Suits: What makes Gabriel Macht, Patrick J Adams legal drama one of the best comfort watches?

Over a decade ago, a certain law school dropout gatecrashed into a law firm’s selection interviews with an eidetic memory and an acute analytical skill. This is how the two key players of the legal drama, Suits, are introduced — Mike Ross (Patrick J Adams), the law school dropout and Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), the lawyer who places his bets on Ross and hires him, promising to keep his secret.

For the legal drama, none of the protagonists seems to care too much about law. At least, at first. However, as the show begins to roll, the viewers realise that the dynamic duo is only concerned with solving cases and bringing revenue to the firm at all costs.

Over a decade ago, a certain law school dropout gatecrashed into a law firm’s selection interviews with an eidetic memory and an acute analytical skill. This is how the two key players of the legal drama, Suits, are introduced — Mike Ross (Patrick J Adams), the law school dropout and Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), the lawyer who places his bets on Ross and hires him, promising to keep his secret.

For the legal drama, none of the protagonists seems to care too much about law. At least, at first. However, as the show begins to roll, the viewers realise that the dynamic duo is only concerned with solving cases and bringing revenue to the firm at all costs.

Sassy, bordering on cocky, Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Specter soon became the face of the show, belting out one snarky reply after another to his arch-nemesis Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), the talented but oft-overlooked partner of the firm. Specter, oozing charm in his sharp tuxedos and designer shoes, is a bit of an entitled prick, who would go to any extent to veil his own sense of insecurity in aggressively chasing bigger clients and their even bigger paychecks.

But the character is also a microcosm of the world it inhabits. The law firm is perched atop a New York highrise, with its ceiling-length glass windows overlooking the sprawling city skyline, floors lined with thick, plush carpet, where men and women strut about in impeccable suits murmuring in respectful, hushed silences about besting their colleagues. It is a cut-throat world inhabited by witty and smart lawyers, who somehow always find a way to manage their mischiefs.

Understanding this world is integral to understanding Suits. The focus on fashion and grooming, of owning designer labels and cars, is not superficial. This is a decadently stylish and uber-cool universe, where fashion is used as a symbol of power. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise when Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty), Specter’s legal secretary, infers that Louis will be promoted to a senior partner position from a suit that he had reserved specifically for the occasion.

Yet, the show begins with Specter’s defences slowly starting to come off. Although never a stickler for rules, he hires Mike Ross not just because he believes he can harness his potential, but also because he seeks to find a family within his colleagues. In Mike, Harvey finds a younger brother whom he can train and guide, and possibly save from a life of penury.

Mike Ross’ introduction, in a way, is symbolic. He is the only character whose home and personal life is prominently featured in the earlier seasons of the show. He is depicted as the only character with a raging conscience and an ability to empathise with even the least paying clients. But Mike is also smart enough to realise the only way to manipulate a team of brilliant money sharks is to counter them with logic. His relationship with Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle), a talented but insecure paralegal, formed the emotional core of the show.

And with that, the show managed to always strike a balance between overt sentimentality and clinical rationality.

Suits charges forth at breakneck speed from the first episode itself, almost mimicking the obsession with productivity and the fevered thrill of accumulating more and more wealth in a 21st-century capitalist world. Every moment is precious, even perhaps to feel. Thus, it takes over five seasons to finally address Harvey’s emotional stuntedness in detail, when he is seen interacting with a therapist.

Over the course of its nine-season run, Suits slowly metamorphosed from a candy-coloured escapist fare to a less-escapist series with focus on myriad things like mental health and financial duress. But even with multiple heartbreaks, professional setbacks, brushes with the police, jail visits and betrayals the size of moon’s crater, Suits never slips into the melodrama territory, always finding a way to bounce back and carry on with its measured frivolity

Even with its loyal fandom, Suits has rarely received critical accolades. Part of the reason remains the show’s overly glossy appearance, which deters critics from hailing it as prestige drama. Another possible reason for it could be the show’s tendency to glamourise overworking, unhealthy professional tiffs and deliver a steady supply of chuckles with its witty, but oft-offensive remarks.

Nevertheless, Suits ranks amongst the highest in comfort watches, because it does not idealise the world that we are living in, but lends us a look into how anti-heroes might be navigating it. They are certainly troubled, but they are good people, trying to fight the good fight. For most times. And whatever happens, there is comfort in the knowledge that everything will eventually fall into place.

Watch Suits here