On first impression, it wouldn’t be foolish to think that Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer is just another drama packed with courtroom antics and attorneys fighting it out. It’s not just the title of the series that leads to that conclusion, but the fact that it was created by David E. Kelley, the man behind previous legal hits Ally McBeal and Boston Legal. The Lincoln Lawyer definitely has Kelley’s usual hallmarks and all the courtroom scenes you’d expect. However, there’s a lot more heart to the series, with its exploration into hard-hitting relatable topics such as divorce, addiction, and grief. With Season 3 recently giving lead Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) a character arc that requires considerable introspection, The Lincoln Lawyer has marched strongly toward becoming a layered drama that is not limited by its adrenaline-inducing courtroom scenes.

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Focuses on Matters of the Heart Too

In a stellar performance by Garcia-Ruffalo, Mickey Haller faces many struggles throughout the series – the first of which is divorce. In fact, viewers learn quickly that Mickey has been through it twice. His first marriage was to prosecution lawyer Maggie McPherson, played by Neve Campbell, with whom he shares a daughter, Hayley (Krista Warner). We first see Maggie as she berates Mickey for his late arrival to pick up Hayley; however, it quickly becomes clear that there is still a degree of love between the two. As the series progresses, the romance they once shared resurfaces and their relationship begins to flourish. Towards the end of Season 1, the audience gets drawn into believing they’ll see a fairy tale ending for the family when Mickey and Maggie decide to give their relationship another shot.

However, the momentary hope is quickly snatched from viewers as the struggles they once faced come to light, and the high-pressure nature of their work takes its toll. The show explores how the divorce affects Hayley, showing her feeling frustrated, angry, and confused as she navigates her way through her thoughts. Through a tender approach to the subject, The Lincoln Lawyer explores how divorce can affect not just the two main parties, but their family too. The audience learns how circumstances are crucial to a successful marriage, and how, in reality, things sometimes just don’t turn out how we want them to.

Marriage and Love Are Recurring Themes in This Legal Drama

Mickey’s second marriage was to Lorna Crain (Becki Newton), who remains Mickey’s legal assistant after their divorce. To add another dimension of potential awkwardness, Lorna is engaged to Mickey’s investigator, Cisco (Angus Sampson). However, this relationship is vastly different from the one Mickey has with Maggie: Mickey describes his second marriage as a rebound and a mistake, but the two still work well together. There’s definitely chemistry and love between the pair, but it’s clear that this is strictly platonic. Mickey approves of Lorna’s engagement, but not without being protective of her and making sure she’s happy. Lorna, meanwhile, consistently encourages and motivates Mickey through his low points. This is a more positive depiction of divorce, showing how it’s possible for the parties to be amicable. That being said, this divorce is a lot more straightforward, as no children were involved.

In Season 3, after experiencing heartbreak at the hands of Season 2’s antagonist, Lisa Trammell (Lana Parrilla), Mickey develops a more profound relationship with Yaya DaCosta‘s Andrea Freeman. Both characters are ambitious, career-driven legal professionals who know the challenges of being in the same profession and the conflicts it can cause. Despite holding affection and care for each other, the two very amicably decide to pursue their own paths while retaining their friendship. In the finale of Season 3, when Mickey is suffering from the shock of Neil Bishop’s (Holt McCallany) decision to commit suicide, Andrea helps Mickey understand that Bishop’s decision was a consequence of his own actions. Mickey and Andrea’s arc in Season 3 symbolizes how romance can materialize in other ways, even without the people involved uniting in the end.

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Tussles With Addiction Multiple Times

One of the most hard-hitting topics the series touches upon is addiction. We are first introduced to it when we learn of Mickey’s surfing accident, after which he became engulfed in a wave of addiction to painkillers and alcohol. His struggles with addiction are highlighted further when Mickey meets Izzy Letts (Jazz Raycole). He represents her in court and successfully gets her case dismissed. After she informs Mickey that she can’t afford to pay him, he hires her to drive him around in the famous Lincoln that gave him his nickname. As the two get to know each other, Izzy empathizes with Mickey as she tells him she’s also a recovering addict. A real friendship blooms between the pair, and it’s heartwarming to watch.

Being a father, it might be expected for their relationship to be quite one-sided, with Mickey channeling his paternal instincts to look out for Izzy, but it’s more of a case of Izzy caring for Mickey. She pushes him to talk about his triggers, encourages him to join a support group, and at one point steps in to stop him from a relapse. Mickey, of course, looks out for Izzy too, being there for her straight away as she calls for help after finding herself on the edge of her own relapse. He drops everything when she needs him, and is there to provide support without a second thought. This touching relationship spins a positive outlook for addiction sufferers, showing that a beautiful friendship can be drawn out from such a dark place.

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Packs Its Storyline With Layers of Grief

With The Lincoln Lawyer being a legal drama, it’s unsurprising that there’s a lot of death involved, exposing the characters to a great deal of grief. Mickey’s main storyline in Season 1 rides on his representation of a high-profile game developer, Trevor Elliott (Christopher Gorham), who is suspected of murdering his wife and her lover. Gorham gives a great performance here as Elliott, showing raw emotion when talking about his deceased wife through his sadness. Even though Mickey was tricked by Elliott, who was the real culprit, Mickey’s belief in his innocence helps the audience also believe in his authenticity. Elliott memorializes her in his game, his tears are real, and his anger is palpable – all painting the picture of what it’s like to grieve – and the character becomes quite likable as a result.

In Season 3, Mickey is exposed to his fair share of grief after losing two characters very close to his heart: Fiona Rene‘s Gloria Dayton and Allyn Moriyon‘s Eddie Rojas. Due to his role in pushing Gloria to betray cartel boss Hector Moya (Arturo Del Puerto), Mickey believes that he’s culpable for her death. Later, Eddie Rojas’ death in an attempted attack on Mickey further pushes him into trauma; he starts hallucinating about those who had paid for his own bad choices with their lives. In Season 3’s finale, “Gods of Guilt,” Mickey finally finds peace and conquers his grief by delivering justice to those who have been wronged without cause. The grief also brings about a transformation in Mickey in his pursuit of justice. Like his daughter Hayley wanted, Mickey realizes that he can still fulfill his destiny of becoming the top dog in Los Angeles legal circles by doing the right thing – not by using his legal prowess to save those who are guilty.

The Lincoln Lawyer is definitely a legal drama featuring many courtroom scenes, and the story is heavily reliant upon the cases Mickey takes on. However, underneath the surface, there are poignant emotional themes that help bring a sense of realism to the story, allowing the audience to feel engaged in the characters’ far-from-perfect lives. The exploration of interpersonal relationships, in many different forms, gives the series substance and makes it more compelling to the audience than if it had been a cluster of bickering attorneys and legal jargon. While The Lincoln Lawyer is an action-packed legal procedural with ample high-stakes courtroom scenes, it allows itself to reach greater heights by charting a path that’s taken by very few courtroom dramas before it.

All episodes of The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3 are available to stream on Netflix.