Recap: ‘Normandy’
Pearson Hardman is finally able to start their case against Folsom Foods (and with that, former firm partner and now laywer for Folsom Foods, Daniel Hardman) with an investigation of the forty-five branches of the company. Harvey’s friend and former fling, Dana Scott, turns up again, her biggest announcement not being that she “never took the plunge” at marriage, but that she and her firm are planning to take ten of the Folsom Foods lawsuits from the crumbling Pearson Hardman. Their merger turns out not to be the only one lingering when Dana’s boss, Edward Darby, shows up with a twelve million Pound investment offer to Jessica, who, to Harvey’s vexation, is inclined to take it.
Meanwhile, Rachel gets a rejection letter from Harvard Law, which Louis tries to rectify upon learning that Sheila was on the acceptance commity–but he fails.
“Like taking candy from a little Hobbit baby.”
– Dana
There are certain things that can make or break an episode–them being different for every show of course–so when Suits brings in pop culture references (in this case even interwined with historical ones), fun banter between Harvey and Mike, sharp dialogue, and an empathic side to Louis, I’m already halfway there to proclaiming an outstanding episode.
I personally love the fact that Suits not only has interesting women, but they are strong and independent as well. Harvey’s attraction to such women is a great booster for me. However, I am on the fence about whether it was necessary to specifically mention both these examples of modern thinking on multiple occassions in this episode. I do understand the reasoning behind their choice; the law suit is about women who are denied the right to grow to more powerful positions inside a company, so it’s an easy jump to point out the character’s positions on that. I do think it’s always a better choice to show instead of (let someone) tell though. The words of a character are a mighty instrument which should carry throughout at least one episode. Therefore I believe it should have been enough for Harvey to point out to Jessica (Gina Torres) that he’s not particularly impressed with Dana for going after what she wants because he already works with a woman like that every day–meaning Jessica of course. It was not needed for the story or character building, that in Parkville, first Daniel comments that Harvey does like strong women, later followed by “Scotty” who, after their intimicy on the plane, tells him he always responds to strength, not weakness. We got that from the visuals, thank you.
This gender discrimination law suit coinciding with Characters Unite Month, is a construction of genius I can only applaud the story developers for. Even after decades of emancipation and the edification of males on the subject of women’s rights and capabilities, there are still too many companies lacking to hire or promote females to managing levels, which is a true abomination, especially since this doesn’t just happen with smalltown businesses, as proven, for example, by the 2012 law suit by almost 2000 women who were not treated equally by their employer; Wallmart. With storylines such as this one in films and tv shows, we can only hope to change this climate sooner rather than later.
“What Would Harvey Do.” I’m not even going to try to express the awesomeness of Daniel borrowing Mike’s business plan idea from season one when he found Harvey and Dana in Parkville instead of Bakersfield. I think my heart stopped beating for a few seconds! Well, to be fair, the former managing partner of Pearson Hardman has been borrowing Mike’s ideas throughout the season so one could probably say this one was due.
The cleverness of this show gets me every time. The writers are especially skilled at putting metaphores into their scripts. In this case, World war II and the title of this episode, Normandy. It has been a few episodes since Mike and Harvey indulged in their infamous banter and pop culture-lushing conversations, so please allow me to share this one.
Harvey: “Do you know how we won World War II?”
Mike: “Yeah, of course, Spock didn’t let Kirk save Joan Collins from getting hit by that car.”
Harvey: “Wrong. We’d already won. Kirk just would have changed the course of history.”
Mike: “I accept that.”
Harvey: “Eisenhouwer had 156.000 men for 8 possible aligning points, which means..”
Mike: “19.500 men per point.”
Harvey: “Otherwise known as nothing.”
Mike: “He had to put everything he had into one attack. Normandy.”
Harvey: “So the question is, where the hell is our Normandy.”
My question is, if Bakersfield was Normandy, then what the hell was Parkville? wink
I adore Louis. I may be one of the few, but I’m not ashamed to admit it. Granted, I am known to pick the progatonist’s ‘enemy’ as my favourite, but only because there are so much more layers to them to peel. They always surprise you, and they can say and do all the things the protagonist can’t. That’s probably why I enjoy Daniel Hardman so much as well. Louis usually comes across as a rather pathetic man, using power to feel better about himself and the disappointments he’s had in life, eager for a kind word; like a dog that’s been abused, willing to betray his own principles at the sign of minimal affection. But underneath his cowardish persona lies a kind but tortured soul who deserves to be recognised for his potential, and I will always be there by his side, defending him. I do recognise that in Suits, the main characters Mike and Harvey have many delicious faults as well–but that’s a USA Network prerogative, and the reason why so many of their shows are amongst my favourites; they built characters that are real.
Finding my way back to Louis–I am fascinated by his relationship with Sheila. While I am glad that what happens between them behind closed doors, is indeed literally behind closed doors, I would like to see more of their interactions. Louis flourishes in her company, he learns things (about himself) from her which would have seemed impossible last season. When Sheila calls him noble for coming to Rachel’s defence, and he lets that sink in for a moment before agreeing it is, that’s Louis realising there’s more to him than his anger and resentment. It’s Louis like he could have been had he not been up to a man like Harvey in the firm. It’s his potential shining through, and it Litts him up.
I believe that this moment with Sheila is perhaps not solely, but at least somewhat responsible for him taking the blame for Rachel’s rejection letter from Harvard in that final heartbreaking scene. He’s making room for positive emotions, which I find a very brave thing for him to do. Keep it going, Louis!
Now that Jessica has finally taken down Daniel’s name from the sign on the wall, and her new business partner Edward Darby has figured out his past without her having to breech confidentiality, no doubt the season finale next week will be explosive. I’m anxiously waiting for that granate to go off.
