Suits: The 5 Best & 5 Worst Recurring Characters

Every now and again some new hot-shot lawyer would be announced on Suits to try and take on the might of Harvey and the team at Pearson-Spectre Litt and sometimes it would take a few hits to get rid of them for good. There were also some recurring characters on the show that gave the protagonists extra layers.

From Daniel Hardman to Mike’s grandmother there have been some iconic recurring characters and some that just didn’t really add to the story.

10 Best – Daniel Hardman

The infamous Daniel Hardman from the early days of the firm when it donned the name Pearson-Hardman. Initially, Jessica and Harvey threatened to tell Hardman’s wife, Alicia, about his affair which made him leave the firm in the first place, but when Alicia died there was nothing to stop Daniel Hardman from returning.

In season 2, Hardman returned again to cause more trouble and then caused Jessica to form a Merger with Edward Darby to stop her firm from going into bankruptcy. Safe to say, whenever Hardman was around, audiences were in for a roller coaster ride.

9 Worst – Sheila Sazs

Sheila did have her redeeming qualities. She was introduced early on as she was working for Harvard and Louis brought her into the firm to reinstate their Harvard recruitment privileges. Louis and Sheila had many ups and downs which caused Louis to spiral out of control on more than one occasion.

However, throughout the show, while being Louis’s love interest and adding a nice personal story for the two, that seemed to be it. Perhaps if fans saw Sheila change Louis for the better it would have been a deeper story for the two characters.

8 Best – Anita Gibbs

Similar to Hardman, Anita Gibbs was the one who started Mike down the path of going to prison for his fraudulent work at the firm in season 5. Anita certainly gave Harvey and Mike a run for their money and it ended up being Mike who took Anita Gibbs’s deal and went to prison.

Even though he didn’t serve his full sentence in the end, Anita’s 6 episode Arc in season 5 was certainly gripping for any viewer concerned about Mike’s fate.

7 Worst – Faye Richardson

Entering in the final season as the big bad, Faye Richardson is an attorney who was granted “special master” of the firm after the New York State Bar questioned the running of the firm after Robert Zane and Jessica’s disbarment and Mike going to prison for being a fraud.

It was great of the show to acknowledge the shaky past of the firm, whereas some shows might just ignore these issues for the sake of the story, the Dolores Umbridge vibe that Faye had did not sit right and she was just there to be another big bad for the show’s final season.

6 Best – Gretchen

Harvey and Louis’s bold assistant who could always put anyone in their place. Gretchen first appeared in season 5 episode 2, ‘Compensation’, and appeared in every season after that. She first worked for Harvey until she decided to swap with Donna after the firm was going down.

Gretchen proved in multiple episodes that she didn’t take any of Harvey or Louis’s backtalk and often made them see the error of their ways.

5 Worst – Stephen Huntley

First appearing in season three Stephen Huntley shared a lot of traits with Harvey as Stephen was essentially the British version of Harvey serving under Edward Darby. There was a brief story arc where Stephen had a relationship with Donna but there were very few fans who approved of this relationship. Even though some thought Donna was overrated, viewers were by her side when Stephen’s true personality was revealed.

Not only did Stephen annoy fans by trying to steal Donna from Harvey, but he also ordered the murders in the Ava Hessington murder trial, making him a character that no Suits fan was rooting for.

4 Best – Robert Zane

First appearing in the premiere episode of season 2, Robert Zane, the unforgiving legendary lawyer and father of Mike’s love interest, Rachel Zane, made a splash and certainly let everybody know who he was early on.

Fans will never forget the fearful look on Mike’s face when Robert Zane walked into Mike’s interrogation room. Robert was one of the few characters who could put Harvey in his place, making him an instant badass on the show.

3 Worst – Harold Gunderson

Starting out as the victim (and cause) of a lot of Louis’s anger and frustration, Harold Gunderson is a season 1 veteran who was lightly peppered throughout the show. When he appeared initially there were many funny moments but after he left Pearson Hardman, there wasn’t much else that enticed audiences.

Whenever Harold appeared later on, it seemed very surfaced and fairly unnecessary. A strong start but, from then on, a fairly bland story for Harold Gunderson.

2 Best- Jessica Pearson

Although Jessica was one of the main characters in the show’s first few seasons before dropping from the main character to a rarely recurring character on the show. Fans know everything Jessica went through at Pearson-Spectre and it was a shame to see her go.

Luckily she didn’t disappear completely and returned for a few episodes in the later seasons. It’s always great to see old main characters return towards the end of the show for nostalgia and Jessica was as badass as ever.

1 Worst – Edward Darby

Much like Stephen Huntley was essentially the British equivalent of Harvey Spectre. The head of Stephen’s firm, Edward Darby, was Jessica’s British counterpart. Darby and Jessica were essentially forced into a merger after Daniel Hardman nearly bankrupts their firm.

The whole Hessington Oil storyline in season three didn’t seem too popular with some fans, and not that Game of Thrones alumni, Conleth Hill, didn’t do a great job portraying him, but the character of Edward Darby was, much like the Hessington Oil storyline, disinteresting.

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