SUITS - “Uninvited Guest” Retrospective. Repeated Redux.

Season 5, Episode 9

Air Date: August 19, 2015, 9/8c on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

“You are the one taking away my dream wedding.” – Rachel

SUITS -- "Uninvited Guests" Episode 509 -- Pictured: (l-r) David Costabile as Daniel Hardman, Gina Torres as Jessica Pearson -- (Photo by: Shane Mahood/USA Network)

Hardman is back, again.

Right from the get go, Daniel Hardman (David Costabile) doesn’t hesitate to start the ball rolling to get rid of Harvey (Gabriel Macht). I’ll hand it to Costabile, he really makes me loathe Hardman with a passion.

If the first paragraph sounds familiar, it should; I wrote it in a review of “High Noon,” the season two mid-season finale. Despite being written three years ago, the same wording applies to this review. Unfortunately, much of my review of “Uninvited Guest” could be taken from my previous reviews as Hardman once again tries to take down both Jessica (Gina Torres) and Harvey, while Mike (Patrick J. Adams) has a familiar problem to deal with, again.

Will Laura be the next to learn Mike’s secret?

Why does every season finale seem to involve Mike’s secret being revealed to someone new? Rachel’s (Meghan Markle) mother Laura (Megan Gallagher) is the perfect candidate this time around as her plans for her daughter’s dream wedding threaten to expose Mike’s secret. I get that his secret is a huge burden, but can’t the writers come up with something new?

After watching “Uninvited Guest,” I tweeted that something felt off about the last few episodes of Suits. I was surprised by how many people agreed with me. After talking with other fans on social media, I finally realized what it is—Mike has become his own man. While character development is usually viewed as a good thing, the whole premise for Suits is the bond between Harvey, the high-powered attorney, and Mike, the wise-cracking associate. Suits is at its best when the two are on screen together but as Mike continues to make a name for himself, these scenes are few and far between. Looking back at this season, I realize the reasons I fell in love with Suits are slowly eroding away.

I need more Mike and Harvey time.

During the first eight episodes of the season, the writers set up several interesting storylines – Mike working with Rachel’s father Robert (Wendell Pierce); Harvey going to therapy; not to mention the whole Donna (Sarah Rafferty), Louis (Rick Hoffman), and Harvey mess. By the time last week’s episode, “Hitting Home,” was over, the writers had wiped the slate clean to set up Hardman’s return.

I wanted to like “Uninvited Guest” and on paper, it should be one of my favorite episodes of the season. I’ve often praised the writers for their ability to bring back characters without having to spoon feed information to the audience to remind them who they are. Instead, “Uninvited Guest” feels more like a series finale instead of the penultimate episode of the season, especially given the number of returning characters — Mike’s best friend Trevor (Tom Lipinski), billionaire douchebag Charles Forstman (Eric Roberts), Dominic Barone (Titus Welliver), CEO of McKernon Motors , corporate raider Tony Gionopoilos (Rob Stewart), investment banker Jonathan Sidwell (Brandon Firla), IT tech Benjamin (David Reale) and Hardman.

What should feel like a welcome return instead feels bloated and rushed as the writers stuff too much into one episode. As much as I enjoy seeing the return of various characters, I never had enough time to really appreciate them.

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “Uninvited Guest.”

Tune in to Suits Wednesdays at 9/8c, only on USA Network.

For more on the show, go to http://www.usanetwork.com/series/suits/.

Follow Suits on Twitter, as well as some of the cast: <Mike> Patrick J Adams, <Harvey> Gabriel Macht, <Rachel> Meghan Markle, and <Louis> Rick Hoffman.

Like Suits on Facebook.

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.