Few would disagree thatPatrick J. Adams’s portrayal of Mike Ross inSuitsis one of the smartest ever created on television. From the moment Mike is introduced, he is no ordinary person. A college dropout, he is sitting LSAT exams for other students. When suspected by a supervising professor, he distracts the professor by putting his exam cheat sheet amidst the pile of exam sheets and taking off. Perhaps the most memorable moment for Mike Ross is when he runs away from the police after a drug delivery deal goes sour and lands in Harvey Specter’s (Gabriel Macht) interview room.
His eidetic memory impresses Harvey Specter and gets him his dream job. First, he isn’t shortlisted for the interview, secondly, the suitcase he is carrying is full of dope and rips open in front of Harvey, and most importantly, he has no Harvard law degree or any degree for that matter, a pre-requisite for the job! Yet, his encyclopedic grasp of the law convinceshot-shot lawyer Harveyto hire him anyway. While no doubt that this is the most defining moment in Mike Ross’s life, and arguably inSuits, it is not his cleverest.
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For someone who dazzles Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) with numbers—the one thing that sets Louis apart—it is hard to pinpoint the one clever moment that’s smarter than the others. Mike remembers Trevor’s social security number that he saw on his desk in grade three. He recites novels from his mind to an approving group of girls. He mesmerizes a client who tells him that he doesn’t know what it means to be better at something than everyone by telling him to the second how long a year and eight months is.
He wins Louis’s challenge against a Harvard alumnus in a test designed to expose his fraudulence over his knowledge of Harvard. In the challenge, he uses Louis’s own rule — “The rules dictate that you must be precise as the law is a precise endeavor” — to beat his opponent. He gets out of Louis’s pee-in-a-cup-time situation using his wit by reminding Louis that the company bylaws state that he can only do another drug test after three months! He pinpoints, to their embarrassment before a judge, Louis and Harvey’s cherry-picking of the company’s bylaws to defend Faye Richards (Denise Crosby) whom Samantha (portrayed by screen doctor-turned-lawyerKatherine Heigl) is suing for unlawful dismissal. But it is his moment in the courtroom alongside his soon-to-be father-in-law, Robert Zane (Wendell Pierce), that is the most striking.
Mike Works Hard To Earn Robert Zane’s Respect
In Season 5 Episode 3 “No Refills”, Mike has taken up a class action lawsuit against an insurance company. With Jessica’s (Gina Torres) disapproval of the suit due to its high cost, Mike goes to Robert Zane, aided by Harvey. When Jessica learns that Mike has sought help from Zane, their competitor, she reprimands Mike but agrees to sign off on the case so as not to appear weak to Zane. She demands that Zane treats Mike as a co-counsel, his partner, and not an associate. Mike and Zane hit it off by first visiting their client. Due to the lapsed time as a result of complications in getting funding for the case, the client thinks that the duo does not care about the case. Mike, however, shares his personal story that convinces the client to change her mind. Zane tells him that he did well but still Mike doesn’t feel respected yet.
In the next meet-up with the opposing counsel, Mike’s brilliance again gleams but gets stressed by more unsettling revelations about his co-counsel, Robert Zane. Zane makes unilateral decisions about the case. He hasn’t disclosed important information about the case to Mike and refers to him as his associate in front of the opposing counsel. Later, Mike shares his frustrations with his girlfriend, Rachel Zane (portrayed byMeghan Markle) — Zane’s daughter — who saw it coming from the word go and warned Mike about it. Mike tells Zane that it is important that he earns his respect. His frustration is understandable, especially if you’ve ever had that one person in your life whose respect means the world to you.
Mike’s Mesmerizing Memory
On the day they are to appear in court for the case, Mike, who has the file with the motion, delays while helping out Harvey and arrives in court just in time for the argument of their case. Robert Zane is infuriated. You can almost feel his rage seeing his daughter’s partner — someone he doesn’t approve of yet — is about to ruin his manicured legal career. However, Mike leverages his photographic memory to mesmerize both the court and Zane. As if to remind us how he got there in the first place, he goes for the tried and tested, doing a re-run of howhe convinced Harvey to hire himby asking the judge to open any page of the extensive five-thousand-page file before her and reciting the evidence presented.
In a stunning display of intellect, Mike wins the argument to expedite the case and earns the respect and potentially the approval of his future father-in-law. As they relish in the moment of victory, Robert Zane apologizes to Mike, asks to take him out to lunch, and for the first time, refers to him as a partner. In one moment, Mike earns himself a place among New York City’s best legal minds.
While Mike’s cleverness is strewn all overSuits, this particular moment is a special one. It is a highlight of Mike’s character arc. It is a reflection of society and particularly relating to in-laws, the feeling of the need to impress them. As Mike conquers his struggles using the one thing that he does better than everyone else, we are cheering him on because he is overcoming something that we can all understand is important. He reminds us of our strength and that, if we make good use of it, nothing is insurmountable — even if it is earning the respect of a hard-headed father-in-law-to-be like Robert Zane.
