NBC recently announced a new addition to the Suits universe with a Los Angeles spin-off, but will this double as Season 10 for the legal drama?
Suits may have ended its nine-season run in 2019, but it gained a whole new lease of life in the summer of 2023 as its arrival on Netflix saw it top the streaming charts and put a fresh set of eyes on the legal drama.
Is NBC's Suits: L.A. Secretly Season 10?
After Suits became a sensation on Netflix, a new original series set in the same legal world was reported by Deadline to be in development at NBCUniversal in October 2023 from original creator Aaron Korsh.
The report was clear the series will feature new characters in a fresh setting akin to the CSI and NCIS franchises. This has since become apparent after the Los Angeles backdrop was revealed and several new faces were cast.
As such, Suits: L.A. will not serve as Season 10 or a spin-off to the original show, but rather its own legal tale that just so happens to occupy the same world.
The off-shoot will have one major departure from the original Suits, as the central firm will be specializing in entertainment as opposed to corporate law. This should allow Korsh to fully utilize the celebrity-filled Los Angeles setting to his best.
Not only does this allow NBC to capitalize on the surge in Suits' popularity using the same brand name for what is mostly an original legal drama, but it also opens the doors to potential crossovers with some familiar faces.
Via Variety, Universal International Studios President Beatrice Springborn has stated the spin-off will "have the same energy and good-looking people that the original did." She went on to reveal a desire for the show to be a "continuing series that everyone wants," indicating aims for a multi-season run of its own:
"It has to have great storytelling and great character work. So how do you do something that can be ongoing, have a gloss to it and be a continuing series that everyone wants?"
What Will Suits: L.A. Be About?
While Suits centered its tale on fraudulent lawyer Mike Ross entering the world of corporate law, the new L.A. series will star Ted Black.
The former New York federal prosecutor has started a new life in Los Angeles co-running Black Lane Law, representing the city's most powerful clients in a firm specializing in both criminal and entertainment law.
The series' official logline teases Black Lane Law will be "at a crisis point" when it begins, forcing Ted to step up to "survive." As expected from a Suits spin-off, the starring legal group will "mix their personal and professional lives:"
"His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives."
Alongside those troubles, the show will "slowly unravel" the events in Black's past that led him to abandon "everything and everyone he loved." This is likely teasing flashbacks across the show to his past as a federal prosecutor in New York that will ultimately explain his move to Los Angeles:
"All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved."
Suits: L.A. will probably follow a similar concept to the original show in having unique cases and guest stars per week, with an overarching story that ought to be this goal of saving the firm while exploring Black's past.
As discussed before, the series has been promised to deliver "the same energy" as Suits, suggesting it will continue to offer much of the same light-hearted legal drama, flirty banter, and occasional bursts of more intense emotions.
Who Has Been Cast in Suits: L.A. So Far?
Ahead of starting filming on the pilot in late March, Suits: L.A. has cast three fresh leads for the spin-off series, with more expected to follow in the coming weeks and months as production ramps up.
Details on the three leading actors and characters are explored below:
Stephen Amell - Ted Black
Stephen Amell will lead the way in Suits: L.A. as Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York who built a law firm in Los Angeles specializing in criminal and entertainment law. The series will see Black trying to pull his firm back from a crisis point while also exploring events from years ago in his past.
Amell is best known for his leading roles in Arrow, Heels, and Code 8.
Josh McDermitt - Stuart Lane
Josh McDermitt's Stuart Lane is the co-founder of the Black Lane Law who started the firm years back with Amell's Ted Black as they were old friends. The new lead has been described as "energetic, powerful, and self-absorbed."
McDermitt most famously played Eugene Porter in The Walking Dead.
Lex Scott Davis - Erica Rollins
Last up comes Lex Scott Davis as Erica Rollins, coming in a decade younger than her early 40s co-stars at 33 years old. Rollins will work for Ted Black and has been called "a savvy and strong-willed rising star" who will "test the loyalty of her associates only to admire some of them for not having any."
Davis has appeared in The First Purge, Florida Man, and Ricky Stanicky.
Are Harvey Specter and Mike Ross Returning in Suits: L.A.?
Suits: L.A. may not be the sequel series with Harvey Specter and Mike Ross running their firm in Seattle some were hoping for, but as it does occupy the same world, the door is open for both them and other main characters to return.
Ted Black already has the potential for a clear connection to Harvey Specter due to his past as a New York prosecutor. As the Suits star spent much of his early career in the Big Apple's District Attorney's office, there is a clear passage for their paths to have crossed at some point in their earlier years.
Suits: L.A. marks a clear attempt from NBCUniversal to capitalize on the surge in Suits' streaming popularity. As such, it would be surprising if Aaron Korsh didn't seek out a guest appearance from at least one of the original stars.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Harvey's Gabriel Macht and Mike's Patrick J. Adams were asked about potentially returning in Suits: L.A.
Adams was clear he has "yet to be asked" about the spin-off, but he has "spoken to" the showrunner and original Suits creator Aaron Korsh:
"I have yet to be asked. It sounds like it's a spin-off where they're really building a new world with new characters and a whole new story. I've spoken to Aaron..."
Macht added that while Korsh is "creating a separate world" for the new series, there is still the possibility that "some characters could [return]:"
"I haven't spoken to Aaron. I've gotten a couple of texts from him... And he is creating a separate world, this world will land in Los Angeles. I mean I think it's in a world where some characters could [return]."
As for the rest of the cast such as Jessica Pearson, Louis Litt, and Donna Paulsen, only time will tell whether they show face in Los Angeles. Regardless, the focus of Suits: L.A. is expected to be on a fresh cast of characters and a new storyline, so any returning faces will likely be limited to one-off or occasional guest roles.
One of the more complicated cases comes with Rachel Zane actress Meghan Markle who left Suits in Season 7 after the star married Prince Harry and joined the British royal family. It seems unlikely she will return to the Suits universe for the spin-off as she has not acted in a major role since 2018.
When Will Suits: L.A. Release?
From the first report on the Suits spin-off from Deadline, the outlet was clear the project is expected to be "fast-tracked with a serious commitment."
This has since become clear with the three leading faces of Stephen Amell, Lex Scott Davis, and Josh McDermitt now cast after landing a pilot order.
The pilot episode will reportedly start production in late March in Vancouver, after which NBCUniversal is expected to evaluate the episode and decide whether to grant Suits: L.A. a full season order.
But as Suits has become so popular in recent months, it would be shocking if a season order were not granted to capitalize on it, even if that did require going back to the drawing board or making serious changes to the spin-off.
Turning back to Suits Season 9, the final outing was filmed from April to August 2019 and was able to commence its 10-episode run in July that same year.
Provided the pilot lands well at the network, Suits: L.A. would likely air on NBC in mid-to-late 2024. Looking back at all nine seasons of Suits and the Pearson spin-off, all of them began in June or July, making a summer debut for Suits: L.A. likely.
But it should be noted this would rely on development and reactions to the Los Angeles-centric pilot going as planned. If major overhauls were required, it would not be shocking to see the premiere shift later into the year.
A report from Variety stated its sources have told them Suits: L.A. will not be the official title for the spin-off, with the final name still unclear.
Suits is streaming now on Netflix.
