15 Best Suits Episodes, Ranked

Summary

• “Self-Defense” showcases the exceptional chemistry between Mike and Harvey, as they go head-to-head in a mock trial.
• “Character And Fitness” masterfully weaves together multiple storylines to close out season 6 in a satisfying way.
• The series finale, “One Last Con,” delivers a brilliant new story while wrapping up long-standing storylines, including Donna and Harvey finally tying the knot.

Suits is one of the most captivating legal drama series TV has ever seen, with a handful of episodes that stand out as the very best. Suits ran from 2011 to 2019 for a total of 9 seasons with 134 episodes. Early seasons of the show focused on the relationship between high-flying lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), and his protégé, Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams). Other regular cast members who appeared throughout are Sarah Rafferty, who played Harvey’s secretary, Donna Paulsen, and Rick Hoffman, who played his rival, Louis Litt.

After the show’s seventh season, the show was forced to undergo dramatic changes as Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle), Mike Ross’s partner, left the show. As a result, Adams also decided to step away to preserve the story of Mike and Rachel and only returned towards the end of the show to wrap things up and say goodbye. While the focus shifted away from Mike and Harvey’s relationship, Suits managed to continue for another two seasons with persistently good quality.

15 “War”

Season 2, Episode 16

“War” is the Suits season 2 finale, and it centers on a huge battle that plays out in spectacular fashion. The season began with former partner Daniel Hardman returning to the firm and starting a civil war between himself and Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), where the lawyers had to choose sides. By the end, things had mostly worked themselves out, but Jessica was making other moves that Harvey wasn’t totally on board with. This involved a merging with Darby International.

Harvey fights this, and he has a lot on the line. If he wins this battle, he could end up as a name partner in the firm. However, if he loses, it will cost him everything. The one thing that fans know about Harvey, though, is that he doesn’t lose. He will find a plan and finally figure out what his path needs to be by the time the season ends. This is also the episode where Mike finally tells Rachel the truth, and that really does change everything, so the stakes couldn’t be higher.

14 “Intent”

Season 4, Episode 15

The penultimate episode of Suits season 4, “Intent,” saw bad things starting to happen to Donna. Things get worse when district attorney Terrence Wolf files charges against Donna for unlawfully gaining classified information. If this goes through, she could lose her entire career. This episode saw Harvey step up because he knew that he had to find a solution fast, or else Donna could lose everything.

Being a confident lawyer who knows all the dark corners of the law, Harvey starts tirelessly looking for ways to help get Donna off the hook and out of trouble here. This episode was a great one for fans who wanted to see Harvey and Donna end up together, because there were plenty of hints throughout that was what the end game was for these two beloved Suits characters. Next to “This is Rome,” this was the best Suits season 4 episode.

13 “Tick Tock”

Season 5, Episode 15

Suits season 5, episode 15, “Tick Tock,” sees Mike’s case go to trial. However, as he tries to prepare, he becomes distracted by a brand-new case. Jessica and Harvey are spending much of this episode trying to find a way to keep Mike out of prison. Louis can’t handle the entire predicament either because he doesn’t want to go to prison just for knowing what Mike was doing and keeping quiet about it. Needless to say, the tension here was palpable.

This episode was the penultimate Suits season 5 episode, and a lot was on the line. Mike was pressured to become a legitimate lawyer after a witness was murdered, and this entire situation brought him one step closer to achieving his dream. This was the high point of the series, as the group of episodes, from the one before this to the finale where Mike agreed to go to prison, showed how much these characters had grown over the five seasons and the entire story was at a boiling point here.

12 “She Knows”

Season 2, Episode 1

The title of the Suits season 2 episode, “She Knows,” says it all. This is the episode where Jessica tells Harvey that she knows that Mike is a fraud. It’s Jessica’s “come to God” moment, and she demands that Harvey fire Mike, which causes problems for everyone at the firm. However, she memorably gives Harvey the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t know, which was a brilliant moment in the show’s history.

But there was one crucial thing that happened in this one that really made “She Knows” one of the best Suits episodes. A co-founder of the firm returned after a five-year hiatus in David Costabile’s Daniel Hardman. Daniel’s arrival on Suits added a phenomenal antagonist to the series. Everyone has to choose sides here between Daniel and Jessica, and this kickstarts an amazing season.

11 “Dog Fight”

Season 1, Episode 12

The Suits characters and drama were always top-notch throughout its run. When the show wanted to tell a gripping courtroom drama, it could go head-to-head with the best legal dramas on television any day. This is what makes “Dog Fight” such a great Suits episode. The main focus of this episode wasn’t about Mike, Harvey, or any of the other attorneys, specifically. It was about Harvey wanting to free a man wrongly imprisoned.

However, he meets an immediate problem when trying to do the right thing. He faces off with a district attorney who doesn’t care about the pursuit of justice and only cares about the integrity of the legal system. This causes Harvey to bring in an old friend in Trevor (Tom Lipinski) to help out with the case. This led to all the courtroom drama, which was incredibly intense and kept the viewers on the edge of their seats until the final moments.

10 “Self-Defense”

Season 5, Episode 14

Suits season 5 saw Mike forced to come to terms with his less-than-legitimate entry into operating as a lawyer. What makes “Self-Defense” so special is not just the fact that it was one of the few episodes directed by Patrick J. Adams himself, but it saw Mike and Harvey go head-to-head in a way that proved the character’s exceptional chemistry and revealed how much Harvey cared about Mike.

Mike hopes to defend himself in court, but both Harvey and Jessica try to dissuade him from doing so. To decide who is right and whether Mike can handle himself, Harvey sets up a mock trial to put Mike through his paces. This is a huge moment as Mike sets out to fix things, but he can’t do it alone but luckily, he has people there to help him along the way.

9 “Character And Fitness”

Season 6, Episode 16

The Suits season 6 finale is one of the very best examples of the show’s ability to masterfullyweave several narrative threads together at once. First up is the thrill of the courtroom drama that fans love so much. Mike and Harvey attempt to legitimize Mike as a lawyer, but their goal is put in danger thanks to an unexpected threat coming from Anita Gibbs (Leslie Hope).

Also, in this episode, Louis and Tara have a major falling out thanks to his anger issues, and Donna gets hit with a lawsuit because of her recent business venture. “Character and Fitness” has a lot to follow, and the tensions are high through three different running stories. However, the episode manages to tie everything together and closes out the season in an incredibly satisfying way for everyone involved.

8 “No Way Out”

Season 3, Episode 16

Season finales, in general, were often high points for the show. The Suits season 3 finale saw the course of the story shift once again when Mike finds himself in extremely hot water, being pushed to turn on his mentor. Having managed to get into the business without an official law degree, Mike decides to turn his back on the business and follow a less risky career in investment banking.

Season 4 does see Mike return to practice law, but this finale made it clear just how risky continuing this business is for him. The fact that the season seemed to end with Mike walking out to protect himself and Harvey was shocking, but fans knew that it wouldn’t last. The fact that the show would clearly reverse this action and still be riveting and engaging television speaks to Suits‘ supreme quality.

7 “One Last Con”

Season 9, Episode 10

The Suits series finale, “One Last Con,” managed to add something fresh and vibrant while also paying homage to the seasons that came before and finally closing the book on the show. The firm is on the verge of dissolving, and Mike returns to help Harvey and Louis pull off the final job to ensure its continued survival.

The show also wraps up long-standing storylines, with Donna and Harvey finally tying the knot and saying goodbye to the firm, as well as showing Louis’ growth as a character and his and Sheila’s happy ending. When it comes to ending a series, many shows are hit and miss. The way that Suits paid respect to all the main cast members and gave them fitting farewells makes this one of the best when it comes to closing chapters of beloved stories.

6 “This Is Rome”

Season 4, Episode 10

Rick Hoffman always dominated whatever scene he was in as the eccentric and often insufferable Louis Litt. “This Is Rome” is a Louis-centric episode, and he is spectacular, as the main story sees him struggling to figure out what comes next after resigning from Pearson Specter. The crew tried to help him figure out his next steps, but then he learned something that helped him get back in as only Louis could.

When Louis learns the truth about Mike’s illegitimate lawyering, he uses the information to leverage his way back into the business with several additional stipulations. This was totally unexpected, but also inevitable. Mike’s charade couldn’t last forever, and to have Louis leverage it for himself made more sense than with anyone else. In this episode, Hoffman showed why he is an unsung MVP on Suits.

5 “Pilot”

Season 1, Episode 1

Most shows take some time to develop a style and flow that defines the series. Suits, however, managed to deliver all of that in the very first episode, coming out of the gate as a fully-formed show. The chemistry between the characters, the flow of the delivery, the intense drama as Harvey and Mike perform their shady dealings, and the punchy law cases all come together in beautiful synchronicity.

The first episode delivers everything the show needs to give an audience and get them hooked from the jump, which is pretty shocking as many shows need an entire season to finally find its footing. The cast and crew here were off and running from the start and the pilot proved that Suits was going to be a hit show. Its popularity on Netflix speaks to its staying power, and it all started with this fantastic episode.

4 “High Noon”

Season 2, Episode 10

“High Noon” is a perfect example of Suits subverting expectations and moving at a perfect pace. While season 2 was building up to a vote for who would act in the role of managing partner, with Louis taking his time to cast his deciding vote, the decision is made right at the top of this episode. Louis voted against Harvey and Jessica, making Daniel Hardman a managing partner.

This leaves the rest of the mid-season finale to deal with how Harvey and Mike respond, while also dropping in other challenges like the appearance of Mike’s old flame Tess, which causes problems for his budding romance with Rachel. The episode also showed heart, with the scene where Mike spoke at his grandmother’s funeral, proving that it cares as much about small character moments as it does twists and turns and legal battles.

3 “P.S.L.”

Season 6, Episode 10

The season 6 mid-season finale was another episode that rocked the foundations of the show. When Mike finally gets out of prison, Harvey finds a way to bring him back into the firm as a consultant. Not only does this finally get Harvey and Mike back into regular contact, which is the relationship that forms the heart of the show, but this episode also changes the firm significantly when Jessica Pearson decides to leave.

Having appeared as a series regular up to this point, it came as a complete shock and meant Harvey was losing a significant ally. Having Mike back was a great treat, but losing Jessica was something that the show never really recovered from. However, the entire idea of saying goodbye made for a captivating hour of television and changed the power dynamic at the firm completely.

2 “25th Hour”

Season 5, Episode 16

One of the undeniably best episodes of the series comes at the end of season 5, when Mike has to face up to his actions and go to prison. Up to this point, Mike and Harvey seemed invincible, able to get away with almost anything and overcome any trial, but with Harvey desperately searching for a way to help his friend and losing his cool composure, this episode was a bg high for the series.

Mike also shows his true colors as he decides to take the deal and go to prison to keep the firm and his friends in the clear. This was a huge moment. For one, Harvey always finds a way to win, but he can’t figure out how to get around this one. Even bigger was Mike’s sacrifice as he took the bullet for the people who did so much for him. It was a powerful episode.

1 “Faith”

Season 5, Episode 10

The best episode of the entire series comes just a few episodes before Mike goes to jail, in the fifth mid-season finale. Rachel has continued to push Mike to hold himself to a higher standard, and when he resigns from the firm to chase a legitimate life and marry Rachel, everything appears to be shaping up nicely.

However, just as he reaches a peak and prepares to live better, Mike is arrested by federal agents. Suits doesn’t let Mike off the hook after finally choosing to do the right thing, and he is held accountable. It shows that just because someone finally decides to do right in life doesn’t mean they escape punishment for their past crimes. This subversion of expectation is what the show does best, and Mike getting arrested is the moment the show peaked.