Suits (season 9)

The ninth and final season of the American legal drama Suits was ordered on January 23, 2019. With its renewal, it was announced that it would be the final season of the show with all regulars from the previous season returning. Unlike the second through eighth season, the ninth season consisted of ten episodes instead of sixteen.[1] The final season premiered on USA Network in the United States July 17, 2019, followed by the premiere of spin-off series Pearson.[2]

Suits
Season 9
Promotional poster for the season
Starring
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes10
Release
Original networkUSA Network
Original releaseJuly 17 (2019-07-17) –
September 25, 2019 (2019-09-25)
Season chronology

Cast
Main article: List of Suits characters

Regular cast

Recurring cast

Special guest star

Guest cast

Episodes
See also: List of Suits episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date [3]U.S. viewers
(millions)
1251"Everything's Changed"Christopher MisianoAaron KorshJuly 17, 2019 (2019-07-17)1.04[4]
Donna and Harvey spend their first night together as a couple (second overall), but decide on holding off on telling their colleagues until the fall-out of Robert's disbarment has been settled. Harvey and Samantha fight to keep Robert's clients from leaving while they are actively being pursued by Eric Kaldor, who offers to stop in exchange for ten of Harvey's clients. Alex is approached by a representative of the New York bar association who hints that they have the power to replace Louis by Alex if they continue to refuse to remove Zane's name. After using that information to convince Louis, Alex attempts to organize a vote between the four remaining name partners and Donna, but Samantha threatens to reveal to the Bar what really happened if they remove Robert's name. Backed into a corner with no way to convince the clients not to jump ship, Harvey assigns his clients to Kaldor. However, the damage control comes too late as Louis is forced to agree to direct supervision by the Bar Association.
1262"Special Master"Michael SmithGenevieve SparlingJuly 24, 2019 (2019-07-24)1.04[5]
Harvey and Donna tell Louis about their relationship while he shares the news of the Bar's supervision. Bar representative Faye Richardson takes full control of the firm, which includes approving new cases, determined to make the firm fly right again. Samantha wants to represent a friend from the Military in a pro bono wrongful termination case, which involves urging her friend to accept being officially diagnosed with PTSD. Unable to make Samantha drop the case because of the time she claimed she took it, Faye strips her of the right to use company resources, so Samantha enlists Katrina's help while Katrina vows to keep her in line. Donna and Harvey work to keep Thomas Kessler as a client so Faye can't put him through an exit interview, but he decides to leave anyway, forcing Donna to come clean to Faye. Meanwhile, Louis has Benjamin hack the Bar bylaws in order to find a loophole they can use to force Faye out of the firm, but she finds out and makes Louis choose between resigning or being stripped of his managing partner title.
1273"Windmills"Gabriel MachtMarshall Knight & Rob LaMorgeseJuly 31, 2019 (2019-07-31)0.94[6]
Faye takes over as acting managing partner from Louis. An old friend of Louis' presents him with an offer to become a judge and warns him that if he does not take it now and the whole situation with Faye ends badly, he will likely never have a shot at becoming a judge again. He wonders how his closest friends at the firm would do without him and vice versa. Samantha convinces Alex to put their heads together to find a legal way to get rid of Faye, but she takes things too far. Alex invites her to a family dinner and she comes to realize she has been off balance ever since Robert left. She decides to look for her biological family. Meanwhile, Katrina is blackmailed by Susan, an associate who knows about her flirtations with Brian and wants to be made her full-time associate despite disobeying orders. Harvey represents a CEO who is about to be fired by a board represented by Faye's former firm in an attempt to force Faye to cross a line to help out her former firm, but she maintains her innocence. Donna and Harvey vow to always support Louis.
1284"Cairo"Anton CropperSharyn RothsteinAugust 7, 2019 (2019-08-07)1.00[7]
Faye tells Donna that her relationship with Harvey is a conflict of interest, and gives her an ultimatum: break up with Harvey or lose her vote on the board. Alex encounters an old Bratton Gould colleague, Craig Cameron, who wants him to convince Samantha to take a deal in a case, or else Craig will expose Alex's role in the Reform Corp murder cover-up. Harvey tries to make nice with Donna's father, which proves difficult given a past case that Harvey handled for him. Louis learns that Faye asked Katrina to rewrite the firm's code of conduct, and he asks Katrina to include a clause that will allow him to get Gretchen back from Faye. The name partners visit Faye and say they will all waive the conflict of interest clause in order to let Donna retain her vote. Faye reluctantly agrees after they all threaten to resign, and also allows Gretchen to return to working for Louis.
1295"If the Shoe Fits"Christopher MisianoJeffrey M. Lee & Jordan PomavilleAugust 14, 2019 (2019-08-14)0.96[8]
Mike returns to New York City to pick a fight with Harvey. His client, basketball player Jeremy Wall, wants out of his shoe contract with Brick Street because of exploitative work conditions he witnessed on a trip to the factory. Samantha gets involved as Harvey handed the client to her a month prior and they agree to a fair fight with Faye watching them closely. When Mike takes things public through a damaging newspaper ad and turns down Samantha's proposition to settle, Samantha is left fuming. Mike outplays Harvey and reveals he set this case up to win, knowing the moves Harvey would make. While Harvey concedes, Samantha does not take the defeat well and produces evidence she needs to prove Mike wrong. While she has left no trail, Faye knows that Samantha manufactured the evidence and fires her. Louis tries to cheer up Sheila after she loses out on a large donation due to "baby brain". In therapy, she reveals she has been contemplating giving up her job to become a stay-at-home mother. Meanwhile, Donna makes Katrina see she has to find herself to get over Brian.
1306"Whatever It Takes"Michael SmithEthan DroginAugust 21, 2019 (2019-08-21)1.05[9]
In the wake of Samantha's firing, the team rallies to try and get Faye dismissed. Samantha meets an old FBI contact who agrees to find something on Faye if Samantha will help him go after one of her clients, Gavin Andrews. Alex and Robert Zane pitch in to help. But Samantha gets double-crossed, as only she delivers her part in the bargain. Jointly, Harvey and Louis find something on Faye via her ex-husband. During their divorce proceedings, Faye learned that her ex was overcharging clients to fund a lucrative class action suit, and turned him into the Bar. But she then convinced the Bar to not prosecute him, thus preserving the money from the suit and allowing her to take it in the divorce. When Faye finds out, she confronts Harvey and says she only did it to spare their then-young daughter from having a father in prison. Donna convinces Harvey that this is not the way to get rid of Faye. Elsewhere, Brian shows up in Katrina's office with a suit against one of her clients. He claims he just wants her to get it dismissed so he can save face at his new firm. During the proceedings, in which Susan assists, Brian reveals an ulterior motive: he misses spending time with Katrina. As the episode closes, Samantha tells Harvey she located her biological father in Pittsburgh.
1317"Scenic Route"Emile LevisettiGarrett SchabbSeptember 4, 2019 (2019-09-04)1.07[10]
Harvey and Samantha take the scenic route to meet Samantha's biological father. While on the journey, Samantha experiences rough memories of her childhood, also revealing she was in a relationship with Eric Kaldor. At the office, Donna asks Alex for a favor. Meanwhile, Louis pretends to be Harvey when he confirms a deal with Reed Tucker who is wanting Harvey. While Louis is pretending, Harold Gunderson learns that Harvey is the opposite counsel on a case, but Louis shows up saying Harvey sent him. Harold calls the real Harvey and tells him to meet him and have lunch with him, knowing he just had lunch with Tucker. Harvey then finds out that Louis is pretending to be him. Harvey and Samantha reach Pittsburgh and Samantha meets her biological father. She learns it was just a fling and he was not aware that she existed, and that her mother died when she was two. Knowing that nobody gave her up, she is relieved. Back home, Donna surprises Harvey with the favor she asked Alex, giving him the painting by Harvey's mother. After seeing this, he calls his mother and says he regrets ignoring her for so many years.
1328"Prisoner's Dilemma"Julian HolmesEthan DroginSeptember 11, 2019 (2019-09-11)0.97[11]
Harvey comes home to find Sean Cahill waiting for him. Cahill tells him Andrew Malik had him arrested for their collusion two years prior, swapping Mike's freedom for William Sutter. Sean hires Harvey as his attorney so they can communicate confidentially but Malik still tries to play them against one another, eventually convincing Sean to cut a deal through Faye. Harvey learns that his nemesis Charles Forstman told Malik of a deathbed confession from Sutter. However, Alex discovers through the timing of Malik's arrests and the fact that Sutter died of a heart attack (thus preventing a deathbed confession) that Malik made a deal with Forstman to fabricate the evidence in exchange for a reduced sentence. This leads to Harvey beating Malik once more and sending him to prison. Meanwhile, Esther asks Louis to make sure a merger of her company does not happen because the man on the other side once sexually assaulted her, and she does not want to come forward. Louis lets his love for his sister cloud his judgment, but Samantha and Katrina rescue the case. When Harvey comes home, Donna tells him that his mother had a heart attack and passed away.
1339"Thunder Away"Robert Duncan McNeillGenevieve SparlingSeptember 18, 2019 (2019-09-18)0.96[12]
At the funeral for Harvey's mom, Donna convinces Mike to team up with Samantha to take down Faye. They sue Faye for wrongful termination and Faye forces Harvey and Louis to defend her promising to leave if they win: but they cannot tell the other side about the deal or she will dismantle the firm. The case explodes causing more rifts between Harvey and Louis and Samantha and Mike. When Katrina crosses a line to try to help the firm, Harvey yells at her for jeopardising their deal with Faye. She confesses to Faye and urges her to find a way to win the case without destroying Samantha's career. Faye reluctantly agrees but fires Katrina for colluding against the firm. Harvey tells Mike he is calling him as a witness, causing him to wonder why he stopped trusting him.
13410"One Last Con"Aaron KorshAaron KorshSeptember 25, 2019 (2019-09-25)0.86[13]

As the trial continues, with Harvey calling Mike in as a witness and Louis facing pressure from Robert to end the drama, Faye insists that Harvey take the stand against Samantha the next day in order to win their case. Harvey then discloses to Mike the deal he made with Faye in order for her to leave the firm, and admits that he never stopped trusting Mike; who then suggests one last con together to stop Faye. Mike then offers Samantha another witness to testify against Faye; Katrina, who initially refuses because she is unhappy about the way Harvey treated her, but after Alex talks to her, she tells Faye that she will claim that Faye asked her to spy on Samantha and tamper the evidence. Furious, Faye orders Harvey to make sure Katrina is taken off the witness list, though he counters back and insists that Faye put their agreement in writing.

When Faye arrives to sign the agreement the next morning, Samantha and Mike yell at Harvey for tampering with their witness and a brief fight erupts. When Faye intervenes, Gretchen, whom Louis came to the previous day, swaps out the documents at the last second, resulting in Faye unknowingly signing a document admitting to witness tampering, essentially ousting her from the firm at the group's urging. She still refuses to back down until Harvey privately persuades her to leave, telling Faye he will give her what she wants (himself) but not the way she wants it. After Harvey tells the group that Faye is packing to leave, Louis rehires Samantha at the firm.

The next day, Louis and Sheila get married with Stan officiating their ceremony, only to have Sheila go into labor, causing them to go to the hospital. On the spur of the moment, Harvey proposes to Donna and they marry on the spot. After Sheila gives birth to a daughter, Harvey and Donna reveal to Louis that they are resigning from the firm and moving to Seattle to work with Mike and Rachel. Though this is what Harvey told Faye, he admits that while he likes working in the grey, he wants to do it for the good guys this time around. Katrina is promoted to name partner as a thanks for helping to save their firm, making the final name of the firm Litt Wheeler Williams Bennett. Before leaving for Seattle, Harvey is visited by Mike; who "interviews" him for his new job. As Donna and Louis ride down the elevator for the last time together, Harvey looks around his office one last time before leaving for good.

Production

Final season decision

With the renewal, creator Aaron Korsh offered insight on the decision to end the show with a 10-episode ninth season. He stated that he and USA Network decided to extend the cast contracts for two more years beyond season 7 after they wrapped production on season 6. Speaking on the shortened final season, he shared: "Our winter runs consist of 6 episodes, so we all felt like it would be very difficult to just have a truncated finale to a season. We always wanted to have the big 10 in the summer, to go out on a high note so to speak."[14]

In addition to the ten first-run episodes, USA aired a repeat of the series pilot episode on August 28, with additional commentary from the cast members added.

Casting

Korsh revealed intentions to bring back characters from the past as it has "always been in the lexicon of Suits to bring people back and that's because I think that's how life works," but that the writers were deciding on whom exactly they wanted to bring back as too much returning characters would prevent the story from moving forward. He denied rumors started by British tabloids that they were trying to get Meghan Markle back for a cameo in exchange for a large donation to charity, although he did share that he and Patrick J. Adams were contemplating bringing Mike Ross back for the final season if it worked out with Adams' schedule. At the same time, he stated a cross-over with characters from Pearson had not been ruled out nor planned.[14] On June 3, 2019, it was officially announced that Adams would return as a guest star for the fifth episode of the season. Korsh also hinted that he could re-appear in the series finale, though that was still uncertain. Additionally, Korsh stated that they would always welcome Markle back if she were to reach out, but he did not see it happening.[15]

Following the eighth-season finale, Korsh stated in an interview that Wendell Pierce's Robert Zane was written out of the show given Pierce's uncertain availability for the ninth season. Nevertheless, Korsh hoped that they would be able to bring him back.[16]

Writing

Additionally, Korsh shared that the ninth season would pick up shortly after where the eighth season left off.[14] After the eighth-season finale, Korsh further shared that the ninth season would explore the newfound relationship between Donna and Harvey and teased that there could be marriage and death in the final season.[16] On Patrick J. Adams' return, Korsh elaborated that Mike's return would see him embroiled in a case against Harvey and Samantha.[15]

Filming

The table read for the fifth episode featuring Mike Ross' return was scheduled for mid-June with filming starting shortly after. Initially, Patrick J. Adams was going to direct the series' penultimate episode, thus the ninth of the season, but his signing on to star in The Right Stuff prevented that plan from coming to fruition.[15]

Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of Suits
No. Title Air dateRating
(18–49)		Viewers
(millions)		DVR
(18–49)		DVR viewers
(millions)		Total
(18–49)		Total viewers
(millions)
1 "Everything's Changed" July 17, 20190.21.04[4]0.31.240.52.28[17]
2 "Special Master" July 24, 20190.21.04[5]0.31.080.52.12[18]
3 "Windmills" July 31, 20190.20.94[6]0.31.170.52.11[19]
4 "Cairo" August 7, 20190.21.00[7]N/A1.06N/A2.06[20]
5 "If the Shoe Fits" August 14, 20190.20.96[8]0.31.220.52.18[21]
6 "Whatever It Takes" August 21, 20190.21.05[9]0.20.940.41.99[22][lower-alpha 1]
7 "Scenic Route" September 4, 20190.21.07[10]0.20.850.41.92[23][lower-alpha 1]
8 "Prisoner's Dilemma" September 11, 20190.20.97[11]0.20.840.31.80[24][lower-alpha 1]
9 "Thunder Away" September 18, 20190.20.96[12]0.20.920.41.88[25][lower-alpha 1]
10 "One Last Con" September 26, 20190.20.86[13]0.20.930.41.79[26][lower-alpha 1]
  1. Live +7 ratings were not available, so Live +3 ratings have been used instead.
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References
  1. Gelman, Vlada (January 23, 2019). "Suits to End with Season 9". TVLine.com. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  2. @USA_Network (May 1, 2019). "It all comes down to this. The final season of #Suits premieres July 17 on @USA_Network" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "Shows A-Z - suits on usa". The Futon Critic. August 21, 2019.
  4. Metcalf, Mitch (July 18, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.17.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  5. Metcalf, Mitch (July 25, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.24.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  6. Metcalf, Mitch (August 1, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.31.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  7. Metcalf, Mitch (August 8, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.7.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  8. Metcalf, Mitch (August 15, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.14.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  9. Metcalf, Mitch (August 22, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.21.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  10. Metcalf, Mitch (September 5, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.4.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  11. Metcalf, Mitch (September 12, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.11.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  12. Metcalf, Mitch (September 19, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.18.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  13. Metcalf, Mitch (September 26, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.25.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  14. Andreeva, Nellie (January 23, 2019). "'Suits' Creator Aaron Korsh Shares Final Season Plans, Who May Return & More". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  15. Andreeva, Nellie. "'Suits': Patrick J. Adams To Return For Final Season; Creator Aaron Korsh Provides Details & What About Meghan Markle". Deadline.com. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  16. Andreeva, Nellie (February 27, 2019). "'Suits' Creator Aaron Korsh Talks Game-Changing Finale Ending & Surprise Exit, Teases Marriage & Death In Final Season". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  17. Welch, Alex (August 14, 2019). "'Yellowstone,' 'Below Deck Mediterranean' lead the cable Live +7 ratings for July 15–21". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  18. Welch, Alex (August 16, 2019). "'Teen Mom' scores top 18-49 gain in cable Live +7 ratings for July 22–28". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  19. Welch, Alex (August 19, 2019). "'Descendants 3' scores big gains in cable Live +7 ratings for July 29 – August 4". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  20. Welch, Alex (August 26, 2019). "'Yellowstone' doubles its audience in cable Live +7 ratings for August 5–11". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  21. Welch, Alex (August 29, 2019). "'Yellowstone' stays on top of the cable Live +7 ratings for August 12–18". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  22. Pucci, Douglas (August 30, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: 'Pearson' Leads All Telecasts in Percentage Gains Among Total Viewers and Adults 25-54". Programming Insider. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  23. Pucci, Douglas (September 13, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: 'Mayans M.C' Second Season Premiere is the Top Adults 18-49 Raw Gainer Among All Telecasts". Programming Insider. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  24. Pucci, Douglas (September 20, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: FX Dramas 'Mayans M.C' and 'Snowfall' Lead All Cable Shows in Overall Raw Gains". Programming Insider. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  25. Pucci, Douglas (September 27, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: 'American Horror Story: 1984' Season Premiere Tops All Telecasts in Raw Gains Among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49". Programming Insider. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  26. Pucci, Douglas (October 4, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: 'Stumptown' Series Premiere as the Only Telecast to More Than Double its Live+Same Day Adults 18-49". Programming Insider. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
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