Minimal scenes involving Ava and Cameron, and more scenes with the actual core cast made for a pretty good episode. The murder trial is still moving along at a snail’s pace, but I hope we’ll be rid of it soon enough.
We open as Harvey sits at Donna’s desk and calls her, asking her where she is. She says she has a “thing” at the dentist, but we really see her in bed with Steven. Harvey asks how she fit the dentist into her lunch hour, but she says that the dentist can be “quick and remarkably thorough.” Donna thinks Steven is good in bed. They’ve mentioned this in about every episode since he arrived. We. Get. It. Enough with the sex metaphors already. Harvey’s looking for a document that Donna already put on his desk an hour ago, because she’s the best. She hangs up and we pan over to Steven next to her. They banter a bit. Oh, god, I think I can see Steven’s bulge under the sheets. WHY. This show hates me. Excuse me, I must go rewatch the scene where Patrick J. Adams was in the towel during mudding to get rid of the image. Much better. Anyway, Steven and Donna get ready for Round Whatever while I pray for a new scene.
We cut to Harvey, Mike, Cameron Dennis, and his Moustache (really, at this point it’s pretty much its own character), who are speaking with the judge for Ava’s trial. Harvey tries to get the case dismissed and he and Cameron argue in front of the judge. Mike chimes in and Cameron asks if Harvey’s letting his minion speak for him now, and Harvey retorts “Are you letting your mustache –“ before the judge interrupts, telling them to shut up. Ha! I really wanted Harvey to finish that sentence. The judge does not dismiss the case, but grants an expedited trial. The Stache looks pissed off, as he should.
Harvey and Mike walk out and Mike realizes that Harvey set up the whole scenario –he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get the case dismissed but asked anyway because the judge was more likely to expedite the trial since she said no to the dismissal. What a smart cookie.
Back at the office, Rachel asks Donna if she told Harvey about Steven, and Donna explains what happened when she tried. Rachel points out that Steven and Donna are an extracurricular, so to speak, and that Harvey need not necessarily know since it’s not work-related. Louis walks by and says that Donna looks different; she has a “glow.” Donna claims it’s yoga.
In Louis’s Lair (officially what I’m calling his office), he’s looking over some random associate’s documents and finds some errors in it, telling the associate to fix it. The associate says that Nigel (aka British Louis) gave him specific instructions via a memo. Louis finds the memo thing laughable and essentially tells the associate to ignore Nigel and listen to him.
Steven approaches Donna’s desk, and she tells him to beat it, but he says he’s there to see Harvey. He deduces from her skittish behavior that she hasn’t told Harvey yet, but Donna maintains that there’s nothing to tell. Harvey hears the noise and asks Donna what’s happening, and she ushers Steven in. Harvey. Your office is made of all glass. How could you possibly not see Steven outside, unless you developed some recent eye condition that we were all unaware of. Steven goes in and says he’s there on behalf of Darby. Harvey assumes that the deal with Darby is off since he lost Ava her company, but Steven says that the deal still stands so long as Harvey wins the murder trial. Harvey shares his plan for winning –he plans on getting Cameron Dennis off the case by proving that he colluded with Giannopoulos to get Ava kicked out. He plans on suing the G. Steven says that he has a better plan and Harvey bets him $10k on its success. Due to the bet, Steven is in and Mike is officially off the case!
Mike informs Rachel of this recent development and she lets it slip that Donna and Steven are sleeping together. Mike is all “Holy shit,” but says that he wouldn’t ever bring it up to Harvey. He then tells her that he’s on a new case –he has to get $30 million back from the accountant who embezzled it from a client. He asks for Rachel’s help and she says, “You want me to be the Mike to your Harvey.” That’s a bit meta, but okay.
Cut to the mudding room as Louis walks in, but there's already someone inside. Nigel is relaxing in a mud tub with cucumbers over his eyes. Louis is shocked that Nigel is there (although I don’t know why –they admitted their mutual love for mudding ages ago), but Nigel defends his presence, saying Louis tried to interfere with his associates. They engage in a bit of witty repartee before Louis stalks out.
Harvey and Steven go to see Giannopoulos. They show him the lawsuit and he’s hardly intimidated, until Steven says that he’s going to sue him London instead of the U.S., where it’s guilty until proven innocent rather than the standard American way. They smugly indicate how inconvenient it will be for him with all the time spent on depositions and hearings. The G looks annoyed and asks for the alternative, which is that he admits he colluded with Cameron Dennis. They know he let Cameron show him the video of Ava bribing the foreign official, which led to his takeover of Hessington Oil. It seems as if Giannopoulos has no choice.
Mike and Rachel go to deal with their case, and while Mike wants to celebrate their first case as a couple later that night, Rachel says that she has dinner with her parents. When Mike offers to come, she acts pretty weird and he figures out she doesn’t want him to meet them. Rachel says it’s because she doesn’t want them to find Mike’s “secret.” I really wish they would stop referring to it as The Secret, as if Mike’s secretly a terrorist or something. This isn’t Homeland, people. His secret’s not all that scandalous. Rachel thinks her father will look into him because he’s extremely protective. Mike isn’t really worried about it, but Rachel looks like she doesn’t want to change her mind.
Harvey’s office. Donna is waiting inside for him. She asks him how it went with Giannopoulos, then blurts out that she’s sleeping with Steven. Harvey, nonchalantly: “I can see that.” I know he seems calm, but you can totally tell it slightly bothers him. Okay, maybe I am extrapolating my own wishful thinking into the recap, but I don’t care! Jealous Harvey means the beginnings of Harvey/Donna and that makes me happy like the fangirl I am. Donna seems perturbed that Harvey didn’t have more of a reaction, and he asks if he should have said anything else. He asks when it began and why she didn’t tell him, and she explains herself. Donna: “So you’re not upset?” Harvey: “No…as long as you don’t let that affect this.” They both say okay and kind of awkwardly nod at each other, but it’s clearly not 100% okay. At least I’d like to believe so.
Mike and Rachel speak to an employee of the embezzling accountant, who apparently knew what was happening. She defends Mr. Embezzler, and Rachel surmises that she’s sleeping with him. They good cop –bad cop her into convincing Mr. Embezzler to quietly give the money back without any fuss. She says she can’t, but Mike and Rachel give her time to think about it.
Office. Louis confronts Nigel about making their private feud known to the associates, but Nigel snaps that he doesn’t appreciate Louis’s interfering. Louis is about get into a hardcore argument with Nigel when he spots a cat on Nigel’s desk. Louis is starstuck and Nigel comments that he didn’t know Louis was a cat man, to which Louis responds, “Do I have brains in my head? Do I have a heart in my chest? Who is this stunning creature?” Hee! I love that Louis loves cats –it seems so intrinsic to his character. He and Nigel bond over the kitty.
Jessica’s office. Harvey comes in and Jessica berates him because Pearson Darby just got fired by multiple clients that Giannopoulos bought just so he could fire the firm. Harvey is pleased that the G is pissed off. Jessica is not so pleased and orders him to call Darby and inform him of this recent development.
Rachel’s office. Mike and Rachel congratulate themselves on a job well done, and Rachel decides that Mike is welcome at dinner with her parents.
Ava comes to Harvey and lets him know that the G has been dropping Hessington Oil’s stock. Ava is annoyed that Harvey picked another fight and caused this, telling him she does not want the G to take over her company under any circumstances.
We cut to Rachel’s house, where Mike is having dinner with her family. There’s some good natured bantering and everyone seems to be getting along. After dinner, Mike and Rachel’s dad talk outside. Her dad makes an inappropriate comment about Mike’s dead parents, which makes me dislike him even more than when we saw him in Season 2. Spineless Mike brushes it off, though. They continue to talk, and Rachel’s dad asks what’s going to happen if Rachel gets into Stanford for law school. Mike looks dumbstruck at the news that Rachel even applied. Well, that’s a plot development I didn’t see coming, but let’s be real: Rachel is one of the main characters. No way the show is shipping her off to California.
Night at the office. Steven and Harvey discuss the case, and Steven admits he subpoenaed Giannopoulos’s daughter, which is what led Giannopoulos to dump the Hessington Oil shares. Harvey is angry that Steven did so without consulting him and that he went after the G’s family, which was a stupid move because it’s personal. Steven says that Harvey would have done the same thing, then suddenly realizes that Harvey’s not mad about Giannopoulos –he’s mad about Steven and Donna. Harvey is livid. He claims it has nothing to with Donna and that he’s hated Steven since day one, but methink the man doth protest too much. He throws Steven out of his office and off the case.
Harvey then goes to Jessica’s office and asks her for help, since Steven made matters worse. They figure out a win-win situation: Giannopoulos wants to own the company and Ava wants control, so if she sells him her share and he gives her voting rights, everybody wins. This way, the G will also sell out Cameron Dennis. The problem is that Ava doesn’t want to give Giannopoulos her company, but Jessica says she’ll take care of it.
Mike and Rachel walk to the office in the morning. Mike is acting terse with Rachel, which she catches on to and asks if there’s something wrong. Before Mike can answer, they are interrupted by the embezzling accountant, who decided to marry his employee so she can’t testify against him. It always amuses me the extremities people on this show go to to get out of trouble.
Copy Room. Steven finds Donna and she’s angry with him since she overheard his argument with Harvey. He apologizes and expresses his desire to continue their arrangement. Donna agrees to think about it, giving him a sultry look before she leaves.
Cut to Jessica convincing Ava to allow Giannopoulos control of her company. Ava is completely against it initially, but Jessica tells her what happened with Darby and says that she merged to save the company from Hardman. She points out that Ava won’t be able to run the company at all if she’s stuck in jail for murder, and that the only way to get out of that is to give the G control. Ava seems to understand.
Meanwhile in the office, Mike confronts Rachel about Stanford, and she admits that she has an interview on Friday and that she’s considering going to Stanford. They seem angry at each other, but five minutes later, Mike approaches Rachel with a new tactic to get the employee to testify against her embezzling accountant husband.
Nigel asks Louis if he can cat-sit. Louis agrees without hesitation.
Harvey finds Jessica outside at the bagel stand. Yum, bagels. She bought herself an asiago bagel to celebrate that she got Ava to agree. Harvey informs her that Cameron Dennis never explicitly told or showed Giannopoulos the tape, but that he left it in the room for him to see. Aw, the way these two are in this scene makes me miss their friendship. Make up already, you two!
Kitchen. Louis tells Donna about his adventures in cat-sitting, then notices she no longer has her glow. He asks if she stopped yoga and she says yes. He tells her not to give up on it, and she smiles and says that she’ll schedule an “extra long session” that night. Louis asks if he can come. Heh.
Harvey goes to Cameron Dennis’s office, notifying him that he’s going to lose the trial. The Stache refuses to admit defeat, but Harvey reveals that Giannopoulos turned against him. Even after this, Cameron still wants to go to trial, regardless of the odds. The man is resilient, if nothing else.
Mike and Rachel find the employee/new bride of the embezzling accountant and show her that she will most likely end up in jail if she doesn’t testify against her husband. Since Mike and Rachel are obsessed with their relationship and must make everything about themselves, Rachel tries to convince the employee with A Speech of Double Meaning, saying, “Even if he waits for you, he did this. And the fear of getting caught is going to cast a shadow of every moment of the rest of your lives together.” Mike looks down as he understands this Very Obvious Parallel. Naturally, as things go in the world of television, this persuades the employee into agreeing to get the money back.
Office. Steven congratulates Harvey on getting Ava reinstated as CEO and getting the tape thrown out as a part of the murder trial. He says that it’s ironic Harvey went to Jessica for help, because she doesn’t know she’s digging her own grave (as in because winning this case will allow Harvey to take over her position). Harvey looks slightly uneasy.
Mike. Rachel. Time for them to make up. They both apologize. Rachel explains her position and asks him to give her freedom to make the decision about Stanford.
We end with Jessica and Harvey. She says that she’s here (in Harvey’s office) to make a gesture, and hands him a business card that says Pearson Darby Specter. This made me so happy. Harvey, unfortunately, doesn’t see things my way and questions Jessica’s motives, accusing her of playing him. Harvey, shut up and accept the peace offering so we can all move on with our lives. She says that she wants them to be on the same side and leaves, leaving Harvey looking contemplative.
I don’t know if I fully believe Jessica’s motives are pure, but I really want to because I miss the friendship between her and Harvey. I truly hope Harvey accepts her offer and doesn’t let his pride or paranoia get in the way. What did you guys think? Do you believe Jessica or should Harvey continue with his secret takeover? Also, what was up with the lack of movie references this week? Discuss below!