Well, a new show has hit the Netflix Top 10 list, returning for its third season, and it is performing quite well, debuting at #1. That would be The Lincoln Lawyer, now back for season 3, and a season release not chopped in half like the first one was, presumably because Netflix did not like those numbers last time around, as people probably dropped off for the second batch.
Now, all ten episodes of The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 are here, and at least in initial reviews, it has a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. That is…with only five reviews in, but it is still a very promising start, and indicates that in the end, this will likely live up to the quality of the other two seasons, which clocked in at an 80% and a 91% respectively. Now, the show has a 90% average with critics and an 84% with fans. Very good!
I do think this situation says something about the TV critic landscape, however, where in the entire country only five critics have watched the most popular show in America at the moment to give it a review. This exact same thing has happened with Outer Banks season 4, which also has a 100% right now, but despite debuting much earlier and staying at #1 for a long time, it still only has 5 critic reviews in. What is everyone doing? There seems to be a heavy bias toward film reviews or even video game reviews compared to TV right now, which strikes me as thoroughly bizarre given that streaming television is the most popular form of entertainment in America by total hours watched. What are we, as entertainment journalists, prioritizing here? It’s so strange.
As for The Lincoln Lawyer, the show continues to be a pretty decently-sized success for Netflix, plentiful source material, good reviews, well-liked by audiences, widely-watch and most importantly…cheap. No flashy visual effects needed for this law drama. And it doesn’t need the prestige of a Better Call Saul to be a hit. Netflix doesn’t care if it wins any Emmys (and oh wait, Better Call Saul never did either, another TV critic crime).
Eventually, more reviews will come in, but probably not many. Season 2 of The Lincoln Lawyer still only has 11 reviews in after all this time where again, it was the top show on Netflix for a good long while. Season 1 has a passable 35 reviews. Meanwhile, Dennis Quaid’s terrible Reagan movie has 67 reviews from movie critics. Smile 2 has 122. Bizarre.
Update (10/21): Checking back in over the weekend where there should have been plenty of time to finish the season, there is only one new critic review in, bringing the total to six, but it is still a positive one meaning the 100% stays.
Now we also have an audience score coming in which is a 93%. That is indeed above an 84% for season 1 and an 85% for season 2, albeit there are also not a ton of reviews in yet, so we will see.
Unsurprisingly, The Lincoln Lawyer has stayed at #1 on Netflix’s top 10 list over the weekend, and I would expect that to continue for a while with a full 10 episode season to watch, which means it will be spread out more. The show has not been renewed for season 4 still but there is almost a 0% chance it won’t be after performing this well both critically, with audiences and in terms of viewership. We’ll probably hear something in the next few weeks.
