‘Suits’ season 5 finale review: Mike’s sacrifice, Rachel’s waiting game, and Harvey’s big swing

How in the world was “Suits” going to conclude one of its greatest seasons to date? It was with an episode that was epic, dramatic, heartbreaking, poignant, and basically every other exaggerated emotion that you could possibly hope for.

Let’s start with what we consider the most important news of the hour: Mike and Rachel are not married, and he’s heading off to a cell for two years. They were desperate to have it happen, but after seeing her parents front and center at the chapel not particularly thrilled to be there, he made the decision that he did not want her giving up anything in the future to marry him today. If he goes off to prison now, he helps to ensure that the Bar doesn’t hold it against her. Obviously you saw Rachel’s heartbreak, but at the same time, it may be something she is thankful for later. The burden is gone, and she can actually start to live for her own ambitions once more. She would’ve married him and loved him, but this is different. It’s something more.

There were many last-ditch attempts that Harvey and company made to ensure that Mike would be free, and it went so far as Harvey orchestrating a deal that could get him the information necessary to crack a new deal with Anita Gibbs. It didn’t work, and as a result of all of this, the firm saw almost its entire talent poaches. Pearson Spencer Litt is almost practically just Pearson, Specter, and Litt when it comes to practicing attorneys. Everyone’s gone. This was as lonely a finale as you’re going to see, but it was also one that prioritized sacrifice more so than anything else. It was sensational in that way, since everyone did lose something as a result of their prior actions.

More than anything else, though, what we liked was the audacity of creator Aaron Korsh to actually send Mike to prison, something that many other showrunners would not have the guts to do. This changes everything for this show, and with the pendulum on the other side, we have no idea where the show goes from here. Grade: A.

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