Warning: SPOILERS for Suits LA season 1, episode 5, "You're on Your Own."

As much as Gabriel Macht's Harvey Specter, who is set to return in two more episodes, did the very same. But other than that, the role of the flashbacks in the series has sometimes been questionable at best.

The flashback sequences have affected Suits LA’s reviews as well. One of the biggest reasons for the series’ tepid reception is that many viewers found the characters’ introductions too chaotic and confusing to make sense of the overarching story. Adding in a storyline that veered away from the main story entirely didn’t help with that. But even for those able to parse together the series’ timeline without issue, the flashbacks have presented entirely different problems that Suits LA has yet to address.

Suits LA’s New York Flashbacks Have Been Disappointing

They’ve Done Nothing To Further The Main Plotline

Ted’s life in New York has established some intriguing mysteries, but it’s not clear why any of them actually matter to the show. How Eddie dies in Suits LA is definitely meant to be a compelling storyline, but Eddie’s death doesn’t seem to have affected much about Ted’s character at the moment other than potentially tying into why he left New York. Likewise, while much has been made about Harvey’s return to the Suits franchise, his appearance in flashbacks boils down to little more than a baseball game and a lot of forced superhero references.

Episode 5 goes so light on flashbacks as to suggest that the series didn’t even have enough of them to fill the storyline for its 10-episode first season. All that really happens in episode 5 is that Ted gets one of Samantha’s clients murdered right before he plans on proposing to her. That seems like a big deal on its own, but episode 5 also depicts present-day Ted and Samantha getting along better than ever. If Ted's past actions had no lasting effect on his relationships, there’s no reason to care about them now.

Amanda Stevens’ History Sounds Like A More Exciting Way To Use Suits LA’s Flashbacks

She Has Multiple Arcs That Affect The Main Storyline

Erica’s role in Suits LA episode 1 already called Ted’s judgment into question. He promoted a person to head of entertainment who quite literally knows nothing about the field. However, he also seems to be completely unaware that Erica has a mysterious legal history with the firm’s pro bono defense lawyer. It’s not clear what exactly Amanda did for Erica in the past, but the fact that Erica still buys her food to pay her back for it suggests that it is significant. That would be both interesting and relevant to see play out onscreen in a flashback.

Amanda might not be Suits LA’s best character just yet, but she’s the one who seems to place the most value on her law degree.

Withholding relevant information for no clear reason isn’t necessarily the most annoying trope in Suits, but it’s up there. There’s no reason for Suits LA to carry over that not-so-grand tradition, especially not when Amanda’s background ties directly into the series’ main villain’s storyline. Amanda’s past dealings with Elizabeth Smith have been established as affecting her values as a lawyer in a very deep way. The same can’t be said as easily about Ted, which unfortunately underlines another reason Amanda should take precedence over the series’ designated protagonist.

Why Amanda Is One Of The More Interesting Characters In Suits LA

Suits LA Needs A Character Removed From Its Other Dramas

Amanda might not be Suits LA’s best character just yet, but she’s the one who seems to place the most value on her law degree. Most of Ted’s legal maneuvers involve lies that could jeopardize his cases, Rick is just a nice person in ways that don’t require a law degree at all, and Erica pawns off all her work to an associate who hasn’t recognized her worth yet. Erica also seems to share Ted’s penchant for lying, given she tells Rick in episode 5 that they would have been co-heads if Rick hadn’t left, something Ted never indicated to either one of them.

But Amanda’s removed from the others’ frankly unappealing drama and actually calls it out. She ends episode 5 by pulling out of Lester’s trial because Ted’s ruses threaten her integrity. It doesn’t seem like a high bar for a legal drama like Suits LA to have at least one character who values doing things legally, yet Amanda doesn’t even have main cast billing. Seeing how she would handle Lester’s case after the bombshell reveal of his guilt would be far more interesting than watching Ted continue to lie his way through it.

Enjoy ScreenRant's primetime coverage? Click below to sign up for our weekly Network TV newsletter (make sure to check "Network TV" in your preferences) and get the inside scoop from actors and showrunners on your favorite series.

SIGN UP NOW