Do Viewers Need To Watch ‘Suits’ Before ‘Pearson’ Spinoff?

USA Network’s long-running legal drama, “Suits,” premiered back in 2011 and introduced fans to a collection of interesting characters, including law firm boss Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres).

While the actress decided to leave the cast of the show in 2016, that was far from the last time fans would get to see her character.

Aside from returning to the original show for a few more episodes in 2017 and 2018, Torres is now reprising her character tonight with the premiere of her own spinoff show, appropriately titled “Pearson.”

“[The series] centers around the world of recently disbarred NYC powerhouse lawyer Jessica Pearson as she adjusts to down and dirty Chicago politics,” the synopsis reveals. “Newly appointed as Chicago Mayor Bobby Novak’s (Morgan Spector) right-hand fixer, Jessica is quickly embroiled in a crooked and dangerous new world where every action has far-reaching consequences. With her compulsion to win, Jessica is forced to reconcile her unstoppable drive with her desire to do the right thing – two things very much at odds.”

As “Suits” has already aired eight seasons, and its ninth and final one begins tonight, those who haven’t seen the legal drama but want to watch “Pearson” are likely wondering if they’ll be able to do so without feeling like they’re missing a major chunk of information.

While a backdoor pilot (an introductory episode) for the new political drama did air during Season 8 of “Suits” last year, not only will episode 1 of “Pearson” sprinkle in some explanatory information about who each character is and how they came to be in the situations they’re in, but the show also even has some all-new characters that even “Suits” fans haven’t been introduced to yet.

This means longtime “Suits” fans will be rewarded for already knowing the kind of tough and smart character Jessica Pearson is, as well as how and why she ended up in Chicago from New York, but it also means new viewers will be able to jump right in and quickly catch on.

New and old fans, alike, can check out the series premiere of “Pearson” on USA Network on Wednesday at 10 p.m. EDT.