Update: USA Network confirmed on Wednesday, January 23, that Suits will return for season 9, and that season 9 will be the final season of the series.
All previous seasons of Suits — besides Season 1 — have premiered in the summer and ended in the spring of the following year. So the upcoming 10-episode Suits Season 9 will likely premiere in the summer (June-July) of 2019.
Although fans have high hopes of Suits returning for Season 9, USA Network has not confirmed its long-running legal drama for yet another season.
Suits Season 8 witnessed major adjustments to set a new direction for the series after Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) left at the end of Season 7, and it remains to be seen how the series fares following the loss of the two pivotal characters.
Prior to Season 8, Suits storyline and plot largely followed the career of Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), Harvey Specter’s (Gabriel Macht) law associate at the fictional New York City law firm currently known as Zane Specter Litt.
Ross, a college dropout, worked as Harvey’s law associate despite having never attended law school. Suits storyline prior to Season 8 mostly focused on how Harvey and Mike were able to continue closing high-profile corporate cases while keeping the truth that Mike had no formal legal education as a closely guarded secret.
With the exit of Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane, Patrick J. Adams as Mike Ross, and Gina Torres as Jessica Pearson, Suits made changes that saw the storyline move away from issues arising as a result of Mike’s irregular hiring to chart a new direction as a more conventional legal drama.
The renewal of the series for Season 9 will signal the conviction of the bosses at USA Network that Suits is making the right adjustments to secure its future following the exit of several main characters.
While we await news on whether Suits will return for Season 9 as widely expected, we bring you all that we know so far about the highly-anticipated series renewal.
Suits Season 9 release date
There is no official confirmation yet that Suits will return for Season 9. Although the show’s ratings are down, the numbers compare well with those of other USA Network TV shows. Averaging a 0.26 rating, Suits remains one of the network’s higher-rated series, after The Purge (0.41), Unsolved (0.38), Queen of the South (0.37), and The Sinner (0.28).
The Purge (TV series 2018- ) and Queen of the South (TV series 2016-) have been confirmed for Season 2 and Season 4 respectively, and fans are hoping that Suits will also be renewed for Season 9.
Suits Season 9: Overview
Suits is a legal drama created by Aaron Korsh and produced by Universal Cable Productions. The series, which premiered in June 2011 on USA Networks, is executive produced by Korsh, Doug Liman, Dave Bartis, Gene Klein, Rick Muirragui, Genevieve Sparling, and Christopher Missiano.
Suits has been nominated for multiple awards, including two People’s Choice Awards. Torres won the Outstanding Performance in a Television Series at the 2013 NHMC Impact Awards for her role as Jessica Pearson, while Adams was nominated at the 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series.
The series has received a favorable critical response with a 91 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while on Metacritic, it has received a “generally favorable” metascore of 61 based on 17 critical reviews.
USA Network confirmed Suits for Season 8 on January 30, 2018, and announced that series regulars Meghan Markle, who played Rachel Zane, and Patrick J. Adams, who played Mike Ross, were not returning.
On March 8, 2018, the network confirmed that it had given the final green light for Suits star Gina Torres to star in a spin-off series centered on her character Jessica Pearson, the former managing partner at Person Hardman.
If you miss Jessica Pearson like we miss Jessica Pearson, we have good news – a #Suits spinoff is coming: https://t.co/Vuzh1izfxD
— Suits (@Suits_USA) May 3, 2018
The Suits Season 7 finale (April 25, 2018) served as a backdoor pilot to the spin-off series titled Second City.
Jessica’s back—and she means business! Read more about the new #Suits spin-off before it hits your television screens in 2019!
— Suits (@Suits_USA) September 20, 2018
Meghan Markle also left Suits at the end of Season 7 to marry Prince William.
Markle left Suits as the end of Season 7 after her paralegal character Rachel married her Specter Litt colleague Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams). Adams, who played Mike Ross, also left the series at the end of Season 7 to spend more time with his family.
USA Network confirmed Markle’s departure at the time the network announced the renewal of the series for Season 8.
“After seven seasons, Suits remains one of USA Network’s most beloved and popular series,” NBCUniversal executive Chris McCumber, said. “While we’re excited for season eight, everyone at USA will deeply miss Patrick and Meghan, and are grateful for the talent and commitment they brought to Suits season after season. We wish each of them nothing but the very best.”
Markle left the series after seven years to marry Prince Harry. She is now the Duchess of Sussex.
On behalf of the entire #Suits family, we are sending love and congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, on their pregnancy.https://t.co/NdpAiiPBkO pic.twitter.com/J5rtC3U7s3
— Suits (@Suits_USA) October 15, 2018
“I don’t see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change,” she told the BBC in a 2017 interview after her engagement to Prince Harry. “And keep in mind I’ve been working on my show for seven years. For me, once we hit the 100 episode marker, I thought, I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work we’ve done there and now it’s time to work as a team with Harry.”
Meghan is expected to focus on humanitarian work as a member of the British royal family.
Besides Season 1 which consisted of 12 episodes, Suits has consistently had 16-episode seasons. The 16-episode seasons are split into two halves, so that the first half premieres in summer while the second half premieres early in the following year.
The first half of Suits Season 8 premiered on July 18, 2018, and ended in September. The back half of Suits Season 8 will premiere on January 23, 2019.
Following the exit of Markle and Adams, Grey’s Anatomy alum Katherine Heigl joined the cast of Suits Season 8 as attorney Samantha Wheeler, while Amanda Schull and Dulé Hill, who had played recurring roles as Katrina Bennett and Alex Williams respectively, were promoted to series regulars.
Suits Season 9 trailer
USA Network has not released an official trailer for Suits Season 9. We will update readers with the Season 9 trailer if it becomes available.
Suits Season 9 cast
If Suits is renewed for Season 9, it is likely that the entire main cast of Suits Season 8 will return.
Gabriel Macht will likely return as Harvey Specter, name partner at Zane Specter Litt, alongside Rick Hoffman as Louis Litt, also name partner at Zane Specter Litt.
Sarah Rafferty will likely also return as Donna Paulsen. Donna was formerly Harvey’s legal secretary and confidante, but she became the COO of the law firm in Suits Season 7.
Dulé Hill will likely also return as Harvey’s friend Alex Williams, and senior partner at Specter Litt.
Amanda Schull is expected to return as Katrina Bennett, Louis’ associate who later worked for Rachel’s father, Robert Zane. She returned to Specter Litt in Season 6.
New cast members from Suits Season 8 expected to return for Suits Season 9 include Katherine Heigl as Samantha Wheeler, the new partner at Zane Specter Litt.
Suits Season 9 plot
With the exit of Meghan Markle (Rachel Zane), Patrick J. Adams (Mike Ross), and Gina Torres (Jessica Pearson), Suits made changes that moved the plot away from the character-driven drama centered around the complex consequences of Mike’s irregular hiring.
Following the addition of Katherine Heigl as Samantha Wheeler and the promotion of Amanda Schull (Katrina Bennett) and Dulé Hill (Alex Williams) to series regulars, action moved to the faceoff between Robert Zane and Harvey Specter (Wendell Pierce).
The faceoff between Robert and Harvey was sparked after their firms merged to create Zane Specter Litt.
Suits Season 8 kicked off with Robert and Harvey clashing over who should become managing partner, while Alex and Samantha competed to become the next name partner. Alex Williams (Dule Hill) took Harvey’s side while Samantha took Robert’s.
Who would you be more scared to face-off with in a courtroom: Samantha or Alex?
Binge this season of #Suits online or On Demand NOW: https://t.co/lcahx3INx5 pic.twitter.com/T3J5svH9oP
— Suits (@Suits_USA) September 20, 2018
Donna eventually convinced Harvey to concede the position of managing partner to Robert.
The fight between Alex and Samantha was finally resolved when Donna suggested that Alex and Samantha should both be made name partners. Donna later convinced Robert to step down as managing partner and allow Louis (Rick Hoffman) to take over.
Suits stars Katherine Heigl, Dulé Hill on the outcome of the summer finale https://t.co/ioxi4bsQlh
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) September 20, 2018
It is too early to speculate about what might happen in Season 9. We must wait to see what happens in the second half of Season 8 set to premiere on January 23, 2018, to get a sense of the direction of the storyline into Season 9.
Exclusive: @KatieHeigl breaks down that #Suits midseason finale, why the W doesn’t feel as good as it should and what's next for Samantha https://t.co/y1gq0GW3oF
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) September 20, 2018
But there are clear indications that the showrunners are taking the story in the direction of a more convention legal drama.
The Season 8 mid-season finale (episode 10), titled Managing Partners, which aired on September 19, 2018, ended happily with Donna helping to forge a united front. Robert, Harvey, Alex, and Samantha make peace, but it remains to be seen how long the truce lasts, given the fact that Alex cheated to win his case.
Heigl also shared in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that fans can expect to see “a little more of Donna’s personal life” in the second half of Season 8.
“For Samantha, I think right now she’s just kind of settling into her role as a named partner and what that means,” she continued. “Again, I’m curious to see what that means for her — how she’s going to behave, how is she going to respond, what kind of power does that give her with Harvey, especially? I’m really interested to see what that means for her relationship with Harvey.”