Diksha Sundriyal
NBC’s ‘Suits: LA’ begins with an explosion. The spin-off of ‘Suits’ shifts the action from the high-rise environs of New York to the glamour of Hollywood. A whole new set of characters is introduced, and the pilot episode does a great job of setting the ground for the conflicts that will define the rest of the season. The protagonist is Ted Black, a lawyer with a chequered past who decided to switch from the field of prosecution to focus on entertainment law and make loads of money. By the time the events of the show happen, it has already been about a decade-and-a-half since he established his firm, Black Lane, with his best friend, Stuart Lane. Now, they are at a breaking point that completely rewrites every relationship Ted held dear all this while. SPOILERS AHEAD.
New Suits, New Characters, New Betrayal
Ted Black and Stuart Lane started their firm more than fifteen years ago, and they have since worked hard to make it one of the best, if not the best, firms in LA. They are some of the most well-known names in Hollywood on their client roster and have built quite a reputation for themselves. The only problem is that the success has made Ted complacent in the sense that he started taking the loyalty of the people around him for granted. He believed that he could say anything to anyone, and it wouldn’t have consequences. He learns the lesson the hard way.
It turns out that Stuart got fed up with Ted, and he would demean him to boast about himself. He used some pretty mean words about Stuart in front of some clients, and since then, the man has decided that he doesn’t want to work with Ted anymore. But that’s not enough. Stuart wants Ted to hurt, which is why, under the guise of a merger that is supposed to strengthen their firm, he makes Ted sign an agreement that allows Stuart to walk away from the whole thing the very next day. He takes most of the employees with him, but more importantly, he also takes the clients, and that’s what troubles Ted the most.
Ted Suffers Major Losses in Episode 1
As Ted tries to get the clients back, he is also faced with the challenge of keeping the loyalty of the people who are still around. One of them is Rick Dodson. Rick is like a younger brother to Ted, and someone that he trusts blindly. You could say that Rick is to Ted what Mike Ross was to Harvey Specter. However, Ted yet again underestimates the extent of Rick’s loyalty, especially considering that there is a clash of morals between them. Ted doesn’t mind bending the rules a little bit to get what he wants. But Rick is steadfast about what’s right and wrong, and when he sees Ted siding with the wrong thing, he decides to leave the firm, which comes as quite a shock to Ted.
That leaves Ted with Erica Rollins, who had been competing with Rick about the promotion that she thought she deserved but would most certainly have lost to Rick had the split not happened. When Rick leaves, Erica is the only one who Ted can trust. By this time, he has also learned the lesson of not taking things for granted. So, as a token of his appreciation as well as his trust in Erica, he makes her the head of the entertainment division. Another notable lawyer in the firm is Amanda Stevens. She works pro bono cases, majorly in criminal defense, and is perhaps the first person in the show to tell Ted what it is to his face, which already makes her a compelling character.
Ted Black’s History Will Play a Major Role in Season 1
While Ted may have moved to LA, his past in New York hasn’t let go of him yet. The episode is strewn with flashbacks from 2010 in New York when Ted worked as a prosecutor. He was trying to put away a mob boss and needed his witness to show up in court and testify. The witness, however, was scared for his life, and rightly so, but Ted threatened to send his daughter to prison if he didn’t do as asked. The dilemma of making the choice between himself and his daughter never got far, as the man was killed when his house blew up moments after Ted walked out of it. But that’s not what forced Ted out of New York. There is much more to the story, and some of it has to do with Ted’s father.
Ted hates his father. Even all these years later, now that he lies on his deathbed, Ted hates him so much that when he finally visits the old man, he talks about why he despises him and why he deserves to die alone. Apart from being a generally bad father, he was particularly bad to Ted’s brother, Eddie. Still, what exactly happened all those years ago is still a mystery, but one thing is clear: something bad happened to Eddie, something that killed him, and it has haunted Ted ever since. It seems that his father went to prison, and it is somehow related to Eddie’s passing. Ted reminds his dying father of all these things before leaving him for good. When he comes back home, he looks at the picture of him and Eddie, and this is also when it is revealed that he had been imagining his brother throughout the episode.
Major Challenges are Stacked for Ted Black on the Personal and Professional Front
If the grief of losing his brother, hating his father, and the conflict that forced him to run from New York wasn’t enough, Ted now has his supposed best friend betraying him and his most loyal man, leaving him at the most critical point in his life. What’s more is that the betrayal includes Samantha, Ted’s ex, who now has her own firm, which is the one that was supposed to merge with Black Lane. With both Stuart and Samantha united against him, Ted has quite a challenge in front of himself, but he is ready to fight it tooth and nail.
Apart from all the personal and professional drama in Ted’s life, a major plot point in the pilot episode is the case of a Hollywood producer named Lester Thompson. At the beginning of the episode, he is accused of killing his partner, and all evidence points towards his guilt. Stuart was well-placed to defend him in court, but when the firm splits, Ted takes the case for himself, upsetting his ex-partner. While getting Lester as his client is a good thing, it is also quite a challenge for Ted because the case is already proving to be very difficult. To help him with it, he seeks out an old friend from New York, Kevin. However, there is enough to suggest that this isn’t the only old friend from New York that Ted will call upon in the show. Ted’s connection with the Big Apple sets up the return of Harvey Specter, though we might have to wait a while before he shows up.
Read More: Shows Like Suits
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