Why Patrick J. Adams Is Leaving ‘Suits’

Patrick J. Adams is ready to move on.

Following the announcement that USA Network’s hit legal drama Suits would be coming back for an eighth season, confirmation the show would say goodbye to stars Adams and Meghan Markle also hit social media.

The two original cast members will depart the series after a two-hour season finale, set to air April 25, where Mike Ross and Rachel Zane will celebrate their wedding.

Adams opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about his decision to leave the show after seven season.

“I started thinking about leaving at the end of the first half of season six, after Mike was released from prison,” Adams told The Hollywood Reporter. “From a story point of view, I was a little unsure of what was left for him to do. Mike had made the pledge during his trial that if he were allowed to continue to practice the law, he would dedicate his time and energy to underrepresented people and not big, corporate interests. I wasn’t sure how we were going to work that version of the character into the fabric of the show. [Suits boss] Aaron Korsh and I talked about it and he pitched this idea of Harvey (Gabriel Macht) offering a one-for-one deal that would keep Mike working at the firm so he could gather the resources to go and do more pro-bono cases. That brought up an interesting season seven. And I’m proud of how this season turned out.”

Adams revealed that halfway through filming season 7, he approached Korsh to tell him he believed Mike’s story was over. He had grown from a”burnout pothead” into a full-fledged lawyer, engaged to the woman of his dreams, so there was no more growth for him to explore. Both Korsh and Adams decided this was the time to say goodbye.

“When this became a reality, we had this great three-hour conversation where we talked about what it is to do work that you’re proud of and how to decide to move on from something that’s been a big part of your life,” Adams said. “We discussed how we would prefer to see Mike exit and how to do justice to all of it. Aaron and I have spent seven years working on this thing and it was a real chance to say our goodbyes in this chapter of our relationship.”

As far as Markle, Adams says the timing of their departure was something they never discussed, but it made their last scenes together even more bittersweet.

‘Meghan has this whole crazy part of her life that’s just beginning now,” Adams said. “…There was this natural sense that we both knew that the time had come for both of us. It went unspoken and we just enjoyed the hell out of the last few episodes that we got to shoot. We both knew that we wouldn’t be coming back. It made every one of our scenes that much more special. We had a great time…”

Without spoiling what’s to come, Adams said that since both he and Markle are exiting the show at the same time, it allowed for their characters’ stories to come to an end together, rather than by writing in conflict.

Whether or not the ending will be a happy one, Adams says is “… you should really watch episode 16.”

As far as returning to the show, Adams says he never closes a door.

“When the time comes, if it felt like it was the right thing to do, I’d definitely be open to it,” he said. I’ve loved and cherished my time on this show and the past seven years have been some of the most challenging and transformational years of my entire life… If it felt like it was the appropriate thing to bring Mike back for a big goodbye then that’s something I could be open to. But hopefully I’ll be too busy at that point to be able to do it, and then I’ll have to figure it out.”

Suits will return for the second half of its seventh season on March 28. The two-hour season finale will air April 25 at 9 p.m. on USA Network.