When The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 premiered, the show adapted the second book in Michael Connelly’s series. The first book was the premise for The Lincoln Lawyer movie, starring Matthew McConaughey, and the show needed to differentiate itself from the movie. To achieve this, the second book is the primary inspiration for The Lincoln Lawyer season 1.
Though the first book ha been skipped in Netflix’s adaptation, The Lincoln Lawyer is not completely ignoring Michael Connelly’s first Mickey Haller book. The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 makes some changes to Haller’s story to account for missing events from the first book. However, hints throughout The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 demonstrate that characters and plot lines will all eventually be included in the future seasons of Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer.
How The Lincoln Lawyer Is Already Adapting Season 1
The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 includes 2 important characters and their stories from the first book, as well as several minor stories and references throughout. A version of the sex worker Gloria Dayton (Fione Rene) that Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) calls on to testify appears in Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer in the case against Jesus Menendez. The Lincoln Lawyer brought her story into season 1, and this will likely set up events that might not happen until season 3 or beyond if Netflix renews the show again.
Jesus Menedez is the other character from the first The Lincoln Lawyer book who appears in season 1 of the Netflix show, despite not appearing in The Brass Verdict at all. The character is renamed Jesus Martinez, and his story plays out similarly, though in the book he is tied to the central story. By contrast in The Lincoln Lawyer season 1, Martinez is more of a side story to the larger Trevor Elliot trial.
The Lincoln Lawyer Will See Book 1 Across Multiple Seasons
The Lincoln Lawyer book one will not have a season of its own, but viewers are going to see the story behind the case that brings together Gloria Dayton and Jesus Menendez play out in future seasons of The Lincoln Lawyer. The first book in the series was made into a movie in 2011, so it’s not getting its own season, and The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 will be adapting book 4, The Fifth Witness. However, the end of The Lincoln Lawyer shows a man watching Mickey Haller surfing. This figure matches the description given of the real perpetrator of the crime that Jesus Martinez went to jail for.
If Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer follows the narrative of the books, then the figure watching Haller at the end will be Louis Roulet (or a version of him). In the first book, Roulet is Mickey’s client but also the primary antagonist in the book. With the way the show is being set up, it is clear that viewers will not see The Lincoln Lawyer book one turn into a season of its own but that the Netflix series will include the original plot as part of a meta-narrative across multiple seasons.
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