Patrick J. Adams stars in “Suits”

This season, "Suits" is entering a brave new world. Or at least its prodigious protagonist is. The jig was finally up for Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams, "Luck") last season when the college-dropout-turned-fake-lawyer was arrested for conspiracy to commit fraud. Fair enough, since, yeah, he's a big old fraud.

While we've always rooted for the brilliant phony with a photographic memory and a heart of gold, his stint in the hoosegow is taking the show somewhere very different this season -- and six seasons in, different is good. "Suits" returns Wednesday, July 13, on USA Network.

It was really only a matter of time before Mike's secret was out in the open. A chance meeting in the series opener left a strong impression on top New York lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht, "Love & Other Drugs," 2010), who hired the sharp-minded Mike as his new associate, despite the latter never having attended law school. Over the course of five seasons, Mike has emerged as a highly proficient lawyer in his own right, while forming a surrogate family for himself with his colleagues at Pearson Specter.

Throughout the series, he and his mentor Harvey have gone to great lengths to maintain the ruse that he's a fully qualified lawyer, with the help of Harvey's formidable and razor-sharp assistant Donna (Sarah Rafferty, "What If God Were the Sun," 2007). Until recently, they've pulled it off beautifully, but it all came crashing down last season when a high-ranking official in Harvard's placement department reported Mike to the authorities.

It's a major turning point for the series, the chief focus of which has been Mike's blossoming law career as he and Harvey struggle to keep up the con. It's a change, however, that creator Aaron Korsh felt had to happen.

"You can only play the danger of him getting caught so many times, and I feel like we did a great job at kind of letting it wax and wane throughout the years," he said in a panel discussion. "It was something we were afraid of because it's sort of bringing down the premise of the show."

The new season begins exactly where the last one left off, with Mike preparing to spend his first night in prison. For those thinking he and his cronies will come up with some ingenious loophole to get him back at Pearson Specter by episode 2, don't count on it -- Adams confirmed in a USA Network interview that his character spends pretty much the entire season behind bars.

His new challenge is to survive in prison, where a couple of inmates have it in for him, according to Adams, who revealed that there's at least one scene where Mike's life is in imminent danger. Of course, as a lawyer-but-not-really, Mike has proven himself to be remarkably adept in situations he really has no business being in, so it will be interesting to see who he turns himself into in order to get through his sentence in one piece.

Sarah Rafferty as seen in “Suits”

He won't be flying entirely solo, fortunately. Erik Palladino ("666 Park Avenue") joins the season 6 cast as Mike's fellow inmate Kevin Miller, on whom Mike comes to depend. Paul Schulze ("Nurse Jackie") plays Frank Gallo, a hardened inmate who shows Mike the ins and outs of life on the inside. Malcolm-Jamal Warner ("Major Crimes") plays a Danbury Prison counselor who works to rehabilitate inmates and, with his urging, Mike may be forced to confront the fact that he has a history of taking the easy way out.

Of course, life goes on for those outside the prison walls, and it may not be smooth sailing for them, either. For one thing, the season 5 finale saw Jessica (Gina Torres, "Serenity," 2005), Louis (Rick Hoffman, "Samantha Who?") and Donna return to the firm the next day to find it dead empty, with all the employees gone following a deal gone awry. Mike's ruse has left a major stain on the firm, despite him taking the plea deal and going to prison in an attempt to save it, and some serious rebuilding may be in order now.

As for Rachel (Meghan Markle, "Horrible Bosses," 2011), her future with Mike has suddenly turned hazy. The two were supposed to marry before Mike was put away, but he decided to put it off until he's out of prison, giving her an out, as well as the freedom to pursue her law career without him holding her back. Season 6 rumors are that she's going to take that and run with it, to the certain chagrin of Mike/Rachel diehards.

Mike's long con has had its repercussions on just about everyone he's touched, and season 6 turns its focus on how everyone handles their new situations. Tune in Wednesday, July 13, when "Suits" returns to USA Network.