Warning: spoilers ahead for the latest episode of Suits, called "100."
When Suits debuted on USA back in 2011, there was no telling just how much of a phenomenon it would become. The cast was great, the dialogue was snappy, and the premise was something entirely new. The dynamic between Mike and Harvey was hilarious right off the bat, and the hijinks had a lot going for them early on. Now, the show has officially aired its milestone 100th episode, and star Patrick Adams looked back at the series. He had this to say about the major way Suits has changed after 100 episodes:
Ultimately, the show grew up. Everyone on the show grew up. And everyone on the show was really interested in coming to do work that felt like it was a little bit more weighted. We still feel that after seven years people have invested so much time in these characters and stories that if you're going to make it worth their while you have to really take them seriously and not always just look for the joke. The show is smart because it has characters that are built for funny. Like Rick Hoffman can break your heart but he's also so great with comedy so you can write him a B storyline that keeps you laughing the whole time while Harvey is dealing with a therapist or his heartbreaking mother issues. That's part of what the success of the show is really about.
Patrick Adams (who also directed the 100th episode) has been playing Mike Ross from the very beginning, and we've seen him go from a brilliant young man with a knack for the law to a prisoner to an actual lawyer. Adams' comments to THR that Suits has grown up over the past seven years indicate that the show's changes have felt more like an evolution than an abrupt shift on set. We may not have noticed the show getting darker or more serious from episode to episode, but the show in Season 7 is pretty far from how it started in Season 1.
The characters were certainly all dealing with some adult issues in "100." A witness was murdered, Harvey celebrated his two-month anniversary by giving a key to his latest lady love, Rachel fought dirty against her father, Dule Hill is still in the mix as Alex, and both the recently promoted Donna and Louis were presented with the opportunity to hook up with their ones who got away... who just so happen to be married or engaged. Meanwhile Mike was just trying to do the right thing by as many people as possible, and he ended the episode doing what he could for Frank Gallo's daughter.
Of course, there were still laughs to be had, but we're a long ways off from the days of drug-filled briefcases and giggly pot breaks. While it's easy to miss some of the relative simplicity of the earlier days, we've gotten to know these characters over the better part of a decade, through their ups and downs and movie references galore. Hopefully Suits has what it takes to last another few years.
There aren't too many episodes left in 2017, but the whole back half of Season 7 is waiting in the first quarter of 2018. The next batch of episodes will be used to set up the Jessica Pearson spinoff, so we can count on seeing Jessica back in action with Harvey, Mike, and Co. For what you can watch while we wait for more Suits, take a look at our fall TV premiere guide.
