With Season 7 of our fave legal drama series, Suits, we Suitors have to bid goodbye to series regulars Patrick J. Adams, who plays sharp fraud-lawyer Mike Ross, and soon-to-be-royal Meghan Markle, who plays paralegal-turned-lawyer and Mike’s fiancee Rachel Zane. Both will bow out at the end of the season.
College dropout Mike started out as a genius fraud who made money taking the LSATs for others, while Rachel was an aspiring lawyer who, despite being the daughter of an influential lawyer, was trying to make it on her own as a paralegal in a huge law firm.
They’ve come a long way from there and we can’t imagine Suits without them. We’ll miss Mike’s ingenuity, Rachel’s sass, and how adorable they are together. So, as we prepare to say our farewells, here’s looking back at some of their best moments.
HOTSHOTS DON’T GO TO HARVARD (S01E01): While trying to evade the cops after a drug deal gone wrong, Mike manages to get himself an interview with Harvey Specter, the “best closer in New York City”. In the very first minute, his suitcase full of marijuana falls apart. We watched in awe how Mike turned this around into one of the best scenes of the show as he demonstrated his eidetic memory and managed to beat Harvey at his own game, while playing Hearts on the computer! When Harvey warns him about the long hours and high pressure, which he might not be able to handle, Mike replies that if given a chance, he would work as hard as it takes to become the best lawyer Harvey has ever seen! #Applause
SMITTEN (S01E01): The chemistry between Mike and Ross is clear from their very first meeting, where Rachel greets Mike to give him his orientation. After she introduces herself, Mike blurts out exactly what was going on in our heads, “Wow! You’re pretty.” The tension in their very first scene together made us stand up and take notice. No wonder we were shipping the couple, right from the pilot!
VOICEMAIL SAVES THE DAY (S02E02): With Jenny out of the picture and Mike finding out about Rachel’s feelings through a voicemail, we felt like a big moment for the two was right around the corner. However, Rachel’s indifferent attitude and Louis’s summons had him stammering, unable to ask her out. Just as she began to leave, he pulled her close for the most perfect kiss, followed by a simple “I got your message”. We couldn’t have been more elated!
DOING IT RIGHT (S02E02): Out on their first official date, everything seemed perfect for the two and we could see the sparks. As Rachel was about to get into a cab, she asked Mike if he wanted to go home with her. After a pause, he shook his head, and said what gave us all relationship goals, “Let’s do this right.”
HEART-RENDING (S02E09): As Mike was putting the finishing touches to the new apartment he bought for his Grammy in Manhattan, Rachel arrived and told him that she had passed away. The gentle hug they shared against the plain backdrop of the new apartment as Mike broke down made it one of the most underplayed yet poignant moments of the show, melting our hearts.
THEY (REALLY) LIKE THE FILE ROOM (S02E16): After two seasons of “will they? won’t they?”, we finally saw a turning point in the Mike-Rachel relationship, and it was a pretty dramatic one! Agitated that Mike was acting odd when asked to write a letter of recommendation for her to Harvard, she confronted him in the file room. Upon telling her that he was a fraud, she slapped him twice and was starting to walk away when Mike stopped her. In the midst of all the tension and anger, the two had a passionate romp right there in the file room!
RACHEL ZANE IN THE HOUSE (S03E14): This scene showed how good a lawyer Rachel herself was. Perturbed by her huge law school bill, which Louis had assured her that the firm would fund but Jessica Pearson, the head of the law firm, refused to, she called in Jessica and Harvey, laid down her demands, showed how the firm would benefit from her working there as a lawyer and made a case convincing enough to close Jessica! #YouGoGirl
ROBIN BEATS BATMAN (S05E14): With Mike’s impending trial, the show gifted us this gem of a scene, proving that Mike wasn’t just second fiddle to Harvey. With a mock trial in progress to decide who would represent Mike, he proved in the first few minutes itself, how far he’d come from season one. Answering every question Harvey threw at him with swagger, Mike managed to win us over even before Harvey could call his first witness. Brownie points for the “I guess you needed some extra tutoring, huh?” remark!
BEST. CLOSING. ARGUMENT. EVER. (S05E15): In his closing argument at his own trial for faking that he was a lawyer, Mike made one of the most riveting speeches of the show, giving us goosebumps with every word. He introspected on how he always wanted to become a lawyer to help the innocent but didn’t do so, promising to redeem himself regardless of the verdict. We melted at his last words to the jury: “I am a lawyer and I always will be.”
SHE’S GOT HIS BACK (S05E16): Rachel stood by Mike through thick and thin. But perhaps, her most supportive side was seen when her father asked her not to marry Mike since he had been sentenced to two years in prison and marrying a fraud could jeopardise her chances of clearing the character and fitness test of the bar. She, however, said that she would marry Mike because standing by her love was the very definition of character and fitness, and won us over!
I DO(N’T) (S05E16): Sacrificing your wedding so that the love of your life doesn’t have to sacrifice her dreams is the biggest sacrifice one can make and Mike won all our hearts when just before their wedding, he told Rachel that he would not marry her so as to not affect her chances of passing the bar and becoming a lawyer. Talk about true love!
REUNION (S06E09): After waiting with baited breath to see if Mike would get out of prison for the first half of the season, our patience was rewarded by the writers with one of the most amazing scenes. Mike walked out of prison with a grin on his face, met Harvey and they shook hands. Just when we wondered what was missing, we saw Rachel come out of the car, the two moved towards each other in slow motion, hugged, kissed and smiled more freely than they had the entire season. There was no dialogue, but that added to the beauty of the moment.
ENSURING HIS DUE (S06E016): Mike’s our favourite attorney for a reason, and he was Harvey’s too, judging by how much he was willing to do to bring him back to the firm. We saw how Mike, finally a member of the bar, dictated his terms for coming back to the firm, asking Harvey to double the salary, give him exclusive power to hire associates from the law clinic he was working at and lastly, his very own office. Talk about swagger!
Text: Vedant Karia
