After Suits became an unexpected hit on Netflix five years after it ended its USA Network run, there was rumblings that a spinoff was in the works. After the original series’ showrunner, Aaron Korsh, was brought back, it was announced that a spinoff starring Stephen Amell would take place in a completely new city. So now we have Suits LA, airing on the NBC mothership instead of USA. Besides a similar sense of banter, attitude and character, the shows don’t seem to be connected by any characters — at least not that we saw in the first episode.
Opening Shot: “NEW YORK 2010.” A group of rowhowses. There, federal prosecutor Ted Black (Stephen Amell) tries to persuade a mob hitman to testify against his colleagues, using the man’s daughter as collateral. Right as Ted leave the house, there’s an explosion.
The Gist: We then see Ted waking up on his couch in present-day Los Angeles. His brother Eddie (Carson A. Egan) makes Ted feel better just by offering to make him breakfast. Eddie has Down’s Syndrome, and Ted has been his protector since they were both kids.
In LA, Ted runs a massive firm with his longtime friend Stuart Lane (Josh McDermitt). Ted is on the entertainment law side, and Stuart does criminal law. It’s a separation that is on purpose, because after so many years as a prosecutor, Ted can’t stand the idea of being a defense attorney. When a client on the entertainment side, Lester Thompson (Kevin Weisman), gets accused of murdering a friend, Ted convinces him to have Stuart as his attorney, even though Lester is convinced that Stuart doesn’t believe his story.
Ted is contemplating a merger between his and Stuart’s firm and a firm run by Samanta (Rachelle Goulding), whom both of them knew back in New York. At the same time, he’s getting a young movie star a great contract for a film and dealing with veteran client John Amos (who plays himself in what we think is his final on-screen appearance), who can’t seem to get any work. At the same time, his two top attorneys, Rick Dodson (Bryan Greenberg) and Erica Rollins (Lex Scott Davis) are vying to get a promotion to head of entertianment; Ted thinks Rick is the better leader, but Erica, who closes a lot of cases, thinks the firm needs her aggressiveness.
Ted also has personal matters on his mind: His father (Matt Letscher), who left him and Eddie when they were kids, is dying, and his admin Roslyn (Azita Ghanizada) thinks he should go back to New York to see him. Ted refuses; the last time they had contact was 15 years ago, when his dad tried to get him to join his firm just after the explosion happened.
But he starts to reconsider when the firm is forever altered, testing loyalties and forcing him to scramble to see who he can really trust. It also forces him to consider doing something he vowed he’d never do.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Of course, Suits LA is a spinoff of Suits; both shows were created by Aaron Korsh, and they have the same snappy, somewhat aggro dialogue style.
Our Take: Like the USA Network show (and later, a Netflix hit) that spawned it, Suits LA isn’t just about banter and the case of the week. In fact, Lester’s murder case will likely take up a lot of the firm’s time during the first season, while it seems that we’ll also see the entertainment side of the firm handle the careers and business affairs of fictional versions of real actors, if the show’s IMDb is any indication.
But, like Suits, the show is about the personalities in the office, and how they bounce off each other. What set the original show apart was the fact that, while there seemed to be a base level of trust between the people working at Pearson Spencer Litt, there was always a competitiveness and a sense that a stab in the back was just around the corner. Of course, with Patrick J. Adams’s character Mike Ross always on the verge of being found out as a fraud, that sense was palpable.
In Suits LA, the backstabbing is more overt. Without revealing anything, Ted has learned over the years that he can trust very few people in his life and work, and that is demonstrated yet again as the firm undergoes a massive change. Within this context, he does find people he can trust, and there seems to be a growing friendship between him and Erica. Is in those relationships where Suits LA is going to succeed or fail, whether it’s the ones he forges with people at his firm or the rival ones he forges with those outside it.
Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode.
Parting Shot: The ending is a huge spoiler that we’re not allowed to reveal.
Sleeper Star: Maggie Grace plays Amanda Stevens, a pro bono attorney who rents an office at the firm. She seems to be filthy rich, and is the only one who can call Ted on his crap. Alice Lee is Leah, a young associate that works for Erica but wants a lot more responsibility and a title to match.
Most Pilot-y Line: Ted hires Kevin (Troy Winbush), an investigator he worked with in New York, to help him with Lester’s case. When Kevin asks for $200k, Ted replies, “It’s gotta be 4. Not a penny less.” This is supposed to show that Ted is generous to those he trusts. But it’s also bad negotiating.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Suits LA benefits from strong performances by Amell and Davis, but Korsh’s strong sense of banter and character, which made the original Suits such a sucess, is what really makes this spinoff worth watching.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.