Dirty Little Secrets

Template:Episode Dirty Little Secrets is the fourth episode of the first season of Suits which was broadcast on July 14, 2011.

Overview

Harvey defends Jessica's ex-husband Quentin Sainz. Meanwhile, Mike is assigned his first solo case, and his secret is almost discovered.

Synopsis

"The law is a very precise endeavor."

Louis and the associates play a Harvard trivia game after hours and Mike is in the lead by one point against his rival, Seth Keller. During the double point round, Mike fails to answer the question about the Harvard Law dormitory tradition of getting square pizza from Pinnochio's. Seth then answers "five" when asked how many supreme court justices were from Harvard, and claims victory. Mike, however, points out that there are in fact six, including Ruth Bader Ginsberg who may have graduated from Columbia but attended Harvard Law before then. Mike wins because he points out that Seth was not precise, just as Louis previously refuted Mike for not being precise. Having won, Mike receives a pro bono case of his own, but Mike is left uneasy about Louis and tells Harvey that Louis may know his secret, which Harvey brushes off.

Harvey then sees Jessica and Quentin Sainz hugging in her office, immediately deducing that she has taken a case for him. Harvey warns Jessica about Quentin's case is a failure waiting to happen after hearing media coverage over the millions killed from the ALS drug that his company manufactured to the public. Jessica then shocks Harvey by revealing to him that Quentin is her ex-husband and then tells him that she wants him to take the case because Quentin's current girlfriend, Lisa Parker, does not want her on the case. Harvey has no interest in taking it because he fears that Jessica will interfere with his work.

Mike's case turns out to be a bedbug problem in a building owned by a Johnny Karinksi who won't do anything about the problem. After filing a case to the housing department to take the situation to housing court, he visits his client, Frank, to inspect the apartment. They meet Karinski who threatens to kick Frank out for refusing to pay the rent, in which Mike states that it was legal if the apartment was inhabitable. However, he has yet to prove that in court.

Harvey meets with Quentin and his girlfriend Lisa about the company's ALS death drug. Quentin explains that 6 terminal patients with other various health issues used his drug as a scapegoat for the other drug companies. He also claims that the drug was proven safe for 8 years, and that the argument the media is putting out is baseless.

Harvey, Mike, and Quentin meet with Collin Church, a lawyer representing the legal dispute over the ALS drug. Collin refuses the settlement money, saying it should be much higher because his client was lied to by the company about the side affects and demands $250 million. When Quentin rejects the settlement, Collin reveals a poster with printed details of the side effects his clients had from using the ALS drug, threatening Quentin and Harvey that he intends to plaster them up. Harvey warns him that it's libel to do that, but Collin shows that he is willing to go lengths to receive the settlement he proposed. Harvey refuses to be extorted by Collins and leaves the room with Quentin, but Collins makes sure that Quentin knows that he must receive the $250 million in four days or he will take action. After hearing that Harvey refused the settlement offer, Jessica becomes angry at Harvey playing the "bad lawyer" and using dead patients as a small fraction to the millions that lived in court.

File:S01E04P34 Vivian.png

"I'm your first? Don't worry, I promise not to be gentle."

Mike's first case in housing court is against a professional lawyer, Vivian Tanaka. He loses miserably, leaving a bad first impression on the judge and failing to bring the required receipts for Frank's case. Louis lectures Mike, saying that the client he first brought in from the tennis courts helped save Mike's face from his loss in housing court and did little collateral damage to his reputation, but he had expected Mike to win.

Harvey and Mike takes the case to the court and reveal that Collin not only failed multiple lawsuits against pharmeceutical companies by threatening to publicize the case, leading to settlement agreements, but he also recycled his plaintiffs in order to win. Collin backfires by revealing Quentin's financial instability and bankruptcy prior to his drug's release stating that there was financial motive for advertising fraud. The judge then rules that the case will be taken to court. After Harvey's loss at court, Jessica takes the case herself, disapproving his lack of faith in Quentin.

"My wife here--my beautiful wife.."

Mike and Rachel pose as two newly weds looking for a luxurious home in an upscale neighborhood apartment building owned by Karinski to uncover some secrets. Instead of getting their information form the realtor, they ask to talk with the other inhabitants.

Jessica and Quentin meet at Central Park to clear the air about their divorce. Jessica confronts him about his lies during the divorce and demands to know the rest of the secrets he has hidden from her in order for her to continue fighting for the lawsuit. She meets with Harvey later and they grab drinks. She reveals that Quentin is dying from ALS.

"Like it or not... you're all in the same boat."

Harvey and Jessica meet with Lisa and made her confess that that she falsified drug trials to put it on the market to save Quentin. They then tell Quentin and give him options to make Lisa the scapegoat or fight with Collin and rebuild a new drug company. Instead however, Harvey issues a conference with the 6 of the complainants and Collin to propose a compensation for the side effects Quentin was unaware about, showing them a video footage of Quentin suffering from ALS. The agreement is then made that these 6 ALS patients will have partial ownership of the drug company, which will then help save lives by conducting more research for the drugs that could help others like them.

"Just get that carpet out of here!"

Meanwhile, Mike recruits former tenants of Karinski's buildings to testify in court about the abuse they experienced living in his apartment building. He discovers from the photographs that the tenants gave him had similar carpets to that of Frank's. He and Harvey arrive at Karinski's home with a sample of Frank's apartment carpet. When Mike takes it out, Karinski flips out, knowing that the carpet was infested with bedbugs. Mike proceeds to reveal that Karinski actually created the bedbug problem i order to drive tenants out so he can remodel the apartment and rent it out for a much higher price. He reuses the bedbug carpet and installs it into other apartment buildings that he buys in order to create the same situation and profit. After Mike won the housing court case, fifteen other clients wanted to file similar complaints against Karinski and were willing to pay, surprising Louis.

Towards the end, Mike and Rachel joke about their fake marriage status and Mike takes a leap of faith and asks Rachel out on a date for their fake anniversary. However, Rachel rejects him because she doesn't date anyone from the office.

Credits

Production Crew:

• Written by : Jon Cowan
• Directed by : Dennie Gordon
• Creator : Aaron Korsh

Starring:

• Gabriel Macht - Harvey Specter
• Patrick J. Adams - Mike Ross
• Rick Hoffman - Louis Litt
• Meghan Markle - Rachel Zane
• Sarah Rafferty - Donna Paulsen (absent)
• Gina Torres - Jessica Pearson

Guest Starring:

• Russell Hornsby as Quentin Sainz
• Sharon Leal as Lisa Parker
• Anthony Starke as Collin Church
• Christina Chang as Vivien Tanaka
• Matthew Lemche as Frank Carvello
• Paulino Nunes as Johnny Karinski
• Ben Lewis as Seth Keller

Co-Starring:

• Donald Burda as Judge Renee Aubuchon
• Suzanne Coy as Judge Elizabeth Schelling
• Kim Roberts as Glenda
• Nahanni Johnstone as Sales Agent
• Christian McKenna as ALS Man
• Sheila Boyd as ALS Patient #1
• June Ng as ALS Patient #2
• Kevin Power as ALS Patient #3
• Clinton Walker as ALS Patient #4

Gallery