It’s cheesy and there’s no Meghan Markle, but Suits LA is still throwback fun
By Ben Pobjie
SUITS LA ★★★
The greatest shock a person can go through in this life is to have a real-life encounter with the legal system after a lifetime of getting all of their information from television. You show up to your first meeting with your lawyer expecting a square-jawed crusader who says things such as “this isn’t about justice: it’s about winning”, and terrible disillusionment follows.
Stephen Amell is the squared-jawed lawyer Ted Black in Suits LA.
This is why it is best to watch Suits LA as pure entertainment and try not to glean any insights into the reality of California law, because when it comes to reality, this show bears as much resemblance to the world we live in as Game of Thrones. This, of course, is why it’s so enjoyable: real life is boring and fantasy is fun.
The original Suits ran for nine seasons without ever threatening to enter the classic TV pantheon, but will always be one of history’s most famous shows simply because for the first seven of those seasons it starred Meghan Markle, who left the show to become the Duchess of Sussex and the English tabloids’ enemy No.1. It also had a brief resurrection in 2023 on Netflix, where it twice broke the record for most-streamed show in US (12.8 billion minutes streamed over a four-week period).
Suits LA is a loose spin-off of the original, although it lacks any real connection beyond the basic premise of “what if there were some lawyers?” It also, at time of writing, doesn’t have any royal paramours in the cast: but it does have LA, a setting the show leverages to mix crime stories with lighter plots about entertainment law.
The main cast of US TV show Suits featured Meghan Markle (centre). Credit: AF archive / Alamy Stock Photo
The main man is Ted Black (Stephen Amell), a brilliant former prosecuting attorney who has reluctantly entered the moral murk of criminal defence work. Ted’s life is complicated by the fact his work came about after a botched deal between his firm and one run by his ex-girlfriend Samantha (Rachelle Goulding).
He has ended up in competition with Samantha and former partner Stuart (Josh McDermitt), working with Erica (Lex Scott Davis), a showbusiness lawyer with very little knowledge of showbusiness. That means a Suits LA episode tends to run along three strands: a criminal defence, an entertainment wrangle and the ongoing rivalry between the two firms, which can get extremely bitchy and result in some hilariously melodramatic dialogue between angry lawyers sniping at each other in luxurious offices.
As Ted Black, Amell is every bit the square-jaw hero referenced above. He’s playing a lawyer, but in looks and demeanour he could slide into the role of a secret agent, detective or team leader on a CSI or NCIS. He’s tough, compassionate and principled, but he’s human, quick with a quip and also willing to spend time gazing into the middle distance while he wrestles with regret and moral dilemmas.
Flashbacks show us Ted’s time as a prosecutor, when his brilliant legal mind saw him achieve great success but also cross some ethical lines that still haunt him – especially as it was this willingness to bend the rules that contributed to his break-up with Samantha, now his business rival.
It’s all good, juicy, soapy stuff, enhanced by Amell’s strong presence and good work from his associates: Lex Scott Davis as Erica, the ruthless killer attorney who has to learn empathy and compromise to become a better lawyer and person – classic arc! – and Alice Lee as Leah, a junior lawyer who is the yin to Erica’s yang, providing a neat double act and most of the show’s comic relief.
In a way, Suits LA is throwback TV. Those of us who grew up on network staples such as The Practice, LA Law or even Ally McBeal will find it intensely familiar, even comforting. Those whose viewing habits have been shaped by prestige TV and modern streaming may find it bafflingly false and plastic, like listening to the language of Shakespeare.
“You won’t get away with this!” one character might shout. “I already have,” the other might smirk in return, and it’s like being transported to a different world, where everyone is thin and gorgeous, has the perfect comeback prepared for any conversational duel, and 40 minutes into every episode sits down for a drink with a colleague to debrief and talk about the lessons they’ve learnt that day. Obviously, the suits are always immaculate.
Suits LA is now streaming in 7Plus, with new episodes dropping on Mondays.
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