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When you think of the channel Dave, it’s certainly not Legal Drama that springs to mind. Mock the Week and Top Gear, Dragons' Den and Red Dwarf; it’s ‘The Home of Witty Banter’, definitely not the place you’d imagine an acclaimed, hit US series to make its UK debut. After watching the first episode, however, the suitability of the channel is obvious. Suits, like most of Dave’s programming, is light, funny and relaxing. There’s the customary dose of legal cleverness and an appropriate array of truly gorgeous suits. And although, the programme’s soft touch may prove to be its fatal flaw, for it is decidedly lacking in any real sense of tension, the first episode did at least do enough to leave me wanting more.
The core strength of Suits is its fast pace. In the first few minutes, we’re introduced to a vast array of characters, darting swiftly between the world of Harvey Specter (whose surname is amusing given Gabriel Macht’s former role as The Spirit), New York city’s best “closer”, and the ‘one-disaster-after-another’ existence led by professional examinee, Mike Ross (Patrick J Adams). The plot speeds along, sweeping Harvey from promotion to the point of being debarred and Mike from drug dealing to being hired as an Associate in a matter of minutes. Contrary to what you might expect, however, the story doesn’t feel rushed. The dialogue is a little heavy on explanation, but there is enough spark to prevent it from becoming annoying. There’s also more than enough delightful ingenuity to keep you entertained, as Mike does his best ‘Bourne’ impression, escaping an overly shrewd exam invigilator by dumping his jacket in the men’s room whilst Harvey is deliciously irreverent, surprising you again and again by the abruptness of his approach to charming clients. There’s plenty of witty banter between the two leads (undoubtedly the attraction for Dave) and it is easy to see how that relationship can develop in the coming weeks, with Mike bringing in the heart and Harvey providing the smarts.
The show’s failure to inspire any real tension, however, is potentially fatal. Mike’s lack of law school education ought to keep all the proceedings on edge, but it merely simmers in the background. The drugs angle is equally bland, since Dealers in this world seem uncommonly respectful of privacy laws and not blowing people’s heads off when they refuse to return their drugs. Harvey’s challenges are also easily surmounted, with Judges joining in with his jokes rather than charging him with contempt of court, as they really ought to. In the gentle atmosphere this laxity produces, there is an understandable lack of emotional depth since the characters seems to have little to be really upset about.
This is just the first episode, however, and I think Suits establishes sufficient framework for future development. There is certainly potential for Macht’s character to expand and the threat of exposure to be amped up. In the meantime, it’s actually quite nice to watch something so relaxing. For once the world does not hang in the balance and we can only hope that in advancing the story, Suits doesn’t lose this essential lightness.
Suits continues on Tuesday at 9pm on Dave.
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