Mickey Haller faces his most intense battle yet in the fourth season of The Lincoln Lawyer
For the briefest of moments everything in Mickey Haller’s (Manuel García-Rulfo) life was coming up roses. The criminal defense lawyer had reached a settlement with the City of Los Angeles, and proved his client’s innocence in the murder of prostitute and informant Gloria “Glory Days” Dayton (Fiona Rene). But the celebrations ended prematurely as Mickey was pulled over by a police officer who discovered the body of former client Sam Scales (Christopher Thornton) in his trunk.
The fourth season of The Lincoln Lawyer finds Mickey in a correctional facility, awaiting his own murder trial. Based on the sixth book in Michael Connelly’s book series, the events of The Law of Innocence were the logical place to take the character to top the stakes of the three previous seasons. “Season one was an emotional redemption story, and season two was a guy who gets his life back and then flies a little too close to the sun and gets knocked down,” says showrunner Ted Humphrey. “Season three was about the ghosts of the past reaching out to haunt him, and it felt like, after everything we’d taken him through in those three seasons, the inevitable next step was this — that all of the forces, all the enemies he’d made would find a way to bring him down once and for all.”
Forced to gear up for the fight of his life, we find Mickey in “a very low place,” according to Humphrey. “He is trying to put on a very brave face for his team and his family — and even really for himself — but the last moments of the first episode tear off the mask and show you where he really is, which is desperate,” he says. For the writer, it was an opportunity to explore how those that are incarcerated create emotional barriers to protect their loved ones. “We talked a lot about how you put on a brave face for your family,” says Humphrey. “His daughter looks up to him and they have a very special relationship. She and his ex-wife are the most important people in his life, right? But with Maggie (Neve Campbell), there are no secrets between them, especially given what she does for a living. And there’s no fooling her. She knows the truth. But he doesn’t want his daughter to think that she’s going to lose her father.”
Mickey’s legal troubles are also felt in the office, where newly minted lawyer Lorna (Becki Newton) is trying to hold the fort in her boss’ absence. “Just when she starts to come into her own and spread her wings, suddenly Lorna’s slapped with the responsibility of not only trying to help defend her mentor and best friend — ex-husband even — but also trying to keep the wheels turning and the lights on in the office,” says Humphrey. “It’s too much for anybody, but it’s especially too much for somebody who’s just getting their feet wet. She reaches out for help and that’s a huge turning point in the season.”
Neve Campbell rejoins the show as a series regular in the fourth season, just when Mickey needs Maggie the most. “Maggie, more than anybody else, knows just how dire this is. And, just like he does, she’s got to worry about their daughter and what it’s going to do for her, so it affects her very deeply,” says Humphrey. “But, also, she loves Mickey and she cares about him even though they’re not together. They’ll always love each other. So emotionally, she’s got to get closer to him in order to help see him through this. How that plays out will obviously be a big part of the story. The relationship between Mickey and Maggie is the beating heart of our show.”
A favourite element of Humphrey’s is watching Mickey’s ex-wives work together for the man they once loved. “You have two ex-wives of the same man who, logic would tell you, might not get along so well. In season one, it’s not that they’re enemies, but you can see Lorna’s quite intimidated by Maggie, and Maggie is maybe put off by Lorna still,” says Humphrey. “Over the course of the seasons, we’ve developed that relationship, and it takes a very big step forward this season, because even though they may have their differences, they both have to work together to help this person that they both care about very deeply and it matters very much to them.”
Their ability to work as a team becomes all the more important when faced with deputy district attorney “Death Row Dana” Berg, played by House of Cards star Constance Zimmer. “In the Mickey Haller universe, Dana Berg is arguably the most formidable antagonist he ever faces, so we knew that we needed somebody who would bring all of that to life,” says Humphrey. “We were very fortunate that Constance wanted to come play in our sandbox. She, of course, did not disappoint. She’s an incredible foil for everybody.”
While Humphrey has largely followed the order of Connelly’s books, the characters in the series, outside of Mickey Haller, are far more fleshed out than in the novels. “There’s nothing in the books that is non-negotiable,” says Humphrey. “Michael is so collaborative. When we first started doing the show, you could imagine it was slightly daunting to work with the author of the books because you don’t quite know what you’re getting yourself into. I’ve had other adaptation situations where authors are very precious about their work, and Michael is not.” In fact, Connelly is the first person to say something can be improved upon in the series version of his stories. “There are certain things in the books that go to the core values of the characters that I think are non-negotiable, because that’s who Mickey Haller is, but we change and expand a lot of things throughout the show,” says Humphrey. “Michael always says that it’s great for him and his readers because they go, ‘Oh, I know what this is.’ But it’s also different enough and surprising, that they can enjoy it all over again.”
The Lincoln Lawyer, streaming on Netflix