8 Worst Suits Storylines We Pretend Never Happened

Suits had some amazing moments throughout its nine seasons, but it also had a few storylines we all like to pretend never happened. Whenever a show runs for that many seasons, it’s not surprising to see it include uninspired stories and recycled plot lines. Fortunately, while Suits arguably peaked at season 5, the show had more positives than negatives overall. Still, there were quite a few creative choices on the series that didn’t work out, especially in the later Suits seasons. This ranges from Harvey’s relationship choices to “The Donna.”

Suits were at its best when Mike and Harvey were using everything at their disposal to come out of a difficult situation. While most Suits characters were interesting enough to sustain their own B plotlines, those were usually the worst moments on the show. That said, not every forgettable or disappointing moment in Suits came from the supporting characters and their B plots. Some of Suits’ biggest creative decisions were also some of its most controversial, including but not limited to Rachel cheating on Mike and Harvey being blamed for what happened to his family.

8 Rachel Cheating On Mike With Logan Sanders

Mike and Rachel Didn’t Need More Drama

Close

Mike and Rachel’s relationship had ups and downs, and as with any TV couple, they could not always be on the same page for the sake of drama. However, Suits pushed things too far during the Logan Sanders storyline. Rachel and Mike were already past the point of big secrets in their relationship, namely after Mike told her the truth about him. It appeared like Suits was finally going to have a definitive, stable couple, yet things went back to square one when Rachel cheated on Mike.

Related Suits’ Highest-Rated Episode Should Have Warned Us It Was Time For The Show To End One of Suits’ best episodes was a clear sign that the legal drama was reaching its natural conclusion and didn’t need to continue for more seasons.

Not only was Rachel cheating on Mike extremely uncomfortable, but it also had no real repercussions for the characters and their relationship in the long term. Granted, Mike left Rachel and moved out of their apartment. However, they eventually patched things up and got a new beginning. Rachel cheating on Mike, even if with just a kiss that she regrated right after, was borderline character assassination. Rachel and Mike’s love didn’t need another test at that point in the story.

7 Harvey Going Out With Esther And Punching Louis

Harvey And Louis Were Acting Like Children

Harvey and Esther’s relationship as well as Louis’ opinion about it should arguably not have been a thing in Suits. Firstly, finally introducing Louis’ sister only to reduce the character to her relationship with Harvey was of poor taste, even though she was actually there as a client. As soon as Esther is introduced, Louis brings up the fact that Harvey would most likely end up dating her and makes him promise that he will not do it. Not only did this remove Esther’s agency as a character, but it also made Louis and Harvey look like children.

The fact that Harvey did end up going out with Esther and tried to hide it from Louis made it all even worse. Suits could often be a soap opera, but Harvey dating Louis’ sister in secret and failing to tell the truth before it was too late was too much even for this show. This storyline was concluded in the most dramatic way possible, with Louis telling Harvey some harsh words before being punched in the face by him.

6 Harvey Specter Dating His Therapist

Harvey Had Finally Opened Himself

Close

Harvey seeing a therapist after struggling with panic attacks following Donna’s exit was a great step in his character arc. For years, Harvey framed himself as the man who had it all and was too busy living life “like this” to worry about his feelings or commit to a serious relationship. The fact that Harvey acknowledged that he had a problem and sought help from a professional meant that Suits was finally going to use him as a more layered character who, despite his successful career, did not have everything figured out.

Unfortunately, Suits almost wasted this promising change in Harvey Specter’s character due to an unnecessary relationship between him and his therapist. The problem was not that Harvey found someone and tried to commit to a relationship – that was actually a great storyline in itself, especially since it made it obvious that he had feelings for Donna. However, having Harvey, who was always written as a womanizer, fall for his therapist and put her career at risk so that they could date was not the best of choices.

5 Harvey Being Blamed On For What His Mother Did

Harvey Had Nothing To Apologize For

While this cannot be summarized by an exact scene or line, Suits often suggested that Harvey was the one to blame for what happened to his family. It made sense for Harvey, who was a child when he found out his mother was cheating on his dad, to blame himself for destroying his family when the truth was eventually exposed. However, it made no sense at all for Suits to picture Harvey as the one who needed to apologize and accept his mother back into his life.

Harvey was more than justified in not wanting to talk to his mother, especially after his first attempt at patching things up with her ended in disaster. Not only did Harvey have to see his mother cheating on his dad, but he was also asked to keep it a secret for years over the threat that it would ruin his family. Harvey and his mother reconciling eventually shortly before her death was indeed a good thing, but Harvey was never in the wrong in that situation.

4 Pearson Specter Litt Having To Rent The Building

The Financial Guys Felt Like Filler Characters

After the third or so crisis, it started to become a little unrealistic that Pearson Specter Litt could just retain all their clients and move on despite all the scandals. That said, having all of the associates leave the firm and thus forcing Jessica to rent part of the building for another company just seemed like filler. Everyone knew that the firm was going to be fine eventually, yet we had to sit through Louis looking for a tenant and pretend Pearson Specter Litt wasn’t going to make it through this.

The financial guys sharing the building with the lawyers felt like a classic example of when a show is running out of stories. Most of the scenes involving Louis and the bankers were played for laughs, and they hardly had any real impact on the story. The only good thing to come out of this was Stu Buzinni, a character that worked surprisingly well and even appeared in a couple of episodes after his firm had left the building.

3 Everything About The Donna

Arguably Suits’ Worst Storyline

Close

Nothing illustrates how Suits had run out of stories to tell by the final seasons better than “The Donna.” Although having Donna wanting to evolve in her career and use her years of experience to create something of her own was an interesting idea, The Donna could not have been the worst way to do it. A piece of technology that could mimic not only the voice but also the personality of someone and interact with others in real-time was simply bizarre, even more so for a legal drama.

Related Suits’ Biggest Mike Ross Plot Hole Still Bothers Me 5 Years After The Show Ended Mike Ross’ secret in Suits set the narrative for the show, but there is one unanswered question about him that still bothers me nine seasons later.

Granted, The Donna’s technology doesn’t seem that far-fetched in 2024, but these episodes originally aired in 2017. Rather than giving Donna more agency and letting her shine in a storyline that had nothing to do with Harvey, Mike, or Louis, Suits ended up giving the character a ridiculous B plot. “The Donna” episodes may be Suits’ most infamous arc, and it was thankfully forgotten by the show eventually.

2 The Pearson Backdoor Pilot

Jessica’s Chicago Story Was Misplaced

Close

Backdoor pilots have always been a thing on television, but doing one in the middle of Mike and Rachel’s final arc in Suits was a very strange decision. Suits season 7’s final episodes were supposed to wrap up Michael and Rachel’s stories ahead of Patrick J. Adams and Meghan Markle’s exits from the show, yet they had to spend a lot of time setting up the Pearson spinoff that was about to arrive.

Seeing more of Jessica Pearson in Suits was never a problem, but her Chicago storyline was completely disconnected from the rest of the show and clearly just an extended teaser for a different series. I would not have minded a couple of Jessica-centered episodes set in Chicago ahead of her spinoff, but placing them in the middle of Mike and Rachel’s farewell story was not a good choice. Not having Jessica at the wedding was also disappointing.

1 Louis And Tara’s Relationship

Louis' Relationship Struggles Got Overly Complicated

Louis and Tara was such a bizarre choice that, even several years later, it’s still unclear what exactly Suits was trying to do here. Louis’ quest for love had been an important part of his character since the beginning, and after things fell apart with Sheilla, it seemed like it would take a while before he could find the right person. Suits then introduced Tara, only to have Louis constantly lie to her so that they could go out on a date. To make things worse, Tara already had a boyfriend.

Tara then suggested she and Louis would be a thing whenever her other partner was out of town, to which Louis agreed. Louis also offered to raise Tara’s baby as his own once she broke up with her previous boyfriend, who was the father of her child. Their relationship continued to be built on strange terms, with Tara later being upset that Louis did not tell her about how Mike Ross' fraud contributed to Louis becoming a name partner. They eventually broke up, and Suits continued as if this had never happened.