The thing about living in a golden age of streaming is that many old favorites keep being rediscovered by new audiences all the time. This gives viewers who know such movies and series well a chance to relive why they loved them in the first place while gaining new people to obsess over them with. In some cases, all this attention helps old franchises expand when networks realize their reinvigorated followings on streaming services. This was the case with the upcoming spin-off Suits: LA.
Before this show was announced, the original Suits had long since completed its original run. Having wrapped after nine seasons, its original following and popularity seemed to have peaked back in 2019. However, by 2023, it began streaming on Netflix and Hulu and became nothing short of a sensation. With a second lease on life that grew even more successful than its original run, the show raced to over 26 billion viewing minutes — setting a string of records along the way. That led to showrunner Aaron Korsh announcing Suits: LA, which fans have been hotly anticipating ever since. However, with its first episode airing on February 23, 2025, the series premiere has some large shoes to fill, and here’s why.
Can Harvey Specter Ever Be Replaced?
By March 2024, the main star of Suits: LA, Canadian actor Stephen Amell, had already been cast as its lead. To the delight of many fans of the original show, it was later also confirmed that Gabriel Macht, better known as the magnetic Harvey Specter from the original show, was going to be making guest appearances. However, herein lay the main worry for fans of the original show. This was because, as anyone who watched and loved that show immediately finds out, Harvey is its main draw and invariably its focal point.
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This wasn’t because he was the only important character at any length. Between the dream teams he made with Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty), as well as the now high-profile figure that Meghan Markle cuts throughout the show, there were plenty of other great characters. However, none of them ever quite managed to hold the screen the way Harvey did.
What Made Harvey So Electric in ‘Suits’?
He had the looks, charisma, and cunning intelligence and could rock three-piece suits as easily as he could boxing gloves. He could effortlessly schmooze everyone, from co-workers to clients. However, it wasn’t any of this that mattered — it was the way all these traits combined into the straight-up aura that always made him stick out as the main star, no matter who or what the episode was actually about. The fact that Mike and Rachel left the show toward the end only made Harvey’s impact more apparent.
This question matters so much because many fans could never imagine any Suits world without Harvey. We already know this to be true. In the beginning, Pearson, the first Suits spin-off, might have seemed like a logical step. After all, Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) was a mentor-like figure to Harvey. Yet, when she appeared on her own show, it quickly became apparent that fans weren’t as interested in it as they were with the world where Harvey was every week.
This gives the main character of Suits LA — Ted Black — a major problem. He’s meant to be the anchor of the new show. For all intents and purposes, that pretty much means he has to be the Harvey Specter of this one. Ultimately, this means the show can be interesting and quick-witted, feature great dramatic arcs, and still fall short of the mark as Pearson did. In fact, many fans believe Ted may have an even harder go of it since he’s a male lead and, therefore, bound to be subject to direct comparisons with Harvey.
Perhaps ‘Suits: LA’ Simply Needs Its Own Identity
The problem with much of this is that many feel Harvey Specter is simply irreplaceable. There is no character like him, and certainly no one could play such a character the way Gabriel Macht did. To illustrate, at his peak, Macht became so iconic among his droves of fans — among men and women alike — that his name was often thrown up whenever fan casting debates for characters like James Bond and even Batman came around (though Stephen Amell has actually played a DC hero).
The gravitas that those kinds of roles come with should give you an indication of just how highly regarded Harvey Specter became as a TV character. This may make it easy to seem like Ted Black and Suits: LA, by extension, is doomed to fail. However, we’ve already had its first episode, and there may be an alternative argument. The thing is, Suits: LA could always become iconic by carving out an identity for itself.
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It Seems to Be a Mixed Bag
From what we’ve seen, that just might be doable. According to FandomWire, Ted Black has his own traits going for him:
Ted Black isn’t someone you particularly tend to like, but he finds himself in situations that make you want to root for his journey. I credit the writing, but Amell, who delivered incredible work on the Starz series Heels, showcased some of that “babyface” wrestling acting he did in that series in the role of Black. Amell is an incredible actor who doesn’t get nearly enough credit for what he brings to the screen.
So far, it seems that Amell and Suits: LA will likely be better off by not trying to replace Harvey or the original Suits. The first episode provided some intriguing twists at the end that make it clear that certain characters are not who they seem to be — a fact that immediately sets it apart from its predecessor. Despite this, the show has gotten off to a far-from-satisfactory start. Time will tell if Ted Black and Suits: LA are ever able to live up to Harvey Specter and the original Suits. Suits: LA can be streamed on Peacock.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
