Suits Postmortem: Will Harvey Go Through with His Plan?

[WARNING: The following story contains spoilers about the Suits Season 3 premiere. Read at your own risk.]
Is Suits' Pearson Darby about to become Spector Darby? Maybe, if Harvey (Gabriel Macht) has his way.
After losing his bet with Jessica (Gina Torres) and forced to stay and sign a non-compete last season, Harvey has come up with a new plan to retaliate against his boss. Though he initially arranged a deal with Darby (Conleth Hill) to have him fired on Tuesday's Season 3 premiere, Harvey later floats a new plan with the Brit: He wins the bribery case involving oil bigwig Ava Hessington (Michelle Fairley), who's near and dear to Darby's heart, and Darby will back Harvey for partner so they can oust Jessica.

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Harvey isn't the only person ganging up on Jessica though. A newly emboldened Mike (Patrick J. Adams), desperate to get back in Harvey's and Rachel's (Meghan Markle) good graces, rejects the new office Jessica has given him and threatens to take her down if she ever sends the letter she wrote to the D.A. that exposes the law degree-less Mike. While he still has ways to go to repair his relationship with Harvey, Mike finally gets Rachel, who dares him to quit, to forgive him — and gets her back in bed — after telling her the full story about his past.Meanwhile, Louis (Rick Hoffman) finagles his way to becoming the firm's quartermaster, only to be outwitted by Nigel (Adam Godley), who takes his associates — retaliation for reneging on his promise and putting Nigel on his efficiency list last season.So will Harvey actually take down Jessica? When will he forgive Mike? Is it smooth sailing for Mike and Rachel? (Of course not!) Creator Aaron Korsh answers our burning questions.Everyone's targeting Jessica! Does she have any ally?
Aaron Korsh: [Laughs] That's a good question. I think all the characters in the course of the season, they're always living with the consequences of their actions. ... She went all out to beat him and now she's reaping what she sowed. She's humbled a little, but she's not down and out.She had to have figured that he would retaliate, right?
Korsh: She knows Harvey is a competitor. Harvey isn't about trying to be managing partner, which is a little bit more of a coaching role. Harvey would rather be the gunslinger. Managing partner inherently requires an element of restraint. You can't shoot from the hip like Harvey does. He just doesn't want to lose. I don't think she thinks Darby would ever make Harvey partner. I don't think she thinks Harvey will go through with it. As she tries to mend some fences, he'll wonder if he did the right thing or not. Does she find out he's trying to oust her?
Korsh: I think she knows that there are ramifications to what she did. She's his mentor. Just because he entered the deal, it doesn't mean he'll go through with it. My kids are a little too small ... but I'm sure my son will one day say, "I'm going to run away." Ten minutes later, he won't want to run away. ... Harvey is  going to try to get rid of her for the time being, but it's not a simple case. The rubber isn't going to meet the road on that for a little bit.

Suits Season 3: Will Harvey and Rachel forgive Mike?

How will she try to mend fences?
Korsh: Through the cases they're working on. She said, "I got you on Ava Hessington," but Darby pulled rank and she decided to use that to mend fences. Harvey sees through that, but she is honest in her process-thinking. She's trying to do that through working on cases with him and gestures at work. To some degree, Jessica may have crossed the line and entered a merger, but she didn't start the fight. He might have overreacted. They talk about who started it and does it matter who started it in the second episode.I was impressed with how Mike confronted Jessica. He was so confident, but not cocky about it, like he knew he had her.
Korsh: Yeah, me too. So much goes on this year and there are so many relationships to manage and discover that some of them required a détente. We had to leave some alone; otherwise you would have endless feuds. Jessica realizes that she pulled a big thing on Mike when she blackmailed him, and all he did was make her realize that she can't do that again. Patrick and I talked about it. He wanted to play Mike a little different. Instead of begging for forgiveness, he's being more matter-of-fact. He's coming into his own. The first take, he was too smug, so he just went in with confidence. And that's right: He knew he had her. He wasn't trying to be a dick; he was trying to say, "You put me at odds with Harvey." I think she's going to accept it. This is the consequence of the action she took. Let's move on.It seems like that was an effect of dealing with Rachel and having to be up-front with her.
Korsh: I think some of it was dealing with Rachel — he almost quite for her — and some of it was realizing that if Harvey wasn't going to forgive him, he has to take matters into his own hands and prove that he can trust him.Where do Rachel and Mike go from here?
Korsh: They're going to have their ups and downs. We took a two-pronged approach to their relationship. ... She can forgive him, but she hasn't forgotten this and it will come up again. The other approach is, let's just take all that stuff and throw it away and say they're young and tempestuous and having a relationship at the same office they're trying to keep quiet. Rachel will keep pursuing law school, so that will obviously cause some problems since he has what she wants and didn't work for it.Will they last through the season?
Korsh: I can't say, but I am enjoying them as a couple. What is Mike going to do to win back Harvey's trust? Will he build that time machine?
Korsh: [Laughs] He's taking some big steps. He's trying. Their relationship is very similar to Harvey and Jessica's relationship. ... The second episode will be revealing. Mike is being wooed by Louis, so is Harvey really OK with that? Poor Louis. Louis takes some lumps. Nigel got him back. He probably gets beaten up the most, but what he goes through is both tragic and hilarious, and Rick always makes it great.Darby seems very happy to play along with everyone. What is his endgame?
Korsh: I don't think Darby thinks Harvey wants to leave when he asked him to fire him. I think he thinks Harvey is going to change his mind, and he did. It's like allowing a kid to test his boundaries. I think with Darby saying yes to Harvey about taking down Jessica, he is banking on the fact that Harvey's going to change his mind over the course of working this case. You'll find out more about his history with Ava soon. But he's merged with this firm. He's the leader of the firm and he's trying to keep things on an even keel. I don't think he's evil or manipulative. We may experience him that way, but I think he's honestly trying to handle the situation he's found himself in.

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We'll finally meet Harvey's dad (James McCaffrey) in the flashback episode. How is he worked in?
Korsh: When we do flashbacks, we like to make the past relevant to the present. Harvey is embroiled in a situation with Cameron Dennis (Gary Cole) and he flashes back to his Cameron Dennis days that are taking place at the same time as when Mike was in college, and that's how we see his dad. And we learn something about both of them, and some light is shed on [Harvey's] relationship with Donna (Sarah Rafferty). The episode tells the story of how Harvey ultimately left the D.A.'s office to work for Jessica. ... There is a chance the dad scene will be cut for time. I'm doing everything I can not to delete it, but there is a chance. If we do [cut it], it'll be in the deleted scenes.Is anyone going to find out Mike's secret, like say, the Brits?
Korsh: I honestly don't know. We have not gotten to the point of breaking [story lines of] whether anyone would find out, but you never know.Suits airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on USA. What did you think of the premiere?