Suits: Gabriel Macht on that HUGE Darvey moment in the midseason finale

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from “Donna,” the midseason finale of Suits. Read at your own risk!

Donna finally went there.

In the final scene of the Suits midseason finale, Donna (Sarah Rafferty) kissed Harvey (Gabriel Macht) because she didn’t want to regret not telling him how she feels. “I’m sorry, Harvey. I just had to know,” she says, before leaving him alone in her office to ponder what the hell just happened. This obviously complicates things for Darvey, who hooked up once before and have had this will-they-won’t-they thing going on for ages now. The stakes are even higher now because Harvey is starting to get serious with his former therapist-turned-girlfriend Paula (Christina Cole).

Somehow, this wasn’t the only major development for Harvey in the episode. In the wake of his rival Andrew Malik getting Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) disbarred in New York, Harvey and Louis (Rick Hoffman) need to work on removing Jessica’s name from the firm, which is something Harvey isn’t happy about. But, hey, this is what happens on Suits.

“Look, we like to change the name of the firm every 6 months,” joked Macht when EW hopped on the phone to speak to him about the latest episode. “If you haven’t changed the name on the door in a season, then it’s not Suits!”

Read the rest of the interview below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This finale has a couple of big developments for Harvey. First, we need to talk about Donna and Harvey. How did you react when you found out that’s how this half of the season was going to end?
GABRIEL MACHT: You know, it’s funny because I was sort of surprised, but then I wasn’t and I was like, “Well, I guess this whole Darvey thing is moving somewhere. It was bound to happen sometime.” I guess what both Sarah and I wanted to protect ourselves with was just to give options to [creator-showrunner Aaron Korsh] in how it all played out. I think he found just the right performances. So, we’ll see how the audience reacts and we’ll see what happens, because when we come back in the second part of season 7, I guess there’s something that hits the fan.

In general, where do you fall on the Darvey situation? Have you been interested in seeing it become romantic or are you more in favor in keeping their relationships as it is?
I, honestly, have felt that over the years — and I think I’ve said this before — that the audience thinks that’s what they want and what they really want is what we’ve been doing for seven years, which is hinting, teasing, seeing if there’s something there but really there isn’t. They’re there to be each other’s other half in many different ways, but I don’t know if they’re meant to be together. I think that push and pull is really interesting. Once Ross and Rachel got together, was it as a good as when they weren’t when they were trying to figure it out? I don’t know. That’s the question I have. I think there’s gonna be a lot of people sort of excited by this and a lot of people are going to say, “I don’t believe it. I think they shouldn’t be together.” I think it’s 50/50. Honestly, I think there’s a bunch of people for and against. My personal view is that you keep playing with it back and forth, you keep teasing it throughout.

When you went into this season, did you treat it as any other Harvey and Donna scene that you usually have and there wasn’t any kind of added pressure?
No, I [don’t think] there was any pressure because we talked it through — both Sarah and I, we talked it through, and we talked it through with the director as well. We were all on the same page. So, it just felt like it was just another day at work. Hopefully, it works. I find it hard to talk about any kind of acting stuff.

Can you tease what this means for Harvey going forward: Where is his head at and what questions does he have to answer?
Well, I think there are two different ways that it goes, and I’m not privy to what’s happening in the future. There’s an idea that what happens in that last moment completely throws Harvey off all of his understanding and ideology of his relationship with Donna and in many ways it breaks the relationship and he moves further and deeper into a relationship with Paula. The other way, you know, is that it questions his relationship with Donna in a way where he wants to, I guess, break the news to Paula and say, “I’m sorry, but I felt something and I need to see this through with Donna.” So, I think that’s one of two options that are on the table, and I think you probably have to [talk to] Aaron to see where it’s going to go. Obviously, we want to surprise the audience when we come back for [the rest of] season 7.

Given how much his mother’s infidelity hurt him, do you think Harvey would tell Paula about that kiss in either one of those outcomes?
I would think that he would want to be a real man and to step up and be responsible. I think there have been so many withheld secrets over the years for Harvey, and I think that he’s getting to a point where he just doesn’t want secrets, and he definitely doesn’t want to be put in the position of how he saw his mother. So, I think he’d want to stand up for himself and stand up for just the truth and let it out. So, I’m hoping that’s what he does.

The other big development in the episode is Harvey realizing he’s going to have to take Jessica’s name off of the firm after Malik gets her disbarred. Do you think Harvey is ready to really be on his own?
I think he’s ready for it. I think these last few episodes have made him ready, and I think this last season, where we’ve seen Jessica come in and out of their lives, has suggested this time where it is his time to take control and be responsible for his actions in a very grown-up way. That’s largely how I’ve been trying to play his arc throughout this season, is just stepping up in a way we haven’t seen Harvey before. So, I think that he’d be able to do it, but he kind of makes mistakes. He likes to live life large, so we’re going to see him take these enormous risks and hopefully it’ll pan out for the best, but you never know.

Has Aaron given you any teases about what’s coming down the pike for Harvey in the back half of the season?
No, we really haven’t spoken much about what’s going on in these last few episodes. Frankly, I’ve been in Europe for the last five weeks. I’ve been on my hiatus, and I haven’t been thinking about Suits. [Laughs] I’m back at it [this week] and the process of this show… Many writers have an idea of where it’s all going, and I see Aaron very much like one of those college students who crams the night before. That’s where some of the great writing comes, but it doesn’t allow us know where we’re headed. He might have an idea that, “Okay, in episode 3 or 4 we need to get to Donna being put on the stand and her relationship with Harvey questioned by episode 710, so let’s just get there.” If we talk, sure he’ll let me in on it, but I haven’t really been asking. I’ve just been reading the episodes when they come in and seeing where they take us.

Suits is expected to return to USA Network in 2018.