Ready for some ties, lies and moles around the eyes? I know you are.
This episode opened with Mike entering a restaurant to a song with the lyric “you’re a fraud and you know it.” Wow, that’s pretty on the nose, guys. He meets up with Jessica for dinner before we cut to Mike and Harvey, discussing this very dinner. Mike is worried that Jessica knows his secret, but Harvey suggests that it could be a good thing because Jessica took every senior partner the firm has had out to dinner during their first year.
Then we go back to Mike’s dinner with Jessica. Jessica asks him what Harvard was like and he dodges the question by telling her that school has always been easy for him. Since she ain’t no dummy, she prompts him again by saying, “And at Harvard?” He tells her that he was smarter than everyone without trying. Probably not the lie I would’ve gone with, but here we are. He then tells her his origin story: He became an orphan as a child and as a result he had to take up the pursuit of justice. So, he’s like every superhero, except with more reasonable courses of action that lead to lots of personal wealth.
We get the first of many fabulous Jessica ass shots as she walks into Harvey’s office and tells him about the allegation that Mike never went to Harvard. She does a nice fake out, pretending that she buys that Mike went to Harvard. But then she reveals that she knows Mike is full of shit. After all, he does have his fake Harvard records, but there’s no record of him graduating undergrad anywhere. Uh, yeah, guys. Come on. She tells Harvey to fire the kid and then we got into the credit sequence. I somehow really do feel like it’s been far too long since I’ve seen this credit sequence, although I’ve actually seen it all of the times I’ve rewatched season one over the past year.
The notably blonde Harvey tells Donna to get someone on the phone for him and she immediately notices something is wrong. She quickly deduces, “Either your mother somehow appeared in your life or Jessica found out about Mike.” Great job, Donna. It’s not fear of nuclear war. She asks if Mike knows and we cut to an absolutely adorable carefree Mike rocking out on the elevator. After a brief exchange with Rachel to remind us that we’re supposed to be super-invested in that couple, Mike walks into Harvey’s office to update him on the case of the week. It’s worth noting that Harvey looks especially beautiful throughout this scene.
We don’t see their interaction, but Mike walks out of Harvey’s office in a daze and tells Donna that he can’t talk.
Donna discovers that Harvey did not, in fact, fire Mike. She accuses him of being emotional, but then Harvey puts it together that Donna listens to all his private conversations, but this time she didn’t. He points out that she was actually overwhelmed with emotion. Their shared disdain for emotion is unbelievably adorable. The wonderful platonic connection between Donna and Harvey in moments like these makes me really hope that they never shift and make it all about sexual tension between them. She asks him why Mike was so dazed when he left if Harvey didn’t fire him and Harvey tells her that he told Mike that he’s proud of him. Well, we got our cuteness overload for the week. It’s like watching a kitten and a puppy cuddle.
Mike does some stuff for the case. Does anyone watch these for the cases? No. Great.
Harvey goes to Louis and tells him to lay off Mike, fully knowing this will result in Louis keeping Mike extra close. The best part of this scene is the reveal that Louis has sincere disdain for seals. Now that’s how you develop your villain.
Jenny confronts Mike in a scene that is truly not for me. It feels tacky and obligatory and let’s just move on. The point was that Mike found out Trevor told Jessica he’s a fraud.
Mike walks into Pearson Hardman and we get the song with the lyric “you’re a fraud and you know it” again. Seriously? This song is so obvious and overpowering and now it’s obvious and overpowering twice. Come on. Louis bosses Mike around, then Donna talks to Rachel. Sadly it’s not as flirty as I like my Donna/Rachel conversations. But it’s probably for the best if Donna has moved on.
Mike asks Harvey what they should do now that Jessica knows and Harvey suggests they flee the country together. It’s a joke, which is a shame because I would totally watch that show. Donna storms in and reveals that Alicia Hardman (as in Pearson-Hardman) has died.
Noted seal-hater Louis sucks up to Jessica before she confronts Harvey. They talk about how Alicia Hardman’s death most likely means that Daniel Hardman will return to the firm. We find out that Daniel Hardman is a not so great guy and he has a vendetta against Harvey and Jessica. How could anyone not like Harvey and Jessica? That’s silly.
At Alicia Hardman’s funeral, Jessica and Harvey discuss how great Daniel Hardman looks. I don’t know if they’re doing a thing that I don’t understand, but I feel like this guy is supposed to be played by a much handsomer actor. The point is, Harvey quotes Highlander and when Jessica says that’s not funeral appropriate, he points out that a lot of people died in that movie.
Mike does more stuff with the case of the week. It doesn’t effect the quality of the episode that much since the characters are really the reason to watch, but seriously the case of the week this time is a big pile of stupid.
Back at the funeral, Louis talks to Blondie Bear associate, who is possibly being set up to be Louis’s Mike this scene. Truly the poor man’s Mike.
Back to the case, this lady isn’t accepting a settlement because there’s still seventeen minutes left in the episode. Also, she mentions how you can’t always trust your boss and they might betray you. Subtlety!
Back at the funeral, Jessica and Harvey confront Daniel Hardman. There’s a fabulous Jessica ass shot here, despite the fact that she’s in a heavy coat. You cannot hide this thing. Anyway, Daniel Hardman claims he’s a changed man. Based on the fact that our stunningly gorgeous heroes aren’t buying it, I’m gonna guess that it’s safe to say we shouldn’t buy it. Harvey says that he’ll stop Daniel Hardman from coming back to the firm if Jessica promises to let Mike stay and she agrees.
Harvey finds out that Mike still doesn’t have things sorted out with the case and Harvey accuses him of being in love with the girl involved. I love how often Harvey blames things on Mike’s aggressive heterosexuality. Mike accuses Harvey of not trying hard enough to keep him from getting fired. Mike pretty often complains about Harvey not supporting him enough and it is absolutely absurd. Harvey hired him with zero qualifications, after catching him with a suitcase full of weed. If someone does that for you, they don’t ever have to do anything else for you. That’s clearly enough.
Mike finds out about Rachel’s voicemail message.
Mike talks to his grandma which is inarguably cute. It leads him to his big realization to solve the case: there are no new ideas. This being the resolution to a copyright case is an unbelievable cop out.
Harvey talks to Daniel Hardman’s daughter and there’s a nice moment where we take a break from all of the secrets and lies and Harvey just looks at this girl with compassion. But then it’s back to business and Harvey threatens to tell Daniel’s daughter about all of his extramarital affairs if he comes back to the firm.
Mike brings the case to its terrible conclusion. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Mike’s solution to all this was just “there are no new ideas!”, he also brings up the possibility of a polygraph test. It’s a really clunky resolution and I’m not sure exactly what the point of it was, other than that this is a procedural and they need a case every week. I guess one nice thing was seeing Mike do what he had to do to get Pearson-Hardman’s side to win, instead of taking what he considered to be the moral high ground. It’s an important distinction, so I guess they succeeded there.
Harvey walks into Pearson-Hardman and sees Daniel Hardman there, announcing his return to everyone. These rare moments when Harvey is surprised are nice because Gabriel Macht’s already perfect mouth makes an especially pretty shape. Harvey’s not surprised often, so it’s sort of like a solar eclipse, only handsome. Harvey tells Mike, “Go home now. Don’t come back.” That’s not quite how you talk to a co-worker or, really, a fellow human being, and it makes me feel like Harvey pulled up to the side of the highway, made Mike get out of the car and then drove off.
Mike confronts Trevor and informs him that he has Trevor’s social security number memorized. He tells him that he could ruin his life and he doesn’t give a shit about him anymore. It’s surprisingly intimidating considering that Mike is Just Mike.
Back at Harvey’s office, Harvey tells Jessica that if she fires Mike, then Harvey will leave. Moments like this really make me wonder exactly why Harvey likes Mike this much. He actually says, “I’m not staying without Mike.” Once again, I would like to remind everyone that Mike is Just Mike.
Mike finally puts together that Rachel left a voicemail message and he listens to it while probably wearing lipstick, but before he can react to that he gets a call from Harvey telling him “get your ass in here.” Dear show, have Harvey talk about Mike’s ass more.
Mike walks into Harvey’s office and we see the most fabulous Jessica ass shot of the entire episode. Jessica asks how he got Harvey to hire him in the first place and Mike informs her that he beat Harvey in a battle of legal knowledge. Jessica initiates the same battle, but says she doesn’t need a lap top. This makes me think that Jessica has a photographic memory too, she’s just not a show offy jerk about it.
We get some scenes from upcoming episodes and the important thing is that at some point Harvey will wear a tuxedo. Well, I will have to keep tuning in then.
Best Moments:
-Harvey explaining that Mike was in a daze because Harvey said he was proud of him. I can’t even.
-Louis’s genuine disdain for seals. Seriously, who hates seals? The greatest villain of all time. That’s who.
-Mike was really, really excited about his new WWHD (What Would Harvey Do?) attitude. He didn’t really pull it off, but I’m all for more people at least trying to get it together and just be Harvey Specter already.
