Episode Report Card M. Giant: B | 25 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Enemies Old and New
By M. Giant | Season 3 | Episode 13 | Aired on 03.20.2014
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Mike is so grateful to Harvey for talking Louis down from exposing him last week, that he figures out a way for Harvey to get something he's always wanted but could never get. That turns out to be another chance to beat one of the few people who has ever defeated Harvey: A. Elliot Stemple, who wiped the floor with him in moot court back in their Harvard days and has been ducking a rematch ever since graduation. Mike takes on a case of corporate intimidation in which Stemple is opposing counsel, just so he can step aside and Harvey can take over. It's soon clear that Stemple's no slouch, which is probably why he beat Harvey in the first place all those years ago. He's a slippery character who's several moves ahead of Harvey and Mike from the word go, starting by trying to convince Harvey's client to settle and then informing Harvey that his expert witness will say whatever he tells him to. Harvey and Mike use that apparent misstep as leverage to get their hands on the raw data from the analysis, which proves that both clients' products work identically well. That just opens the door for Stemple to countersue with a claim of patent infringement, claiming that Harvey's client stole his client's product. Just when Harvey thinks he's been beaten again, Mike comes through with the realization that this has all been orchestrated so that Stemple's client can get their hands on a key breakthrough discovered by Harvey and Mike's client. They confront Stemple with the evidence, and a threat to mess him up bad, and get him to drop the case. So that's a clear win. In fact, a magazine wants to interview the victorious attorney, and Jessica tells Mike that given his position, that's not going to be him. And never will be. Kind of puts a damper on Mike's big win.
The other fight going on is between Scottie and Louis. At first it seems like Scottie just wants to make a name for herself at the firm by taking on a big transaction for one of Louis's clients, over Louis's objections. That initiates one of those many internecine wars that Louis is always starting, and as usual the two parties are evenly matched. But Scottie is also trying to make a name for herself at the firm by picking a fight with the toughest kid in class, and she doesn't intend to lose. Sure enough she doesn't, and secures her victory by using Louis's own beloved bylaws against him. At the same time, Louis isn't going to accept defeat graciously. He goes to Harvey and demands that Harvey pull rank to give him his case back, explicitly calling in the favor that he did Harvey last week. Harvey has no choice but to order Scottie to yield to Louis, and he can't even tell her why, because then she'd know about Mike too. That secret of his seems to be putting a crimp in everyone's life now, isn't it?
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Mike returns to his apartment with Rachel from an errand, and after some banter, he reveals that he's scored a picture of her from her father. It shows her dressed as Minnie Mouse from her childhood, and will apparently go on the mantel next to the panda painting so as to really lock down visitors' first impressions of tackiness. He's grateful to her for helping convince Louis to drop his Harvard-related vendetta against Mike, hence the gift, so Rachel points out that Harvey helped, too. This means, as Rachel points out, that Mike needs to find something for Harvey that money can't buy. Because Harvey has all the money.
Mike's next stop is at Donna's desk to ask her advice for a gift. She's got plenty of suggestions for other people, like a picture of Rachel from her father, whereas for Louis, "Just get him anything. He'll cry for days." Unfortunately, there is no gift for Harvey. "He gets what he wants and he doesn't want what he doesn't get, and my knowing that is the only gift he'll ever need from me." Mike insists that he owes Harvey for putting off his eventual and, it still seems inevitable, last day. Donna says there is one thing, but it's too personal and she thinks Mike couldn't make it happen anyway. But Mike's in. The hook is set.
At the senior partner meeting, Jessica introduces the newest of their number, Scottie, and lets her take on an acquisition case. Louis rushes in late, pulling a rolling suitcase and pleading delays at Logan airport, and is pretty pissed that his client has been handed off. Scottie doesn't back down, though, quoting his own bylaws back at him about what happens to people who are late to partner meetings. Harvey and Jessica have been sitting back watching this quietly impressed, and Jessica says Louis gets to the keep the client but the transaction is Scottie's. Obviously Louis isn't going to be satisfied with that. Good, we need another intramural pissing match around here.
Mike delivers Harvey's gift in the form of a case folder. Harvey's unimpressed, so Mike points out that the other attorney is one A. Elliott Stemple, who was the one who kicked Harvey's ass in moot court back at Harvard. Apparently Donna told Mike that Harvey's been itching for a rematch ever since, but Stemple has been ducking Harvey since graduation. Even now, Harvey doesn't look entirely thrilled. That's okay, because Mike is excited enough for both of them.
Louis has demanded a meeting with Jessica, because he wants to know where he falls in the pecking order in relation to Scottie. "I can't pretend that you didn't just screw me over on behalf of your partner's girlfriend," he accuses. Jessica points out that Louis can either bond with Scottie or make an enemy of her, like he's done with at least eight other people whose names she rattles off from the top of her head. So, she says, this is an opportunity for him to change his relationship with Scottie, and possibly even redefine himself in the entire firm. Louis gets up, grinning like a loon, and says Jessica just changed his entire outlook on life. What could go wrong?