The “Suits: L.A.” Reviews Are Not Kind

Tonight sees the return of the “Suits” franchise with “Suits L.A.,” a new spin-off of the long-cancelled USA Network legal drama series that saw a major and unexpected resurgence on Netflix in Summer 2023 which caught many off guard.

In the wake of that streaming success, this show was green-lit and features an all-new cast aside from recurring appearances of Gabriel Macht reprising his role of Harvey Specter. Former “Arrow” star Stephen Amell leads the cast which also includes Josh McDermitt, Lex Scott Davis and Bryan Greenberg.

Ahead of release, reviews have now come in and don’t paint a great picture. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series sits at just 36% (5.6/10) while on Metacritic it stands at a 51/100 – putting it in the same league as the recent lackluster reviews for the Robert De Niro-led “Zero Day”, the Tim Allen-led “Shifting Gears,” and the procedural “Watson”.

The general complaint mostly seems to stem from the writing and the show seemingly having an identity crisis – not sure what it wants to be. Here’s a sampling of reviews:

“While Suits LA recreates the vibes of its legacy series, there’s a lot more work to get us to buy into the show. In the meantime, it’s an innings-eater procedural, but that’s far from a bad thing.” – Alan French, SS Complex

“Like Frasier, How I Met Your Father and the Gossip Girl 2.0 before it, the new Suits is an echo of the original that neither embodies enough of its ethos to satisfy nor sufficiently differentiates itself to stand alone.” – Adrian Horton, The Guardian

“This is a show that asks you to please turn off your brain before viewing and let the whole thing wash over you like a warm bath.” – Cristina Escobar, RogerEbert.com

“Suits LA can’t reconcile the new, lowered expectations of the TV medium with the show it wants to be, and that sabotages any genuine attempts to keep the franchise alive.” – Lyvie Scott, TV Guide

“The tailored wardrobe is as spiffy as ever in the “blue sky” setting of Los Angeles… It’s the storytelling that feels a bit threadbare and second-hand.” – Matt Roush, TV Insider

“All of the problems with Suits LA are rooted in the way the show diverges from the original. Not because the new elements are different, but because these new elements, on their own merits, range from unnecessary to nonsensical to deranged.” – Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence

“[Has] slightly more depth than many broadcast series today, but it’s nowhere near the entertaining, complex psychological machinations on display in The White Lotus.” – Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The new “Suits: L.A.” series premieres tonight on NBC.

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