Reel Review: Suits LA Feels Like A Cheap Imitation of the Witty and Sharp Original
Suits had a nine season run on cable television from 2011 to 2019 and regained traction after being added to Netflix. The ability to binge the entirety of the series brought back original fans and brought the series a new audience. After a few clips went viral on TikTok, the series was a streaming hit. Record views were recorded, warranting a new spinoff series, Suits LA.
While the original series took place in New York, the new rendition chose to focus on the wealthy and elite of California. The series jumps right in with some confusing flashbacks matched up against a new A-list actress looking for a lawyer. While the new setting poses some interesting options in terms of storylines, the first few episodes of the series tend to lean more on the personal lives of the lawyers than the interesting cases they are taking on.
Each character in the spinoff series feels like a cheap ripoff of the original cast. Stephen Amell as Ted Black is the writers’ best attempt at a Harvey remake even though we all know that no one can live up to the character Gabriel Macht embodied. Josh McDermitt portrays Stuart Lane, a competitor to Ted much like Rick Hoffman’s Louis Litt but without the comedic reprieve. In one of the United States most diverse cities, it is hard to imagine that a law firm of this caliber is still run by predominantly while men. There is a serious lack of diversity within the cast not just in terms of lawyers, but also in their clients.
The layer of the Hollywood setting is supposed to be refreshing and new against the original, but feels like a completely underutilized lever in the plot. While Hollywood scandals and lawsuits seem to filling pop culture tabloids, Suits LA seems to avoid the topic all together.
Byran Greenberg and Lex Scott Davis’ characters are the only two that seem to bring something new to the series but only as secondary characters. Suits LA is struggling to find its footing and is seemingly falling into the trap of many spinoffs with a good concept but with poor execution.
Suits LA is streaming on Peacock.
