The Lincoln Lawyerhas made many changes to the story, and one significant change with Mickey Haller means that season 4 could be the most difficult to watch. Netflix has a bona fide hit on their hands with their adaptation of Michael Connelly’s legal drama book series. With showrunners Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez at the helm, they’ve managed to translate the bestselling book series into one ofNetflix’s best TV shows.
Like every book adaptation, the Netflix show has taken some creative liberties when it comes to the storylines and characters. This is things as small as removing Mickey’s relationship with Kendall or as big aswriting out Bosch because they don’t have the rights. When it comes to character changes, the writers play to the actors’ strengths in the writing, which allows them to give their best performances. One change they made to Mickey Haller allows Manuel Garcia-Rulfo to shine as the character, but it also means thatThe Lincoln Lawyerseason 4 will be the most difficult season to watch.
Mickey Haller Is More Emotionally Open In Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer
Mickey Haller Has More Emotional Awareness In The Netflix Show
The book version of Mickey Haller, the movie version, and the TV version all feel like different interpretations of the same character rather than identical carbon copies. This is particularly noticeable when it comes to his emotional awareness and expression.
In Michael Connelly’sThe Lincoln Lawyerbooks, Mickey Haller is smart, creative, and cynical. He copes with the legal system with a healthy dose of nihilism and self-deprecating humor. However, I find Mickey to be extremely reserved about his feelings in the books. He frequently intellectualizes his feelings instead of feeling them. On top of that, he’s prone to using terms like “good,” “bad,” and “fine” instead of actual emotion words. The only time I see book Mickey regularly showing his emotions is when he’s with Hayley.
The2011 Matthew McConaughey movieThe Lincoln Lawyerincludes more displays of emotion from Mickey Haller, but they are still dampened. However, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo’s Mickey Haller is extremely emotionally vulnerable. He expresses joy, happiness, sadness, and anger. None of these approaches to the character is right or wrong, but Mickey’s emotionality does change the way he approaches difficult situations that would elicit strong feelings.
The Book Version Of Mickey Doesn’t Express His Feelings About Prison
Mickey Is Very Reserved And Deflective About His Emotions In Prison
One of the more notable examples of Mickey avoiding his feelings happens inThe Law of Innocence. Prison is a traumatizing and emotionally challenging environment, so one would expect him to have some kind of feelings about his circumstances, even if they’re only expressed internally. However, in reading back the chapters where he’s in prison,he constantly deflects when asked how he’s doing. Mickey only states his emotions in internal dialogue twice, mentioning being scared. On top of that, he overtly says that he’s trying to “blank out all the harsh sounds and fears.”
Whether or not Mickey handles the situation in the same way in Netflix’sThe Lincoln Lawyer,it will be much more difficult to watch than it was to read because of his emotionality in the TV show. If he’s more emotionally expressive during his prison time, it will hit hard. However, if he turns off his emotions during his prison time, like in the book, it will hit even harder. That would be a drastic shift from his existing personality, making it more impactful.
Mickey’s Prison Experience Could Be Manuel Garcia-Rulfo’s Best Performance Yet
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo Has Handled Emotionally Nuanced Scenes Well
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is a perfect Mickey Haller because of the way he approaches the character. There’s a good balance of emotionality, personality, and optimism in the script, and he performs it beautifully. He can execute the more serious and dramatic moments just as well as the comedic scenes. However,The Lincoln Lawyerseason 4 will really prove his acting prowess.
The upcoming season will show Mickey at his most vulnerable and challenged since he’s the defendant instead of someone else. That means balancing a lot of situational factors like his family’s reaction, his own emotions, his safety within the prison, etc. It would be easy to go wrong with so much at stake. However, if Garcia-Rulfo brings as much nuance and emotion to the prison experience as he has in his other scenes,The Lincoln Lawyerseason 4 could be his best performance yet.
