Harvey Specter Returns to Help Ted's Big Case: Suits LA Episode 8 Recap
Harvey Specter is back to help Ted Black save the day as only he can.
Like the true legal legend he is, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) swooped in to save the day in Episode 8 of Suits LA — both in the past and present — much to the delight of fans everywhere.
SPOILER ALERT: This article will discuss Episode 8 of Suits LA.
Much like the first time we spotted him in the spinoff, Harvey appeared in a flashback to the past to show Ted Black (Stephen Amell) the key to salvaging his high-profile case against a notorious New York City mobster. But viewers got an extra treat in the final minutes of the episode when — for the first time ever — we got a glimpse of a present day Harvey after he showed up at Ted’s Los Angeles house to recruit him for some unfinished business back in New York.
To find out more about about what we learned about the mission and the pivotal role Harvey played years ago, read on below:
How Did Harvey Specter Help Ted Black’s Case?
By now, viewers know that Ted’s prosecution of notorious mobster Pellegrini (Anthony Azizi) not only ended his career as a prosecutor, but also prompted him to move to LA for a fresh start. In Episode 8, we learn more about just went wrong as the trial against Pellegrini begins — and quickly begins to fall apart.
The first signs of trouble surface after Ted runs into Pellegrini in the bathroom of the courthouse and the barbs begin to fly. While Ted boasts that Pellegrini will soon be spending his life behind bars, Pellegrini warns that the prosecutor’s decision to make it “personal” by humiliating him in the press could lead to some deadly consequences and promises that the next time anyone will read Ted’s name in the paper it will be in an obituary. Scary stuff.
That same sense of foreboding carries out into the courtroom, where Ted’s witness, Jimmy Patriale (Dan Sanders-Joyce), a former Pellegrini hitman who’s agreed to testify against his boss in exchange for a deal, takes the stand. Patriale tells the jurors about how he carried out 15 murders at the behest of the mobster, five of which he claims were orders given to him directly by Pellegrini himself, a man who “likes to have people blown up.” But Pellegrini’s defense attorney quickly jumps on that claim, insisting that the defense has plane tickets and receipts proving Pellegrini wasn’t even in the country at the time of the murders, dealing a huge blow to Ted’s case.
After Ted confronts Patriale, he admits that he lied about Pellegrini delivering the order himself to get a deal with prosecutors. A furious Ted takes the deal off the table even though the hitman insists that Pellegrini did give him the order to kill one of the victims in person, a fellow hitman named Billy (who we saw meet his end in the premiere episode). But Ted tells him his credibility with the jury has already been shot.
After a not so subtle reminder from his boss that both their careers are on the line, Ted decides his only option is to try to nail Pellegrini on the racketeering charges against him now that the conspiracy to commit murder charges seem to be falling apart. Ted turns to Billy’s daughter for help getting the evidence necessary to prove the fraudulent business dealings, but she believes Ted got her dad killed and refuses to help. However, she inadvertently leads FBI agent Kevin (Troy Winbush) to a list of companies that could help them prove the racketeering case against Pellegrini.
Without time to dive into the financials of all of them, Ted focuses on one company with a tie to a firm led by someone he knows: Harvey Specter. In a meeting, Ted asks Harvey to secretly pass him the company’s financials, playing on Harvey’s own desire to win, but Harvey refuses to betray one of his firm’s clients, memorably telling Ted to “stop crying, suit up and get the job done” himself.
Just as it seems all hope is lost, Ted gets some unexpected inspiration from Stuart Lane (Josh McDermitt) who arrives in New York to convince him to recall Patriale to the stand. When Ted questions how he’ll get the jury to believe the hitman now that he’s lied, Stuart reminds him of his own advice that a jury must be emotionally connected to a witness to buy their story. Armed with those words of wisdom, Ted recalls Patriale to the stand and gets him to open up about how horrible it was to kill Billy, who had been his best friend.
Kevin is convinced they have enough to earn a conviction, but Ted isn’t so sure. Just then, Harvey arrives at Ted’s office with a box of financial documents. It turns out, his firm no longer represents the company in question. Harvey’s loyalty was severed even further when he learned the company was a client of his long-time nemesis, Daniel Hardman (David Costabile). He leaves them to do what they want with the evidence. After Ted and Kevin struggle to find a way to bring the evidence into trial, noting they can’t just call Hardman to testify against his own client, Harvey bursts back through the door after clearly eavesdropping outside and gives Ted the answer he needs. He suggests they get Hardman to testify by not telling him who he is testifying against — a clever move that could just be the answer to winning Ted’s case with the added bonus of sticking it to one of Harvey's enemies.
Harvey Specter returns in the present day
Back in present day, Ted finally convinces pro bono attorney Amanda Stevens (Maggie Grace) to take charge of the firm’s criminal division, ensuring the firm’s stability, but perhaps putting a possible romance between the two on the back burner.
Their conversation is cut short, however, when Ted gets an unexpected call and returns home to find Harvey already pouring him a drink in his living room. He delivers the news that Pellegrini is set to be released from prison. Harvey confesses that he has never been sorry for what he did, but it's unclear what he means by that. Still, he asks Ted if he’ll go to New York to help put him back in prison. Ted is only too happy to agree and the two men agree to go out on the town before heading to New York to, as Harvey puts it, “make sure that son of a b***h never sees the light of day.”
Stuart Lane’s New Client Could Be Dangerous
Meanwhile, across town, Stuart is facing problems of his own. After confiding to his client, a Hollywood fixer accused of blowing up a whistleblower’s car, that prosecutors had found another witness against him, the witness turns up dead, leaving Stuart to wonder if he’s responsible for the death.
To watch Ted and Harvey team up in what will surely be an epic take down, watch Suits LA Sundays at 9/8c on NBC or available streaming on Peacock the next day.
