The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 1 – Netflix Review

THE LINCOLN LAWYER on Netflix is a new crime series based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling novels. As someone who was very underwhelmed by the trailer, I found this to be a surprisingly good series. Read our The Lincoln Lawyer Season 1 review here!

THE LINCOLN LAWYER is a new Netflix series in the crime, drama, mystery, and thriller genres. We follow the defense attorney Mickey Haller who gets a new client accused of having killed his wife and her lover. A classic case involving all kinds of intriguing and sordid details.

Along with the classic money and power issues since his client is also a very prominent businessman. As this story plays out in Hollywood, that means he’s a studio executive. This new Netflix series (originally set up for CBS) is based on the second Mickey Haller book titled “The Brass Verdict”.

Continue reading our The Lincoln Lawyer Season 1 review below. All ten episodes in season 1 are out on May 13, 2022.

A very pleasant surprise

Don’t get me wrong, the core plot in The Lincoln Lawyer isn’t exactly pleasant. A lawyer is struggling to come back from battling addiction and inherits a law practice with many high-profile cases. One of them is a gruesome murder case and so it isn’t exactly a family-friendly experience.

No, the reason I found it to be a pleasant surprise is the fact that I was extremely underwhelmed by the trailer. Admittedly, that seems to be a thing for me these days. Then again, I’d rather have the trailer be bad and the actual movie or series be good than the other way around.

The issue is just that I might never watch something if the trailer makes it look too bad. For The Lincoln Lawyer, it’s saved by having a cast that I was intrigued by and having the name David E. Kelley attached which (at the very least) guarantees a very high bar for how bad it can possibly be.

The core cast of The Lincoln Lawyer

In the title role, we see Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as “The Lincoln Lawyer”. He gets this nickname since he only drives Lincoln cars. Also, he is so busy that he has a driver and works in the car between being in court, talking to clients, and investigating cases. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Magnificent Seven, Widows) is exactly the right match of charm and wits that makes Mickey Haller work in this series.

Just as Matthew McConaughey worked so well in the film version.

The winning ticket for me (aka, the reason I wanted to check out this series despite the bad trailer) is iconic Scream final girl, Neve Campbell. Also, I am happy to see Becki Newton of Ugly Betty and Tell Me a Story again. The two play the first and second wives of Mickey Haller. Also, both are women he still works with in various ways professionally.

The man accused of killing his own wife and her lover is portrayed by Christopher Gorham and, in other key roles, we see actors such as Angus Sampson (Insidious), Reggie Lee (Grimm, Drag Me to Hell), and Chris Browning (Bright, Westworld).

Watch The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix!

This new The Lincoln Lawyer series was developed for television by Ted Humphrey who also serves as showrunner. Previously, Ted Humphrey has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy twice for The Good Wife. Most recently, he created the CBS crime-thriller Wisdom of the Crowd (2017-2018) which only had one season.

Of course, the Netflix series (just like the 2011 movie) is based on the novel by Michael Connelly. Michael Connelly and Ted Humphrey are the main writers of this series as well.

David E. Kelley is a producer and writer as well as being credited as creator on the series. In recent years, David E. Kelley has been behind several huge successes. These include the adaption of a Stephen King trilogy for the Mr. Mercedes series along with Big Little Lies, The Undoing, and Nine Perfect Strangers. To name just a few off the top of my head.

MORE FROM DAVID E. KELLEY

The most recent release created by David E. Kelley is the Netflix series Anatomy of a Scandal > 

If you watched the trailer and weren’t impressed, then make sure you still give this series a chance. It’s a lot better than I ever dared hope and I am intrigued by both its characters and plot, which means there’s plenty to keep me engaged to continue watching.

The Lincoln Lawyer is out on Netflix (with all ten episodes of season 1) on May 13, 2022.

Details

Creator: Ted Humphrey
Writers: Michael Connelly, Ted Humphrey
Cast: Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Neve Campbell, Becki Newton, Jazz Raycole, Angus Sampson, Christopher Gorham, Reggie Lee, Chris Browning