Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | 3 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Atlantic City, Baby!
By M. Giant | Season 2 | Episode 6 | Aired on 07.26.2012
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.With Donna gone, Harvey tuxes up Mike and drags him to Atlantic City for what looks like an homage to the first act of Swingers, but it turns out there's actually a client there -- and he just lost his company to some punk in a poker game. With Mike's help, Harvey struggles heroically to nullify the contract written drunkenly on a cocktail napkin, but it's an uphill battle, and the opposing counsel is no slouch either. Mike proposes changing the game by threatening to bring the company down rather than handing it over to the punk, and that's what Harvey does. But he also throws in an unorthodox option of his own: playing poker for the company.
With regard to the ongoing fraud lawsuit against Pearson Hardman, a judge is dismissing a key motion that the firm needs. Jessica goes to visit her, only to find out it's an old law school classmate. Whom Jessica liquored up, stripped naked, and humiliated back in the day, and she's still not over it. Jessica tries to force the judge to recuse herself by making a huge donation to her reelection campaign, but the judge only wants one thing: an admission from Jessica that she not only embarrassed her, but deliberately sabotaged her chances for a job Jessica wanted too. Now, you know and I know Jessica did no such thing, but she freely confesses to it anyway, for Harvey's sake.
In the show's ongoing search for something for Rachel to do, she ends up doing some associate work with Louis, for a ballet company. Like Mike before here, Rachel ends up working well with him, not least because of their shared passion for the dance. A setback briefly rocks Louis, but Rachel inspires him to pull out a win. The overall relevance is that while she has temporary custody of Louis's beloved Dictaphone, Mike gets a hold of it and discovers Louis's recording of Harvey's and Mike's conversation that caused so much trouble a few episodes ago. So what's Mike going to do next?
Well, he tells Harvey, of course, right before Harvey goes down to the file room and cleans the punk's clock in a matter of minutes. Harvey then reports back to Jessica, who's a little worried about Harvey's recent behavior, and then goes and terrorizes Louis. Which I don't think would put Jessica's fears to rest, if you know what I mean.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Late at night in the office, Donna's phone rings unattended. As you recall, she was fired last week, because she was stupid. Only once, but it was really stupid. Also, it's late at night so she probably wouldn't be here anyway. Harvey lifts and drops the receiver, then dials his cell phone to call his driver Ray with instructions to pick him up in an hour and bring a tux.
Harvey then shows up at Mike's apartment for the first time ever and the tux he's wearing makes him seem even more incongruous in the comparatively squalid space. He makes fun of the place a bit before telling Mike to put on his own tux so they can deal with a "situation" in Atlantic City. Mike has to admit that he doesn't own a tux, which is somehow a surprise to Harvey. "I'm not Bruce Wayne," Mike protests. Harvey is more than aware of that fact.
Elsewhere, another tux-clad partner, :Louis, shows up at the ballet. Which is odd, because Mike's wall clock said it was 9:40 PM. Louis is a little surprised to run into Rachel, who's also dressed pretty schmancy, and they chat about their shared concern over Donna's mysterious disappearance and love for the ballet before the lights flicker. Louis offers her the third-row seat next to him, which he buys as a "precaution." Of course he does.
In the limo, Harvey explains to Mike why he brought an extra tux: "Something told me you'd need it. And by 'something' I mean 'common sense,' and by 'need it,' I mean, 'you're an idiot.'" Mike asks why they're there, but it's a purely Socratic question since he already figures this has something to do with losing Donna. He then asks, "How's that?" while proudly showing off the bow tie he's just knotted at a 45-degree angle. They show up at a casino, which it turns out Mike was banned from for card-counting three years ago. Harvey thinks Mike's tux will serve as camouflage and just when Mike is making fun of the tux thing in the first place, they're met right inside the door by hostesses with free champagne. Hence the tuxes. Harvey asks after a guest named Keith Hoyt, and he's directed to the poker room, despite Harvey's concerns that Hoyt shouldn't be there. As they head in that direction, Harvey exposits that the client has a drinking and gambling problem, but has to be in AC as the keynote speaker at a clean energy conference after being clean for five years. Soon they reach the poker room, where Mike takes a look at one haggard player and Rain Mans that he has over three million in chips in front of him. That would be Keith Hoyt, of course and alas. While they watch, he drunkenly goes all in. Harvey tries to intervene, but the hand plays out and Keith loses. A guy with a red beard tells him a deal's a deal and walks off with a napkin and Keith tells Harvey, "I just lost my company." Well, the good news is that he's probably less drunk now.