Who is Norma in Suits? Why isn’t she shown?
Norma, as you have mentioned, was Louis Litt’s secretary. Her character has often been mentioned on the show, although never shown. It is depicted that Louis resented her as he wanted to have Donna as his secretary. However, in episode 16 of Season 4, it is revealed that she has died, and he organizes a memorial for her. He realizes that he actually cares for her and that she is his ‘battle axe.’
As to why she was never shown, it is some running gag in the series. How Mrs. Wolowitz (Howard’s mom) is never fully revealed in ‘The Big Bang Theory’ or Mammy Two-Shoes in the ‘Tom & Jerry cartoons.
My theory is that Norma is actually Louis’s tape recorder. Louis obviously has OCD and some social anxiety disorder. The tape recorder acts as Louis’s “security blanket.” Notice how when Norma “dies,” he no longer uses the tape recorder and is now a name partner at the firm. His anxiety disorder has obviously gotten a little better, and his ditching the tape recorder (Norma) is a sign of that fact.
I like to think of Norma as Louis’ imaginary personal assistant. He’s just recording reminders to himself to be played back later as the writers give a slight nod to the idea that Louis is not all there. His little embarrassment when someone interrupts him as he’s recording shows that he’s aware of his mild insanity.
He’s then quick to complete his dictation snarkily when the interruptor departs.
Normah is not imaginary, as some of you claim. In season one, Donna calls her to inquire about Louise’s whereabouts on behalf of Harvey after he says she (Normah) gives him the creeps.
Norma was Louis Litt’s EA at Pearson Specter Litt. She never appears in the show; she is only mentioned several times. Louis was planning to dismiss her but changed his mind after rehearsing his dismissal speech with Harold. In season 4, Jessica said that Norma has an office on the 46th floor. In the season 4 finale, Louis tells Donna that Norma died while taking care of her sister.
It’s a well-established tradition in American sitcoms to have one character who is never seen by the audience. I think. Suits’ comedy half is doing a bit of an homage to that tradition.
we have enough faces to remember in Suits as too many clients and lawyers come and go. If the role of Norma were given to a character to play, it wouldn’t have changed or affected the story in any way. Thus, they chose not to confuse us with an extra character.
Two possibilities.
- Norma is honest and a character similar to Howard’s mother, Mrs Wolowitz, in The Big Bang Theory. Characters we only hear about or hear their voices but never really get to see in the show. Why do the shows bring in such types of characters to let the audience keep wondering and imagining how exactly that character could look like, behave, speak, etc. because all of them are special characters? Louis Litt, being such a ‘unique’ personality, wonders what a character would be like who said yes to being his secretary.
- Norma is imaginary and exists just in Litt’s mind. The first and foremost proof of this theory is that she was never really shown in the show; not ever did we get to hear even her voice. Louis keeps recording voice notes so as to remind himself, probably instead of Norma. His insecurities might have been responsible for the birth of this imaginary secretary inside his head. Such is the extent of his insecurities and belief in his imagination that he even keeps a funeral for Norma in Season 4, Episode 16.
No clue.
In the Season 4 finale, Louis tells Donna that Norma died while taking care of her sister. According to Louis, Norma’s last wish was to have her ashes closer to Louis.
It has complicated my thoughts of some imaginary PA, too.
From what I understood, Norma is Louis’s memo voice recorder, and Louis treats her like a real Pearson. When she dies, he stops using the tape recorder. And the ‘last wish being buried next to Louis or ashes next to Louis is kinda weird,’ hence confirming my theory.
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Why is Norma from Suits never shown?
Norma is never shown for two reasons:
1) It creates intrigue. Having a character that is never shown enables the viewer to imagine more deeply about the character. It allows you to create your idea of who Norma is.
2) She is generally painted in a terrible light by Louis. It would be tough to create a character that could justify Louis’ portrayal of her.
Norma is a fictional character in Suits, and she is Louis Litt’s secretary. To answer the question of why she is never shown on the show, it could be of the following reasons:
1) It builds curiosity in audiences mind, and more people talk about it in person or social media, thus marketing the show
2) Her role is not significant enough or good enough to bring in the limelight of other top characters
3) She had a bad history with the writer and the writer is taking it out on her \U0001f606
4) Last but not least, She didn’t get ‘Litt up.’
Personally, I would have loved to see her as a personal secretary to Louis litt, but she will fade since there are too many good things about the show
It’s a very famous sitcom trick called ‘The Unseen.’ You can create an incredible character purely from snippets and allow the audience to make that character in their imagination; the first time I remember, it was Norm’s wife in Cheers (partially justified by the setting).
Merys(?) In Frasier was another one, where the character was so well written it would have been impossible to cast an actress that satisfied the audience’s view of what she looked like. There’s also Howard’s mum in Big Bang Theory, Amber in Spaced, and the final housemate in Fresh Meat… in fact, once you notice it once, you’ll see them cropping up all the time!
In Suits, did they ever show Louis’s secretary, Norma? They never showed her, and she died in season 4?
Norma has never been shown on Suits.
She is like an invisible character on the show.
Norma was the secretary to Louis Litt. However, she was never shown on-screen. Everyone in the office talked and shared stories about her after she died, but we never saw her.
Louis Litt used his dictaphone to leave orders for his secretary about the things he would like done.
There is a theory that claims that Norma is an imagination of Louis. But that is not true if you ask me.
Most of the people in the firm have been seen talking about her and referring to her as a natural person. She is most definitely real, but a ghost character on the show.
- Louis is talking to Norma over the dictaphone.
- Louis was mad that Norma took the day off, leaving him high and dry.
- Everyone in the firm used to go through Norma to get to Louis.
- Everyone in the firm was sad over the news of her demise.
- Donna even helped Louis grieve the loss of his secretary.
- Louis’ new secretary, Gretchen, claimed she knew Norma from her Mahjong club.
Norma is a ghost character, which is most definitely real, but was never shown on-screen to the viewers, just like Howard’s mother from T.B.B.T. and Ugly Naked Guy from F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
R.I.P. Norm
Nope, they never showed her. That was done on purpose. To maintain some mystery. The same reason we never see what Donna and Harvey do with the can opener!
No, they didn’t, even though she was mentioned quite often… I don’t know why they killed her off, considering they never showed her or even heard only her voice (like Mrs.Wolowitz in The Big Bang Theory), so it doesn’t mean that the actress for her passed away, considering they never had one for her…
Could “Norma” on Suits be Louis Litt’s imaginary PA?
No, she very well existed. There are a number of arguments to support this.
- When Louis got Norma, Harvey, and Donna were shown making fun of her and Louis. If she weren’t for real, they would have made fun of Louis being eccentric or something and not about Louis having a PA named Norma.
- When she died, Louis had her ashes, and Donna and Louis arranged a proper funeral for her.
- Louis was often shown recording messages for her.
The showmakers chose to leave her faceless and leave the character to the viewer’s imagination. I remember even in Powerpuff Girls, the face of the PA to the mayor was never shown on the show. It’s just how the showmakers choose to portray a character.
Impossible. Norma has been referred to many times by various other cast members on the show [Donna, Jessica, Harvey]. They would not do that unless she were real. Besides, Louis isn’t that much of a gone case.
Also, the most significant evidence in support of this answer: Do you really think Harvey would let up on Louis about an imaginary secretary without barraging him with countless jokes with Louis at the butt of them?
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Thanks for the A2A.
That’s a really great theory, and I totally would have believed it if anything like this had happened on Suits earlier.
I don’t believe this because Suits is rooted in reality and is excellent at depicting how people care about each other and also say things they don’t mean to in the heat of the moment.
So if Louis’s secretary was indeed imaginary, someone at some point in time would have lashed out at Louis( which happens a lot 😛 ) and said this to him.
Also, Gretchen (former Secretary of Harvey now) said she knew Norma and that they did things together. However, this could also be a bluff to get Louis to see her as someone of value.
Why is Howard’s mother or Norma in Suits never shown?
The showmakers chose to have these characters faceless and leave the characters to the viewer’s imagination. They just told us about their characteristics and their habits and left everything else to our interpretation and imagination.
I remember even in Powerpuff Girls, the face of the PA to the mayor was never shown on the show. It’s just how the showmakers choose to portray a character.
Who is Norma in Suits? Is she a natural person?
Norma is Mrs Wolowitz, aka Debbie, aka Deb-Deb (called only by Stuart) of the Suits TV Show.
Same as Howard’s mother, Norma, too, does not have any screen time on the show. Mrs Wolowitz at least had her voice heard and her appearance described (in detail) on The Big Bang Theory, but Norma doesn’t even have a voice, nor was her appearance ever revealed in detail on Suits.
Spoken to be an executive assistant working for Louis Litt, Norma to Louis was almost up to the mark as important as Donna is to Harvey. This is vividly shown when Norma’s character dies on the show, and Louis buys an urn to preserve her ashes and bursts into tears about missing her.
She is supposed to be an experienced campaigner in the executive assistant industry as there is one particular scene when Donna brings up that she has been working her ass off as an assistant for over 36 (or so) years helping people, and she deserves a break.
Then again, Norma was not working for Louis for all that time, as 5th-year associates don’t get assistants at their firm, but she might be assigned to assist Louis after his promotion.
What is the character “NORMA” in the series suits?
Watched 200+ TV series and 1000+ movies. Passion for TV!
She is the secretary of Louis Litt and died in season 4. But the way she has been portrayed, it appears she was only a figment of Louis’s imagination since she has never been shown on the show “Suits.”
Suits is airing its 5th season on the USA Network, host to popular shows such as Mr. Robot and White Collar.
Why have we not seen or heard Norma speak in Suits?
Norma is a character who makes us understand the importance of Donna in Harvey’s life, which clearly she isn’t able to play in Louis’s life.
So she isn’t actually needed in the casting, but the character still plays a vital role.
What happened to Rachel on Suits? Why was she written off the show so abruptly with no explanation?
She wasn’t written off abruptly. The writers knew she would be leaving before Season 7 was even written. She was engaged to Prince Harry.
Her co-star and love interest on Suits had also announced he intended to leave prior to Season 7 to pursue another role. They went as a couple, supposedly moving to Seattle to pursue a different practice of law.
Who is Louis Litt (season 3, Suits)?
Louis Litt, played by Rick Hoffman, is one of the main characters of the series. You can think of him as the character Harvey is a friend of, but it isn’t a close friendship…
They actually argue at least 999 times per series. But Louis always trusts Harvey, and likewise, Harvey always charges Louis.
Who is the best character in Suits, and why?
Louis Litt is the best character in suits. I seriously cannot picture the series without him. He is the most underrated actor and least appreciated.
Why wasn’t Megan Markel featured more prominently on the TV show Suits?
Meghan then-Markle was, however.
Her role started small as a paralegal, and it grew and grew.
Did you not have the USA Network where you live?
If you have access, it’s on Amazon Prime and Peacock, FYI.
How realistic is the show “Suits”?
I don’t know how law firms in the US work. But I know for sure these are not real(are they?)
Really well dressed(wrinkle-free) throughout the day; I mean, in the middle of the night, you come in with a perfect suit?
Perfectly gelled hair every time. 1–2 min court sessions. Reading a legal notice in seconds. (take a look at this.. 2 seconds later.. what do we do?)
I never see someone really doing the paperwork; it’s always reading.
Resolve litigation involving multi-billion dollar industries in a day or episode 😉
Donna(mythical creature)
People never get tired, work all night, and come in fresh at 7 in the morning.
Harvey comes up with a solution, but who implements it? The first season was good at this; there were loads of associates you could see on the screen who did it. Now it’s Harvey, Donna, Lewis, Griffith, and Benjamin(IT guy for four people?)
I know from a show point of view; these are lame cause you would not tune into an episode to see someone do the paperwork for 1 hour. These are some things that they cannot show you on screen as entertainment, and these are what we, who are watching, should ignore to enjoy it.