Netflix succeeds mightily at transforming beloved shows of yesteryear including Suits and Dexter into streaming powerhouses that launch spin offs due to their undeniable and enduring popularity. In that same spirit, the streaming service also retools existing IP like The Lincoln Lawyer, the Michael Connelly book series that was the basis of a Matthew McConaughey movie that isn’t nearly as memorable as the TV series, starring as Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, that will soon roll into a third season.
The show also believes in giving viewers what they want, which means that even though Neve Campbell’s Maggie left the building, the third season is bringing her back, which runs counter to the book that this season is based upon. Let’s chat about what comes next on Mickey Haller’s docket:
Plot
LA’s most sensational defense attorney has already expanded his professional horizons beyond his backseat in the series, and a new trailer emphasizes how Mickey remains the most punchable lawyer in town. How is his nose still intact? We might not receive an answer to that question, but the trailer also addresses speculation about why this season’s leading case will be more “personal” than we’ve seen Mickey tackle before now.
The show’s maverick leading legal man will proceed into territory covered by Connelly’s fifth The Lincoln Lawyer book, The Gods of Guilt, which picks up with Mickey confronting “the ghosts of his past” after receiving a “187” text message referring to the California penal code for murder. As the second-season finale suggested and the third-season trailer confirms, the victim in this new case is Gloria Dayton/Glory Days (Fiona Rene), an ex-client about whom Mickey will wonder whether he contributed to her fate.
As always, the show will walk the line, so as to not pull viewers down with heavy subject matter because levity can be found in the amount of swings taken at Mickey, largely to his face as emphasized by the season’s key art:
Not only will the iconoclast be playfully dragged by one ex wife, Lorna (Becki Newton), about these punches, but Mickey’s other ex-wife, Maggie (Campbell), has been written into the season as opposed to The Gods Of Guilt.
Although the show moved Maggie to San Diego for professional reasons, Maggie will figure prominently into Mickey’s state of mind and also be seen by viewers. As co-showrunner Ted Humphrey told Netflix, she “continues to be on the personal axis of Mickey’s life … [she’s] always in the back of his being. There’s always something about Maggie that’s there.”
How present is she in his mind? Humphrey believes, “When he meets new girls, I think he’s always feeling that he’s cheating on her.” In the trailer, Maggie is shown fretting over Mickey’s well being, and she will also appear in “a flashback sequence that gave us some insight into how Mickey Haller became Mickey Haller — not just the brilliant criminal defense lawyer, but the husband, the father, and the man that he would come to be.”
If you’re wondering why Mickey is in a wetsuit ^^^ up there, this is a scene from the past where Maggie embraces him while he is “finishing up surfing before a life-changing day at work.” He will be “cuddling on the couch with his wife Maggie after putting their young daughter Hayley to bed” in flashback scenes that will propel Mickey into the work that he must do now.
Cast
Several new cast members are on the roster, including Mayans M.C.‘s Michael Kirby as DEA Agent James De Marco. New defendants include Eddie Rojas (Allyn Moriyon) (a very fit dude and ex-babysitter for Hayley), and David Lyons (Wolé Parks). Also, Judge Regina Turner (Merrin Dungey) has arrived to put Mickey through the wringer, as is the case for prosecutor William Forsythe (John Pirruccello). Additionally, Chief Deputy DA Adam Suarez (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez) will not be a friendly face to Mickey, but the jury is still out for new witness Annabeth Stephens (Maisie Klompus).
Returning cast members will definitely include Neve Campbell as Maggie, along with his other ex, Lorna (Becki Newton), and we can expect to see Elliott Gould (Legal Siegal), Krista Warner (Hayley), Yaya DaCosta (Andrea), Jazz Raycole (Izzy), Angus Sampson (Cisco), and Devon Graye (Julian La Cosse), as well as memories featuring Fiona Rene (Glory Days).
Release Date
This show has achieved what few do on streaming: a one-year gap between seasons. Mickey’s Lincoln will roll back into town with ten new episodes on October 17.
Trailer
So many punches (and ex-wifes) surface in this trailer: