Whether using a full Windsor, half-Windsor or a Victoria knot, actor Patrick J. Adams will be tightening up his necktie once more. It was announced on June 3, he will return for the final season of USA Network’s hit series, “Suits.”
The series, which began in 2011, will have its ninth and final season premiere on July 17 followed by the debut of its spinoff, “Pearson,” that same evening.
Adams who played Mike Ross, a mastermind college dropout who ends up accidentally applying for a job as a lawyer while on the run from a drug deal gone bad, left the series after seven seasons to pursue other interests.
“After seven seasons — really, eight years of being away from home and away from my now-wife and there was that pressure. I started thinking about leaving at the end of the first half of season six. From a story point of view, I was a little unsure of what was left for him to do,” Adams stated in a Q/A with “The Hollywood Reporter” before his series departure last year.
Adams’ character really developed throughout the series. Going from dealing drugs to practicing law in one of New York City’s top law firms was just the beginning for Mike Ross. Eventually, he finished his undergrad, went to law school and passed the bar to become a real lawyer.
Obviously, a series about someone practicing law without even having passed the bar – let alone without a bachelor’s degree – sounds utterly ridiculous, but it works.
Series creator and writer Aaron Korsh is absolutely brilliant. Not once has this series “jumped the shark” in any way and it continues to strive as it moves into its ninth season without three of its original cast members.
Adams, who left after the conclusion of the series’ seventh season, was joined by co-star and onscreen love interest Meghan Markle, who left her acting career to marry Prince Harry and live with the Royal Family.
But the series continues to prosper as fans, also known as “Suitors,” like myself, await the introduction of the spinoff series, “Pearson,” centered around Gina Torres’ character, Jessica Pearson, who was written out of “Suits” in preparation of her own series.
The storytelling around each character continues to flourish in each season and the show has never lost its spark.
Season eight, which started off a little slow without two of its main characters, immediately picked up with the addition of Katherine Heigl and USA Network alumnus Dulé Hill.
Hill, known for “The West Wing,” “Psych” and “Ballers,” brought a fun twist to the series when he and Heigl’s characters fought for who would become the firm’s next name partner. It will be interesting to see how well their characters work with Adams’ this summer.
Though Adams will not be returning in the ninth season as one of the title characters again, his guest-starring role will give fans, like myself, the closure we need to see the series come to its conclusion.
“Suits” will have the first of its final 10 episodes premiere on July 17. The previous 124 episodes are available to watch or re-watch on Amazon Prime.
Ken Downey Jr. is the Features Editor for Time OFF and Packet Publications. This is a part of his series of weekly columns focusing on arts and entertainment. He can be contacted at [email protected].