8 Things I Learned Watching Suits For The First Time In 2024

Summary Suits was not the legal drama I expected.

Mike Ross' photographic memory felt like a gimmick and became less interesting over time.

Suits' success in streaming lies in its familiar yet engaging format.

I watched all nine seasons of Suits for the first time in 2024, and it made me learn a lot about the legal drama that recently took the world by storm despite having ended five years ago. Suits flew under my radar when it was originally airing on USA Network. However, just like many other people, I discovered the series when it hit Netflix in the latter half of 2023. Following rumors of a Suits revival, which turned out to be a Suits spinoff series set in LA, I decided to finally watch the show.

It didn’t take me long to get invested in Suits characters, after which I found myself binge-watching the series. Naturally, there were things I had been spoiled of about Suits, such as the fact three cast members had left the series before it ended. Still, I mostly went blind into Suits and was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the show. Watching Suits for the first time in 2024 is certainly a different experience from what it must have been like watching the show weekly, but the time I invested was worth it.

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8 Suits Was Not The Legal Drama I Was Expecting

Suits was the opposite of what I was expecting

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When I first heard of Suits, I assumed it was a courtroom drama in which every episode would see a couple of lawyers trying to win a case. I also assumed Suits was going to be an episodic procedural from start to finish, similar to other USA Network shows I used to watch like Monk and Psych. Although I would have had no problem with a procedural courtroom drama, I was glad to learn I was wrong about Suits. The series was quite different from what I was expecting, which is exactly why it got me hooked.

Suits ran from June 23, 2011, to September 25, 2019.

Turns out Suits was not about criminal cases and courtroom battles but rather about corporate attorneys trying to settle things before they ever got to trial. Harvey Specter, described as the “best closer in the city,” followed a very strict rule of never letting things go to trial. Harvey’s superpower was to find exactly what a person needed or wanted and use that to get the best possible deal out of them, hoping things would never come down to the unpredictability of a trial. Suits was also not a strict procedural either, although it had “cases of the week.”

7 Mike Ross’ Photographic Memory Is The Least Interesting Thing About Suits

Suits grew beyond its original premise

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Although I was aware that Suits was about two main characters, one of which had never gone to law school, I had never heard of Mike Ross’ photographic memory until watching the pilot. In hindsight, it made sense for one of Suits’ protagonists to have a gimmick that made them into an extraordinary character who could do things other people couldn’t. As a fan of Monk and occasional Psych watcher, I was not surprised that Suits also had a gimmick. Whereas Adrian Monk was an absurdly genius detective, Mike Ross had a science-fiction-like photographic memory.

Mike’s memory made for some fun scenes, particularly his first encounter with Harvey in the pilot, but it was the least interesting part of the show. Suits may have started as the story of a genius who did not have to go to law school to be a great lawyer, but it evolved into something bigger than that. Mike Ross could have been virtually the same character he was without the photographic memory gimmick, which, in some episodes, felt way too convenient and almost supernatural. Suits was a somewhat grounded show, except for Mike’s memory.

6 Suits Didn’t Focus On Legal Accuracy (& That’s Okay)

Suits was not really about the law anyway

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As someone who watched all eight seasons of House, I was prepared for a legal drama to not be fully accurate regarding how the law works. Just like House was more about the characters and their relationships than the medical side of it all, Suits was about power dynamics. A major sports fan who was friends with Michael Jordan, Harvey Specter treated every case as a competition that he had to win no matter what. More often than not, whether Harvey would win a case came down to whether he could beat his opponents in their own game.

Related Suits’ Massive Netflix Success Reveals 1 Harsh Truth About The TV Streaming Era Suits has found a new lease of life on Netflix, inadvertently highlighting a major problem with modern TV and the impact of streaming.

Suits’ legal terms made for some fun, long dialogues in which characters like Harvey and Mike showed off their knowledge of the law, but they were not the most important thing about the show. It didn’t matter that Suits’ lawyers would review a document just by looking at it for five seconds, or that suits that would take years in the real world moved forward within days on the show. The challenges, problems, and even relationship drama that came with every case are what made Suits fun to watch.

5 Suits Was Never The Same After Gina Torres’ Jessica Pearson Left

Jessica was the heart and soul of Suits

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Three main Suits actors left the show before it ended – Gina Torres in season 6; Patrick J. Adams and Meghan Markle after season 7. Since I was aware of these exits, I was somewhat prepared to say goodbye to Jessica, Mike, and Rachel when the time came. However, by the end of Suits, I realized that the show was never the same after Jessica Pearson left. Mike and Rachel’s absences were missed, but the series worked surprisingly well without them, particularly in season 9. Jessica's exit, however, left a void that Suits never filled.

Gina Torres starred in the short-lived Pearson, a Jessica Pearson spinoff, after exiting the main show.

Without Jessica, Suits became a parody of itself where Harvey and Louis would play managing partners. Donna also became a major player in the firm shortly after Jessica’s exit, yet this new dynamic between three of the show’s main characters did not work. Harvey, Louis, Donna, and Mike pulling up stunts and causing trouble was never surprising and suited their characters, which is why Jessica was so important. Gina Torres’ character helped ground the show in a sense of reality that was lost once Jessica left.

4 Harvey Specter Is A Fascinating Character With A Lot Of Flaws

I could never get tired of watching Harvey do his magic

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I’m sure that I’m now alone in saying that Harvey Specter is my favorite Suits character. Although the series’ original premise revolved around Mike Ross and his photographic memory, Harvey is the one who felt like an extraordinary character. Whereas a lot of Suits characters became parodies of themselves toward the end of the show, it was rare for Harvey to do anything that felt out of character. In other words, I could expect anything from Harvey Specter in Suits – from punching Louis to committing federal crimes to save Mike.

Mike’s unique talents were hard to buy, but Harvey’s were somewhat believable. Specter did not have a gimmick or a superpower, he was just good at his job. That said, Harvey had a lot of flaws that are difficult to ignore. From hiring someone who didn’t go to law school to working against his own clients’ best interests and everything in between, Harvey was the bad guy from the perspective of a lot of characters in Suits. His relationships were also quite complicated and borderline problematic, although this led to a great storyline about him facing his past.

3 Suits Had Highs & Lows Throughout 9 Seasons

Suits’ worst episodes weren’t easy to get through

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As with most shows that ran for that long, Suits had highs and lows. Whereas some seasons made me want to watch 10 episodes in one sitting, others had me checking the synopsis of each episode to see if anything interesting was going to happen. Suits could get engaging and fun very swiftly, but they could also deliver boring, low-stakes episodes just as easily. The best Suits seasons were the ones where actions had consequences, not the ones where all problems could be solved at the last minute.

Related Suits’ Final 2 Seasons Secretly Show Why Suits: L.A. Will Work A brand-new spin-off of the hugely popular legal drama Suits, Suits: L.A. can learn some crucial lessons from its parent series' final seasons.

Suits’ later seasons were particularly disappointing, although the show did end on a high note. Suits season 8 was difficult to get used to, as the show was now radically different from the previous seven seasons. Even when Jessica, Mike, and Rachel were still around, Suits was already showing signs that its formula was not going to last forever. Long-running shows need to reinvent themselves every so often, but Suits struggled to do so. Louis’ character is perhaps the best example of it, going from a layered antagonist to a shallow comic relief.

2 Most Suits Characters Should Be In Jail

Suits’ characters committed crimes daily

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Halfway through Suits, I started to wonder whether I was supposed to root for Harvey, Mike, and their friends since they were mostly acting with their own best interests in mind regardless of their consequences. Although I’m far from a legal expert, the show gave me enough examples to conclude that most Suits characters should be in jail. From Mike having fake records created to Harvey tricking his clients while colluding with a prosecutor from the SEC, Suits’ protagonists committed enough crimes to spend several years behind bars.

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Suits becomes a much more fun show when you realize Harvey and Mike are often in the wrong, yet that they are compelling enough characters for you to root for them. There seemed to be no lines the attorneys at Pearson Specter Litt wouldn’t cross, which made the show strangely funny. Whereas Suits’ first couple of seasons got me rooting for Harvey and Mike to win their cases, the latter seasons were about hoping the duo could get away with their crimes and shady schemes.

1 I Finally Understand Why Suits Is So Successful On Streaming Platforms

I understand the Suits resurgence now

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Suits was the most streamed show of 2023 (per Nielsen), even broking The Office’s 2020 record for most watched hours in a year. After binging all seasons of Suits in 2024, I finally understand why the legal drama became such a hit on streaming. Suits is the type of show that we can no longer easily find on television in an era where limited series, premium content, and movie-like TV productions are dominating all streaming platforms. Suits is a reminder that it is okay for a TV show to just be a TV show.

The simplicity of Suits is what makes it great. The series includes all the classic tropes of a network drama, from flashback episodes that conveniently speak to what the characters are facing in the present to a prison arc that only lasts a handful of episodes. Suits feel familiar, yet it has enough personality to get viewers hooked. Compared to a 10-episode series that can get canceled without a proper conclusion, becoming attached to Suits felt safer and more worth it than starting a newly-released streaming show.

Stream Suits on Peacock

Stream Suits on Netflix