I’m a teensy bit hooked on Suits, so I figured I’d try and scour through the second season, and since I’m already there, we’re going to Bechdel it up. Though the series maintained its six main characters, we also saw a lot of recurring supporting characters, so in addition to Donna, Jessica, and Rachel, we also have names like Katrina, Zoey, Allison, Tess, and Scotty added to our impressively female roster. Does that translate to our first pass? Let’s see!
As a reminder, these are the criteria for passing the Bechdel Test:
1. The show needs to have two named female characters.
2. The two characters need to talk to each other.
3. The conversation needs to last thirty seconds and be about something other than a man. This thirty second rule is something that has been added specifically at the Many Rantings of John to ensure that a simple “hello”/”hello back” conversation doesn’t get a show an accidental pass.
She Knows (#2.1)
Wow, that was a lot of hoop-jumping to get Mike to stay on, even under Jessica’s watch. I get that they had to do quite a bit of work to try to extend the Mike story and the will-they-or-won’t-they, but I’m starting to wonder why Jessica even likes Harvey-it seems like the only person he regularly disrespects is Jessica. Also, while Mike technically does most of the talking, Lesley and Myra are both part of a conversation about their court cases against each other, and so I’m giving this one a technical PASS.
The Choice (#2.2)
Okay, unfortunately this episode was a FAIL (the only female interaction in the episode was discussing either Harvey or Mike), as the episode was both frustrating and deeply cathartic at the end of the episode. As the season starts to seem like a “Jessica’s Fall” sort of season, it was nice that she FINALLY called Harvey out on his bull-that he always does what’s best for himself and his image, and NEVER takes her into consideration-not with dealing with Louis, not with following orders, and of course not with Mike. We like that he sticks up for Mike, but would it have been so wrong if we’d seen that Harvey was willing to throw a client under the rails for a less than reputable reason? There’s a reason Mike, imperfect and occasionally deceitful, is the more interesting character here-no one can stand a saint.
Meet the New Boss (#2.3)
Margo Martindale makes everything better. Seriously, the second I saw her on the screen, I knew that I was in for a fun 43 minutes, and I was right. Not only did we have multiple PASSES (Rachel/Donna talking about their careers and online dating, Nell/Edith talking about medicine and nursing), we also had a truly fun episode that balances work and play-with Rachel and Donna going drinking and Daniel Hardman throwing down with Jessica and Harvey. I’m a little bit apprehensive of what will surely be the biggest plot of the season, but more Jessica is always a good thing, so I’ll handle my nerves. And I have to state that Harvey finally doing something duplicitous felt right considering his bad boy reputation.
Discover (#2.4)
Stunningly awesome ending to this episode-we get a quick and delicious moment with Donna realizing that she saw the document in question that was purportedly buried, we got the Bechdel Test PASS just under the wire with she and Rachel discussing Donna not looking well and needing a water. The rest of the episode we have Daniel, who is now annoyingly self-righteous for a man who once stole from the firm to play Sugar Daddy to his mistress, and Harvey slowly but steadily also getting a bit on my nerves-the cocky demeanor starts to get annoying when he begins talking in clichés, and the Tanner threat where he once again is going to destroy him? Aside from the nurses union in the last episode, Harvey is a pussy willow. Jessica, Louis, Daniel, even Mike have more tenacity and thick skin than he does.
Break Point (#2.5)
Bechdel in the opening scene-damn! And it was from DIANE FREAKING NEAL! Casey Novak (her character is named Allison, but she’s playing a lawyer, in Manhattan-she’s Casey Novak) and Jessica discussed trust, and later we saw Donna/Rachel interact in a fight over Norma, and finally Jessica firing Donna-Bechdal PASS central!
And I’m kind of done with Harvey at this point. He’s entered that territory as a character that he’s gotten too unrealistic-this works occasionally in a comedy (look at someone like Gloria on Modern Family or most of the cartoon characters on FOX’s Sunday night), but it doesn’t work for drama. If there’s something I can’t stand more than a character behaving unrealistically, it’s a “smart” character who makes dumb decisions over and over and over. It was foolish for Harvey to go see the plaintiff the first time-and then he went and saw her a second time? Jessica should have fired him on the spot, instead of making Donna take the fall on her own, and while I frequently come back to characters (see also Tina on Glee), for now Harvey’s by far the weakest link in this stellar ensemble.
All In (#2.6)
You take the good, you take the bad, and there you have a midseason episode that advances some plots and deteriorates others. Though I typically get over my tiffs with characters after a few episodes on shows I like, the Harvey train is still on the annoyed track, and him gambling with his client’s company in a game of poker he had no way of knowing that he would win doesn’t help him at all. Otherwise, there were a lot of likable moments in the Louis/Rachel plot, with them bonding over ballet, and I loved the scene with Harvey’s new assistant Cameron, who redid everything Donna did to no success. We also, thanks to Jessica and Judge Fullman’s conversation about college, campaign donations, and the lawsuit, got a Bechdel PASS.
Sucker Punch (#2.7)
We got a lot of passes this week, and a lot of new story, but what we didn’t get was a pass on the Bechdel Test. Despite multiple scenes between Zoey and Jessica, the conversation was always about Harvey, and Jessica never crossed Donna (only Louis did), so this is a FAIL. Another massive fail, in general, continues to be Harvey, and this time, the writers. The writers did one of the worst things that writers can do-they made one of their characters (Harvey) do something stupid and uncharacteristic (vote for settling without first telling Jessica) to further the plot. That’s lazy writing, and as a result, this is easily the weakest episode so far of the series. As handsome as Gabriel Macht is, Harvey’s white knight routine is starting to not only get annoying, but he’s starting to appear stupid. We know that the only people he really cares about are Jessica, Mike, and Donna, so why did he spend most of this episode throwing them all three under the bus, even though it was clear that it wasn’t going to help him (the final vote aside)? You can’t be both selfless and selfish, and the writers should know better.
Rewind (#2.8)
Typical of a television show, they follow one of the worst with one of the best. Not only did we have multiple Bechdel PASSES (Monica/Jessica, Monica/Rachel, Rachel/Donna), we also got some legit background on a lot of our characters. We understand why Harvey doesn’t open up about anything, why he is so close with Donna, why Mike never ended up with Jenny, and why Jessica had such a tough time firing Donna. We also got a great set-up for the next episode, which promises to be a doozy if they play their cards right: Jessica vs. Daniel for the firm and Harvey trying to woo Donna back (you know who is going to win in both cases, but it should still be fun!).
Asterisk (#2.9)
So, we have another tightly wound episode leading up to what one would assume would be a season finale, but most clearly is not (there’s seven more episodes to go-what twists and turns are going to happen in the last six, as there’s no way they can string along the Jessica vs. Daniel story for seven episodes). This was a great one, even if from a Bechdel Test we hit a FAIL (the only female/female interactions were Mike’s grandmother and Rachel, and their conversation was about Mike, and though Donna and Jessica talked about things other than Louis and Daniel, it was only for ten seconds, so we miss on the time front). Overall, though, Harvey became a lot less annoying here (he’s still WAY too much of a Boy Scout for me, and a bit too “lucky” to be realistic, but at least he had some of his charm back this week with Donna and Jessica). The real trophy, though, should go to Rick Hoffman, whom I don’t talk about nearly enough in these write-ups, but gave a triumphant performance with this week’s episode. He understands Louis’s constant lack of self-worth and need for approval (we saw that in the comic, but perhaps not so, scene with his parents). Hoffman has the skills to make Louis both seem like a comic foil to Jessica, Harvey, and Mike, but also to make him a very realistic character-we all know people who are competitive but desperately want affection. That’s Louis in a nutshell.
High Noon (#2.10)
An interesting, though a bit anticlimactic episode; though Daniel vs. Jessica had been one of the most interesting stories of the series, it was settled rather abruptly, and it’s a pity that it wasn’t hinted a bit earlier that Daniel had in fact cheated on the lawsuit case five years prior (we never really got to know the man behind the soft voice and devious plans). We continued to see Rick Hoffman give a bravura performance, and the same can be said for Adams, Rafferty, and Torres, though I’m starting to lose the Meghan Markle Sparkle. This has less to do with Markle (who gave us the only chance we had of beating the Bechdel Test with her conversation with Tess, but that conversation went into a quick tête-à-tête about Mike-FAIL), but more with the constant pulls and shakes of her will-they-or-won’t-they relationship with Mike. They’re going to end up together, couldn’t we at least sample it for longer than an office kiss before we get them broken up (before the series ending reunion?).
Blind-Sided (#2.11)
Despite a plethora of women in this episode, there was stunningly another FAIL (you’re as disappointed as I, aren’t you, with just a few episodes left and a season that was so promising at the start that we’d be able to get our first passing grade). The episode featured only one female-female interaction, with Maria (Louis’s failed hire) and Donna, but the conversation was about Mike. Speaking of Mike, perhaps it took me taking a dislike to him to get me back on Harvey’s side, but that does appear to be the direction I’m headed. I don’t know what it says about me that I was willing to let the infidelity and drug use slide, but the ultimate betrayal is the way he keeps flinging around his loyalty to Harvey without any care of how it will affect people like Harvey, Jessica, and Donna, all of whom have put their necks on the line for his betterment. He may be turning slowly into Harvey in more than one way-Harvey is always willing to throw Jessica and the firm under the bus but rarely a client, and Mike is the same way toward Harvey, breaking privilege and risking prison time for everyone involved. I know that at some point Mike’s past is going to have to come out, but does it really need to happen in such a foolhardy way?
Blood in the Water (#2.12)
You know you’re barely PASSing when I have to rewind the DVD to figure out if the episode managed to meet the requirements of the Bechdel Test, but technically Allison and Jessica (though primarily Harvey) had a conversation that discussed the hard times at Pearson Hardman, and so I’m giving it the stamp based on Diane Neal’s twenty-second soliloquy coupled with a throwaway sentence from Gina Torres (see how I’m all lawyer-y with my conversation-Pearson Hardman should totally hire me to replace their migrating associates). Otherwise, a fairly run-of-the-mill installment that sets up what is certainly going to be the final few episodes of the season, with Harvey actually turning on Jessica, instead of just screwing her over and pretending everything is okay. And Louis continues to be the most interesting character on the show, something I did not think would be the case when I first started watching the series-he’s sycophantic, unloved, and desperate for approval, and has somehow emerged as the most consistent character on the show outside of Donna.
Zane vs. Zane (#2.13)
We get a PASS fairly quickly in the episode, when Donna and Katrina, prior to discussing taking Louis down, introduce themselves to each other, with Donna knowing a surprising amount of stuff about Katrina (per Donna’s M.O.) and Katrina bribing Donna with cookies (Donna’s weakness of course being fine chocolate). The episode pitted Rachel against her father, and we got a story for the remainder of the season, with Daniel (ugh) back to try and tear apart the firm through a series of gender discrimination lawsuits, Harvey almost fully back in my good graces (ruthless Harvey is always better, and I loved his chemistry with Rachel), and Jessica looking likely to fall to someone, even though Gina Torres never seems like she can’t rebound just as quickly.
He’s Back (#2.14)
We had a quick conversation between Jessica and Rachel (I don’t feel like that’s the first one of the series, but it’s possibly the first one of this season), but it so quickly switched to a conversation about Rachel’s father that it is a FAIL. It’s mildly ironic, of course, that an episode that was largely about gender discrimination couldn’t make it through the Bechdel Test. Overall, this was just more of the Daniel hour, and as much fun as it is seeing the scheming, can’t they just put this guy in his place once-and-for-all?
Normandy (#2.15)
Bechdels everywhere (Donna/Rachel, Katrina/Rachel, Scotty/Donna), so a bunch of PASSES. Overall, though, we got what was surely a set-up for a big finale (I think Rachel is finding out about Mike’s lies, which is not going to sit well with her considering Harvard just turned her down and he’s pretending to have gone there). Lord Varys (err…Conleth Hill probably has a non-Game of Thrones name, but I’m not sure what it is quite yet) was a breath of fresh air, charming Jessica, instigating positive change for the firm (cash flow for the firm is a good idea, and they need a little bit of strong energy after so many hits), and of course hitting on Harvey (I don’t even care if he’s not gay, but the androgynous flirting made me think of his GoT character, which is always a good thing). One episode to go…
War (#2.16)
I’m as bummed as you are, but we officially hit a FAIL this episode. The only female-to-female interaction we had was Donna and Scotty, and I had my stop watch out, and the non-Harvey related portion of the episode was 26 seconds, four short of our goal, and so I’m going to have to take a pass on this (those of you with a Mike Ross head for math know what that means for our grade). Otherwise, an interesting episode that officially pitted Mike against Harvey for a while (should be good for both characters), with Jessica chillingly showing what she can do (that’s a woman who keeps her cards close to her chest) and Louis going toe-to-toe with Tony nominee Adam Godley. Oh, and Mike told Rachel (finally) about the Harvard lie. This is all to say that, had it not been for the brilliant work by Conleth Hill (who, like Margo Martindale, makes everything better, and the Downton Abbey scene was the funniest of the series so far), we’d be in for a relatively run-of-the-mill finale.
Final Scorecard
Bechdel Test: 9/16 (56%)
Bechdel Grade: F
We were so damn close-all it would have taken is one more pass and we would have had a passing grade (a D-, but still), which shows we’re getting closer, but also how sad television is with the Bechdel Test. We had a season teaming with female characters (by my count, recurring women equaled, if not exceeded, recurring male roles), and yet the women so rarely talk to each other about subjects other than men. The question is regularly made that do they pass the reverse Bechdel, but yes, they do in every episode. Harvey, Louis, and Mike regularly discuss the clients with each other-I get that in a hierarchy, Jessica wouldn’t necessarily speak on a regular basis with Rachel or Donna, but Rachel, Donna, Katrina-they should all be speaking with each other frequently. I guess we’ll have to fight another day to see if we can finally pass the Bechdel!
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