For three episodes, we’ve sorta dangled on the edge of a precipice, ready to fall in love with Pearson completely and irrevocably. “The Deputy Mayor” does nothing to push us off the cliff, but it doesn’t exactly drag us back, either. If anything, it just allows us to stay there, in the status quo.
At times, Pearson feels way slower than Suits ever did. The comparison is unfair, of course – the two shows couldn’t be more dissimilar – but the fact that we first met Jessica during Suits means the comparisons were always going to happen. Jessica is, after all, the same, but the people around her aren’t.
That’s what isn’t completely clicking yet, though the show feels like it’s on the brink of figuring out how to make the characters around Jessica work. Well, except for Bobby Novak. Because if Bobby Novak were a spice, he’d be flour.
Good for a base, but adds no flavor, no pizaz. He’s just there, and you sort of need him for the rest to work, but he still doesn’t hold your attention.
But there’s potential around him, and of course, there’s Jessica. That’s the reason we first tuned in, and she’s still the reason we continue to. So let us discuss Jessica, and who shines around her as we talk “The Deputy Mayor”:
FAMILY IS A COMPLICATED THING
Jessica had a family before, a work family, a family of her own choosing, and those stories can be just as rewarding as stories about people who are actually related, but in many ways, those stories are also …easier.
It wouldn’t seem so, I know, but in the end, you choose your friends. And everything that happens with them is a choice. You choose to try, or to give up, to stick it out or to walk away. And after a while, when people become your family, you can still walk away, so the fact that you don’t means so much more.
Choice.
The family life gives you, however, isn’t a choice. Blood isn’t a choice. And sometimes the people who are related to you by blood don’t behave like family. Sometimes you don’t behave like they’re family. But they are. And, in the end, the only way to truly make them so is to make that choice that you had already made for your friends.
Because in the end, family, no matter the type, is always a choice. And that’s the choice Jessica is making now. She’s choosing to be part of a family, with all that entails. And it’s not necessarily going to be easy, but if there’s one thing I know about family, it’s that – no matter the type – it’s always worth it.
A ROMANCE OR TWO?
I don’t necessarily think Pearson needs a ship, but it wouldn’t be bad if it had one. In fact, I’m eyeing Yoli and Derrick right now, especially after he gave her that whole “Don’t stop speaking your mind” spiel. Now, if that isn’t ship worthy, I don’t know what is. Also, how often do we get a ship made up of a black man and a latinx woman who are both successful professionals?
Yeah, almost never.
And then, of course, there’s the Jessica and Jeff of it all, and it feels like this is one of those story-lines that’s going to explode, so to speak, near the end of the season. We all know he isn’t going to stay away for long, but whether that means he will stay for good? He’s a good, strong character, and characters like that only stick around on a show if they’ve got something to do.
Now the question is: Can Pearson find something for Jeff to do? And do they want to?
Things I think I think:
- Jeff, your vibe is super …weird. Like, what is it that you want?
- Other than to just stand there and look super hot.
- I’ve interviewed DB Woodside, and I can confirm he is as hot in person as he looks on TV. And way nicer than Jeff has been so far.
- I want to root for you, Jeff, I do. You’re just not giving me enough reasons to.
- Jessica and Keri could be a good team. This, of course, means that at some point, they will be forced to be.
- Jessica trying to use her money to buy her family a house makes the most sense out of anything that has happened in this show, and likely Suits, yet.
- “You know where you work, wrestle with your conscience later.”
- HARSH, Keri. Harsh.
- But I kinda like Derrick’s conscience. It’s the one thing that sets him apart.
- “I am not good with boundaries”/”Get good.”
- Look, Yoli is my girl and I will defend her.
- No one can ever say Jessica isn’t one to face things head on.
- Jessica, life isn’t a runway.
- Even Casual Gina is killing me.
- ALSO, CHURCH.
- JEFF.
- THAT VOICE COMING FROM ANGELA.
- I still don’t know if I like Nick or not. But I want to.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think about “The Deputy Mayor”? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Pearson airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on USA Network.