#*mike ross.

s1: an entire bullpen of young associate characters with varying dynamics with mike and the partners (i.e. louis and harvey) that makes the work atmosphere alive with ambition and prestige and also shows so clearly the special treatment mike is given by harvey and the firm. in fact, the bullpen AT ALL (totally abandoned after s1).

locations had felt, interactive purpose. the men's locker room with louis and mike trying to land a new client (the inherent manipulative creepiness of that showing louis's personality and drive and the physical difference between him and mike despite louis actually being better at tennis than him as a means to show how appearance and competency aren't the same and how louis can use the appeal of mike's appearance/youth). harvey's office is an elite sanctum (donna is strict with who can enter even if you have an appointment) and breaches into it are strict and professional; departures from that feel intimate (mike or jessica or donna drinking with him, trashcan basketball, mike leafing through his records, mike lying on the couch) and/or threatening (clients or enemies storming in w/out an appointment, mike storming in when they're fighting and he has something to say or give) and/or vitally important (some new or winning case info). and locations (even one off ones) were realer and had authentic charm. the bookstore of that woman who demanded she be paid for the plot of a book (or something like that). harvey's office (as prev mentioned). mike's cubicle and his cabled earbuds to listen to music. mike's apartment. the golf course harvey occasionally meets/swoons clients or competition at. they weren't just bland and unacknowledged table decor.

the cases/clients served as a narrative way to test/grow mike. the show was about mike being thrown into the deep end of a renowned law firm and having to learn all the law things you can't just read somewhere. doing all this on the fly while convincing everyone he's not only a real lawyer but one worthy of harvey hiring. and physically and mentally blending into this elite and rich world having come from a scraping by, dead end job and lifestyle. all of this all at once!!! what an exciting, stressful, suspenseful juggle. the cases and clients for each episode was what tested mike and showed us how well or how poorly he was doing. after s1, the cases have no purpose other than to solve them (altho the show likes to make the case and/or the client mirror some conflict a character is facing at that moment to provide juxtaposition or moral lessons/motivators for that character).

mike's photographic memory has narrative purpose and power. and as cheesy as the black and white flashbacks were, the show at least was trying to convey how different and profound mike's mind is. after s1, his photographic memory is occasionally useful but mostly forgotten and not at all a formidable, gripping spectacle like it was s1e1 (you could argue this is because he's becoming a better lawyer and therefore doesn't have to depend as heavily on his gimmicky/brilliant memory but i think that undermines how uniquely intelligent he is and isn't at all why the show is not utilizing his ability).

mike is also, obviously, a liar and a fraud. he's comfortable lying to your face and bending the rules. i wish they used that more. and that it had more repercussions other than the eventual "we figure out he's a fraud".

how the show (s1) should have gone is this:

mike is thrown into a new, elite law world and has to learn the ropes. he gets his bearings. he realizes despite morally disliking that his whole job is making rich ppl richer, he does enjoy winning and besting a legal adversary. being paid very well also makes him begin to not care as much. it feels good to be rich and use his intellect to pummel others even if it isn't for the greater good (perhaps even because it isn't for the greater good: he can be lethal and cruel purely for the combat itself; he has no dog in the fight, he just wants to fight). mid s1, via harvey's early days at the DA, they learn harvey unknowingly put an innocent man behind bars. mike gets him out by doing something illegal/law-bending. doing this case reminds mike how law can help people. it shakes him loose of the comfort/routine he's fallen into in helping rich ppl get richer. this directly launches into the s5 plot of mike being tried as a fraud (they waited waaay too long to fire that chekhov's gun considering it's the inevitable premise of the entire show that everyone—characters and audience alike—is waiting for). the DA or someone feels something is off about how mike and harvey got the innocent man out of prison and starts looking into mike. they figure out mike is a fraud. they don't try him for that b/c they don't have the proof yet (that happens toward the end of s1). but they do try him for illegally tampering with evidence to get the innocent man out (i forget what he does, but you get me). mike gets to directly grapple with the frustration of "i bend the rules for billionaires every day and people pay me thousands and thousands for it, but i do one technically illegal thing for an innocent man and that's wrong? that's what damns me???" and he has to reevaluate what matters to him. this innocent man case ends not in a "me or harvey goes down" dilemma (that'll be later) but a "me or the innocent man goes down" dilemma. mike has to choose to let this man land back in prison even though he knows he's innocent so that he can be free or take the fall. the ultimate culmination of his moral grappling: "how good is mike ross really? and how highly does he value himself over the wellbeing of others?" before all this, he's had fun helping the rich while still looking out for the littler guys because fortunately he's just that smart. but what happens when he's not?