'Suits: LA' Season 1: Episode 8 “Acapulco” Review
- Kae
- Apr 13
- 5 min read
As we near the end of Suits L.A.’s debut season, the law continues to find its way to center stage as Ted Black (Stephen Amell) finalizes his team at Black & Associates entertainment law firm.
The episode opens with Ted approaching legal tenant Amanda Stevens (Maggie Grace), once again, about heading up his criminal division. Weary of jumping back into defending the rich and privileged, the pro bono attorney politely declines the offer. Not one to take “no” sitting down, Ted asks for her assistance to, at least, help him build the team for the firm, as a consolation. Enamored with his tactics as much as he is of her principles, Amanda relents and agrees.
The setup for the pair to take their relationship outside the confines of legal review is more than obvious — the slow burn sexual tension between the two has been simmering since Amanda first appeared on the 26th floor, in the series opener. With just two more episodes remaining to close out the season, we will just have to wait-and-see what happens next for the two attorneys.
On the other side of town, Stuart Lane (Josh McDermitt), Ted’s former partner and criminal defense arm must deal with his problem-child client, David Bowie. No, not that one. Fictional Bowie, a hired muscle and intimidator for a Hollywood studio, has been charged with threatening a studio whistleblower. Less-than enamored with Stuart as his attorney, Bowie believes the attorney does not have the same level of credibility as his partner Samantha Railsback to win Bowie’s case. Undaunted, Stuart schools the non-musical client on his more-than-qualified credentials.
In this week’s NYC flashback, we take a deeper look into Ted’s federal prosecution case against mob boss Pelligrini. Much like his first L.A. criminal defense case with producer Lester Thompson in episode 6, Ted’s time on the other side of the courtroom had its own moments of going off the rails when, yet another, key witness is less-than-truthful.
This episode’s memory moments, which dominate the screen time, mark the long-awaited return of Ted’s brother, Eddie, (Carson A. Egan), and his New York law colleague, Harvey Specter (played by OG Suits’ Gabriel Macht). Both serving as sounding boards and wake-up calls for Ted to remember that what he does, is about arguing the law and what he knows to be the truth in doing that.
Oddly enough, while it is Stuart’s presence during this time to defend his client, the witness, and also to remind Ted how to connect with the jury, it is Kevin (Troy Winbush) who is, once again, proving he is the one character who remains the true constant in Ted’s life, showing up in every experience imaginable for the star attorney — both professionally and personally speaking.
Ted’s time in New York continues to provide a foundation for understanding for the moves and decisions he makes in present day, with both his professional work and personal relationships. It is that clarification of who Ted truly is that Amanda seeks when she approaches Stuart about his former partner, as she reconsiders Ted’s offer.
Sandwiched in between the past and present is a step towards a legal life that dies not involve Ted.
Back at Black & Associates, both Erica Rollins (Lex Scott Davis) and her associate Leah (Alice Lee) receive separate unexpected phone calls notifying them of rather unsettling personal news - their response to each would go on to set the tone for their interactions for the remainder the episode.
And, I have to say, this is where things take a turn — for me as a viewer, anyway. I have been pretty agreeable to the storylines and corresponding dialogue between the characters, until this plot point surfaced for Erica and Leah. Whether intentional or not, the narrative of the black woman having to be stoic in the face of loss while everyone else gets their respectable moments to grieve is neither noble nor was it necessary to advance the action along, even for this singular episode.
The needs of the black woman are not inconvenient, and Hollywood needs to take caution in treating them like they are, and to make her angry in the face of others as they get their moment of consolation is a trope that is uninspired, and, up until this point, Suits L.A. had done a fairly good job staying clear of stereotyping its onscreen personas.
Only with her mother towards the close of the episode does Erica, the character, get to show her full vulnerability with her own grief; only then does someone get to care about her loss. And, while Davis does a yeoman’s job bringing all the emotions to the moment, to do so with someone who already gets it was a missed opportunity — to have someone outside of Erica’s family catch her tears would have been powerful.
Nevertheless, what really lost me in the lead up to that decidedly tender moment is when the accomplished attorney is called to the principal’s office, I mean, the office of the firm’s new HR director, to admonish her for, of all things, her tone with her own subordinate. But, if that were not enough, she is later chastised and made to apologize by Ted’s executive assistant Roslyn, played in a recurring role by Azita Ghanizada. I am sorry — but the last time the credits rolled, Erica was a partner at the firm, was she not? What did I miss about how organizational charts work, and who reports to who? The entire sequence of scenes was wildly unnecessary, and continues to showcase the show’s uncertainly of what to do with Leah the character.
Using a strong female lead to prop her is not it. Leah’s potential as a dynamic character continues to be wasted as the series remains focused on her as this wishy-washy upstart who is still trying to figure out adulting and her place in the legal work world — leaving the other female characters, which by the way are the few she has interacted with since the opening credits on episode 1, to have the same conversation on repeat — does she or does she not want to work for Black & Associates? And, if so, it is time for her to demonstrate that commitment. Repackaged in this one-off “grief” storyline of the episode was the same song, third verse of this narrative.
This neglect not only limits her character's development but also diminishes the show's emotional complexity of finding productive interactions for the female characters on canvas, outside of their connection to Ted Black. By giving Leah, Erica, and even Roslyn, for that matter, more substantial storylines on their own, we could witness their dynamic interactions with other characters, and the thematic depth it could bring to greater, more robust stories the series could potentially tell, overall.
The talent is there to make it meaningful.
Next week brings the penultimate episode of Suits L.A.’s first season. Check it out for yourself Sundays each week on NBC. Streaming is available the following Monday on Peacock.
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