'Suits' Creator on the Rat Reveal and What's Next
Warning: This post contains spoilers for the “Live to Fight…” episode of Suits.
Finally, we know who sold Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) out.
In this week’s episode of Suits, Louis (Rick Hoffman) recognized the reverent language used in the anonymous email sent from a general Harvard faculty address to the authorities suggesting Mike Ross was a potential fraud: it came from Sheila (Rachael Harris). She’d received a call for the article about Mike’s meteoric rise to junior partner and double-checked her file room.
Related: ‘Suits’ Postmortem: Creator Talks That Reunion and What’s Next
In a poll on the show’s website, only 3 percent of fans thought it’d be her. With good reason, it turns out. Creator Aaron Korsh says the show’s writers’ room gave him a number of well-thought-out suggestions for the rat. “I think the main one was Logan Sanders, but I also think Robert Zane and/or Laura Zane were highly featured, to protect their daughter. It was also thought about Jack Soloff and Travis. Trevor, obviously, Scotty, Claire… All the people that are thought of by the fans and by the website,” he tells Yahoo TV. “To me, what was different about Sheila was she didn’t have an agenda to get back at someone. When some people find out, like Louis, they use it to get personal gain. Some people find out and use it for revenge. Like Trevor, when he revealed it to Jessica, was out of jealousy to get back at Mike. If it would’ve been Robert Zane, it would’ve been to sort of f–k Mike over to protect his daughter. If it would’ve been Hardman, it would’ve been to take [the firm] down. Claire found out and actually didn’t take action because she felt sorry for Rachel. When Sheila found out, there was just no question. She’s like, 'This guy didn’t go to Harvard. I’m turning him in.’ It wasn’t for personal gain. She didn’t leverage it. She didn’t feel sorry. She’s just like, 'He’s a fraud. I work for Harvard. I’m doing the right thing.’”
Korsh agrees with her, too. “It’s like she represents how I think all of them should’ve reacted when they found out: If you really think about it, she is protecting her institution. There’s no malice. There’s no personal gain. There’s no sympathy. She just did it,” he says. “That’s what I liked about it being Sheila.”
But there is one question that remains: Sheila told Louis she had no intention of coming forward to identify herself as the email’s sender. But AUSA Anita Gibbs (Leslie Hope) dropped the bombshell at episode’s end that Sheila had. Why?
“Let me say, maybe Sheila didn’t actually come forward,” Korsh says. “Maybe Gibbs is lying just to f–k with them.”
For more scoop on what’s to come this season, watch or listen to the recent Yahoo TV-moderated chat with Gabriel Macht at Apple’s SoHo store here.
Suits airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on USA.
