To watch Suits LA is to watch a new cast, led by a Stephen Amell who is even less up to the task than we figured he’d be, inserted into copy/paste images — and, at times, even scenarios — from the original series and constantly wonder “why did I do this to myself.” Or, maybe, more like “how did I get here,” with a giant helping of, “why am I supposed to care.” Also, and this is maybe the most important question: How did the people who gave us that, with so much heart, also…do…this? Much like Amell’s idea of an “emotional” performance in a few key scenes, this spinoff lacks a soul.
And no, it actually isn’t fun to have to say that. Anybody who’s followed me in my various homes across the web knows how much I love the gang at Pearson Specter Litt. (Or Insert Firm Name Here, if you will.) If you’re not familiar with how much time I’ve spent dissecting every moment, gushing over that cast, just know…it was a lot. And it meant the world to me, and always will. I could easily defend, with no preparation, the constantly-recycled “firm’s going through another hostile takeover” or “WHAT WILL THEY DO ABOUT MIKE’S SECRET?!!” plots for what they were — a backdrop, a vehicle even, for cracking our characters open more.
I’d love to go back, to make sure to take care of Louis Litt’s home, to feel the magic of that dumb, little firm where they said that one word a lot (and no, I don’t mean G.D.), even. If only that was at all possible. It’s just…not.
MORE: Read why we think Suits smashed streaming records. And here’s why we didn’t want the original cast anywhere near Suits LA.
Suits LA tries too hard to be something it can never be
Because the thing is, you can’t recreate the magic by reusing Greenback Boogie. Now, to be fair, the Law & Order franchise (among others) uses similar themes across the brand in their opening credits. But there are slight differences for each one — and Organized Crime, for example, most definitely never tries to be SVU, much less the mothership. But let’s get back to the point: Another way you can’t go home again? By merely trying too hard to redo the original look, right down to far too many memorable shots, and even some set layouts that are eerily familiar. It just doesn’t work.
In fact, a lot about Suits LA…just doesn’t work. For example, who thought Amell should be coached, or maybe just allowed, to deliver lines in a rhythm that screams of Gabriel Macht’s and makes the massive difference in their talents even more plainly obvious than it would otherwise be? Choices. Were. Made.
In that same vein, no, shouting about betrayal doesn’t convey emotion. Providing us with those slow-motion closeups of his face doing…whatever that caricature of humanity was…doesn’t make us care either. Every single actor from the original Suits made us care. Amell basically can’t. Or maybe won’t. Probably some combination of both? It really feels like a child with no talent and no imagination binge-watched the series and wanted to do a Harvey impersonation. But, like, in clothes he borrowed from his daddy who works a normal people job. And, somehow, he still seems to think he’s on a superhero show. Sure, why not?
And this is where I’ll probably get “well, you’re biased. We read what you had to say about Amell before. You never gave him a chance.” To which I’ll say: I watched three episodes of this dreck. I did, in fact, give multiple chances. “Give it more episodes! Remember how you didn’t like [insert X character here] at first?” Yeah…a different situation. Viewers went wildly back and forth on, say, Louis Litt over the years because we couldn’t help but love him thanks to Rick Hoffman’s performance, combined with actual character development. We also couldn’t help but want to throttle him for the same reasons. This isn’t that. There are moments, here and there, where we can almost consider caring about Ted Black if someone capable of depth portrayed him. But only almost.
Anyway.
Of the three episodes made available to the press for review, the pilot is easily the worst. Because shows usually need a little bit of time to figure themselves out and all, that’s somewhat expected. Until, of course, you compare that to the original Suits pilot. Remember how we instantly cared about the likes of Harvey Specter, Jessica Pearson, Donna Paulsen, Mike Ross, Rachel Zane, and even Louis Litt (in a “this dude can not be serious” kind of way)?
Well…probably best that you don’t make that comparison, honestly. Because there are going to be plenty of places for you to play that game (see also the copy/paste images note above), and none of them are going to do this series any favors. Like, at all.
Greenback Boogie isn’t the only thing that gets recycled here. Just off the top of my head, after a couple of days of trying to recover from the trauma of watching: Unless something changes before air, you’ll also recognize the score in key dramatic moments. Then, there’s a “12 years since we started this whole thing” mention. Luckily, it’s not that kind of 12 years. But, still: Why? Just…why? Additionally, Suits LA had me cracking up at something I’m pretty sure nobody intended to be funny: In profile, Josh McDermitt’s Stuart Lane kinda makes me think of that time Louis put on that terrible wig and was Harvey for a day. Now, that’s entertainment! Or, perhaps…oops.
And another one: Remember how a bunch of viewers said they loved Paula Agard, then got a very petty, “well, you said you wanted more” disaster of a return? It appears as if episodes with flashbacks are getting a similar treatment here. So, so many flashbacks. They all feel like yet another show — and one that also isn’t good. Also, for what it’s worth, we loved the flashbacks on the original Suits because we already loved the characters. Not because they unsuccessfully tried to force us to care from the jump.
Mind-bogglingly enough, creator Aaron Korsh was on a recent episode of Patrick J. Adams and Sarah Rafferty’s Sidebar podcast and praised all those “organic moments” that made us fall in love. So, yes, he does get it…which makes this whole mess, right down to the overabundance of exposition, even more confusing. In that same podcast episode, Korsh was also right on with this one: “Gabriel was more vulnerable than Harvey was on the page. And I think because he was, that’s why Suits is successful, right?”
Um. Right. 100%. Right. Yet, here we are with whatever Amell is doing on Suits LA. Our expectations for him were low and all, but…oy gevalt. To quote The Donna: “It’s like my soul hurts.”
MORE: Our original reaction to Amell being cast as the Suits LA lead.
Lex Scott Davis & Alice Lee are promising…but can’t save us from Amell
If Suits LA has any saving grace, it’s a pairing that gives us a scrap of evidence it was, in fact, created by the same people who gave us that other show. You know, the people who created characters that seemed like archetypes but were actually so much more, played by a cast that had no business putting in the quality of work they did. At times, we see some genuinely sweet moments between — get this — a lawyer and her associate. Wild, huh?
You’ll have to kinda memory wipe the initial sketchy behavior (or just be like, eh, that’s the Suitsverse!). But Erica (Lex Scott Davis) and Leah (an unrecognizable Alice Lee of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist fame) bring that goofy, endearing, sort of humor that our beloved Batman and Robin used to. So, if people stick around past the pilot — and manage to ignore whatever Amell thinks he’s doing — they’ll probably get into this duo.
Lee is great — no surprise there — and makes the most of…some kind of situation. Whenever Davis is just doing her own thing, particularly in those scenes with Lee, she shows a lot of promise. But whenever she’s dumped into positions that feel weirdly like a watered-down, network-friendly mashup of Gina Torres and Meghan Markle…oy. Based on how much of Suits LA tries way too hard to be like “look! See? It’s a Suits show!11!” I’m fairly certain those choices are, uh, not hers. Or, if they are, she started to realizing that doing her own acting, not someone else’s, was golden as filming went on.
And sorry to her for having to be in that “see? He’s not a racist” scene. Sorry to anyone who has to watch it, too, actually. An extra apology to Bryan Greenberg, who isn’t bad here…but we still don’t understand the point of a big thing his character’s involved in that we can’t even talk about. So…choices were made.
But hey. That’s TV!
MORE: We didn’t quite nail it, but we did think maybe Lex Scott Davis joining Suits LA was the best news for the show at the time. Sorry (not sorry) to Josh McDermitt for this mullets joke, though.
When is Harvey Specter in Suits LA
Oh, and the most important thing: No, we haven’t seen Harvey Specter yet. At least, not outside of the baseball team photo from the promo. If the contrast is this stark even without him here, it’ll certainly be something when he makes his guest appearance. Regardless, you’ve got plenty of time to buy some Macallan 18 Bear Fight ahead of the big night. Whenever that is.
MORE: If you need us, we’ll be thinking about Gabriel Macht’s hiatus beard in that picture from a recent Suits LA promo.
Suits LA premieres Sunday, February 23 at 9/8c on NBC.
You are 100% right on every single point! Korsh may be able to recognize quality but it doesn’t appear he knows how to create it. Had a cool original idea for Suits, but the casting and writing is what made it really work. I’ll never understand why they didn’t come up with an original idea to start the new show with that would naturally introduce the characters to us instead of just shoving everything down our throats. I mean, it’s LA for gods sake, he couldn’t come up with another unique story to start the show?! Nothing better than trying to copy Harvey and Luis – badly? Guess not. Me thinks Korsh may be a one hit wonder that got lucky with his cast and crew. Too bad.