āI want something more.ā
Ā AND HARVEY IS GOING TO SUPPORT HER
During the season finale of season 6 we finally saw why āThe Donnaā-project has been brought on the show; to make Donna question her life (both professionally and personally) and in the last Darvey scene of that episode we got to see Donna opening up to Harvey about this project in a way she hadnāt done to anyone else before.
While the scene started out as Donna seeking legal advice (a second opinion on the offer they got) from Harvey, it quickly turned into something bigger after Harvey gave her the same answer Louis and the other guys told her; to take the money.
D: I donāt want the money.
D: I want something more and Iāve never said that out loud, but I canāt pretend thatās not true anymore.
H: What do you mean āmoreā?
D: I donāt know. I guess Iām going to have to figure that out.
I personally love love love this scene and wouldnāt change a thing about it, but Iāve seen two questions going on about this in the Darvey fandom. āWhy didnāt Harvey say or do something?ā and Ā āWill Harvey support Donna?ā
As for the first question, Iām going to quote a part from this post by AnaĀ
āAnd this scene was her saying she might want to do something else and he was so freaking shook about it + what is he supposed to say other than be supportive and understand where she is coming from? I honestly love that scene with all my heart. I donāt think it was important for him to say something in that moment. I donāt think it was important to Donna to hear him say something. That scene was about her. About her life and future. It wasnāt about Harvey and his feelings. NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT HARVEY.ā - @annnahatcher
Cause seriously what could he have said?
He was basically in shock again, just look at his face, thatās the same expression when she told him she was leaving him at the end of season 4.
Except back then, he knew something had actually happened between them. This time there wasnāt anything directly going on and she still gave him this news. The news, that most likely made him think about his dream again. Of her āleaving himā (his words) when she says she doesnāt work for him anymore and even though Donnaās line in the 6.16 scene is super broad and it isnāt further specified what she means with it, because quite simply Donna doesnāt know. We canāt deny that this line resulted from her little business/work adventure and is amongst other things connected to that. To wanting more on a professional (and personal) level.
As for the other question. āWill Harvey support Donna?ā
YES HE WILL and let me tell you why I think he will.. If we look at Harveyās character there are a few things he values most; loyalty, trust, family, etc. But especially loyalty is one of the things that has been pointed out time and time again in the show, not just between Donna and Harvey, but Harvey and Mike, Harvey and Jessica, basically anyone important in his life. The importance of loyalty is so rooted in his being that it was even the quote he used in his High School yearbook.
āLoyalty is a two way street, if Iām expecting it from you, youāre getting it from me.ā
Itās also the very basis of the deal Donna and Harvey made the moment she came to work for him in the D.A.ās office. āHereās the deal. I will take a bullet for you and I donāt mean that literally. But what you do for me is, when I Ā need Ā something, you give it to me. Itās not just a one-way street.ā
And over the course of twelve years theyāve both shown how loyal they exactly are to the other. Whether it was by helping the other, protecting the other, fighting for the other or choosing for the other. Theyāve been doing this from the very moment they met and they still do (and will continue to do so).
On most occasions this agreement, this portrayal of loyalty was shown with firm/business related events. From Harvey asking Donna to call in favours from friends (Stephanie Liston at the U.S. Attorneyās office), to Donna protecting Harvey by taking evidence with her from the D.A.ās office and later giving this to Jessica to help with the case. To in her eyes protecting Harvey by destroying the General Motorās memo.
A great example of testing this loyalty is shown in season 2, right after Donna got fired. We see Harvey showing up at her place to check up on her, get her to come in for the mock trial and we get the following conversation. In which she pointed out that what she did was to protect him as part of that almost silent agreement they made years ago and in return sheād expected him to fight for her.
Episode 2.07: Sucker Punch
D: Yeah, important for me to get up there and say I screwed up trying to protect you?
H: You did screw up.
D: Yes. To protect you.
H: Which I never asked you to do.
D: No, you just expected me to do it. Like I expected you to fight for me.
Donna eventually gives in and shows up at the mock trial, to help with Harvey case, but she gets humiliated in the process by Louis badgering the same question in her direction over and over again until Harvey finally gets up and tells Louis to stop.
D: You just had to jump in there at the trial, didnāt you? You just had to fight my battles for me.
H: Yeah, I did that because the last time I saw you, you were pissed that I didnāt fight for you.
Although Harveyās actions didnāt exactly result in what Donna wanted, he did do what she asked and he promised to a long time ago. Fight for her, like she had done for him. Show her that same loyalty and he continues showing this by getting her back at the firm. Something heās been doing since the day she quit the D.A.ās office, he fought for her then too. To get her to come work for him at the firm, because as he told Jessica. āAnd Iām not coming here without her.ā
And sometimes itās personal. I think one of the biggest examples of this is when Donnaās life is on the line. Whether he was somewhat at fault or not, he fought for her and he chose her. Over any case going on at the time. From telling Mike that he doesnāt care what happens with the Liberty rail case as long as he can protect Donna, to him immediately saying Ā āIām going to take care of herā when Mike was under investigation of fraud to even when it came down to it and Donna offered a possible solution to stop Mike from going to jail, he said āDonna, Iām not trading you for Mike. Period.ā
(All examples of Harvey picking Donna over whatever was going on at hand and the fact that right now Harvey focussed on Mike and the Bar hearing instead of Donna is because of one big difference. HE DIDNāT KNOW. Harvey knew about the project, yes, but he had no clue what they were exactly doing with it, let alone the problems it was facing. Ā This is mostly because of Donna herself, she told Benjamin to keep Harvey out of it. She wanted to do this as herself, not as an extension of Harvey and when she needed help she went to Louis, because she knew Harvey was busy with Mike, something she also pointed out in that last scene where she did go to himā¦ but you canāt tell me that if Harvey had known earlier he wouldnāt have tried to help. Same for those saying Ā āHarvey seemed fine the next dayā.. well yes, he just got his friend into the Bar. Donna was happy too in that scene, regardless of what was going on in her life.. but now imagine Rachel picking up Mike to go home after that last scene from 6.16.. Do you think heād still be this happy when his gaze would fall on Donnaās cubicle, or would that conversation she had with him the day before, that reminder of his dream be brought back to mind?)
As mentioned above.. besides the times Harvey fights for her life, the āneeds/ favoursā Harvey has Donna deal with are often business related or to get her to stay with him/work for him, yet Donna often calls in her āchitsā with him when it concerns a mutual friend. Like when she asked Harvey to get Louis a new job or when she asked Harvey to go and talk to Mike about Rachel. Ā They even used the āNeed?ā āNeed.ā again in the latter situation, just as when he asked her to come back to the firm. Itās like this is their way of asking the other to take up on that deal they made all those years ago.
Whatās interesting about the scene in 6.16 (especially because itās placed at the end, after Donna helping Harvey with Mikeās Bar deal while she already knew her own project might be at risk of failing) is that this time, she points out how sheās been helping others time and time again.
āHarvey, I know youāre in a rough place right now, but whateverās going to happen with Mike is going to happen. Youāve done everything you can. AND IāM TIRED OF PUTTING MY WANTS ON HOLD.ā
This is her admitting, maybe for the first time to herself, let alone aloud, that she has always been putting her life on hold and she isnāt going to do that anymore. (and she did this in front of Harvey). And I personally think that is HUGE and I feel like this line can be directly linked back to that very deal they made on the first day she came to work for him. This is going to be the time she needs something/support from him.
The conversation between Donna and Harvey then continues as mentioned earlier with her asking about the deal and opening up about wanting more than the money. Something he asks her to clarify, which she canāt do yet.. and they silently look at each other for a moment, and the scene ends with a very conflicted and scared look from Harvey.
The big question remains, will Harvey support her? Like I started, they made this deal about support a long time ago and up until now itās been mostly about firm related events or favours for others, yet this time Donna came to talk to him about a deal and it turned into something as big as HER LIFE.
Even though Donna couldnāt specify what she meant with more, I think we should remember that Harvey at this point might be more aware of what he wants than Donna and what she wants. He had that dream of them together in the morning and that dream also happened to point out his biggest fear.
Ā D: I donāt think you understand. I told you once this happened again, I donāt work for you anymore.
H: Donna, you canāt leave me.
D: Iām not leaving you, Harvey. I just donāt work for you.
D: No, Harvey. Thatās not leaving you.
The fear of losing her because of a change in status quo regarding their relationship, breaking her ruleā¦ The big difference is, that in reality it is Donna actually hinting at that one thing he fears without there ever having been that change he dreamed about. Without them actually having crossed that line.
And we can see that fear, that connection to his dream, wash over him as we look at his face and even before this episode aired I personally always thought that a line like this from Donna. Or a conversation like this, something that would hint at that fear of losing her, without an actual change having happened between them is THE PUSH that Harvey needs and we got that, we just havenāt seen his actual reaction towards it yet.
So while we know what he wants deep down, a relationship with her. I think the show has proven time and time again, that having her in his life no matter what is the most important thing to him. From settling for that to be as just his secretary, because he wasnāt ready for more all those years ago. To keep asking her to come back to work for him; the one way he was certain heād always have her/never lose her, but this time, this time he knows he canāt ask her that anymore and heās known that for a while now.
His so called āfight to keep her in his life at any way possibleā has changed over the course of the last two seasons. Because where it once was him fighting to keep her to work for him, we saw him actually accept the fact of her working for Louis in season 5 at a point where they were almost estranged.
Something Donna confronted him with, with the following words: ābecause I trusted that at the end of the day, youād remember that weāre family. But maybe I was wrong. Because I spent 12 years putting you first, and the day I finally decided to do something for myself, you didnāt just stop treating me like family, you started treating me like a stranger. And for your information, that is a thousand times worse than if you treated me like your enemy.ā
This scene, these lines, combined with the scene in the conference room where it was Jeffry saying: āBut I did give up everything for you. I put my life on hold. I sacrificed my dream for yours. Iām never going to get those years back.ā And we saw Harvey look at Donna during those lines, it is the moment things shifted.
We could see that realisation hit him, that what Jeffry was describing in that very moment is what Donna had been doing for him and after that moment he started fighting to keep her in his life regardless of that being as his secretary. We saw him come to her desk and thank her for all the years she dedicated to him, we saw him come to her in the file room telling he wants to get back to being friends. We saw him suggesting they should go to dinner more often.
And when she did come back to him in 5.11 it was HER DECISION. It was her making that move, because of Mikeās case. (Once again putting someone else above her own needs/feelings) And when her father got caught up in this case, it was Harvey actually asking Donna if she was sure with staying with him. Telling her that heād understand if sheād want to go back to Louis, because he understood that it is and should be her choice.
This is also seen in the first episodes of season 5, where even though Harvey told Louis he was going to get her back and he was cold to Donna because he was hurt. Deep down he knew better, he knew it wasnāt his decision to make. Because when Jessica point blank asked him if he wanted her to undo it, he said itās Donnaās choice and he to some extent supported her decision in that moment.
H: You mean, the fact that I donāt have a secretary.
J: I mean that after 12 years, the woman you wouldnāt come work here without is now working for someone else.
H: And you want to know why.
J: I donāt need to know why. I need to know if you want me to undo it.
H: What?
J: I know you and Donna arenāt me and Jeff, but you are as close as two people can be without being that. Shit, Harvey, Scottie leaving didnāt throw you off your game this much.
H: I appreciate the offer. But as long as Donna wants to work for Louis, I am not going to force her to work for me.
All these scenes are moments of Harvey realising that what Donna did was a decision she had to make, for herself and that fighting that decision was only going to drive her further away. Another important one to add is the therapy scene from Season 5 Episode 3. Where Paula uses a projection technique and we actually get a scene of Harvey ādirectlyā confronting Donna and he tells her heās been with her every step of the way. She counters with āIt wasnāt every step of the way, you bailed out the second I WANTED MORE.ā
Ā THIS IS HIS SUBCONSCIOUS. He knows he did this (ran away, but not before you told me you loved me.. & not being able to show up for that conversation she asked for in 4.16), just like his subconscious in 6.11 told him that if she stopped working for him because theyāre together it doesnāt mean sheās leaving him. He knows that!
Ā And in the scene from the finale she literally said to him āI WANT SOMETHING MOREā Ā This time it wasnāt directly related to him, or them relationship wise.. but about her and her life. What she wants and while she still needs to figure that out, deep down Harvey does know what he wants. And he also knows from experience that if he wants to be part of her life in any shape way or form that heās got to do something. Be there for her, fight for her. Support her.
Does that mean heāll do so directly in 7.01?? I donāt know, we canāt forget that his issues (mom/abandonment and her rule) have respectively been there for 20 and 12 years and a dream and meeting your mother isnāt making those magically disappear completely. This is Harvey Specter weāre talking about. An emotionally challenged man whoās slow AF. Heās scared and confused, we could see that on his face in the scene, so it might take a moment for him to wrap his head around it, but
He knows the deal they made a long time ago
He knows she wants him to fight for her
(Just like he knows she wants him to fight for what is in his heart)
Ā He knows sheās been putting her life on hold for him
He knows it is her decision to make
He knows he bailed out the last time she wanted more
He knows that his unsupportive behaviour almost made him lose her last time
He knows that her not working for him isnāt leaving him
He knows what he wants (a relationship)
And if he wants to reach that dream of them being together. Of them having everything, something he hasnāt even had a chance to act on yet because he still felt guilty about Mike going to prison and felt like he owed it to Mike to get him into the bar. But now that that is done and he might actually allow himself to think of realising that dream, then surely he must be able to connect the dots and understand that he needs to support her. Be there for her while she figures it out, like sheās been there for him all these years.
Her telling him this was just the push, this is just the start.
So YES, I really think he will be there to support Donna on this journey in season 7.
And remember, the last time she focussed on an old dream of hers. He showed up with a bouquet of flowers telling her that āThe only thing I got going on tonight is you.ā while being in the middle of a Mike mess. He supported her then when it was just a play, when the stakes where nothing. Heāll support her now, when the stakes are everything.
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