It has been a long charade between Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty) ever since “Suits” started. Donna has been a very dominant figure on Harvey’s growth as a lawyer, but she has also been one of the main reasons for his headache. As his secretary, Donna helped Harvey make the most difficult decisions in his career. However, Donna has finally decided to leave Harvey’s side and work for Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman).
This was not an easy transition for Harvey. After Donna left, he has been losing ground despite the fact that Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) and Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) has been on his side as he handled cases. But, this did not help him. He has been having panic attacks, which eventually led to him being sent to a shrink, Dr. Paula Agard (Christina Cole).
He never really intended to talk about his problems with Dr. Agard. He was even provided prescription pills to take, but he did not heed the doctor’s advice. He just flushed the drugs away and sought Donna out. He turned to her and asked her if she could provide a proper replacement for the position she left at the firm.
Donna then provided him a list called, “Secretary Replacement for Louis.” Donna initially prepared this to Louis just in case she would leave him. But, Donna insisted she would stay. Harvey was not convinced about this and he still believes she would return to him. Then, one of the characters, Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), asked Harvey if he had even thought of the possibility that Donna would not come back to him after all.
Executive producer Aaron Korsh steps in
“Suits” executive producer Aaron Korsh said he was not the one who came up with the storyline that would crush the fans’ hearts. He admitted that even he could not wrap his head around everything that is happening right now. He is not even sure if Harvey will get anything out of the therapy sessions. But, he said that with Donna leaving and Harvey unable to handle himself, therapy is the only right choice.
Korsh wanted to show the audience a narrative that tells the perspective of those who go to therapy. They wanted to show the struggles of being in these kinds of sessions. However, the producer said they are not going to stay in this mode for a long time. It’s just that they needed an avenue for Harvey to talk about his feelings and therapy is the right place to do that. He said that they are going to play with time and would feature flashbacks throughout the season.
With regards to the pills, Korsh said he thought Harvey was going to get addicted to it at first like he would turn to drugs to cure his anxiety about Donna. But, Korsh said the pills remains to be symbolic. Harvey was done with the drug addiction and so is he with Donna. That was a way for the show to reveal to the audience that Harvey is moving on. Harvey definitely has some deep-seated issues, including abandonment issues with his mom, but it is still a good thing for him to be able to overcome Donna’s story.
So far, Harvey has not completely recovered from Donna leaving him yet. Donna has created an imprint on him. She was even one of those determined characters who showed trust and belief to Harvey in the entire show. She even said that nobody would leave, only to find out that she would go her own way. This was really difficult for Harvey to accept, but he is slowing recovering.