Television audiences can’t get enough stories about crime. And almost invariably, whether we’re talking about real-life or fictional homicide detectives, crime-scene investigators or prosecutors, those working to maintain law and order are portrayed as staunch heroes.
True, there are exceptions. Take the FX series “The Shield,” for example. Or the character Denzel Washington plays in the 2001 feature film “Training Day.”
Lawyers, though – at least those whose job it is to defend people charged with breaking the law – are typically seen as sleazy opportunists. Think of the various characters who face off against the likes of Jack McCoy (Sam Waterson) in the NBC series “Law and Order.”
Mickey Haller is one of those guys for the defense. Created in 2005 by the novelist Michael Connelly, Haller was portrayed by Matthew McConaughey on the big screen in the 2011 film “The Lincoln Lawyer.” Since 2022, and over the course of three seasons on Netflix, the character has been played by Mexican-born actor Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.
Season 3 of “The Lincoln Lawyer,” which culminated in the 10th episode that premiered Oct. 17, is based on Connelly’s 2013 novel “The Gods of Guilt.” In it, Haller is hired to defend a guy accused of murdering a woman he was working with.
The woman, who was known to Haller in previous seasons as Glory Days – but whose real name was Gloria Dayton (Fiona Rene) – was working as an “escort.” And the accused murderer, Julian La Cosse (Devon Graye), was the guy who ran the online “escort” service that she worked for.
Pretty soon, though, Haller figures out that Glory Days had lied to him and that both a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent and an imprisoned Mexican cartel hotshot are implicated. He strives to prove his client’s innocence even as the threats begin to mount – as do a couple more deaths.
While all this is going on, Haller’s ex-wife-now-associate Lorna (Becki Newton) is studying for the bar exam, his former-driver-now-office-assistant Izzy (Jazz Raycole) is attempting to keep alive her dream of becoming a professional dancer, and, following a fatal car crash, his daughter ends up ghosting him.
On the romantic front, Haller becomes intimate with Andrea Freeman (Yaya DaCosta), a prosecutor he once clashed with.
As in the first two seasons, Garcia-Rulfo is effective as both an attorney striving to live up to the expectations of his late father and as a zealous advocate for his clients. The uneasy mix causes him to take the occasional shady legal shortcut, which he – and the series writers – justify as a way to fight a corrupt system.
It’s that system itself that, in the end, is seen as the problem. And as the 10th and final episode of Season 3 shows, that problem is likely to continue – maybe, though, with bright-but-inexperienced Lorna in charge of solving it.
The Lincoln Lawyer Season 4 Story Details
Season 4 May Adapt Michael Connelly’s “The Law Of Innocence”
One thing that has kept The Lincoln Lawyer so engaging across its three seasons is that each season ends with a tease for what’s coming in the next. Season 3 was no exception, and the shocking twist put Mickey in the hottest water he’s been in thus far. Having wrapped up the murder of Glory Days, and uncovered the major conspiracy within the DA’s office, Mickey is shocked to discover the body of former client Sam Scales in his trunk. The police are looking for answers, and Mickey is the most obvious suspect, especially since he has a monetary motive.
This tease hints that season 4 will adapt Connelly’s novel The Law of Innocence, which sees Mickey arrested for murder and forced to defend himself while behind bars. This will increase the importance of characters like Lorna, and now that she can practice law, Mickey will need her more than ever. Years of defending his clients has prepared Mickey for anything, but the stakes are raised when it’s his neck on the line in The Lincoln Lawyer season 4.
