I happened to catch the last 20 minutes of the Suits pilot which my wife was enjoying on Netflix. I hadn’t seen the show before but had heard it was good. It drew me in right away and even though I didn’t know what was going on, it “felt” like a complete storyform. I was able to identify the main and impact character right away, before I even knew their names.
After it finished I went back to beginning and watched the 60 minutes I’d missed, which gave me a neat perspective for analysis (having seen ~Act 4 before watching Acts 1-3). Before I knew it was taking notes & guessing at story points – my first real analysis!
One thing I got stuck on was that I saw very clear indication of an Influence Character Issue of Self Interest (Harvey Specter is the IC) and was initially thinking he might have Changed his resolve. But I think those are part of a bigger arc, i.e. a storyform that may span the season or even series, and he didn’t really change so much as “grow/waver a little bit”. So I decided to ignore the selfishness aspect of his character for this analysis, as my goal was to find the storyform of the pilot episode itself. I can see why TV series are hard to analyze!!
This is my first Dramatica analysis so I may be totally wrong. I’d appreciate criticism / feedback from others who have seen it, though I recognize the chance of someone having watched a 2011 pilot episode recently is small! But if you’re thinking of watching it, it’s on Netflix, and I definitely enjoyed it.
###STORY ENGINE SETTINGS: “Suits pilot”
CHARACTER DYNAMICS:
MC RESOLVE: Change
MC GROWTH: Stop
MC APPROACH: Be-er
MC PROBLEM-SOLVING STYLE: Intuitive
IC RESOLVE: Steadfast
PLOT DYNAMICS:
DRIVER: Decision
LIMIT: Optionlock
OUTCOME: Success
JUDGMENT: Good
IMPACT CHARACTER
(Harvey Specter)
THROUGHLINE: Situation
CONCERN: How Things are Changing
ISSUE: Security vs. Threat
PROBLEM: Hunch
SOLUTION: Theory
SYMPTOM: Determination
RESPONSE: Expectation
UNIQUE ABILITY: Security
CRITICAL FLAW: Worry
BENCHMARK: The Future
SIGNPOST 1: The Past
SIGNPOST 2: How Things are Changing
SIGNPOST 3: The Future
SIGNPOST 4: The Present
OVERALL STORY
(What tricks are hiding in their suits?)
THROUGHLINE: Manipulation
CONCERN: Playing a Role
ISSUE: Desire vs. Ability
PROBLEM: Test
SOLUTION: Trust
SYMPTOM: Determination
RESPONSE: Expectation
CATALYST: Ability
INHIBITOR: Experience
BENCHMARK: Changing One’s Nature
SIGNPOST 1: Changing One’s Nature
SIGNPOST 2: Developing a Plan
SIGNPOST 3: Playing a Role
SIGNPOST 4: Conceiving an Idea
MAIN VS. IMPACT STORY
(Hiring & training the new associate)
THROUGHLINE: Activity
CONCERN: Doing
ISSUE: Experience vs. Skill
PROBLEM: Non-Accurate
SOLUTION: Accurate
SYMPTOM: Determination
RESPONSE: Expectation
CATALYST: Skill
INHIBITOR: Desire
BENCHMARK: Obtaining
SIGNPOST 1: Understanding
SIGNPOST 2: Doing
SIGNPOST 3: Obtaining
SIGNPOST 4: Gathering Information
MAIN CHARACTER
(Mike Ross)
THROUGHLINE: Fixed Attitude
CONCERN: Impulsive Responses
ISSUE: Confidence vs. Worry
PROBLEM: Test
SOLUTION: Trust
SYMPTOM: Hunch
RESPONSE: Theory
UNIQUE ABILITY: Confidence
CRITICAL FLAW: Threat
BENCHMARK: Innermost Desires
SIGNPOST 1: Memories
SIGNPOST 2: Impulsive Responses
SIGNPOST 3: Innermost Desires
SIGNPOST 4: Contemplation
ADDITIONAL STORY POINTS
GOAL: Playing a Role
CONSEQUENCE: Doing
COST: How Things are Changing
DIVIDEND: Impulsive Responses
REQUIREMENT: Changing One’s Nature
PREREQUISITE: Obtaining
PRECONDITION: The Future
FOREWARNINGS: Innermost Desires
Here are a few of my illustrations to back up the above… just what I had time for…
THE OVERALL STORY THROUGHLINE:
• Concern: Playing a Role (temporarily adopting a lifestyle is the area of shared concern in the Overall Story):
Everyone is involved with pretending to be something they’re not, or bluffing their way past their opponents, etc. For example:
- Harvey pretends he is working the harassment case himself (when really he handed it to Mike)
- Mike is pretending to be a real lawyer, pretending he graduated from Harvard, taking tests for other people by pretending to be them, putting his hat on someone else, etc.
- the mean lawyer pretends to fire someone who was pretending to be a lawyer at the firm, but was really just a guy from the mail room
- the title “Suits” fits this concern also – the focus is that putting on the SUIT of a lawyer is what makes you a good lawyer.
• Issue: Desire (the motivation toward something better is the Overall Story’s thematic focus):
Desiring a beautiful view or a nice office. Desiring the senior partnership. Desiring a better life. Desiring well-tailored suits. Beautiful women as objects of Desire. There are lots of moments devoted to how this Desire distracts the characters – when Mike goes to the window and stares at the view; when he gets sidetracked by the paralegal having a nice office compared to his cubicle; when Harvey tries to pick up the waitress; when Harvey compliments Gina (his boss) on her dress, etc.
• Problem: Test (a trial to determine something’s validity is the source of the Overall Story’s difficulties):
Everyone is constantly driven to “test their trickery”, i.e. testing their ability to manipulate people & situations through falsehood, bluffing, disguise, etc. This leads to problems regardless of the outcome of the test. Like when the test initially succeeds, but then later the truth comes out (for example Harvey is almost disbarred when the client finds out he tricked him by pretending a simple memo was a wire transfer record). Or even when the tests are successful – for example Mike can’t handle the stress of being tested at work and almost quits.
THE IMPACT CHARACTER THROUGHLINE:
• Throughline: Situation (a situation or environment is the general area in which Harvey Specter operates):
He represents the situation of the law firm itself. He is in the constant situation of “being a senior partner” at a law firm, and “having the reputation as the best closer in the city”.
• Concern: How Things are Changing (the way things are going is Harvey Specter’s primary objective or purpose):
He is concerned with how his reputation and status are progressing.
• Issue: Security (an evaluation of one’s defenses and protections is the area of Harvey Specter’s greatest impact):
Harvey is concerned about the security of his position especially his promotion to Senior Partner. This is most clearly seen when the workman is scraping the “SENIOR” part of his title away from his door-glass.
• Problem: Hunch (an understanding based on insufficient circumstantial evidence is the nature of Harvey Specter’s drive):
He is driven to take chances on his hunches, which is what affects the main character (Mike). In fact, he takes a big risk on his hunch that Mike will make a good lawyer, and is driven by this hunch throughout the story.
• Symptom: Determination (a conclusion based on circumstantial evidence is the area in which Harvey Specter believes the problem can be resolved):
He is constantly focused on his determination that Mike must now do what it takes to succeed … including learning all the ins and outs of being a lawyer himself. This makes lots of problems for Mike.
• Response: Expectation (a conclusion as to the eventual effect of a particular cause is Harvey Specter’s point of attack):
It is clear that he expects Mike to do what it takes, without much guidance. Because Harvey took such a great chance on hiring him, he has high expectations for him.
THE MAIN VS. IMPACT STORY THROUGHLINE:
• Problem: Non-Accurate (not within tolerances is the underlying cause of the difficulties between Mike and Harvey Specter):
Whenever they mislead each other (which happens a lot) it causes problems. For example, Mike hides the fact that he did not get rid of the briefcase of drugs as promised.