Suits: Patrick J. Adams previews the midseason finale

Free at last! After spending nine episodes behind bar, Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) was finally set free thanks to a deal he made with Sean Cahill (Neal McDonough) in Wednesday night’s episode. The question on everyone’s mind is what’s next for this former fake lawyer?

Well, EW spoke to Patrick J. Adams ahead of tonight’s episode to find out the answer to that question and, more importantly, to find out whether wedding bells are in the near future for Mike and Rachel (Meghan Markle).

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, what’s next for Mike after getting out of prison? What is he going to do now that he can’t be a lawyer?

PATRICK J. ADAMS: I think that’s the question he’s asking himself. He doesn’t really know. When he was giving his closing statement, he was pretty adamant that he felt he had wasted his time and his energy and his talent by working for the one-percenters and he swore there that he would never really do that again. So, I think that now that he’s out, and obviously Harvey is going to want to do whatever he can to work with Mike again, he has to figure out how he can make something like that work — who are the people he really wants to be fighting for and how exactly he would do it, because obviously being a lawyer is not really an option.

Does this desire to no longer serve the one percent create tension between him and Harvey going forward, because it’s the complete opposite of what Harvey does?

It’s hard for me to say because we have only shot through 610 and I’ve seen the script for the next few pieces, but I don’t want to comment too much on it. I would say there isn’t a whole lot that doesn’t create conflict between Harvey and Mike. So, I can’t imagine that it would be so simple that they would both agree with it. They’re going to have to figure out what [working together] would look like, how that would work, and if there’s any common ground they can play on. I think it’ll be really interesting because it’ll get to the heart of what makes both of these characters tick, which at the end of day for Harvey is working for really high profile clients and making a lot of money. For Mike, it’s using his talent and his wisdom for good and trying to help people.

So, what’s the state of Mike and Rachel’s relationship now that he’s out?

When they left each other they were very much in love and they were obviously ready to take the big ste,p and the only thing that was stopping them was really how much he loved Rachel. Obviously, he’s been to prison and his reputation has already started to haunt Rachel’s career and the direction she’s going in, but again, not knowing what’s going to happen, it would be surprising to me if we didn’t start from a place of love with these two and trying to figure it out. Some conflict will get in the way, but I think there’s a lot of love and care there. I’m super excited as an actor to see what they come up with. These are two characters who have been apart for so long, and that, for me, is such a big part of the show. Finally, at the end of this episode, we get to see them come together and begin the rest of their lives together, whatever that may look like.

Do you have a sense of what the timeline is for their marriage? Originally, they thought he would be inside for three years, which would give her time to finish law school and pass the bar without his problems hanging over her career.

Yeah, I don’t know, but I do know that they are talking about it and I know that it’s something that’s important to (creator/showrunner) Aaron [Korsh]. We were supposed to get married in that episode and we decided a day before we shot the wedding to do what we did and have Mike stop the wedding. That was decided completely on the fly. Aaron sort of checked in with all of us and asked what we thought would be better, and we all agreed it sounded more interesting to have him walk away from it and keep it for another time instead of rushing it. I know that it’s very, very important to him to figure out a way for these characters to move forward one way or another, so I can almost guarantee that in the back six episodes that will be dealt with in one way or another. But, I don’t know how and I’m excited as anyone else to find out.

The midseason finale is all about Rachel’s death row case going to trial. Does Mike have a chance to help her out with that?

That question is a big part of it. Mike gets out and he’s trying to figure where he can be useful and how he can be useful. She is very proprietary over this case because it’s hers and she wants to get it done. They’re definitely on the same team, but it was a great episode to shoot because really it’s about Mike taking a backseat and sitting in that part of the courtroom where Rachel is usually sitting. Mike gets to sit there and support Rachel and the amazing things she’s been doing.

You spent nine episodes inside prison. How do you feel about this part of Mike’s story wrapping up when it did? Did you hope to stay in prison longer?

As an actor, it was such a gift to be able to invent a brand new world and have new characters and create a lot of conflict that hasn’t been there before. I think, if I take a step outside of it and look at it as a whole, people having dealt with this storyline for 10 episodes have been very patient and I think they allowed us to go on this path, but doing so trusting that we’re going to get the show back to where it was before, albeit it’ll always be changed because of what happened, but they’re excited to get Mike back into the crew. After 10 episodes of being away, I was starting to feel that too.

Can you tease anything else about what to expect from the midseason finale?

There’s a lot of stuff I don’t want to tease. I know that it’s just an excellent episode with having Mike back in the fold and having a trial where the stakes couldn’t be higher. Watching the conclusion of everything that’s going on with the firm and trying to keep it afloat is very important. There’s a lot of balls in the air. We’ve got Louis and Tara, Mike and Rachel, and Jessica trying to save the firm, and a lot of them come to a very satisfying conclusion in this finale. As always, the show will be a little different moving forward after the finale.

Suits airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on USA Network.