'Suits' Season Three: 8 Things to Know From JJ's Set Visit

The third season of Suits is right around the corner and JJ has some MAJOR scoop for you!

We recently visited the Toronto set to get all the deets on the upcoming season, straight from the mouths of the stars!

With the merger complete, Jessica’s (Gina Torres) new partnership with Darby is tested when he assigns Harvey (Gabriel Macht) a high-profile client who faces the loss of her company if Harvey can’t prove her innocence.

Meanwhile, Mike (Patrick J. Adams) works to reconcile with Harvey and to manage the fallout from his revelation to Rachel (Meghan Markle).

The third season of Suits premieres on Tuesday, July 16 @ 10/9C on USA!

Click inside to get 8 spoilers for the new season, and 10+ set pics…

1. There will be a VERY important flashback episode! Donna/Harvey fans, pay attention!

“Harvey doesn’t sleep with anybody he works with, and we’re going to learn why. You’re going to learn about the origin of the kitchen utensil. And I’ll tell you this, when we did the first read through, all of us, our eyes popped out and we were like, ‘Whoa.” – Gabriel

“What I love about it is that we get to understand why Harvey’s the moral guy that he is.
It just digs into his past and that’s what I think’s so interesting about having flashbacks in the seasons is understanding what makes these people tick and why they’re the way that they are. And so that’s why I was really excited about the flashbacks.” – Sarah Rafferty

“I’m always intrigued by Harvey and Donna’s relationship and why it’s so sort of extraordinary symbiotic, so I feel like the flashback goes to their roots. It fills in any kind of gaps that you might have. There’s like, “Oh yeah, oh okay, so that’s why they’re that way.” – Sarah

2. Donna is still very much Team Harvey, but that doesn’t mean romantically (yet anyway).

“I don’t think it’s time, right now. I don’t think Donna’s pining for Harvey, I don’t think she sees it that way right now. I think that she tells herself that they’re not right for each other.” – Sarah

“Donna’s always on the same page with Harvey, but she is a woman who is there to also hold the mirror up for him sometimes. I thought the scene in the finale last year where she says, ‘I know that your mother really hurt you, but you’ve got to get over this.’ And she’s actually fighting for Scottie (Abigail Spencer). Like give Scotty a chance, you let Zoe (Jacinda Barrett) go, why do you keep missing this? And she’s the only person who really has the guts to tell him how it is. So I think it’s intriguing. She’s sort of always on the same page with him but is also the person who tells him like it is when she thinks he’s off track. So I don’t know, maybe that’s what makes it particularly interesting to play or to explore.” – Sarah

3. The merger isn’t as clear and simple as it seems. (Who saw that coming?)

“[Harvey] does not believe in this British invasion. He really feels that there’s something that stinks, you know? And I think his instinct is right. These guys are corrupt, there’s something wrong with them. There’s some bad stuff going on. And you’re gonna learn that, later on down the line, which will create a lot of drama.” – Gabriel

“Things are not all that they may seem to be. It’s not all happy-go-lucky, yeah, the British are here. It is an agenda-heavy season thus far. Everybody’s got something that they want and something that they want to accomplish. I would have to say to kind of put it all in a nutshell, it’s got to be the most cut-throat season yet of Suits. And maybe that’s because all these Game of Thrones people are in the house and it’s filtered down. But you can’t trust anybody. I will say that. For the first five episodes, you’re not quite sure who you trust. You don’t even know if you like the person that you thought you liked before. There’s a lot going on.” – Gina

4. Mike and Rachel WILL be together, but now without their fair share of hurdles.

“So the season ending, you sort of see the cat and mouse game come to an end, but also try to figure out how they can navigate this relationship secretly and in the firm. Obviously, the past two seasons, you’ve watched them try to figure out all of these things that Rachel’s worked so hard to accomplish and has this Achilles heel for something to come so easily for Mike. So within the framework of a relationship, I don’t know how you get through that, you know? And again, we don’t know what’s happening in each of the episodes. We get just as excited as viewers as they see them to read them. I like that they’re finally connected, but I can’t imagine that that’s not going to play a big part into her still trying to become a lawyer, getting into a good law school, all of that.” – Megan

“He meets her parents. My dad’s back. He meets my mom. We get to see how that goes.” – Megan

“I think that you’re a woman and you’re highly intuitive and I think that any woman or any person really would have those feelings, I think that’s a part of it. Mike just waltzed in to this and she is having, more so than any character, we know we’re actually having to see her go through the real process of what it takes to become a lawyer, which is many years of work. And this sort of stoner just kind of fumbled his into this situation, so yeah I think that’s gonna be a good part of it. Look, I also think that as a woman an intuitive woman she’s also highly forgiving, so I don’t think it’s gonna like plague the relationship but I think it definitely is one of the elements of conflict that exists between the two of them for sure.” – Patrick

5. Rachel and Donna’s friendship is tested, particularly where Mike’s secret is concerned.

“You see the first like rift in their friendship in that you love this bond that you’ve watched build and you finally see what could be a falling out, which I think as a woman to watch when your relationship with a girlfriend is starting to crumble, My God, it’s so hard to watch. It’s almost harder than watching a breakup between a couple.” – Meghan

“Rachel thinks and has trusted that Donna is her closest confidant and friend in this firm. And so, to discover perhaps that Donna wasn’t being forthcoming with her about a lot of stuff, especially something as important to her as her relationship with Mike, that of course, creates a rift. And then by virtue of the fact that Rachel is with Mike and Donna is with Harvey. I’ve always looked at the two of them that Mike and Rachel are the younger version of what they are in terms of how they play into each other’s lives.” – Megan

“Initially Mike is really in the penalty box and I think Donna has to make it clear that she’s on Harvey’s side. So that’s hard for Rachel and Donna.” – Sarah

6. Mike and Harvey’s bromance is over… at least for now.

“I don’t know if it’s that [Mike] needs to do anything. I think Harvey has to come to terms with what he has and what he doesn’t have. I think when he realizes that his righthand man is really not there and he can’t depend on that guy, I think he has to regain Mike’s trust. I think it’s really like he knows he’s one of the best associates, and he knows he can’t work without him, and so it’s whether or not he can come to terms with voicing that. I think his ego is too connected to it. But once he’s willing and sees, actively, that someone lost their righthand and they will have a harder time managing their company. It’s a mirror for him. So I don’t know what Mike can do other than try and build back that loyalty, you know?” – Gabriel

“I think that you see Mike sort of trying to resolve the conflict… it’s a little bit more mature, whereas he might of been begging and pleading like a little girl last year or the year before. This year he’s kind of holding his ground and saying he’s sorry but also trying to explain himself and where he’s coming from, and we’ll get back to I think what it was before. But I think it definitely has to be something different in order to keep people engaged. If everybody just kind of did the same thing every year you might get might get bored. For me as an actor, I definitely want to try and do something a little different every year.” – Patrick

7. Harvey and Jessica are still very much at odds at the beginning of the season.

“I know nobody’s happy when mommy and daddy fight, and mommy and daddy have been fighting for a season or so it seems. And it’s uncomfortable and it’s weird, and it’s juicy, and it’s good, and there’s a lot of stuff there because we’re dealing with our humanity. And we’re dealing with ultimately who is it that these people want to be, aspire to be, see themselves. Who is it that’s looking back at them in the mirror when they wake up in the morning and are they happy? So that’s the stuff that we’ve sort of been peeling away at because Harvey and Jessica are kind of each other’s mirrors in that way.” – Gina

8. Mike and Louis (Rick Hoffman) will bond in the first few episodes. And it will make for some great comedy.

“I love working with Rick, I think he’s just kinda God’s gift to this show. So anytime I get to get to do a scene with him. [There's] a lot of funny stuff, but it’s also pretty heartbreaking too. There’s a lot of like touching stuff. I mean that’s why I think Rick is such a genius, he’s so so capable with comedy… I will literally come to set to watch Rick work because he’s just such a natural, he’s been doing it for so long. But then he just he just all of a sudden, in the middle of a scene, it’ll turn to something serious and your heart’s broken and you’re like ‘How do you do that?’ That’s what great comedians, that’s why Robin Williams is a genius, they make you laugh then – boom, they make you cry right away. I think Rick is a pro at that, so I love working with him.” – Patrick

WHAT DO YOU THINK about the upcoming season? Are you excited for it?