David Legal Siegel in The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 with prisoners behind him

WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for The Lincoln Lawyer season 3!Elliott Gould reprises his role as David “Legal” Siegel in The Lincoln Lawyer season 3, which includes a scene that ironically calls out the increased complexity of Glory Days’ murder compared to past cases. After revealing that Glory Days was killed in The Lincoln Lawyer season 2’s ending, the Netflix series’ return reiterates that Mickey Haller is in way over his head with this case due to its many intricacies and dangers. Eddie Rojas’ death fully opens Mickey’s eyes to the perils that taking Glory Days’ case risks, which is quickly established as Mickey’s most devastating and complicated job yet.

As he often does when his cases become too grueling, Mickey seeks advice and a friendly ear from Elliott Gould’s Legal in The Lincoln Lawyer season 3, episode 4. During their conversation, Mickey bluntly outlines this case’s chaos: “I’ve got a shady DEA agent running around, a crooked ex-cop, a cartel thug, a disbarred lawyer and his idiot son, and an innocent client in jail. Plus, a victim I used to represent… To top it all off, I think I’m being followed.” This sounds complicated enough, but doesn’t even cover half of what makes season 3 more difficult to follow.

The Case’s Complexities Are Warranted, But There’s Way More To Season 3’s Story

Far more so than the first two outings, The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 has the show’s most complicated story yet. Glory Days’ murder case itself has almost too many moving parts and connections to easily keep track of, including Neil Bishop’s past, Agent De Marco’s connection to Glory, Sly and his son’s roles, Hector Moya’s history and link to both Glory and De Marco, and Julian LaCosse being framed. It becomes difficult to piece together just these elements in the main murder case, which don’t even account for the full scope of The Lincoln Lawyer season 3’s story.

In addition to keeping track of the case’s complexities, The Lincoln Lawyer’s characters also have various subplots going on that must be factored in. Mickey is dating Andy, Andy makes a huge mistake in one of her major cases, Mickey is having flashbacks with Maggie, Hayley is angry at Mickey, Lorna is taking the bar exam and defending Sam Scales, Legal is being moved around the city, and Izzy’s dance studio is struggling. Compared to seasons 1 and 2, The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 feels spread thin as it hardly leaves itself any breathing room.

The Lincoln Lawyer Season 4 Needs To Return To Seasons 1 & 2’s More Concise Stories

The Lincoln Lawyer Season 4 Can Unify More For Mickey’s Defense

Mickey has blood in his mouth in The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 episode 2

To be fair, The Lincoln Lawyer season 3’s complex murder case stays true to Michael Connelly’s The Gods of Guilt book. The numerous moving parts of the case kept the novel extremely compelling, but it becomes a bit too overstuffed when the show works in so many other subplots in order to (rightfully) further develop Mickey’s legal team. Ultimately, it might have benefited from a few more episodes, or some of the subplots being combined. The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 still tells a phenomenal story, but its shortcomings present room for improvement in season 4.

Netflix has yet to officially renew The Lincoln Lawyer season 4.

Based on the final twist of Sam Scales’ body being found in Mickey’s trunk, it seems The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 is adapting Connelly’s The Law of Innocence book. The novel is centered around Mickey being accused of Sam’s murder, making him the defendant instead of just the defense attorney. As Mickey’s most personal case yet, The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 will seemingly take the story back to the more concise and cohesive approach of seasons 1 and 2, which saw more unity among the characters in their subplots and legal focus.