The ninth and final season of the Americanlegal dramaSuits was ordered on January 23, 2019. With its renewal, it was announced that it would be the final season of the show with all regulars from the previous season returning. Unlike the second through eighth season, the ninth season consisted of ten episodes instead of sixteen. The final season premiered on USA Network in the United StatesJuly 17, 2019, followed by the premiere of spin-off series Pearson.
With the renewal, creator Aaron Korsh offered insight on the decision to end the show with a 10-episode ninth season. He stated that he and USA Network decided to extend the cast contracts for two more years beyond season 7 after they wrapped production on season 6. Speaking on the shortened final season, he shared: "Our winter runs consist of 6 episodes, so we all felt like it would be very difficult to just have a truncated finale to a season. We always wanted to have the big 10in the summer, to go out on a high note so to speak." In addition to the ten first-run episodes, USA aired a repeat of the series pilot episode on August 28, with additional commentary from the cast members added.
Casting
Korsh revealed intentions to bring back characters from the past as it has "always been in the lexicon of Suits to bring people back and that's because I think that's how life works," but that the writers were deciding on whom exactly they wanted to bring back as too much returning characters would prevent the story from moving forward. He denied rumors started by British tabloids that they were trying to get Meghan Markle back for a cameo in exchange for a large donation to charity, although he did share that he and Patrick J. Adams were contemplating bringing Mike Ross back for the final season if it worked out with Adams' schedule. At the same time, he stated a cross-over with characters from Pearson had not been ruled out nor planned. On June 3, 2019, it was officially announced that Adams would return as a guest star for the fifth episode of the season. Korsh also hinted that he could re-appear in the series finale, though that was still uncertain. Additionally, Korsh stated that they would always welcome Markle back if she were to reach out, but he did not see it happening. Following the eighth-season finale, Korsh stated in an interview that Wendell Pierce's Robert Zane was written out of the show given Pierce's uncertain availability for the ninth season. Nevertheless, Korsh hoped that they would be able to bring him back.
Writing
Additionally, Korsh shared that the ninth season would pick up shortly after where the eighth season left off. After the eighth-season finale, Korsh further shared that the ninth season would explore the newfound relationship between Donna and Harvey and teased that there could be marriage and death in the final season. On Patrick J. Adams' return, Korsh elaborated that Mike's return would see him embroiled in a case against Harvey and Samantha.
Filming
The table read for the fifth episode featuring Mike Ross' return was scheduled for mid-June with filming starting shortly after. Initially, Patrick J. Adams was going to direct the series' penultimate episode, thus the ninth of the season, but his signing on to star in The Right Stuff prevented that plan from coming to fruition.
