Netflix has made The Lincoln Lawyer into an old-fashioned throwback that should never work in today’s streaming age. Sure, showrunner David E. Kelley plays to classic legal murder tropes and clichés that we have all come to know and love. However, something feels different about Kelley’s adaptation of Michael Connelly’s classic popcorn fiction character: a man who fights for justice on the sun-soaked streets of the City of Angels while cruising around in a baby blue 1963 Lincoln Continental.
Netflix and Kelley found an actor, much like when Prime Video found Titus Welliver in his iconic role as Harry Bosch, in Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (A Man Called Otto). He brings the beloved character to life. His performance is adaptable across almost any situation and subgenre. He’s funny, moving, powerful, and even sexy. He brings a sense of humanity and gritty gravitas to a role that would make Atticus Finch take notice. This is a wonderful surprise. Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus, Upgrade) was originally cast.
The show wouldn’t work without Garcia-Rulfo, who carries The Lincoln Lawyer on his back by defending not only the righteous and the just, but the immoral. This season is his best performance to date.
The last time we saw Garcia-Rulfo on the streaming screen (most likely your phone), Mickey Haller was arrested for murder. How? Well, that’s what happens when you are pulled over with a broken taillight and a cop finds blood dripping from the trunk. There is a dead body rotting away. The other issue is that Mickey knew the victim. That would be Sam Scales (The Pitt’s Christopher Thornton), a scammer and hacker who owed Haller money for previous representation.
Suddenly, Mickey finds himself being framed for murder. His daughter, Hayley (Krista Warner), is being harassed at school. Additionally, his ex-wife, federal prosecutor Maggie (Scream’s Neve Campbell), believes in him. She even leaves her job to help defend him. Mickey’s team, including his second ex-wife Lorna (the charming Becki Newton), holds down the practice. This happens fresh off her passing the bar. Lorna’s husband, Cisco (Angus Sampson), is the firm’s private investigator. He steps in to help her while working the case from the outside.
The entire team, including Izzy (Jazz Raycole), whom Cisco helps train to become an additional PI, is determined to uncover who is really framing Mickey. Things take a dangerous turn for two reasons. First, Mickey decides to defend himself. He often makes poor legal decisions for personal and family reasons. Second, the prosecution brings in Dana “Death Row” Berg (Constance Zimmer), a pit bull in the courtroom. She plans on putting Mickey away.
The fourth season of The Lincoln Lawyer is based on The Law of Innocence, the sixth book in the series. The show reaches unparalleled emotional heights this season. For one, the romance that fans want grows closer, with Campbell and Garcia-Rulfo sharing excellent chemistry. This is also a Mickey Haller we have never seen on television: anxious and scared. Garcia-Rulfo delivers a turn that strips away the swagger, revealing a more vulnerable, deeply human side of the character.
The Lincoln Lawyer’s latest season is worth watching because it continues to hit the erogenous zones that genre fans cannot get enough of. However, legal mysteries are a dime a dozen. What makes the series work so well, a staple of Connelly’s writing, not to mention any David E. Kelley series, is the character-driven storytelling. This is what you call a “hangout” show, where viewers come back because the characters feel like old friends. Comfort-character television, where the mystery matters, but the character dynamics carry the show.
Not to mention, the final scene introduces a character who could be a long-awaited one that fans will be clamoring for. That alone is worth the binge.
Season 4 of The Lincoln Lawyer is now available to stream exclusively on Netflix.
The Lincoln Lawyer is back in another smart, slick, and reliably entertaining chapter.
I am a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. However, I still put on my pants one leg at a time, and that’s when I often stumble over. When I’m not writing about movies, I patiently wait for the next Pearl Jam album and pass the time by scratching my wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. I was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs, but I chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find my work on InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Hidden Remote, Music City Drive-In, Nerd Alert, and Film Focus Online.
