'Suits' Premiere Recap: Mike And Rachel's Relationship Evolves, Harvey's On A Mission

USA’s hit legal drama, Suits, premiered its third season last night with ‘The Arrangement.’

Picking up two days after the events of the season two finale, ‘The Arrangement’ began with Mike (Patrick J. Adams) having a nightmare about Rachel (Meghan Markle) exposing him to the entire firm. He bangs on her door in the middle of the night, makes allusions to the two of them getting it on in her bedroom, and then she tells him what we all knew wasn’t going to happen: the only way for him to get out of this mess is to quit. His secret will remain secret, and he won’t be breaking the law anymore. Clearly, it’s not a question of is Rachel going to tell, it’s is Rachel going to be able to look past Mike’s lie and have a romantic relationship with him (or really, any relationship)? He’s going to have to wait for his answer, because when he fails to quit the next morning (and gets a shiny new office for his troubles) Rachel is none too pleased.

Mike isn’t really having an easy time in his professional life either. Harvey (Gabriel Macht) feels so betrayed by Mike’s lack of loyalty that he has completely cut Mike off. No morning strategy sessions, no pop-culture reference competitions. Instead, Harvey is sulking about the merger with Darby (Conleth Hill) – he doesn’t trust Jessica (Gina Torres) and he wants out, but he’s stuck in his contract.

Lucky for him, Darby assigns him to represent shady oil magnet, Ava Hessington (Game of Thrones’ Michelle Fairley), and the seemingly unwinnable case allows Harvey to come up with another option: instead of having Darby get him out of his contract if he wins the case, Harvey wants Darby to back up his play for managing partner should he succeed. (Darby has a personal relationship to Ava Hessington, making his loyalties flexible – a quality Harvey hates in friends but loves to exploit in others).

Mike tries to help with the Hessington case to get back into Harvey’s good graces. Unsurprisingly, he fails miserably – even Donna (Sarah Rafferty) doesn’t find the gesture all that endearing. On the bright side, Harvey reminds Mike of the importance of complete honesty, and when Mike goes back to Rachel’s apartment and tells her his story, he gets to stay the night. Mike and Rachel (Rike? Machel? Zoss? Parassociate (paralegal and associate)? Somebody needs to get to work on this) is officially on!

Still, Harvey uses Mike’s smoking gun in an attempt to get the U.S. Attorney to make a deal resulting in a fine (versus jail time). Unfortunately, it’s a bust, and the U.S. Attorney that removes himself from the case is replaced by Cameron Dennis (Gary Cole). Dennis, a corrupt D.A. Harvey worked for when he was starting out, has an axe to grind with his ex-protégé who he believes betrayed him (even though Harvey says Dennis betrayed him first). Was Dennis the Harvey to Harvey’s Mike? No doubt we’ll find out this season, as the Hessington case is being set up as the centerpiece of season three.

In other news, Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) starts a war he can’t win with his British self, Nigel (Adam Godley), and ends up being tricked out of being in charge of Pearson and Darby’s Associates (‘they’re my life,’ he says). Good news for Louis? He can now use the pens and eat the snacks he prefers on the company’s dime. More good news? His conflicts with Harvey and Mike appear to be over, at least for now, and his generosity towards the pair will certainly not go unnoticed.

The episode ended with Harvey making his unholy union with Darby, declaring that he wants to push Jessica out. This, of course, mirrors last season, when Jessica and Harvey banded together to push Hardman (David Costabile) out of the practice. We’ll see if he’s successful without Mike by his side.

The next new episode of Suits, ‘I Want You to Want Me,’ airs Tuesday at 10 P.M. on USA.

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong