Suits: When Does Jessica Leave? Why Gina Torres Didn’t Return?

Even though the sleek legal drama Suits finished its original run on USA Network in 2019, it remains one of the most popular shows on streaming services. Gina Torres’ Jessica Pearson was one of the fan-favorite characters in the series, and the viewers remain disappointed that she left the show and didn’t return, not even in the series finale. Here is when and why Jessica left Suits and didn’t return.

Why and when does Jessica Pearson leave Suits?

In the show, Jessica Pearson left New York for Chicago halfway into Suits Season 6 with her boyfriend Jeff Malone. She returns in season 7 as a recurring character. She also comes back to New York when Andrew Malik comes after her for knowing that Mike Ross was a fraud. Jessica subsequently lost her license to practice law in New York and sold her partnership at Pearson Specter Litt. This eventually allowed the firm to deny any involvement in Ross’ fraudulent actions and effectively made Jessica the only person responsible for it.

In the real world, it was becoming a real issue for Gina Torres to go back and forth between her home in Los Angeles and the Suits set in Toronto, Canada. So, when her contract expired after season 6, she left the show. Torres later became involved in the development of a spin-off around Jessica, titled Pearson. Suits Season 7 Episode 16, titled Good-Bye, served as the back-door pilot for the spin-off. The show itself premiered on USA Network on July 17, 2019, and aired for one season before its cancellation.

Why was Gina Torres’ Jessica Pearson cameo cut from Suits series finale?

According to Suits creator Aaron Korsh, Jessica didn’t appear in the Suits series finale because of what was happening on Pearson.

“It was a very difficult process of deciding how to handle Jessica in the Suits thing,” Korsh told Entertainment Weekly. “Look, if Pearson didn’t exist, I would’ve had Jessica come in and help them get rid of Faye. But because Pearson was on the air and these shows were airing back-to-back on the same night, I felt like if I was a viewer watching TV, and one minute I’m seeing Jessica up to her eyeballs in intrigue and back dealings and fighting for the life of the city on Pearson, and then in the very next show acting like none of that is happening and she’s just in here waltzing in and saving the day and yucking it up at a wedding, it would lose the credibility that Pearson had,” he added.

Korsh continued, “We worked very hard on that show and I was so proud of it, and that was the struggle. I just didn’t want to mess with the integrity of Pearson to service Suits. I didn’t think that was right.”

To sum it up, it appears that Jessica didn’t appear in the Suits finale to maintain coherency in both Suits and Pearson.