Celebrities
Forget Harvey & Mike: The new ‘Suits’ power couple is Rachel & Katrina
The show “Suits” is synonymous with its marketing imagery: Two white male leads, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), walking side-by-side in expensive suits. It debuted in an era of USA programming that was dominated by shows trading on that same imagery, and it’s outlasted them all, but what got lost — and what’s so wonderful about “Suits” — is its Bechdel-passing, aspirational wokeness: It sticks to making sure it looks like the real world, the one we see all around us, when it comes to its characters.
And this season, we’re seeing the show really dig in: There’s a slew of entirely fleshed out, incredible female characters, and they are a vital reason for the series’ continuing success. Although Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) has left, Donna (Sarah Rafferty) forever serves at the quintessential alpha female men and women alike respect and strive to be, and Rachel (Meghan Markle) is the girl we’ve watched grow up: Over the past six seasons, she has morphed into the strong, mature, soon-to-be lawyer that she is today.
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Katrina (Amanda Schull), has always been a wonderful addition to the cast, and a delight as Louis Litt’s (Rick Hoffman) underling. After getting fired, she had a brief absence from Specter Litt, spent some time working at Rachel’s father’s firm, Zane & Associates, but now she’s back. And under the terms she demanded — for this woman knows her worth — Katrina is Specter Litt’s newest junior partner.
On Wednesday night’s (Feb. 15) episode, because Harvey is tied up masterminding a monstrous sized case to get Mike confirmed as legitimate lawyer, Louis asks Katrina and Rachel to step up to the plate. And together, they have 24 hours to create an entire presentation for one of their top clients.
Katrina and Rachel are officially our favorite new power duo on “Suits.” They listen to each other’s ideas, are complimentary towards each other, neither are afraid to be the first one to admit they’re wrong, and they have a great mutual respect for one another. Together, they are quite a feminist vision. This is what it looks like when two powerful women have each other’s back, and it’s a breath of fresh air to watch.
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This also isn’t the first time “Suits” has scored off the charts on the Bechdel test. Jessica’s scenes serving as Rachel’s mentor were fantastically empowering. Donna and Gretchen’s conversations (Aloma Wright) are always an enlightening highlight — and not to sound like a broken record, but we still want more Gretchen. We truly don’t see her enough.
But unlike with Donna, who always naturally takes on a more motherly or older sister role, Rachel and Katrina are on the same level. Each has strengths and weaknesses that, working side-by-side, force them both to rise. They’re just like Harvey and Mike — but with a dash of diversity and an entire arsenal of feminine powers. And we can’t wait to see what these two women accomplish next.
“Suits” airs on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT on USA.