Harvey wants to be there for Mike when Rachel gets sick, but that proves difficult when they’re entrenched in a legal war and Louis and Donna recite some Shakespeare. Check out our Suits season 4, episode 5 recap!
What happens when you try to go to law school and be a law associate at the same time? You sleep in past your alarm and eventually faint from exhaustion. At least, that’s what happened to Rachel Zane tonight on Suits season 4, episode 5, “Pound of Flesh.”
Harvey never gave Mike time off when he was “overworked,” but that’s not exactly a fair argument, as he points out, because he never juggled work and school. Rachel, however, does deserve a day off and more than six hours of sleep (that’s not healthy for you, folks!)
That morning, Mike reveals to Amy he is reconsidering pushing Sidwell out and hatches a new plan to make it so Harvey drops the case. It, somehow complexly, involves buying a chunk of shares from a company named Wexler that will be up for sale that week and could ensure they have enough money to settle with Logan.
The problem with that is when Mike takes the offer to Harvey, he basically laughs in his face and declines it on the spot, calling Mike’s bluff about having the shares and the money to follow through. Jonathan calls Mike into his office to give him a piece of glass that will eventually be engraved to commemorate Mike’s first deal when it goes through – though right now it’s looking more like ‘if’ it goes through.
Meanwhile, on this week’s installment of the Donna and Louis Show: Donna is rehearsing in the storage room to play Portia in Merchants of Venice. She has over 500 lines to memorize before the show opens tonight and she isn’t “off-book” yet. Louis, eavesdropping, promises to work with her to get it memorized.
Donna is scared and worried. She was a good actress back in the day, but she doesn’t know now. She’s insecure and went down a safer route in life in favor of job and income security, but what if she missed her big shot?
Louis reassures her, “You have never been more beautiful, talented and perfect than you are in this moment.”
Fun fact: Donna’s middle name is Roberta. Louis’ response: “I’m so sorry for that.”
The next morning, after two standing ovations, Donna approaches Louis about stepping in to fill the role of one of the actors who hurt himself after the show last night. She encourages him, pleads with him, to get over his stage fright.
One of the best scenes of perhaps the entire series: Donna and Louis, backstage in full makeup, hair and costume, and Donna giving Louis a pep talk before he goes on stage. Truly a sight to be seen. For once, Louis had a pretty big win in tonight’s episode. It’s refreshing to see such a big smile on Rick Hoffman’s face.
Jeff is being told to side-step the law by “parking” the shares: Mike wants in a trust for Logan so Pearson Specter can legally give them to Logan next week, thereby pulling one over on Mike, and he doesn’t like it. He wants to play by the book, not pull illegal moves, or even ‘questionable’ ones.
Harvey, already in a crappy mood, snaps at Rachel when she asks for a day off. “If you’re grateful [for this job], you’ll stop complaining about how much work you have to do.” When Harvey threatens to fire her, Rachel walks out looking defeated.
After Mike arrives at his office, Amy looks worried. Rachel has been taken to the hospital. He rushes in and tries to get a nurse to tell him what room she’s in to no avail. Harvey appears behind him, he says she’s fine, her room is locked and she is sedated to make sure she gets some sleep.
Harvey’s human side is shining nice and bright tonight. He is listed as one of Rachel’s emergency contacts. He would have been there for Mike if he had ever worked hard enough to pass out and invites Mike out to steak dinner. But what about the auction for the shares? “Right now, I don’t want to be at that sale anymore than you do.”
Truthfully, Harvey felt guilty about denying her a day off so harshly, and he wanted to be there to take Mike’s mind off Rachel for a little while. Harvey shows him a picture of Louis dressed up, ready to take the stage. Despite Mike being way over the line for using Sheila last week, Harvey calls the move brilliant.
Harvey: “We do what we need to do.”
Jeff is frustrated he is being demanded to do questionable things about the law. He suggests having a retainer, then having the Pearson Specter firm invest their own money in the shares, and then exchanging them for Logan.
After dinner, Mike and Harvey walk into Sean Cahill and all his scheming goodness. Sean thinks he has the whole story figured out. Rachel, Mike’s girlfriend and Harvey’s associate, faints, giving them a reason to meet at the hospital and delay an auction they both set up.
While they were enjoying a nice meal trying not to talk about work, a shell corporation swooped in and bought the shares. This was Jessica’s doing and Harvey asks Mike to trust him while he gets it sorted out.
Harvey gave Mike his word, but Harvey is legally obligated to go with the client. Harvey doesn’t have a lot of regrets, but this is one of them. He wishes he could change it, wishes he had believed Mike earlier, but sadly he can’t undo the damage that has been done. Harvey leaves Mike with one lingering line: “Do what you have to do.”
In a dream – nightmare – Rachel is awoken in bed by Logan. He says he feels like a fraud and doesn’t want to be married to his wife anymore; he wants to be married to her. But then Logan turns into Mike as Rachel says she can’t marry a fraud. Once discharged, she visits the office to find a bouquet of roses and a letter from Logan, which is doing nothing to quell the lingering thoughts about her dream she had.
Was Rachel’s fainting spell the flame that will set the fire ablaze? We don’t think we’ve seen the last of this type of behavior from her.
Mike calls Foreman into his office, saying he no longer needs the money he initially offered. Foreman says he might not want it, but he has it because Sidwell ended up making a deal with him. Foreman calls Mike “a sneaky little shit” like himself and perhaps a new battle has begun.
At the end of the night, Harvey presents Donna with a bouquet of flowers and a promise that he will be in the audience for her closing night of the show.
Donna: “I didn’t know you were a Shakespeare fan.”
Harvey: “I’m a Donna fan.”
Slowly, Pearson Specter is inching towards the finish line. They’re fracturing as a firm but individually they’re getting stronger. This could – and probably will – prove to be problematic as we get further into the season, but for now we have Harvey battling Mike and now Sean Cahill, Jessica and Jeff trying to fend off the SEC, Louis doing whatever he does, and Rachel confronting her past with Logan and future with law school and Mike.