted her to keep his affair a secret, and why wouldn’t she? She was more humiliated than anything. Also, she revealed that she’d had her own torrid affair. Woo, Rach turned up the sex appeal in this scene, claiming to not be the “goody-goody” Mike presumed her to be.

Rachel: “You have no idea what you passed on.”

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How many times did she press repeat on “Don’t Cha” by Pussycat Dolls while she practiced her lines on the treadmill that morning?

Speaking of sexed up, Louis and Sheila (Rachel Harris) continued their strange romance this episode. I love anything Rachel Harris. What a gem. Basically, Louis enlisted his love interest in finding him his first associate; a Boy Wonder to his Batman. Of course, business proceedings would have to be done over sex.

Sheila: “Bring coconut oil, a ski mask, and duct tape.”

Sheila sent over five of her strongest candidates, including this monster, Maria, who was totally awesome in a scary Harvard-kid kind of way. Not someone I’d ever want in my personal life, but someone I’d enjoy elevator banter with from time to time. She totally turned the tables on Louis’s interview, so he knew he wanted her.

Maria: “I don’t care where I’d be working because I’m a machine.”

As it turned out, Sheila sent Maria along with four duds to test Louis’s instincts. His reward was this:

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… and the promise that she would help him score Maria.

Sheila: “I’m gonna close the shit out of Maria for you.”

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Here’s what; Mike and Tess shared a celebratory smoke, yet again, but the good times were cut short when Harvey requested that he go get signatures on Liam’s plea deal from Katrina. When Mike met with Liam, the boy took their relationship too casually and admitted to being high when he hit Chung. Suddenly, Mike’s pride turned to cinders in his ashtray. Liam seemed guilt-ridden but claimed he bit his tongue because Harvey had told him to. The next day, Mike lambasted Harvey over his lack of ethics, but Harvey argued that the case ended up playing out fairly because Mike foolishly offered $100k to the family when they’d have taken a mere $20k and been fine. Admitting that Liam was high would just have made that much of a raise in the settlement more necessary. The issue was Mike’s personal drama seeping into the case, once again.

Maria was ready to accept Louis’s offer, until Donna caught wind that the girl was secretary of her class at Harvard. Meaning, Maria knew every single name of every student. She’s a machine, remember? She’d never heard of this “Mike… Ross” character. Harvey intercepted the hiring with Jessica’s (Gina Torres) help. She insisted on a hiring freeze after the firm’s recent shakeup, infuriating Louis.

Before taking the deal in front of a judge, Mike showed up at the office of the man who issued his parents’ death settlement. He pretended to be another drunk driver who killed an innocent man, but the lawyer sent him away, refusing his case. Mike didn’t anticipate the man changing his ways, but he no longer handled that kind of work. He had regrets. Still, an enraged Mike ripped into him for not remembering or respecting his parents’ memory.

Just before the court meeting began, Mike tipped Katrina off to his new findings. Katrina promptly trashed the truth in favor of settling the case quickly. Confused, Mike accused Katrina of taking a bribe from Harvey in the form of a position. In reality, she offered a favor in blind faith, and Harvey returned a favor. Mike violated his client’s privilege, so he too was guilty of selfishness. Why ruin a twenty-year-old guy’s life? Well, because he killed someone out of sheer stupidity and recklessness. Still, it was all a very sticky situation. Harvey did indeed hire Katrina. Louis, of course, was livid.

Harvey gave Mike a real lashing for attempting to chastise him once the case was settled and for his anger over the hiring of Katrina.

Harvey: “Get your sh*t together!”

Uh oh, Mike. Your ass is really on the line now. As Mike walked towards the elevator bank, defeated, Rachel glimpsed over and barely managed to wait until he’d left before breaking into tears. Oh, Rachel. What’s new, pussycat? Mike ran straight to Liam and scolded him for thinking it was all over because a settlement was reached. He urged him to make things up to the victim’s family.

Also, Harvey did get a “sort-of” date with Zoe. She ended up having to babysit her adorable niece (Yeah, dude, bring flowers!). By the end of the night, though, the little girl wanted a kiss goodnight from the sharp dude in the suit. Sadly, Zoe wasn’t being entirely honest with Harvey. She wasn’t merely babysitting. On the follow-up date, she revealed that her brother was, in fact, on his deathbed, and she was preparing to adopt her niece. Harvey could only offer his support. At least he brought flowers the second time around.

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Episode 11 closed with Mike Ross ending things for good with that floozy, Tess. Sorry, Tess. It must suck to get kind-of-dumped when you’re laying down all sexy in your undies. You can’t really get dumped when you’re just a pot buddy with a side of sex, though. Am I right?

Tess: “Are you breaking up with me?”

That’s a sign that you’re doing the right thing by moving on, buddy. It’s time for you to get your act together!

What did you all think of Season 2 Episode 11, “Blind-Sided”? Are looking forward to the maturation of Mike Ross? What do you think will come of Harvey and Zoe? Share your thoughts on the winter premiere below!

Thanks for reading my first Recap and Review of Suits, Season 2 Episode 11, “Blind-Sided”!