The Ultimate Harvey Specter Record Music Collection (From Suits)
Photo Patrick J. Adams in Suits. Credit Ian Watson/USA Network
When Suits returns for its sixth season on Wednesday night, youll be forgiven for thinking it has morphed into Orange Is the New Black.
There is Mike Ross getting stripped down, felt up, showered and shorn as he enters the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution, its guards poised to scare him straight. Wake-up comes at 6 a.m., cells must be kept sanitary, and no contact is allowed with Rachel, the fiance he left at the altar last season or else.
Do you mind if I ask what disciplinary action means? Mike wonders aloud.
Im sure youre gonna find out soon, comes the reply.
For me, the story of Suits is the story of Mike Ross becoming more and more mature and learning what kind of man he wants to be, said Patrick J. Adams, the Canadian actor who plays him on the USA legal drama. Ross ended up at Danbury because he faked his Harvard law degree and copped a plea for conspiracy to commit fraud to keep colleagues out of jail. I think that if Mike can get out of prison having admitted what hes done and relieved himself from the burden of the secret hes been carrying, then h**l be a changed man and able to really move on with his life with his head held high.
In a recent phone call from a vacation on Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, north of Toronto, where the show is filmed, Mr. Adams talked about Mikes decisions, lurking danger and ditching those bespoke suits. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
We know where Mike has been, but where is he headed?
At the end of Season 5 we saw Mike make the decision to take the bullet for his friends and, finally, responsibility for what hes been doing the last five years. Now we get a lay of the land of what prison is like, and plant the seeds for Mike and Harvey working together to get him out of there before those two years are up.
So we should expect a prison break?
Were going to attempt some pretty creative maneuvering. In the world of Suits, the law is a very bendable thing filled with back-room deals and owing people favors. And in that spirit, theres going to be a lot of Mike and Harvey trying to convince the powers that be to let him out early before something severe happens in the hands of his enemies.
Frank is currently enemy No. 1. What fuels his rage?
Harvey has a checkered past hes done a lot of things to a lot of people and put a lot of people away, and Frank Gallo is one of them. But hes different than a lot of villains, whove done duplicitous things or hurt people in ways that arent physical. This is a character whos very much a physical menace, and thats new to our show.
How realistic is the prison set?
They did a pretty incredible job building it to scale and getting the details rights. In these white-collar prisons, theres more room to breathe, the doors of the cell are left open, theres a little bit of moving around in the common spaces. But for Mike thats an even more threatening situation. He never quite knows where Frank could sneak up on him.
Do you foresee law school for Mike after hes released?
At this point its hard for me to imagine who would allow Mike Ross to become a lawyer. But we are inside a television show. Last season, Mike came to the realization that he had been wasting his talents helping the super rich become super richer rather than working to actually make peoples lives better. I think if he saw a window for him to be able to do that, he would definitely jump through it.
Does he regret leaving Rachel at the altar?
I dont think so. I think he knows that it was the right thing to do, and I think thats justified through a lot of Rachels story line this season. Obviously their motivation to get back to each other is powerful, but shes doing exactly what he asked her to do, which is to focus on her career. And shes got a really great case that, as Im reading the script, packs an emotional punch. As a fan, I would be frustrated that Mike and Rachel have to be so far apart. But I would also be so satisfied that this character is getting to do some new and dynamic and interesting stuff completely free and clear of Mike Ross.
Whats to become of his old firm, Pearson Specter Litt?
Its hard to see the characters you love in tough times. But getting to see this incredible firm, the best in New York City, reduced to a shell of what it once was, and watching these really brilliant people find a way to keep it afloat and get it back on track thats what a show in its sixth season needs.
How much longer can the show can on?
So far we havent been picked up for a seventh season. But what happens with Mike Ross after he gets out of prison is ultimately a really interesting story to tell. Im definitely on board.
Suits has some of the best-dressed characters on television. What is it to trade those designer duds for prison blues?
Oh G*d, its so good! Its a real vacation. I get to go to work and stay in my uniform all day. All my shoots are on the same set. I definitely miss my friends but its great for the character because it gives me good inspiration to work from. But from a technical side, its like going to work in my pajamas. [Laughs.] Its not terrible.
Continue reading the main storySource: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/arts/television/patrick-j-adams-is-happy-to-take-the-suits-out-of-suits.html
