Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Season 3 of The Lincoln Lawyer!After the debut of Lincoln’s lawyer season 3, the show’s co-showrunner Dailyn Rodriguez spoke with TelaRant about Eddie’s death and Lorna’s work while teasing Mickey’s attitude at his season 4 murder trial. Based on the book series of the same name by Michael Connelly, The Lincoln Lawyer follows Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) – a Los Angeles defense attorney known for working out of the back of his car – as he takes on challenging cases. Throughout season 3, Mickey’s biggest case is the trial against Julian LaCosse for the murder of Glory Days, Mickey’s former friend and client.
After its premiere on October 17 Lincoln’s lawyer season three became a hit on Netflix, gaining 7 million views in its first four days (via Variety) and reaching the top 10 list. The success of the court drama is due to Lincoln’s lawyerstrong characters, unpredictable plot and perfect pacing. While some credit must go to the bestselling author who developed the world and many characters, producers Dailyn Rodriguez and Ted Humphrey also work hard to adapt the stories for the screen.
Both Humphrey and Rodriguez have extensive experience in Hollywood, working as writers, producers and showrunners. Humphrey previously served as showrunner on Embedded from 2016 to 2017 and Wisdom of the Crowd from 2017 to 2018. In addition to writing for Ugly Betty, starring America Ferrera, Rodriguez notably served as showrunner and co-executive producer of the crime drama Queen of the South from 2017 to 2021.
While we await updates on the renewal status of Lincoln’s lawyer season 4, Screen speech interviewed Dailyn Rodriguez about various parts of the series, including her process of adapting the novels, her experience writing a Latinx story, and what to expect if Netflix picks up the series for another season. Although she remained tight-lipped about spoilers, Rodriguez happily teased interesting things to come.
Rodriguez strives to modernize the books without losing their essence
“Our challenge is to keep as much of Michael’s books as we can, and if we can’t, we at least want to keep the spirit of what was in Michael’s books.”
Screen Rant: I imagine there’s a lot of pressure to adapt such a beloved book series. How do you and your co-showrunner decide what to keep and what to change in the books?
Dailyn Rodriguez: We do a few things. One is to make sure we look at the book holistically when it was written and when we are adapting it. So, for example, in the second season, in that book, which was The Fifth Witness, it happened in 2008, during the housing crisis. We haven’t been able to replicate that. So we tried to find something that felt comparable and kept the essence of what it was, which is why we came up with the whole idea of gentrification and a developer. So we kept that in the real estate world and the same kind of bet on something like that. But that’s how we adapted it.
The good news about Gods of Guilt, which was season 3, is that I felt less time. This one seemed more specific. Even if at the end of [The Law of Innocence]the pandemic begins to advance at the end of the book. So we kind of moved away from that. Which doesn’t matter, you don’t really need it. The things we have to change is because his books have these big jumps between them, and we get – we do these cliffhangers. So we started very quickly. So, certain things we have to change that make sense to adapt them to a more present time.
For example, in the book, Hayley doesn’t talk to Mickey because of something completely unrelated. Something happens before the book when he has a case and there’s a DUI and a guy gets out because he helps him get out, and this guy ends up killing someone who is her friend’s mother. So that’s why you kept talking to him.
So we want to keep her essence by not talking to him anymore. So we changed it to be able to keep that part of the book but make it more integrated into the way we’re telling the story. So that’s how we changed. And also, we had to change some things. We had to reinvent the detective character and make him this new character to some extent. We couldn’t use Langford because of the way they used Langford in the first season. So certain things we just have to change, but our challenge is to keep as much of Michael’s books as we can, and if we can’t, at least we want to keep the spirit of what was in Michael’s books, if that makes sense. .
Rodriguez loves showing the many sides of Latino culture in The Lincoln Lawyer
“It’s really important that we show all aspects of Latinos and embrace that part of Los Angeles and not just the Mexican one.”
Screen Rant: How does it feel for you, as a Latino person, to tell an authentically and unapologetically Latino story in The Lincoln Lawyer?
Dailyn Rodriguez: One of my favorite things about the show is that we get to tell not just a story about Mickey Haller being Latino and living in Los Angeles, but LA being a very Latino city. It’s almost 50% Latino. And so, for me, it was really important, and we do that a lot in Season 2. We also do this in Season 3 because Michael Erbe is Afro-Latino and Yaya is Afro-Latina, and we have other characters who are Latino on the show.
For me, it’s very important that we show all aspects of Latinos and embrace this part of Los Angeles and not just the Mexican one. Everyone lives in Los Angeles, and whether they speak Spanish or don’t speak Spanish, or have an accent, or don’t have an accent, you know what I mean? All this because we are not a monolith.
So for me, absolutely, and it’s very important to me that he is this professional, extremely good at his job, an intelligent man in Los Angeles and still maintains – we call it Latinidad. His Latinidad is intact, but that’s not all he is. He is much more than that. So for me, this is what I feel is the best way to advance the way we tell Latino stories. We are just part of the American fabric and move through these communities in a specific way, but still as Americans.
Lorna and Mickey have big challenges ahead of them in season 4 of The Lincoln Lawyer
“I don’t think it will be good enough for him to become innocent.”
Screen Rant: one of the big points in Lincoln’s lawyer season three was Lorna becoming a lawyer. What will her character arc be like now that she has this under control and opens the doors?
Dailyn Rodriguez: Yeah, I mean, I think the most important thing is you saw how we ended the season with Mickey. Mickey will be accused of murder.
Screen Rant: I’m weirdly excited about this.
Dailyn Rodriguez: You and everyone else seem very excited about this. So yes, season 4 is The Law of Innocence, and she is his partner. So this is the biggest and most stressful case of all your lives. And she’s a green lawyer. She is green. So it’s just figuring out how much she can take on, what place she has in the co-counseling role with him, and also keeping the business going while he can’t take any other clients to prison. Do you know what I mean? I think you’ll see a Lorna who has a lot of balls in the air and is trying her best to keep all those balls in the air and be successful at it. I think that’s where we’re going with her.
Screen Rant: Will Mickey face the situation behind bars or will he get out? Can you tell me?
Dailyn Rodriguez: I can’t really tell you that. This is a spoiler.
Screen Rant: Speaking of which, how, as a character, will Mickey handle being accused of murder? He seems like a very fair person, and this is a very unfair situation.
Dailyn Rodriguez: I think he’s still who Mickey is. I don’t think it will be good enough for him to become innocent. He wants to be innocent. And how do you achieve this? How do you get recognition of innocence when he keeps telling people, “I can’t make you innocent; I can make you innocent”? How does Mickey stay innocent?
I think that’s the big thing that he’s going to have to face in Season 4 because, for him, he’s not going to be good enough to be innocent because it’s his reputation. And for him, it’s all about his reputation and how it affects his family, his co-workers, his friends, everyone. At the end of the day, everyone depends on him. Therefore, it is important for him to continue the reputation he has built as one of the best defense lawyers in Los Angeles.
The Lincoln Lawyer showrunners achieved their goal with Eddie’s death in season three
“We had five episodes to create a character that everyone fell in love with, and then we pulled the rug out from under them.”
Screen Rant: Looking at fan reactions to season three, do you regret killing Eddie? Because everyone loves him.
Dailyn Rodriguez: We did the work! We did it. I mean, it’s terrible, but I love it because we did what we needed to do and what we set out to do. We had five episodes to create a character that everyone fell in love with, and then we pulled the rug out from under them.
And we had to do that because it’s a crucial point in the book’s story. In the book, there’s a different reason why Hayley doesn’t talk to Mickey, so we needed to come up with something that was more personal and made sense for the story. That’s why we created this new character who doesn’t exist in the book.
Also, sometimes I see him as a bit of Mickey Jr., or as if Mickey had more loving and caring parents. We really wanted to create a new type of Gen Z Latino character, someone who felt really modern and real to us. He’s a new kind of Latino man that I believe is out there that you don’t see very often on television. We were excited to bring that in, and the actor who plays Eddie is kind of similar to the character, so it fits.
The Lincoln Lawyer showrunners have exciting plans for Season 4
“I really hope we get a season 4 because I think people are going to love it.”
Screen Speech: Okay. At the end of Lincoln’s lawyer season 3. Andy seems very skeptical of the District Attorney’s Office and his role in it. What can we expect in the fourth season with that anxiety she has?
Dailyn Rodriguez: I think we’re going to zoom out in general – I think next season is a little continuation of the idea that a lot of shit is corrupt. Do you know what I mean? Yes. As Mickey faces his own mortality and his own freedom and innocence, I think it’s a window into more of that. Unfortunately, I can’t talk about Andrea’s details.
Screen Speech: TelaRant I talked to Ted Humphrey about this, but can you share anything about your plan for how to deal with Bosch’s absence?
Dailyn Rodriguez: Yeah, it’s a shame because we don’t own that character. Netflix didn’t own the character, so we can’t do any crossovers. I would be a spoiler if I told you what we would do, but we definitely have an idea of how we can bring in someone else who can play against Bosch in a future season.
Plus, we’re just giving Cisco more to do. We give the characters we have a little more to do, and that makes up for some of the problems we have with not being able to use the Bosch, which is unfortunate. We would love to do that, but we can’t.
Screen Rant: Ted Humphrey talked about Maggie and Maggie’s role in Mickey’s life, describing her as sort of his North Star. Will the show lean more into this dynamic?
Dailyn Rodriguez: Yeah, I don’t think Mickey 100% surpasses Maggie, and I think this is someone who’s always on his mind. And I think that’s why it’s hard for him to give himself completely in other relationships, because it’s in his head. Maggie is always there. So I think I agree with him a lot, and she’s his north star.
And as the books go on, I mean, Maggie has a very important role in The Law of Innocence and also in Reversal, which is another book that we still have to do. We have three left so far. I think Michael might be writing another one, so she never leaves. She did a little bit in season two because she doesn’t play a major role in that book, but Maggie never goes away 100% because she’s always, I think, part of his soul. And they have a child together, so it’s very difficult for him to let go of that.
Screen Rant: Hayley in the books seems more advanced in her education with the law school aspect than being younger in the Netflix series. How do you plan to adapt that part where she was in law school in the book?
Yeah, I think that’s why she was already talking about taking college courses for season four, so we can try to move it along a little faster. We still don’t know what we’ll do if we get seasons 4 and 5, how we’re actually going to resolve this.
I think ultimately, because of the way we’ve constructed these seasons and because we have these obstacles, I think it’s very difficult for us to get to a place where she’s actually going to be a lawyer. I think we would have to be on the show. We would have to have 10 seasons of the show to really do that. So that’s something we’re really going to have to adjust in the novels, in the way we break up the seasons. Of course.
Screen Rant: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us Lincoln’s lawyer Season 4?
Dailyn Rodriguez: Oh my God. I wish I could, but I would just be giving away spoilers. I really hope we get a fourth season because I think people are going to love it. I think it will be fun to see Mickey having to defend himself and what happens in that, and it’s all hands on deck. So, the season is much more focused on Mickey. Every season is about him presenting his case. But he’s his own client, so it’s all about Mickey. So hopefully we can tell that story. I think it’s exciting.
About The Lincoln Lawyer, season 3
Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), an iconoclastic idealist, runs his law firm from the backseat of his Lincoln while handling cases large and small in the sprawling city of Los Angeles. Based on the bestselling novel series by renowned author Michael Connelly, season three is based on the fifth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series, The Gods of Guilt.
Check out our previous The Lincoln Lawyer interviews: