Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | 33 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Battling Bosses
By M. Giant | Season 3 | Episode 4 | Aired on 08.06.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Harvey's client, Ava Hessington, is still on trial for murder. Louis's client, Hessington Oil, is still facing a corporate takeover threat. And Harvey knows that if she loses either one, his deal with Darby to help him take over the firm is off, not that he can tell Jessica that. Louis argues that the only way to prevent the takeover is to remove Ava as CEO, and Jessica agrees. But Harvey doesn't, and he knows Edward Darby won't either. So he puts his foot down and tells Jessica they're doing it his way. And to make sure no one double-crosses anybody, Harvey and Louis assign their respective number twos to work together. Despite Mike and Katrina's antipathy for each other, they end up working well together and come up with a possible way to head off the takeover. But the corporate raider has already headed off the heading off.
Although Louis had previously asked Jessica to give him clandestine approval to have Ava removed anyway, she refused at first. But after a humiliating encounter with Darby, she changes her mind and gives Louis the go-ahead. Through all this, Ava has been arguing to Harvey and Mike that she should be allowed to speak in her own defense. They've been refusing, and when Ava finally insists, Harvey agrees on the condition that they conduct a practice deposition on video. And a funny thing happens during this exercise: she convinces them that she's actually innocent of any involvement in the murders. Mike relays the video to Katrina, who relays it to Louis, who changes his mind about getting Ava out. But Jessica has her mind made up, and insists that Louis go ahead as planned. Ava's pretty pissed at Harvey after being removed from power, and Harvey is almost as pissed at Jessica for blindsiding him over personal reasons.
The other thing that's been going on is that Donna has agreed to enter into an "arrangement" with Stephen Huntley from the London office. She's been enjoying herself so much that she forgets to tell Harvey. Which she's about to do, but he's in such a filthy mood over the Hessington situation that she…doesn't. Elsewhere on the relationships front, Rachel comes over all jealous over Mike and Katrina not actively hating each other, but that issue is quickly swept aside when Mike tells Rachel that he loves her.
And the episode ends with a fight between Jessica and Darby over what he sees as her "insubordination," given that he owns 51% of the company. Jessica gives him what-for right back. What she doesn't know is that she's probably also given Darby a reason to back Harvey against her after all.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!This episode's early morning opening is a study in contrasts, with Harvey confidently jogging the crowded sidewalks as Louis goofily power walks. Also, Louis checks a newspaper while Harvey reads the news about the Hessington Oil takeover on his phone. Yes, we get it: Harvey is cool and Louis is not. The two of them run into each other when they arrive for work and exposit about the board's vote coming up in 48 hours. Five minutes later in the conference room, Harvey and his piss-boy Mike meet Louis and his piss-boy Katrina.
There's some petty sniping between the four of them before they get to work, at which point the sniping begins in earnest. Louis is talking about Ava Hessington's public statement. Mike & Harvey argue that there won't be one, because Ava's on trial for murder. But Louis and Katrina, whose job is defending Hessington Oil from the takeover threat, insist that Ava has to speak publicly in order to protect her credibility as CEO. Katrina points out that if Ava's cold enough to kill, she's cold enough to lie to the press. "I mean, we all know she did this, right?" Harvey tries to shut this down, but Louis says that Ava's already on her way to an interview with the Wall Street Journal. There's nothing Harvey can do now to keep Ava from being pictured as a series of dots.
Or is there? Elsewhere, some reporter is walking down the sidewalk when he gets a call from a voice that is obviously Mike doing a bad British accent. Mike claims to be Ava's assistant relocating the interview, appearing in front of the reporter in mid-call. He tells the reporter that if he still wants the exclusive interview, all he has to do is get into the car and the driver (I assume Harvey's) will take him to the meeting. After the car leaves with the world's most credulous reporter inside, presumably on its way to the Catskills, Mike turns and nods through the window of the restaurant he's standing in front of.
Inside, Harvey receives the signal and proceeds to the table where Ava Hessington is waiting, and tells her she's not doing the interview. Ava says it's bullshit that she's not, and the only reason Harvey doesn't want her to talk is because he thinks she's guilty. Harvey repeats that it doesn't matter what he thinks, (translation: that is correct), and that Ava saying she's innocent won't help. "Because you know who says they're innocent? Everybody." Harvey argues that at the murder trial, Cameron Dennis is going to make her look like "a greedy oil exec clinging to her money factory with her bloodstained hands." Ava gets up and tells Harvey to fix both situations, "Because I am not losing my company to Tony Gianopolous." I agree. That name is a bitch to type.