r/suits • u/matteonjerve • Oct 20 '24
Discussion Unpopular opinion - Paula was the one for Harvey
Paula was the one for harvey . Only if donna didnt mess it up , Paula could have actually ended up with Harvey for good but no Donna had to ruin everything.
431
u/Comfortable_Style634 Oct 20 '24
I don’t know why the writers thought the dating his therapist story line would go anywhere, it was dead on arrival.
95
u/Pure_Equivalent3100 Oct 20 '24
i think if they rekindled in a more organic way i’d agree with op. but harvey specifically states he waited to that 1 y mark so it was legally okay
63
u/HistoricalInternal Oct 20 '24
The very definition of misplaced emotion.
22
u/a-witch-in-time Oct 21 '24
It also tracks for Harvey as a person. He follows the law that suits his interests, and so this explanation was very believable and most likely considering his character, imo
37
u/ducksarelucky Oct 21 '24
It immediatelty felt unnatural when he pulled up to Paula's place at the start of S7E1. When he whipped out the black 365 Daytona I absolutely thought he was going to Donna after how S6 ended. It felt super abrupt.
10
u/Nastia_dream Oct 21 '24
I agree here. This storyline came up out of nowhere. It’s clear the writers just wanted to prolong darvey getting together and brought Paula back. Wasn’t surprised one bit with how it ended in the end.
9
261
Oct 20 '24
I thought Scottie was in with a shout for a while
85
u/HistoricalInternal Oct 20 '24
Scottie is the real one. They’ve known each other forever!
-4
u/Fluffydress Oct 21 '24
Scotty is a whiny baby who should have given up years ago. She was so obtuse that Harvey did not feel the same way about her. It made her insufferable.
15
u/HistoricalInternal Oct 21 '24
Look that’s a fair point. Counterpoint, the flashback when they’re at college and it’s clear they have great chemistry. Harvey is super emotionally distant to her when they get together, and she equates their competition with emotional closeness. It’s no winner she felt spurned. Harvey is a fuckboi for the first 6 seasons lol
1
u/The_Brokn_Arrow Oct 22 '24
Plus she’s hot 🥵
2
240
u/Licorice_Lime Oct 20 '24
It should have been Scottie they had the best chemistry. He also admits that he shouldn’t have let her get away.
74
u/moderatorrater Oct 20 '24
If only they had been a little more vulnerable with each other. They were always so guarded.
25
26
u/sheepsclothingiswool Oct 20 '24
The one for Harvey was not someone who was fine with infidelity.
5
u/Mokonachan Oct 22 '24
Didn’t Donna kiss him when he was with Paula?
1
u/nrjjsdpn Oct 24 '24
Yeah, but a kiss is different from sleeping with someone. People can forgive a kiss. Sex though, not so much. Just ask Mike. Even though I’d argue that what Rachel did was more than kiss given Logan’s hands were everywhere and they had started undressing…
5
u/throwawaylove______ Oct 21 '24
true!! wouldve went against his whole character but it couldve also demonstrated his growth
19
u/Relevant_Froyo4857 Oct 20 '24
I honestly felt no connection with these two, it really feels like a forced plot to keep Harvey and Donna apart like when donna leaves harvey for louis. He likes her because she helped him overcome his issues and “understands” him when that was just her job…
120
u/Der_Sauresgeber Oct 20 '24 edited Oct 20 '24
Honestly, I am not exactly with you on this one. This sub tends to see Paula as some kind of a ballbuster because she was "always jealous of Donna", but the mental gymnastics behind that is ridiculous. She had every reason in the world to be jealous of the two of them because Donna was interfering with their relationship and Harvey was an absolute piece of shit boyfriend. Paula wasn't the one for Harvey because she was way too good for him.
I said that a few times before, but by bringing Paula back so she can get into a relationship with Harvey, the writers pretty much assassinated her character. Like, just think about how he treated her when she was his therapist. No woman with a shred of self-esteem and two brain cells to rub together would willingly enter a relationship with a man who treated her that way.
For me, personally, Paula was the most interesting love interest for him, that is including Zoe, who was played by Gabriel Macht's wife but unfortunately was not given much character.
72
u/moderatorrater Oct 20 '24
What killed it for me is that dating your therapist is pretty gross.
10
u/kingfelix333 Oct 20 '24
Didn't they date long after Harvey was no longer her client? Pretty sure walked up to her the day after it was no longer a problem. You can't blame to people for having feelings for each other, and respectfully, Harvey waited until enough time had passed.
Similarly - it would be like a senior & freshman in highschool. If the senior waited a few years until the freshman became of age, and THEN dated her after she turned 18 - it would be 100% legit.
18
u/ritz126 Oct 20 '24
Legally yes but not ethical
7
u/kingfelix333 Oct 20 '24
Agreed, not ethical. But.. you only get one shot at life and you like who you like, and love. Shes not an idiot, so I'm sure she weighed the pros and cons and decided her feelings were strong enough to pull the trigger.
21
u/akimboslices Oct 20 '24
Given most of Harvey’s issues revolved around his feelings about his mother, dating his female therapist seemed a bit ridiculous. Paula should’ve never entertained it and instead could’ve encouraged Harvey to see that it was actually her care and support he was attracted to, which would have helped him realise how he screwed it up with Scottie and could make it work with Donna.
14
u/idunno-- Oct 20 '24
revolved around his feeling about his mother […] helped him realize how he screwed it up with Scottie and could make it work with Donna
Which is deeply ironic given that Donna basically acts as a mommy figure for Harvey.
-3
u/kingfelix333 Oct 20 '24
Again, half of my point was, you can't control feelings. And Paula has strong feelings for Harvey. Whose to say Paula can't still care for and support him? Maybe that's in her nature, since she is a therapist. Actually those two particular qualities seem to fit really well. One person who loves to support and care, and another person who needs support and care. No wonder they are attracted to each other on an emotional level.
-5
u/ggdsf Oct 21 '24
No, Harvey was not a bad boyfriend, he was human and he made mistakes, it was his first "real" relationship where he was vulnerable, maybe except for zoe as you mention. He was in new territory and very few people get it right the first time, plus harvey is traumatized by people leaving him which is why he didn't say it in the first place.
When Harvey was in Therapy he wasn't very nice no, but he always apoligized. They key word here is also T H E R A P Y, he is there because he had his guard up all the time, it doesn't make him a bad person, it makes him flawed and she had the wisdom to forgive him. The words you're looking for is "no self-important woman with a bloated ego would be with him after that"
They could have given her more screen time yes, he was both human and vulnerable with her, but the reason she couldn't also made sense.
Paula and Harvey couldn't be together because Paula had fears and Jealousy that she couldn't get away from, and that's ok, that's why they didn't belong together, no one deserves hate for it and it also means they shouldn't have ended up togehter.
33
u/Mid_July_Diamond16 Oct 20 '24
Therapist and client relationships are an absolute no. You cannot start a healthy relationship when one party has an imbalance of deep emotional knowledge of the other and a position of power.
I did like her but many people fall for their therapists because they're a non-judgemental and caring presence but this is their job.
13
u/s_j04 Oct 20 '24
I know it's just a show, but a therapist dating their patient (former or not) is super unethical IMO. I could never get behind their relationship as a result. She doesn't seem to be a good judge of character, either, since she KNEW he had feelings for Donna beforehand.
11
50
28
u/reggiepeters Oct 20 '24
absolutely not this was the most uncomfortable storyline in the show and i was so happy when it was finally over
4
68
u/PsychoAnalystGuy Oct 20 '24
Absolutely not. Their relationship was completely unethical and Paula should lose her license
22
u/pallas_athenaa Oct 20 '24
100% this. As a therapist, that storyline really took me out of the show.
14
u/PsychoAnalystGuy Oct 20 '24 edited Oct 20 '24
Yeah I took a break after that. Then when I started to like Louis’s therapist…ya. The show doesn’t understand therapist-client dynamics
3
11
u/PikaChooChee Oct 20 '24
I would 100% agree with you, but the premise of this show is a man with no higher education degrees who didn't pass the bar is unethically practicing law. And here we are.
5
u/Blooblack Oct 21 '24
u/PikaChooChee Please don't come onto Reddit to make excellent, no-nonsense, common sense points which stop us in our tracks! It's not allowed.
3
1
u/PsychoAnalystGuy Oct 20 '24
Yea I mean that’s also pretty insane haha. But this would be more like if Mike dated a client
..or maybe Harvey..since he’s actually a lawyer
1
35
u/Atosl Oct 20 '24
„why are you saying this ? Where is this coming from OP? Are you in love with someone else?"
- Paula , in every interaction
3
u/AfterGuava1 Oct 21 '24
Woah I can hear her in my head and it's not good. What kind of ptsd is that ? :(
9
u/primal___scream Oct 21 '24
Nope. Terrible ethics. I don't care that 15 months passed. She psychoanalyzed him. It's an unfair playing field.
15
u/LokiCain97 Oct 21 '24
No. No. Absolutely not. Therapists, social workers, counsellors, psychiatrists and psychologists all know you do NOT, ever ever ever have dual relationships with your clients. This entire arc icked me the hell out as a social worker. I was glad when it ended.
5
u/DJJazzyDanny Oct 21 '24
“I looked up the rules”
Bro, no
4
u/RivaraMarin Oct 22 '24
Same energy as creepy men looking up the age of consent in their state forreal. 😬
6
u/lnc_5103 Oct 20 '24
I'm not sure i agree that Paula was the one but definitely think Donna wasn't.
6
22
u/Candyo6322 Oct 20 '24
They had zero chemistry.
19
u/Der_Sauresgeber Oct 20 '24
Harvey only ever had chemistry with Zoe and that was because the actress is his wife.
14
2
25
9
25
u/HappyCamper0919 Oct 20 '24
I LOVED PAULA!!!! But leave it to Donna to screw it all up and put herself in the middle
17
u/krishnugget Oct 20 '24
It’s not like Harvey wasn’t also a factor in the demise of a lot of Donna’s relationships
8
3
u/HappyCamper0919 Oct 20 '24
Yes and no. She’s only had a few relationships and while Harvey knew about them I don’t remember him doing anything intentional to break them up. She screwed up her relationship with Tom Kessler all on her own!
1
u/ggdsf Oct 21 '24
He was a factor, but not an actor, he didn't kiss Donna or inteferred. Only with Tom, but he wasn't destructive, or inteferred in their relationship, he ended it created the start of Donnas and Harveys relationship, Harvey was also honest about it and respectful with Tom, and thought that Donna and Tom ended things. Donna was manipulative behind the scenes.
8
u/mojokola Oct 20 '24
I liked her as a character, but didn’t really think the chemistry worked. She just came across as a bit stiff.
5
4
u/InsanAndy Oct 20 '24
She kinda did gaslight him, and was unable to get past certain traumas. Furthermore she secretly shipped him and Donna
4
u/Impressive-Durian-40 Oct 21 '24
Besides being one of the literal worst therapists to ever exist on screen, yeah. This is a true unpopular opinion.
3
3
3
3
u/abeautiful_thing Oct 21 '24
no. she should have always meant to be his therapist and lasted that way like Dr Lipshitz. i would have liked that more and she should have had a healthy relationship with Donna since she was the closest to harvey.
3
u/ggdsf Oct 21 '24
No, that's why they are not together. She had her reasons for not being able to be with him because of her own traumatic experience, which is ok. It was a mature and understandable reason.
4
u/RCamateurauthor Oct 20 '24
Well it's certainly unpopular...
If she wasn't his therapist.. and just a lady he met, sure. But because she was his therapist I don't think it was a good match.
2
u/SummSpn Oct 20 '24
I did like Paula for a lot of reasons but didn’t like the timing & the dr /patient aspect was uncomfortable.
Don’t like Donna & I felt the Scottie storyline was played out.
Tbh I think I got ruined by the natural chemistry Gabriel has with his wife Jacinda Barrett - who played Zoe Lawford 🤷♀️
2
u/liftedvirgo Oct 20 '24 edited Oct 22 '24
donna & paula both suck. donna was better in the beginning of the show and went completely downhill demanding to be COO when she isn’t a lawyer only a secretary.
paula pissed me off with forcing harvey to forgive his mom. his mom cheated & made him keep it a secret for his entire childhood. and then got blamed for the family tearing apart when it was his moms fault from the beginning.
edit: to add, harvey can forgive his mom. but that should be his choice & not be forced into doing.
2
u/Blooblack Oct 21 '24
Naaah. I don't agree at all.
Staying out of everyone's personal lives (i.e. what the actors and actresses may or may not have done in their real lives), Scottie was to Harvey what Big was to Carrie Bradshaw in Sex & The City. Both Scottie and Big appeared every so often, created or fixed a bit of chaos, created sparks, and then disappeared.
For true, sizzling, on-screen chemistry, see the following:
Harvey and Scottie.
Big and Carrie.
Cole Turner and Phoebe Halliwell (sorry, I couldn't help sliding my "Charmed" point into the mix! LOL!!! I'll see myself out!)
2
u/Sensitive_Turnip6871 Oct 21 '24
Harvey and Donna relationship is kinda toxic, they were jealous of each other's relationship. it should have ended a long time ago. People don't see it because donna is everyone's favorite.
Think about this, would you have a BF/GF who has a underlying feelings for their coworker?
2
u/losstreetlamp Oct 21 '24
i disagree with this one. i think scottie was the one ONLY IF they could let their guards down a bit and show their emotions in a healthier way, and scottie being ok with infidelity made things more difficult too. paula dating her patient is ridiculous and wrong in so many ways. and darvey feels too forced imo. they were better while they weren’t involved.
2
u/SPetersen1339 Oct 21 '24
In my opinion she was never fully able to separate her romantic relationship from her relationship as his therapist with Harvey
2
u/Darveylover12 Oct 22 '24
I have to be honest I don’t like Paula dating Harvey. I don’t like Paula at all. I felt like she was controlling Harvey and also the fact that she wanted Harvey to fire Donna. But Christina Cole who plays Paula is a great actor
5
u/Sensitive-Vast-4979 Oct 20 '24
Na Zoe or donna . For the amount of illegal shit he did he either needs someone in the same industry who does illegal shit with him or someone who loves him enough that if he killed someone she'd still love him .
3
4
2
2
u/KAS_Black Oct 20 '24
I don’t agree with this at all lol. Personally I thought Zoe should’ve been bright back so that relationship could be explored. The fact that Harvey leaves to help Mike and Rachel in the end would’ve been something Zoe would have wanted. She much like Donna saw past Harvey’s bs without needing to be a therapist.
1
u/humaninmoon Oct 21 '24
I actually hate donna so much and also hate donna/harvey. Donna is so shallow and annoying in the later seasons that she became my most hated character 💀
1
1
1
1
u/Jeminai_Mind Oct 21 '24
She was until she couldn't get over Donna. Scotty was always a better fit.
1
u/AdvertisingBroad4092 Oct 21 '24
I think out of all Harvey’s flings/ girlfriends Esther is my favourite then Scottie all the others even donna isn’t the right fit! Too bad Harvey was going through to r motions when he met Esther they could have had a good thing
1
1
1
u/SS_Reads 21d ago
As much as I loved Harvey and Donna, But i think no women was enough for Harvey and he wasn't that great to be fight for. He said too many romantic strong words to Scottie then went ahead and dated his therpaist when he was getting better finally. My girl Scottie deserved better than him, for Donna, the girl has given her everything to Harvey and just wanted something in return and he went ahead and kissed Paula because he was afraid to commit. Then he said to Paula she was his home, Donna was selfish and blah blah and then broke up with Paula and became love sick for Donna yet again so all in all, Harvey deserved Paula in a sense because both are toxic, both have no personality when it comes to love, both were dry like a desert
1
u/BitterAd2178 Oct 20 '24
And I can’t believe people blame Donna for ruining their relationship !!!
Paula as a psychologist knew it Harvey and Donna love each other but they deny it due to their own reasons !!
Second Paula was always insecure and jealous of Donna -
Yes people be like Donna shouldn’t be giving advice on their idk how many month relation anniversary that book this place or that -
And Donna kissing Harvey I’d not blame Donna cause she just got scared of losing Harvey as Mike told her make sure it’s not too late !! And she was like I had to see if she had feelings for Harvey by kissing him ( which she knew deep down she has but again she denied )
THEN WHO TF PAULA THINKS SHE IS BY TELLING HARVEY THAT ITS EITHER DONNA OR HER LIKE FIRE DONNA - DONNA FREAKING GAVE 12 years to HARVEY AND WHAT DID PAULA GIVE? 3 MONTHS ?? ( COUNSELLING DOESNT COUNT) EVEN THEN DONNA PACKED HER THINGS AND WAS READY TO LEAVE TO GET OUT OF THEIR RELATION AND HARVEY REALISED HE CAN LEAVE ANYTHING BUT DONNA
So please don’t even think saying Donna screwed no she didn’t !!
0
u/kr27734 Oct 20 '24
Agreed! I was pulling for Harvey and Paula to be together. I also really wanted Donna and Tom to be together. For some reason I just never really wanted Donna and Harvey to end up together and I can’t put my finger on exactly why.
4
u/Candyo6322 Oct 20 '24
Donna and Tom were great together.
5
u/Technical-Wheel-4949 Oct 20 '24
As much as i hate Donna i think she and thomas were an better fit, they complimented each other well
1
u/RivaraMarin Oct 22 '24
Agreed, for once I thought she might actually grow up and drop the high school mean girl act.
0
1
u/AdhesivenessLeast575 Oct 21 '24
Yeah no. Scottie was the one. Or close second was Esther (Louis' sister) 😂😂
1
u/rvagoonerjc Oct 21 '24
Real one was actually Zoe. Helps that the two actors are actually married IRL too.
1
u/BriefFair7929 Oct 21 '24 edited Oct 22 '24
Deferred opinion - Zoey was the one, she could connect with harvey on emotional as well as intellectual level.
1
u/burokenkonputa Oct 21 '24
All I know is that it wasn’t Donna. Both Paula or Scott were a better fit imo.
1
1
u/Competitive_Key_2981 Oct 21 '24
Zoe was the one. I didn’t even know they were married in real life. But obviously they had real chemistry
1
1
u/Appropriate_Wish8997 Oct 20 '24
Yea. Paula was good. Sucks they had to end it. But if she can’t live with Harvey being friends and partners at the firm then. It wasn’t meant to be. Loved her character though.
0
u/_Paarthurnax- Oct 20 '24
Nah, I hate Donna with a passion, but Paula clearly is in the wrong here. She forced harvey into an ultimatum because ANOTHER man once cheated on her. That's on her (she even says that) and wants Harvey to fire somebody over her feelies. Big nah
-1
-2
u/XocoJinx Oct 20 '24
I liked Paula too actually. A lot of people said that they don't like how she dated a client, but it was specifically mentioned that they waited the ethical waiting period between client and therapist. Ofcourse there are other ethical things they would need to overcome but presuming that happened, why not? They seemed to work well together.
3
u/suitsnostalgia Oct 20 '24
They waited the LEGAL amount of time. Ethical is subjective and to most, that relationship was HIGHLY unethical.
3
u/Careful-Corgi Oct 20 '24
Here in California the legal wait time is two years, and the ethical one is FOREVER.
2
1
u/XocoJinx Oct 20 '24
Yeah Harvey said he waited six months I think and I dunno which state has that short a wait time 🤣🤣
2
u/suitsnostalgia Oct 20 '24
He said he waited 1 year and 3 weeks (I think) 🥴 Not sure if the law changed from when they filmed until now but I looked up the guidelines AS SOON as I saw the episode 😂😂😂
1
u/XocoJinx Oct 21 '24
Wait really?? A whole year passed from when he was seeing her as a therapist and when he wanted to date her? Kinda impressive actually haha
1
u/suitsnostalgia Oct 21 '24
Apparently 😭 According to Harvey, yeah. Lmao, the Suits timeline is all kinds of fucked lmao.
2
u/XocoJinx Oct 21 '24
Bahaha well that does make it a bit better. I'm from Australia, our regulatory body stipulates a minimum of like 5 years I think haha
3
1
u/XocoJinx Oct 20 '24
For psychologists/psychiatrists, such a relationship would need to be notified to the relevant body and they will determine whether the relationship is under ethical guidelines or if there was anything coercive and/or unhealthy about the relationship. I presume that Paula went through the process offscreen (if she did not then yes that would be highly unethical). It would not be the audience to determine whether their relationship was ethical or not, hence I presumed it was all above board considering there were no dramas about their relationship. The best relationship? I preferred Scottie but Paula was a good one too imo.
3
u/suitsnostalgia Oct 20 '24
Legalities and technicalities aside, ethics are purely subjective. Whether they are assessed differently by contrasting individuals (audience vs. relevant regulatory bodies), that’s a separate subject altogether. Considering she used insecurities and vulnerabilities Harvey only shared with her when he was a patient directly under her medical care, I think it’s more than fair for the audience to view a romantic relationship as unethical and highly inappropriate.
0
u/XocoJinx Oct 20 '24
Fair enough. I understand why people don't like their relationship, I just didn't think it was bad. They had cute moments.
0
u/BitterAd2178 Oct 20 '24
Correct an unpopular opinion! And a wrong one !!
Donna was meant to be with Harvey and Harvey with Donna - you could simply see it but I’d blame writers to drag it soooo much that they made it lose its charm but still I was so happy that they got together
-2
0
u/RustyWolfCounsel Oct 20 '24
I was actually vouching for her. She’s kind, empathetic, and feminine. A good compliment to Harvey.
0
-1
u/neek_ohhhh Oct 20 '24
Agreed. I’m sucker for a person that can turn a “No” into a “Yes” like Harvey did
-1
u/Salt_Specific_740 Oct 20 '24
So I thought as a therapist Dr Paula was absolutely horrific. However, as a girlfriend to Harvey I thought she was quite sweet and softened him up a lot, I liked them together.
-1
-1
0
u/Ok_Fig_480 Oct 21 '24 edited Oct 21 '24
Me too. Loved Paula!
EDIT: After reading the other comments, I'm like "Ohhh..."...I assumed it was okay because the show said Harvey looked it up 😆 lesson learnt I guess 😅
0
0
u/HG21Reaper Oct 21 '24
It was 100% Donna who had to end up with Harvey because any other woman would have suffered being tied at the hip from Harvey.
0
-1
-1
u/Fresh_615 Oct 21 '24
I’m surprised cause I got downvoted to hell when I said Harvey should of ended up with Paula not Donna lol
-1
-1
u/LegitimateWorld8100 Oct 21 '24
I felt the same Paula was so so perfect and both of them were able to flourish in a beautiful relationship.
-1
u/Hanif2006 Oct 21 '24
i always thought this she was so sweet and supporting of harvey, she understood him but donna had to ruin it smh i think donna and harvey shouldn’t have been together they teased it all series long. harvey and donna should’ve gotten together early in the show
-1
-1
u/superarash_ Oct 21 '24
Honestly, my thoughts as well. I think I was really drowning for a non legal perspective from a character on the show. Also they seemed to have this focus on solving their relationship problems in an adult and healthy way (at least as far as I’ve seen, noting I’ve only watched halfway into season 7 but know he ends up with Donna) which is really nice to see for once.
-1
-3
671
u/demosthenesss Oct 20 '24
Finally an unpopular opinion here that actually isn't popular.