By Rashmi Goel
In this Netflix series based on Michael Connelly's Mickey Haller legal thrillers, the Lincoln Lawyer returns to the courtroom and his mobile office. Here, Matthew McConaughey's Haller from the 2009 film is not involved. The savvy LA criminal defense lawyer is Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. As the camera pans to an area of a parking garage at nighttime, a man in a suit and laptop bag hurry to their BMW. He hears something. He peeks over his shoulder...
As a lawyer, Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) used to defend anyone who was attacked by The Man and to be wherever his down-and-out, downtrodden, or even downright despicable clients required him to be, which is a gridlock-choked city like Los Angeles was always made easier by working from the back seat of a Lincoln Continental. Mickey was sidelined by a surfing accident and suffered a painkiller addiction as a consequence. Now he is beginning the process of regaining his health. The man who was murdered in the parking structure was shot at close range. Nevertheless, he had already planned to leave his legal practice to Mickey, his friend, and colleague, whose own career had floundered due to his battle against oxy. Among those cases is Travis Elliott (Christoper Gorham), a game designer with a promising future who is accused of killing his wife, her yoga instructor boyfriend, and others. In order to get a clearer picture of the Elliott case, Mickey and Lorna (Becki Newton), his ex-wife, and the case manager work together. Mickey also calls on Cisco (Angus Sampson), an independent investigator and Lorna's alleged boyfriend.
Leaving behind the unsolved murder of his friend for now, Mickey works on another outstanding case from his new docket, an assault on a young woman named Izzy Letts (Jazz Raycole). It's now her turn to pay, but she's not able to. Mr. Lincoln needs someone he can trust to drive him around. The next morning, as Izzy ferries Mickey to Malibu and the crime scene inside Travis's luxe beachfront manse, he promises Maggie (Neve Campbell), his first ex-wife and a high-powered prosecutor, he'll be on time to pick up Hayley (Krista Warner).
In the course of Mickey's dinner with Hayley, Detective Griggs (Ntare Mwine) of the LAPD appears. Apparently, he wants to look at Mickey's files at his new law office - maybe there's a clue to why his colleague was killed. “Haller, you're at risk,” Griggs warns Haller. The warning makes sense. Travis decides to hire Mickey as his lawyer for the Elliott case, but not before a wavering monologue involving the uncanny valley hypothesis and the assertion of Travis' innocence. Lincoln is back on the case.
David E. Kelley has had a storied career as a TV writer, specializing in a courtroom drama. Aside from Mickey's near-fatal surfing accident, which plunged him into the downward spiral of addiction, to his gorgeous, cobalt blue Lincoln Continental coupled with suicide doors, as well as his cozy midcentury home in the Hollywood Hills, The Lincoln Lawyer shows the City of Angels in its best light. The neighborhood grid is even incorporated into the graphic for the title. Mickey himself also knows where he belongs. Travis tells the judge who signed over the murdered lawyer's practice to him that there is no better criminal lawyer in Los Angeles "when I see right." Mickey also explains that Tinsel Town's dime-a-dozen celebrity lawyers aren't worth the hype. It is a practice of mine not to be heard of, so all this establishes a sense of place. What about Lincoln himself?
The practice of Mickey Waltz is to never be heard of, and the practice of Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is to never be seen. Unlike the other characters in The Lincoln Lawyer, he exists only in response to other characters, whether it's Lorna at the new law office or Travis summoning him to the fancy, ultra-modern offices of his gaming empire. Mickey's relationship with his ex-girlfriends is more compelling than Lorna's relationship with Cisco. A convertible Continental disappears and is replaced by what looks like a slick but nondescript SUV. During the entire ten-episode season, the case of Travis Elliott will be explored in depth. Izzy gets a clean bill of health thanks to Mickey's wily defense, and he now has a new driver. There's a lot of stuff going on and The Lincoln Lawyer and Garcia-Rulfo have to figure out how to make their main character stand out before he fades into a throng of more interesting side characters and the streets he rides.
