Suit up! USA law drama returns Thursday

As far as legal dramas go, USA’s ‘Suits’ is essentially the best one on television right now.

The show, which was considered a freshman success, returns for its sophomore showing of 16 episodes on Thursday.

What’s interesting about ‘Suits’ is that it features two men who are supposed to uphold the law blatantly breaking it in the process.

Gabriel Macht has never been more charming – or well dressed – as he is when portraying Harvey Specter. Harvey is a hotshot young law partner that doesn’t like playing by the rules – but doesn’t want to overtly break them either.

He’s propelled to do just that when he meets Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) at intern interviews.

While they never come out and directly state it, it’s apparent that Mike has an eidetic memory. He remembers everything that he reads. He simply absorbs knowledge.

Mike – who is barred from going to law school because of a youthful mistake – is making money to live on (and put his grandmother in a nice home) by taking the LSAT’s for young legal hopefuls when we first meet him.

See, Mike is a legal genius. He just can’t be a lawyer.

Because he needs more money, Mike agrees to help his friend Trevor by transporting drugs. When he gets to the place where the drop is supposed to take place, he realizes it’s a setup and accidentally walks into the interview instead.

For his part, Harvey is so taken with Mike’s story and talent that he takes him on as an intern.

That’s the basic premise of ‘Suits.’

Sure, it’s a little contrived – but it’s highly entertaining.

Harvey and Mike basically spent the first season handling cases and trying to keep their secret – even though firm pit bull Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) seems to sense there’s something going on with the duo.

For his part, Louis is probably the most entertaining character on the show – but mostly because he’s an underhanded tool. You openly root for him to fail at his endeavors – but you enjoy watching him try to do just the opposite.

At the end of last season, Mike found himself in a quandary when he had feelings for Trevor’s ex-girlfriend Jenny and the office paralegal Rachel. Of course, he doesn’t realize that Trevor knows about his affair with Jenny and has decided to retaliate by outing Mike and Harvey’s secret to the firm boss Jessica.

Whew! Sounds like a soap opera doesn’t it?

I can assure you it’s not.

Not only is the dialogue in this little USA gem sparkling, but the performances are spot on, too. Macht, Adams and Hoffman all hold their own in scenes together and steal scenes when they’re with anyone else.

Jessica, played by the always reliable Gina Torres, adds a level of likability and fun to the cast -- which helps break up the over abundance of testosterone. She’s also a stickler for the rules, though, and she’s the character Harvey and Mike find themselves most often in fear of.

‘Suits’ is essentially a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is mostly about having a good time.

In the summer, that’s just the type of show I’m looking for.

‘Suits’ returns at 10 p.m. Thursday on USA.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to season two of ‘Suits’?