Just as NBC’s Suits LA seemed to be hitting a mid-season slump, Episode 6 wrapped up Lester Thompson’s trial. Lester, a fictional actor introduced in Episode 1, was accused of murdering his best friend and co-producer, Simon. The subplot has been dragging through the past few episodes, but Episode 6, titled “Dester,” goes all in on the trial. The episode is filled with classic courtroom drama and objections as Ted Black also starts to repair his relationships with Samantha, Stuart, and more. It’s not a perfect episode, but the build-up to the end is well worth it.
Lester’s Trial Kicks Into Gear
In last week’s episode, Ted had his opening statement interrupted when Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Smith tried to delay the trial. Episode 6 opens with his statement, where he tells the jury he staked his career on this case. Unfortunately for Ted, Kevin has just found out Lester’s real story and is keeping it a secret so he doesn’t mess with the trial.
Kevin found out Lester stole the story that Simon killed himself from a script Lester wrote. Kevin gets Lester to admit on camera that Simon threatened to kill him. Simon told Lester, “I’m going to kill you Dester,” which was Simon’s nickname for Lester. The actor says that as Simon was holding the gun, he stumbled, and Lester seized the opportunity to pull the trigger on Simon. Lester says he feels good finally letting it all out, but Kevin tells Lester he’s never going to do it again.
The trial itself is tense. Both lawyers give objection after objection and use tricks and attacks on witnesses to get the jury to swing a certain way. The first witness is Simon’s therapist, who tells Elizabeth that Simon would be more likely to kill Lester than himself. Ted then gets the therapist to admit that her statement might be flawed because she’s worked with Simon for 15 years and has an emotional attachment to him. The next witness is the studio head who was working with Lester and Simon on their newest film. The executive says that he would have fired Simon and Lester if he had found out they were stealing money from the studio, despite the fact that Lester was trying to return the money Simon stole.
Ted’s afraid he’s losing the side of the jurors, so he convinces pro bono lawyer Amanda to be a witness in order to make Elizabeth look bad. Amanda previously faced Elizabeth in the trial of Dante Everson, who was wrongfully convicted of murder. On the stand, Amanda explains how, when they found missing evidence that would have overturned the conviction, Elizabeth planted an article that said Dante killed a gang member so he would be murdered in prison. Amanda then says she also planted an article in this trial to get Lester’s divorce transcripts.
Ted then calls Lester to the stand and has him recount the story Lester’s been saying this whole time. After, Elizabeth calls a surprise witness, who didn’t come forward after having signed an NDA to bartend at an illegally rented house. She tells Elizabeth that she was on a break when she heard a man say, “I’m going to kill you dead, sir,” before she saw Lester shoot Simon. Ted is surprised, and while the court is adjourned, he confronts Lester and Kevin as they tell him the whole story.
The Characters Start To Repair Their Relationships
This isn’t the first time Kevin has tried to withhold information from Ted. In flashbacks, Ted’s relationship with Samantha is struggling after Samantha’s client was murdered when Ted brought him into a case. Ted was trying to take down a mob boss by the name of Pellegrini, and Samantha’s client did an impression of one of Ted’s witnesses to help Ted. Pellegrini later killed the client, and Ted tries to pin the blame on the client for doing the impression during a comedy set, but Samantha’s not having it. She’s grieving as she writes a speech to give at her client’s funeral.
Ted is supposed to go to the funeral with Kevin when Kevin gets a phone call. Ted can tell it’s about work, but Kevin won’t say what it is because he knows Samantha needs Ted’s support at the funeral. After too much prying, Kevin finally tells Ted that Pellegrini will be arrested in an hour. Ted ditches the funeral to watch the arrest and take humiliating photos of Pellegrini. Back at his apartment, Samantha doesn’t show up until the next day because she was waiting for Ted to show up before deciding to stay the night at her mom’s house. She tells Ted that she’s taking a job in Los Angeles.
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In the present day, Ted’s doing a little better with his relationships. After the first day of Lester’s trial goes horribly, Samantha calls Ted to check on him. In Episode 5, Amanda said she didn’t want to help Ted with the trial anymore after he hid Lester, but Ted gets her to help again by admitting what he did was wrong (and by reigniting her hatred for Elizabeth Smith).
Ted’s friendship with Stuart Lane has been gone since Stuart left Ted’s firm in the first episode. However, Ted goes to Stuart to figure out how to change Lester’s plea, and only convinces Stuart to help after saying that Lester needs Stuart’s help. While they work, Ted admits to mistreating Stuart when they worked together. They share a brief moment quoting A Few Good Men — which is a reference to Suits — before Stuart realizes Lester’s divorce transcripts would help Ted change the plea. Rick had also gotten upset earlier when Stuart asked Erica to jump off Ted’s sinking ship and come to their firm, but Rick is happy again when he hears that Ted and Stuart worked together.
Ted Proves He’s the Best Entertainment Lawyer by Saving Lester
Back in court, Ted meets with Elizabeth and Judge Mosely in the judge’s chambers. Ted says he wants to change Lester’s plea to self-defense, and Elizabeth complains that she’s already built her case around the original plea. Ted argues that he can change the plea because, in the transcripts for Lester’s divorce, Valerie said Simon wanted to kill Lester. The judge accepts the change and says he hated the ethics Elizabeth used to get those transcripts, and she’s getting what she deserves.
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Ted calls Lester back to the stand. He retells his story without lies this time, and he says that Elizabeth’s surprise witness misheard “Dester” as “dead sir” and that anyone in Hollywood would know that’s Simon’s nickname for Lester. Lester admits that he lied before, but he said that he did it because he always used to get blamed as a child by his peers. When the cops showed up and interrogated Lester the night he killed Simon, he could only think of his peers, which led to him lying. Elizabeth says it’s convenient that Lester had this story after she called her surprise witness, but Ted reveals that Kevin gave him the tape of Lester’s recorded story, which was postmarked before the witness was called.
Ted builds his closing statement around Elizabeth calling him “just an entertainment lawyer” in her opening statement. Ted says that an entertainment lawyer builds his career by finding people to believe in. He did that with Lester, and he’s done it with his co-workers. “I’m the best damn entertainment lawyer you’ve ever seen,” he tells the jury. That may be true, as the jury finds Lester “not guilty.”
Ted might be gloating in his speech, but he can still recognize his flaws, as he goes to Samantha and apologizes for getting her client killed 15 years ago. It’s a nice moment, and it feels like a perfect way to end the season, but there are still four episodes left. The next episode airs April 6 at 9 p.m. on NBC and will be available to stream on Peacock afterward.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
