A Timeline of Suits Ride-or-Die Couple, Harvey Specter and Donna Paulsen
Struggling to remember if Harvey and Donna got together on Suits? Here's the timeline of their relationship.
While there’s no doubt Suits is a thrilling legal drama, fans know it’s the drama between the characters that kept viewers enthralled for all nine seasons. Through the years, there have been quite a few memorable couples, but perhaps none so iconic as hotshot attorney Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and unflappable legal secretary, Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty).
Ok, Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) come in a close second. But their exit from the show in Season 7 — after getting hitched and moving to Seattle — gave Harvey and Donna’s love story a chance to shine, and their slow-burn romance finally simmered over.
As Harvey’s executive secretary, Donna stood by her boss through a lot — nail-biting negotiations, office flings, and even death. We waited seven long seasons for the sparks to fly, and when they finally did, it was all the more swoon-worthy. In Season 9, when Harvey told Donna, “You’ve always been my compass,” we just knew they’d get their happily ever after by the series finale.
With Suits LA introducing a whole new cast of characters and potential romances, viewers are once again playing matchmaker at home. What better time to look back on Suits’ legendary couple? After all, it'll be important to know where Harvey's love life left off before he returns.
Not just co-workers
From the get-go, Harvey and Donna had chemistry together, and fans began to root for them almost instantly. Working together day in and day out at Pearson Hardman, the two formed a close professional bond to the point where Donna could anticipate her boss’ needs and practically read his mind. It’s no surprise that romance eventually blossomed, but it was a long and winding road to coupledom.
Viewers got an inkling that something deeper was going on between the two in Episode 8 of Season 2, titled “Rewind.” Donna had the difficult task of telling Harvey that his dad had died of a heart attack. As she breaks the news with tears in her eyes, she’s unexpectedly emotional, and the two share a sweetly vulnerable moment, albeit strictly as employee and boss. At that time, Harvey was involved with jury consultant Zoe Lawford, played by Macht’s real-life wife Jacinda Barrett!
When they first met
A flashback scene in Season 4, Episode 16, titled “Not Just a Pretty Face,” revealed that Donna and Harvey hit it off the minute they met at a bar while they were both working for the District Attorney’s office. Donna brings peak sass, referring to herself in the third person when she tells Harvey, “Today’s your lucky day… because it’s the day you get to meet Donna.”
“Let me guess, you’re Donna,” he replies.
“Oh, you have no idea how Donna I am,” she retorted.
During this time, Harvey was gaining courtroom experience before joining Jessica Pearson’s (Gina Torres) firm. It was also when Harvey and Donna created their mysterious “can-opener ritual,” an inside joke that was referenced throughout the series. Although the mysterious pre-trial gag was never fully explained by the show’s creators, it demonstrated how simpatico the two characters were.
Donna makes the first move
By Season 7, the tension was palpable between Donna and Harvey, and in the Midseason Finale, Episode 10, Donna took matters into her own hands. The thing is, he was already in a forbidden relationship with his doctor, Dr. Paula Agard, who was treating him for panic attacks brought on by Donna quitting to work for his rival, Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman). Donna finally admitted she had feelings for him, saying, “I’m sorry, Harvey. I just had to know,” before leaving his office. Paula eventually confronted Harvey about his feelings for Donna, and when she asked him to choose between her and his secretary, it ended their affair.
Did Harvey and Donna get together on Suits?
You bet they did!
Though Harvey is known as the best closer in New York City, it took him eight seasons to seal the deal with Donna. He finally embraced his feelings for her in Episode 16, appropriately called “Harvey.” One late night while at the firm, he was having a heart-to-heart with Samantha Wheeler (Katherine Heigl) about ride-or-die colleagues, and lightning struck. He cabbed over to Donna’s apartment and swept her off her feet — and fans were over the moon.
The first episode of Season 9, called “Everything’s Changed,” opened with Donna and Harvey in a sultry embrace, but trouble was brewing at the firm. Faye Richardson (Denise Crosby) was ordered by the New York Bar Association to clean house, and the attorneys had to hatch a con for the ages to take her down. Through it all, Donna was Harvey’s fiercest ally, confronting Faye over her diabolical tactics and, once again, breaking terrible news to Harvey about his mom’s death. “More than anyone else, she gets me,” an embattled Harvey told Mike Ross over drinks in Episode 15.
The Finale’s wedding switcheroo had fans on the edge of their seats. As Harvey and Donna walk down the aisle as part of the wedding party for Louis and his pregnant fiancée, Sheila Sazs (Rachael Harris), Harvey says something crushing to his girlfriend: “Don’t get any ideas about us doing this anytime soon.”
But it was all just a ruse. When Sheila’s water breaks right after saying 'I do,' Louis rushes his new bride to the hospital to give birth, leaving a perfectly good wedding reception without its guests of honor. That’s Harvey’s cue to bend down on one knee to propose to Donna with his late mother’s heirloom ring. Wasting zero time, the two get married that night in front of Louis’s guests.
“I knew you were my everything. I knew I could always count on you when the chips were down,” Harvey tells her in front of the crowd. “I’m a gambler, I always have been and always will be. When you’re with me, my chips are always up.”
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