Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 3 on Netflix, Where Mickey Haller Takes Another Case With Ties To His Heart

In Season 3 of The Lincoln Lawyer , which streams all ten of its episodes in full on Netflix, Los Angeles defense attorney Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) must confront a few questions. If the guy arrested for the murder of Mickey’s friend Glory Days (Fiona Rene) didn’t do it, then who did? And in a way, was it kind of Mickey’s fault in the first place? This season is based on The Gods of Guilt , the fifth of author Michael Connelly’s novels to feature Haller; Connelly is also an exec producer on Lincoln Lawyer , alongside co-creators David E. Kelley and Ted Humphrey, who is also its showrunner. Garcia-Rulfo, Becki Newton, Angus Sampson, Jazz Raycole, and YaYa DaCosta all return, with appearances by Elliott Gould and Neve Campbell; Allyn Moriyon joins the cast.

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 3 Episode 2 Recap: Where French Dips Lead

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 3 Episode 1 Recap: Snakes For The Memories

Opening Shot: Under the water in the Pacific Ocean. That’s where Mickey Haller (Garcia-Rulfo) seeks therapy. And the water is where he emerges from in the flashback that begins Lincoln Lawyer season 3. It’s 2008, Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” is playing in his comfortably beat-up VW Cabrio, he’s happily married to Maggie (Campbell), and their daughter Hayley (Krista Warner) is still a toddler.

The Gist: The flashback is revealing as a prehistory of the Mickey Haller we know today – high-profile cases, expensive suits, a dedicated staff, and a fleet of Lincolns to cruise around in – because back then he was just an idealistic public defender. But it’s also a means of keeping Neve Campbell present in the series, since Maggie moved to San Diego with Hayley at the end of last season. Hayley is also instrumental in securing a classic assist from her dad. Will he drive to Beverly Hills and work his courtroom magic to get trumped-up carjacking charges dropped from the record of her childhood babysitter?

CLICK HERE TO GET EMAILS FROM DECIDER

Which is how Eddie Ramos (Moriyon) joins Mickey Haller’s work crew. A health nut and properly swole, Eddie becomes Mickey’s driver, now that Izzy (Raycole) is working in his office with Lorna (Newton), whose marriage to Mickey’s investigator Dennis “Cisco” Wojciechowski (Sampson) is going strong despite a recent honeymoon rainout. Lorna, like Maggie, was also once married to Mickey. It’s a whole recurring thing in the series.

Julian La Cosse (Devon Graye), the man in custody for the murder of sex worker Glory Days (Rene), says Glory implored him to call Mickey if he was ever in trouble. But because Glory and Mickey were friends, to take this case could set off the same conflict-of-interest alarms that sounded during the Lisa Trammell murder trial in Lincoln Lawyer season 2. There is also the suspicion that a dangerous drug cartel has its eye on both the Glory Days murder case and Haller’s involvement. Maybe Mickey should heed the advice Maggie is heard to impart in another flashback. “You be careful.”

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? After Bosch , and two seasons of Bosch Legacy , an upcoming third season of the latter will apparently end retired LAPD detective Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch’s time on television, and Titus Welliver playing him. Bosch, of course, was a Michael Connelly creation, just like Mickey Haller – they’re half-brothers in the books – and Bosch appears in the novel on which season 3 of The Lincoln Lawyer is based. While there are no plans for a small screen meetup between the characters, we think it would be a lot cooler if there were.

And when the aughts series Suits hit a later streaming popularity spike , it inspired a brand-new spin-off. The upcoming Suits: LA will take place in Mickey Haller’s hometown, deal with entertainment biz law, and star Stephen Amell and Josh McDermott, presumably in suits.

Our Take: Well, Mickey Haller still drives the coolest car currently on television, a vintage and fantastically lengthy cornflower blue Lincoln Continental convertible. But his experiences last season, of sleeping with Lisa Trammell (Lana Parilla), then defending her at one murder trial, then sleeping with her again, and then uncovering how she committed a different murder? That splashy mess has only made Mickey more confident in his ability to slickly skate around trouble. With the assumption that he’ll take on the Glory Days murder case – personal ties are important to him, no matter how it looks – we’re looking forward to how he spins it, because Manuel Garcia-Rulfo thrives in the courtroom scenes that pepper Lincoln Lawyer . It’s all about that minute detail or the brief moment on which everything turns, and Garcia-Rulfo is great at expressing how that’s Mickey’s turn-on, too.

We’re also glad that Lincoln Lawyer figured out a smooth way to keep Maggie McPherson in it, because Neve Campell is great in the role – Maggie might still return in the present, for now the flashbacks are a nice touch. And while she doesn’t immediately figure into the new season, YaYa DaCosta as formidable prosecutor Andrea Freeman was a Season 2 standout, which only supports our running theory that Lincoln Lawyer is also at its best when its centerpiece attorney is in reaction mode to the moves being made by the people in his personal and professional lives, which increasingly overlap.

Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode, besides at least one reference to how Mickey’s former wives are always part of his orbit. Like we said, it’s a bit.

Parting Shot: Fresh from getting the job as Mickey’s new driver in part because he’s a black belt in judo, Eddie Ramos drives his new boss home, only to discover that protection might have just become the bigger part of Eddie’s new position.

Sleeper Star: Mindhunter ’s Holt McCallany returns to Netflix with season 3 of The Lincoln Lawyer , as an investigator whose history with Mickey goes back years. Short version: they don’t like each other. And while the versatile McCallany can play anything, he’s very, very good at playing someone who represents trouble.

Most Pilot-y Line: Mickey often relishes a satisfied little smile when his courtroom showboating works in his favor. But not everybody thinks it’s so cute. “These tricks you play, Haller, somebody’s gonna end up dead because of you.”

Our Call: Stream It! It’s always personal with The Lincoln Lawyer , and in Season 3, Mickey Haller seems to have become embroiled in yet another case that blurs the line between the phrases “professional conduct” and “conflict of interest.”

Johnny Loftus ( @glennganges ) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.

For more entertainment news and streaming recommendations, visit decider.com