Netflix cannot help but revitalize series that were put out to pasture but are now spinning off, rebooting, and resurrecting. That final descriptor allows us to quickly mention Dexter spawning Resurrection and Origins spin offs and move onto developments about Suits: LA. That spin off will soon bring more soapy legal shenanigans to NBC prime time.
This will follow five years after Suits folded and four years after the short-lived Pearson series, but the Summer of Suits did storm 2023 beyond TV execs’ wildest dreams. As the spin off’s title indicates, the franchise will pick up roots and move from New York to sunny California. Franchise creator Aaron Korsh is still onboard, so let’s explore what we can expect next.
Plot
Suits LA will revolve around areas of law that seem to be in particular demand for the new location: entertainment law, criminal law, and the intersection therein. This firm, Black Lane Law, has been founded by former New Yorker Ted Black (Stephen Amell ^^^, kicking off his Heelz after that Starz wrestling drama) and Stewart Lane (Josh McDermitt). Amell will juggle much more onscreen dialogue than he’s used to handling, but former The Walking Dead star McDermitt should be a really trip portraying (as revealed by Deadline) a character who is “energetic, powerful, focused and self-absorbed.”
How wild will this role be in The Walking Dead fans’ minds? McDermitt’s best known role to date remains Eugene, the mulleted “nerd” character who went from not being able to kill a single walker to crafting in-demand bullets while safely ensconcing himself on the Dark Side with Negan).
We must revisit that look:
Now, McDermitt’s “new” look (which is more in line with how he looks IRL, but obviously do expect to see him in, you know, suits) has been revealed by Suits: LA costars. You can catch a glimpse of his “LA” look at the Instagram accounts of Lex Scott Davis and Stephen Amell, and hopefully, NBC will issue an in-costume photo soon. It’s a new professional era for him.
Now, here’s the Suits: LA synopsis:
Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. 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. All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.
Additionally, the spin off’s filming began in Vancouver but shifted down to Los Angeles over the summer when nifty tax incentives went into effect. Also, it doesn’t hurt to be in a place where actors can cameo as themselves in the city where they reside. One of those cameo actors, John Amos, filmed the pilot as himself while seeking Black Lane Law’s counsel, and this turned out to be Amos’ final onscreen role (via Deadline):
In the pilot, Amos played himself as a client at Ted’s (Stephen Amell) law firm who also has a longstanding friendship with Ted. While Amos’ guest appearance was not conceived as part of an ongoing arc, we hear there was a potential for him to recur. He will now be seen in the pilot only, which will air when the series debuts later this season.
Cast
Will any Suits stars of yesteryear make the trip to LA? Considering Ted Black’s bicoastal status, there should be a window open for him to be familiar with Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Specter. Neither of them have been confirmed, but Wendell Pierce has declared that his Robert Zane character had better be invited “to make a cameo on the show ’cause we went on strike because of not getting anything from that resurgence.” So there.
Otherwise, Stephen Amell and Josh McDermitt will surely hold fans at rapt attention as Ted Black and Stuart Lane, respectively. As noted above, the pilot will include the final performance from John Amos, and the cast will be rounded out by Rachelle Goulding, Victoria Justice, Lex Scott Davis, Kevin Weistman, Troy Wingush, Bryan Greenberg, and Alice Lee.
Release Date
Suits: LA was originally slotted into NBCUniversal’s 2024-2025 plans, but clearly, it’s now gonna be 2025. With the show picking up production and moving from Vancouver to Los Angeles, this could potentially push the release to Fall 2025, but the good news is that those substantial tax incentives from California will make a longer-lasting series more possible.
Trailer
NBC hasn’t graced us with a trailer yet, so let’s take a moment to enjoy the in-role range that Josh McDermitt can pull off with The Walking Dead‘s Eugene going from “coward to courageous.”