Suits’ Last Season Is Now on Netflix and It Still Feels Rushed

One of the most popular legal dramas of the 21st Century, Suits finally completed its nine-season run on the USA Network in September 2019. Although five years have passed since the viewers last saw Mike Ross and Harvey Specter in the series finale, “One Last Con,” those revisiting or discovering the show for the first time on Netflix have noticed how abruptly the show concludes. While most of the characters enjoy happy wrap-up arcs, the events that transpire in the series finale in particular feel rushed, unearned, and largely unconvincing.

As Suits continues to attract new viewers on Netflix, a more granular inspection of the final season and series finale will help to clarify why the results feel so rushed and why Harvey and Mike left New York for Seattle. While the primary reason lies in the reduced episode count, there is more to Suits‘ rushed final season and the unsatisfying subplots and storylines that have left many fans searching for answers.

Suits

Release Date

June 23, 2011

Seasons

9

The Background of Suits

Created by Aaron Korsh, Suits is a legal drama premiering on the USA Network in 2011. The story revolves around Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), a university dropout who begins working for the high-powered NYC attorney Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) at the law firm Pearson Hardman. Mike does his best to conceal the fact he never attended law school, yet uses his photographic memory to assist Specter in various legal cases. Mike also has a shady past resulting from a drug deal gone awry and uses his newfound profession to evade those looking for him.

Throughout nine seasons and 134 episodes of the popular legal TV drama, Suits portrays the personal and professional ups and downs of Mike and Harvey, and their colleagues and loved ones. Their staff consists of the venal managing partner Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), corrupt law-financial partner Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), the driven paralegal Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle), Harvey’s secretary and close friend Donna Paulson (Sarah Rafferty), and others.

In 2018, as Suits was renewed for an eighth season, series stalwarts Adams, Markle, and Torres departed, with characters Alex Williams (Dule Hill), Samantha Wheeler (Katherine Heigl), and Katrina Bennett (Amanda Schull) replacing them as regulars for the final two seasons. In addition to the most beloved characters leaving, the ninth and final season feels conspicuously half-baked due to the reduced episode count and rushed storylines.

Why Was the Final Season of Suits Cut Short?

Following Suits‘ 12-episode first season, each successive season consists of 16 episodes. This allowed the creators and writers to chart the course of each season, lay out a consistent blueprint, and execute the plan for seven consecutive seasons. The result boasted a consistent quality that fans appreciated and depended on with each passing season. However, Suits‘ ninth and final season only includes 10 episodes, a significant reduction from previous seasons, which feels like a cheated race to the finish line.

Therefore, the storytelling length and amount of screen time afforded to the writers and viewers for the overwhelming majority of the show were drastically truncated in the final season. By cramming the unresolved storylines into roughly half of a normal season, the conclusion is glaringly thin and flies by far too fast. Before explaining how the final season feels rushed, it’s worth noting why the showrunner reduced the episode count from 10 to 16 in the final season.

Related

Best Legal Drama TV Shows, Ranked

Complicated cases, lying murderers, and fierce rivalry are only a few elements that make legal drama shows so compelling. Here are the best of them.

Speaking with Deadline, Aaron Korsh explained the reason for ending Suits Season 9 after 10 episodes resulted from his desire to “Go out on a high note.” Korsh added that the departure of Adams and Markle also led to the decision. Although the network supported returning to the 16-episode format, Korsh felt leaving the audience wanting more was the best way to tease the spin-off, Suits: LA. Still, Suits‘ finale remains glaringly abrupt.

Why Does the Final Season of Suits Feel Rushed?

With six fewer episodes to wrap up each individual’s character arc, Suits ends with head-scratching swiftness. While several side characters are given pat happy endings, Mike and Harvey’s big decision to leave the firm behind to start fresh in Seattle came out of nowhere and felt completely unearned. Mike and Harvey never expressed a desire to help others doing pro bono legal cases, yet suddenly have a change of heart and act upon the moral awakening in the final moments. Random, rushed, and ridiculous, Suits‘ final season pales compared to the others.

Another rushed storyline involves Faye Richardson’s (Denise Crosby) devious ploy to overtake the firm following Mike’s departure, resolved unconvincingly three episodes later when she is quickly supplanted. Elsewhere, Louis and Sheila’s (Rachael Harris) labor-induced hysterics at Donna and Harvey’s wedding celebration speed by with comic results and never give them the wrapped storyline they deserve. In almost every case, the missing six episodes from Suits‘ final season result in a painfully hurried resolution. Whether the subplots will be addressed in the Suits revival movie is uncertain.

Related

Why the First Attempt at a Suits Spinoff Failed

Discover why the USA Network canceled the Suits spin-off Pearson after just one season.

Large, life-altering decisions are made without much thought or foresight, and big choices that would normally be fleshed out in a 16-episode format are dramatically short-shrift. The biggest example includes the beloved couple, Harvey and Donna, who abruptly leave New York without much planning or narrative pretext. Their marriage proposal lasted only seconds on screen despite working toward the moment of bliss for several seasons.

Although Suits was cut short in the final season and the rushed results show, the series remains incredibly popular on Netflix. Whether the characters and Suits cast members who did not receive an adequate story conclusion will appear in Suits: LA or if a Seattle spin-off will be produced, is yet to be seen. If they do return, perhaps Korsh will revert to the 16-episode format that made the show such a hit for so long. Stream on Netflix.