There are two elements that always make a TV show or movie worth watching: a subplot that escalates in completely unexpected ways and characters whose purpose you only understand when it is fulfilled. In Season 3 of The Lincoln Lawyer, those two elements are some of the best parts of the new batch of episodes and help make the new season highly bingeable, but they don’t always compensate for some of the problems of the show.
What Is ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 3 About?
The new season picks up on the cliffhanger we didn’t see coming: Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) discovering that his friend Glory Days (Fiona Rene) has been murdered and the only suspect is her friend, Julian La Cosse (Devon Graye). Divided between defending a potentially innocent man and discovering that he might be helping a killer, Mickey still has to mourn the brutal murder of the woman while balancing his career, quality time with his daughter, and some other ghosts that resurface to haunt him.
Fans of The Lincoln Lawyer will be happy to realize that Season 3 of the series pretty much maintains the tone, structure, and overall quality of the courtroom drama — but that also means the problems are still there. The first is that the main case of the season is far less compelling than its predecessor. In Season 2, we wanted to believe Lisa Trammell (Lana Parrilla) was innocent, but there was always this layer of doubt that compelled us to keep hitting the “next episode” button to find out what she might be hiding. This time around, there is very little nuance to La Cosse’s case, and at times you may feel like his innocence is pretty much a given.
Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem. However, for a character that’s very present in the season, we don’t really learn enough about La Cosse to allow us to become invested in his story or root for his defense. Given that he spends most of the season dealing with the problems of the judicial system, knowing more about his background and his passions would greatly help us understand the tragedy that his life has become, and the events that happen to him would have a lot more weight when they play out.
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YaYa Da Costa Is the MVP of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 3
A similar problem plagues another storyline this season: As Andrea Freeman (Yaya DaCosta) returns, the prosecutor takes on a case that evolves far beyond what she could imagine. Even worse, she makes a mistake that will haunt her forever. Her case is by far the most compelling of them all, and makes DaCosta the indisputable MVP of the season. Through her eyes and contained performance, we can see the desperation of a person trying to keep it together but is on the verge of a breakdown. It’s impossible not to get invested in this particular storyline. The problem is… The Lincoln Lawyer doesn’t care much about it.
In fact, Season 3 is pretty uninterested in anything that isn’t Mickey Haller. Lorna’s (Becki Newton) anxiety about her bar exam could make for a powerful arc, especially when you consider that Newton is great when switching between drama and comic relief. But the show makes it a small subplot that sometimes turns into the butt of a joke. Should the series come back for another season — and showrunners Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez have already teased that they can keep going through Season 6 and beyond — it would be nice to see Lorna raised to equal footing with Mickey, because she’s certainly earned it after lurking in the background for three seasons.
The same disregard is extended to some of the other women in the series. Mickey’s daughter Hayley (Krista Warner) has a personal involvement with one of his cases, the consequences of which might permanently damage their relationship, but her character is pretty much forgotten about throughout the season and only comes back as an afterthought in the finale. Similarly, Izzy (Jazz Raycole) stops being Mickey’s driver to pursue other interests, but the show isn’t too willing to check in on her, even when she starts engaging in paralegal activities.
There’s Still Plenty To Like in ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 3
It’s not that the season doesn’t have its moments; the introduction of Eddie Rojas (Allyn Moriyon) brings a nice, different flavor to the episodes, even though he’s similarly forgotten about by Mickey and his team. Holt McCallany (The Iron Claw) also greatly rises to the occasion when the time comes for him to stand out later in the season. Even if the main case is not chock-full of twists and turns, the series is still competent in showing how a case is built for a jury and how the pieces slowly fall into place. Last but certainly not least, Garcia-Rulfo continues to be a strong lead whose presence helps us overlook the series’ many problems at times.
The biggest issue of The Lincoln Lawyer, however, continues to be its constant need for exposition. More often than not, the show doesn’t trust its audience to remember plot points and keep up with the story — and this gets even more irritating when you are binging the series and have information repeated to you in every episode. The show also doesn’t trust the viewer to identify when Mickey makes an interesting discovery during cross-examination or manages to corner a witness on the stand; it needs to show the baffled reactions of characters in order to give its lead his several “attaboy” moments.
Season 3 of The Lincoln Lawyer is still a nice investment for anyone who likes murder mysteries, even though the series presents its weakest case so far. Despite fumbling several storylines, the show is still entertaining and compelling, and you hardly feel like you’re wasting your time. However, a heftier exploration of other characters who are not Mickey Haller would certainly elevate the show to a must-watch status.
You can stream all episodes of The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix.
In Season 3, The Lincoln Lawyer fumbles most of its storylines, but still makes for an entertaining, compelling watch.
- Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is still a strong lead.
- Yaya DaCosta is a powerful addition to the main cast.
- The season has its share of surprises and unexpected turns of events.
- Most storylines stay at surface level when they could make for a more compelling season.
- Some secondary characters are easily forgotten.
- The show presents its weakest main case yet.
- Powerful subplots are kicked off, then ignored.
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