TV Review: Suits Season 3 Episode 16 "No Way Out" Season Finale

Whew. This was a good one.

The cliffhanger from last episode - Mike getting the hacker to get him into the N.Y. Bar - had immediate impact on many characters. This episode Harvey still got into it with Donna whether or not to tell Scotty.

It turns out Harvey agrees that she shouldn't know, but is upset that Donna told him Scotty always finds a way to be mad at him. Donna counters with the fact that Harvey forced it out of her.

Rachel feels similarly with Mike, who she says forced her opinion on whether he should take the job or not out of her. Mike thinks she's using what he wants against him, calling him a fraud instead of a lawyer.

Which is pretty telling - deep down Rachel will never see him as a true lawyer, only one in disguise. This is most likely aided by her journey to pass the bar and get a degree legitimately.

Much of this twist involved characters forcing other characters to reveal what they truly feel, and then the characters having to deal with that truth.

The show takes a drastic turn in the cold open with Mike getting called into questioning at the U.S. Attorney's office. Played by a great actor in Zeljko Ivanek, the attorney brings up not fraud charges, but charges that Mike and Harold bribed witnesses to not testify in the Ava Hessington case. Something that the lawyer Mike defeated last episode promised he wouldn't bring to the attention of the N.Y. Bar, let alone the U.S. Attorney's office. However, as Harvey explains, they can't go after him now. They have bigger fish to fry. The attorney isn't necessarily going after Mike, he wants Mike to flip on Harvey, which drags him and therefore the whole firm into the case.

Harvey and Mike start to track who talked, by first meeting up with Alison Holt, the lawyer brought in to help with the lawsuit memo fiasco in Season two.

She says the lawyer Mike defeated came to her, and she fired Harold.

The hits keep coming for Mike and Rachel, after Mike tells her about the questioning. Rachel feels like Mike chose what Harvey wanted over her, which is true to an extent.

Rachel ends up hearing enough after Mike tells her about the Bar hacking he had done. Similar to Harvey and Scotty's issues, lies and cover-ups tend to torpedo relationships.

The tension is appropriately cranked up after Harold and Mike are arrested talking outside the firm. The attorney holds Mike under the patriot act - since there were rumors of terrorism charges against the witnesses who didn't testify. Predictably, he plays the nervous Harold against Mike, saying he'll break soon.

Despite this tactic, Mike and Harold stick to their plan of not rolling over on anyone. Things change after Harold breaks that, and wants to talk for real.

After Louis gets wind of what is going on, he and Harvey race down to get them out, making sure Harold doesn't talk. As Jessica tells Rachel, the star players were out on the court for the last chance.

And what they were up against is real - the attorney threatens conspiring to bribe witnesses, perjury, and wire fraud charges maxing out at a possible 29 years in prison.

Harvey convinces Louis to take Harold and convince him not to talk, saying he'll respect him even if he doesn't like him.

Harvey talks with Mike, and convinces him to bring his name to the Attorney if it comes to that. It ends up not having to come to that, as Louis gets Harold not to talk.

There is a story with Scotty and what she thought of during this.

I suspected this was going to happen, but it didn't help when watching it.

Jessica, using the fact that Scotty's name isn't on the door, is particularly vague with Scotty, which causes her to declare that Jessica and the firm are turning into Edward Darby - the shady British lawyer who was going to merge with them (and her former employer).

This is something Jessica tells Harvey she believes is true, while Harvey disagrees. After going through what he went through with Mike however, he agrees in the end that they are turning into him.

This causes him to let Scotty leave out of her non-compete , something she wanted to do to avoid being tainted again by a shady law firm. That was for the firm and for her, when he told her about Mike and all the reasons he lied/was evasive with her, it was for them both.

It was much more subdued than Rachel and Mike's yelling match in the season 2 finale discussing it, and it didn't have any earth shattering ramifications.

What it does do, is allow Harvey to tell her how he really feels by telling her he wants to "stop lying to the people I love" - finally putting them on equal ground before she leaves.

If she has to leave, I'm glad they're on good terms and have no secrets.

In the end, Mike and Rachel were just happy he wasn't charged and was out. I suspect she will be happy next season when he is an investment banker - taking the job that he originally turned down.

Realizing all the law breaking Harvey has done since he was hired, he ends up asking for permission to leave the firm - which Harvey allows.

The show gives a little hint that he will still be around the firm - as the investment banking group is a client of Harvey's. They make a joke about how technically Harvey works for Mike now.

All in all, an excellent season of Suits. I'm worried about how they'll balance Mike not working there anymore - they can't have a whole season of the firm dealing with his new investment banking group. I suspect it'll be temporary, maybe for half the season at best.

Mike being an investment banker using his knowledge of the law will be an interesting change for awhile, but it may prove to be too much of a change for the show's core formula.

We will see. If it works as a permanent change I'm all for it as long as they replace the tension that used to be there with Mike possibly being caught with something else equally as dramatic.

I'm excited for Zeljko Ivanek recurring possibly after he threatens to keep looking into Harvey.

I'm also excited to see Rachel go through law school, and slowly gain more power as an up-and-coming lawyer. That story in it of itself will help Rachel become more involved in their cases.

What a great season of Suits. I can't wait for season 4!

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