Now that most of the developed world has fallen in love with Suits thanks to Netflix’s dominance last year — and with the series turning 13 on June 23 — it’s only fitting to take a moment to remember some of the reasons we’re all in love. Of course, there’s the top-notch ensemble cast. Led by Patrick J. Adams as Mike Ross, the genius dropout who never went to law school, and Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Specter, the high-powered corporate attorney who hired him and kept his secret, the USA series was brimming with their banter and dynamic duo vibe that would carry the show through 99 percent of its nine seasons (2011-2019). Even after Adams left before the final season, fans still considered him part of the family and wholeheartedly embraced his return for the final episodes.
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At the same time, we had a whole bastion of beloved characters to keep us entertained, including Sarah Rafferty's unsinkable Donna Paulsen, Gina Torres' graceful badass Jessica Pearson, Rick Hoffman's Louis Litt (easily the most improved character ever) and, in recent seasons, the new regime played by Katherine Heigl, Dule Hill and Amanda Schull. There was also some incredibly compelling business, some of which would eventually play a role in future seasons, as well as a great deal of respect for the history of the show's events. Something that happened in Season 2 might turn out to be important later, or a character we thought was gone might return in a surprise new capacity.
The show was also slick as hell in both production design and styling (the costumes, my god!), and it broke the mold when it came to legal drama, in that these people rarely entered a courtroom. When they did, it was usually one of their own doing the trial. And don't even get us started on the drinking game that could have been created around the ever-changing names on the wall of the show's law office. Pearson Hardman. Just Pearson. Then Pearson Darby. Pearson Darby Specter. Pearson Specter. Pearson Specter Litt. Specter Litt. The place had more partners than the man on Sister Wives.
But really, it was the relationships that kept us hooked. Whether it was the Mike-Harvey bromance, the fractured family ties that caused the characters’ internal struggles, or one of the many real-life couples that popped up along the way — including the one that inspired its own hashtag — Suits had no shortage of romances worth rooting for.