Suits LA Is Already Avoiding A Major Harvey Specter & Mike Ross Mistake That Could’ve Ruined Suits

Suits was a great show, but the spin-off Suits LA
is already taking big steps to improve on the original legal drama. Suits began airing back in 2011, and the show rapidly grew to enjoy incredible success early on. Over the course of nine seasons, the show constantly developed and changed, but the core of the show was largely focused on a single pair of characters, Mike Ross and Harvey Specter.

While later seasons did eventually shift the focus to other characters as actors like Patrick Adams, who played Mike Ross, left, the show had a challenging time moving on from that partnership. However, in the upcoming spin-off, there are some notable changes. Beyond the physical relocation of the story from New York to LA, there is a whole new cast, and a new law firm to follow. And rather than simply shining a light on a pair of central characters, Suits LA will put a larger group at the heart of the show, thus expanding the opportunities for storytelling and development over time.

Suits LA Having Four Protagonists Avoid Suits’ Louis And Jessica Problem

The Suits Supporting Cast Had So Much Missed Potential

Suits LA will introduce four new lawyers to the world of Suits. Ted Black, played by Stephen Amell, Stuart Lane, played by Josh McDermitt, Erica Rollins, played by Lex Scott Davis, and Rick Dodson, played by Bryan Greenberg. And in this way, it expands the opportunities to focus on intersecting stories, with these important figures all having an equal opportunity to lead. But Harvey and Mike’s central roles actually hindered and held back some of the most interesting characters in Suits, like Jessica Pearson and Louis Litt.

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Jessica Pearson was a powerful woman who built her career as a lawyer in one of New York’s top law firms from the ground up. She managed to secure a named partnership at the firm while still relatively young, and she deserved to have more of her story explored. Similarly, Louis Litt was a highly intelligent and meticulous lawyer who led highly competitive associate programs and mentored inexperienced lawyers to become truly great. But, as supporting characters, Suits failed to give these characters a fair shot at success, instead favoring Harvey and Mike.

Suits Focused Too Much On Harvey & Mike And Forgot About The Other Characters

Harvey & Mike Are Great, But The Others Stole The Show

In fact, one of the best strengths of Suits was its supporting cast. Characters like Donna Paulsen, Rachel Zane, Katrina, Alex, and so many more were stand-out characters. And despite their more minor roles, they deserved to have more of their stories developed. After all, no good law firm can completely rely on just two lawyers to keep the lights on, and in the case of Harvey and Mike, they often broke the rules more often than they actually protected the firm.

It also led to the show feeling slightly stale when Harvey and Mike’s stories began to feel repetitive. Constantly rehashing the same dynamic and exploring the same tension. There was no good reason to continue to rely so much on the duo when so many other fantastic characters were ready and waiting to step up. But, despite this, the show pushed the Harvey and Mike narrative to the absolute extreme, and even after Mike left, it felt like the show was unsure of how to proceed without this core partnership.

Suits LA Having More Than Two Leads Also Avoids Comparisons To Suits

Suits LA Needs To Distinguish Itself From The Original

On top of everything else, when a spin-off series is released, it’s unavoidable that the show will invite comparisons to the original. Critics and fans will immediately highlight and look for commonalities and differences, and praise or reject these choices depending on how effective they are. By putting double the number of leads at the center of the action for Suits LA, the show immediately distinguishes itself from what came before.

imagery-from-Suits-1

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Suits LA will already be compared to the original Suits show in plenty of ways, but this change allows the show to be more flexible with its storytelling and character development. Along with building several dynamic relationships between the leads, it creates a space where none of the characters occupy too much space, and overshadows the rest of the cast. This means that in later seasons, the leads can change more comfortably, and that Suits LA can keep delivering interesting and new storylines with characters who are developed and fleshed out in a more full and gratifying way, instead of simply being boxed in to make more stories about the two leading men over and over again.