Suits season 7 spoilers: Better Off Ted alum Jay Harrington set as Donna’s ex
The Hollywood Reporter was first to claim that Harrington will be appearing in two episodes of the show as Mark Meadows, ex-boyfriend of Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty). Finding a man capable of standing alongside Donna was likely an immense challenge, and we’re certainly interested in seeing what their chemistry is like.
Given how Harvey Specter is currently in a relationship with Paula Agard, it makes some sense to explore Donna’s history — the new Pearson Specter Litt COO is often linked to Harvey by many ‘shippers out there, so seeing them have romance-based stories at the same time could prove fun. We’re also curious to see how Mark is introduced given Harvey’s secrecy when it comes to his own relationship. If Donna comes to work and is open about introducing him to everyone, even as an ex, would that make Harvey feel weird about hiding his relationship with his former therapist? He may not like to show it, but we know that this is a man littered with insecurities.
In a statement to the aforementioned website, show creator Aaron Korsh said the following:
“We have discussed Jay for many roles over the years because our casting director, Bonnie Zane, knows I’m a huge fan of his from Better Off Ted and other things … Often he was unavailable. A few months ago he was pitched for the role of Tommy Bratton, but we ended up going with Al Sapienza. A few weeks later we were writing the role of Mark Meadows and that was perfect. It requires someone in that age range who can be charming, can be handsome, and someone who can be a challenge sexually with Harvey for Donna. So I was glad we didn’t go with him for Tommy Bratton. Sometimes you end up landing in the role that you should.”
Without seeing this character yet it’s hard to say if Harrington would’ve been better as Bratton, but on the surface, it feels like Korsh is right. Harrington excels at playing parts that are stuffed to the brim with charm, but also have deeper challenges and twists to their personality. Sometimes that charm is used to hide a deeper pain, or sometimes it can evolve into full-on arrogance. Learning more about this relationship just gives you one more thing to be excited about as season 7 progresses.
If you missed it…
We know already that next week’s new episode of Suits is going to be exploring further some of the dynamics between Harvey and Donna in relation to his relationship. Head over here to see a preview on that, and also the newest struggles for Mike Ross. There are strains at present between him and Rachel over his focus on the prison case.