Stephen Amell as Ted Black ‘Suits LA’. Photo: David Astorga/NBC.
‘Suits LA’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.
Premiering on NBC on Sunday, February 23rd (with new episodes releasing weekly), ‘Suits LA’ looks to dip us back into the fraught legal waters first charted by the original series that began in 2011, albeit in a new city and with fresh characters.
While ‘Suits’ fans will likely welcome the chance to see the bend of drama and comedy back on their screens, the biggest question for the new show to answer will be whether it can live up to the swagger of Harvey Specter and co.
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Does ‘Suits LA’ make its case?
(L to R) Stephen Amell as Ted Black and Josh McDermitt as Stuart Lane in ‘Suits LA’. Photo: David Astorga/NBC.
Even when spin-off shows come from the same creative team, that’s not always a guarantee that they’ll work. ‘Suits,’ for example, saw creator Aaron Korsh spinning off Gina Torres’ Jessica Pearson character into her own show, ‘Pearson,’ but that didn’t make it past one season.
Korsh is back on creator and show-runner for ‘Suits LA,’ which partially owes its existence to the mammoth success of the original show on Netflix, which purchased it in 2023 and saw giant viewing figures. But the new series, at least in the initial run of three episodes provided to the press, doesn’t always quite justify its own existence, even if it has more of a chance of success since it more closely follows the template established by the parent series.
Script and Direction
(L to R) Bryan Greenberg as Rick Dodson and Lex Scott Davis as Erica Rollins in ‘Suits LA’. Photo: David Astorga/NBC.
Korsh certainly knows what he’s doing when it comes to creating compelling characters –– Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Specter is a memorable, outrageously cocky legal eagle who meets and teams up with Patrick J. Adams’ Mike Ross, a genius with a photographic memory who, oh yes… hasn’t actually ever been to law school (though he passed the bar).
For ‘Suits LA,’ Korsh has opted not to try to replicate that dynamic, instead focusing on a former New York prosecutor (Stephen Amell’s Ted Black) who has switched to L.A. entertainment law, and now finds himself dealing with big egos and bigger issues (such as a murder case early on). There is more reliance on backstory, especially between Ted and best pal/fellow lawyer Stuart Lane (Josh McDermitt) and the critical events that are happening in the present day for the pair (which we won’t spoil here). It’s a compelling enough storyline, but the show as a whole just feels a little… off.
It’s not that you want a carbon copy of ‘Suits,’ and we’re sure Korsh wouldn’t be interested in directly repeating himself, but he is trying to channel some of the spirit of the original, albeit with a new locale and different legal problems. But that essential, hooky dynamic from ‘Suits’ is sorely missed here, as is the original’s more surefooted blend of comedy and drama.
‘Suits LA,’ for all its glossier framing, is a darker show and that can sometimes be an issue. It doesn’t always manage that tone effectively. The comedy side, meanwhile, is mostly channeled through young associate Leah (Alice Lee), who is a fountain of pop culture knowledge, but still finding her way in the legal world.
You’ll notice some familiar patterns (it’s hard to get away from them in a legal show), but the whole isn’t always the sum of its parts.
Victoria Mahony directs the first episode and does so with some style and panache. Though the different color tones to indicate the past and present storylines don’t always work completely, the series itself is glossy enough. And it helps that for the second episode onwards, it actually films in LA, a step up from the original series’ use of Toronto to sub for the Big Apple.
‘Suits’ has always set the majority of its action within offices, and in keeping with that, the production design is suitably classy.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Stephen Amell as Ted Black and Bryan Greenberg as Rick Dodson in ‘Suits LA’. Photo: David Astorga/NBC.
Amell is the core of the show, the ‘Arrow’ star bringing a similar energy to Ted Black here that he did to Oliver Queen (though without the need for lots of stunt training).
He’s fine in the role, but there is something that feels a little like a lesser take on the Harvey Specter type, confident but less entertaining.
There is also no one who works to the same level as the original cast. Lee brings some comedy, but the others are a little blander. It doesn’t help that certain characters feel like attempts to duplicate notable ‘Suits’ roles, such as Azita Ghanizada’s Roslyn, Ted’s loyal secretary, who is his version of Donna from the 2011 show.
And this being Los Angeles, the team has taken the chance to include celebrity cameos that work to different levels –– John Amos (who died shortly after filming wrapped) is a fun presence, but a storyline featuring ‘The Office’ star Brian Baumgartner only really works when he’s briefly paired with Patton Oswalt.
Final Thoughts
Josh McDermitt as Stuart Lane in ‘Suits LA’. Photo: Jordin Althaus/NBC.
‘Suits LA’ should fill the ‘Suits’ hole well enough for diehard fans, though it might take some time to properly find its own feet and the balance of tone.
With luck, it’ll find more of an audience than the last attempt to spin the show off and get that chance.
“West Coast represent.”
Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. But his firm is at a crisis point,… Read the Plot
What’s the plot of ‘Suits LA’?
The new series follows Ted Black (Stephen Amell), a former federal prosecutor from New York, who has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point and in order to survive, he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career.
Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives.
All of this is going on while we slowly unravel the events that years ago led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.
Who stars in ‘Suits LA’?
Stephen Amell as Ted Black in ‘Suits LA’. Photo: David Astorga/NBC.
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