THE LINCOLN LAWYER (2022): Season One Overview
An engrossing legal thriller with strong moral themes—for adults only.
Should You Watch It?
This is a highly entertaining legal thriller with clever plot twists, courtroom drama, and exciting jeopardy. The acting, writing, and directing are superb, with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo giving a fine performance as Mickey Haller, an unconventional defense attorney who works from two Lincoln Town Cars.
The series also has a strong moral center. Guilty people receive justice, innocent people go free, and flawed good people experience redemption. Its season finale includes a powerful reference to Easter.
But the mature content is substantial. Strong obscenities and profanities appear throughout, alongside bloody violence and references to crime, adultery, prostitution, corruption, human trafficking, and homosexuality. If you are an adult able to handle those concerns, this is worth watching; it is not appropriate for children or young teens.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESMickey Haller is a defense attorney in Los Angeles who works out of two Lincoln Town Cars while a driver takes him from case to case.
After Mickey’s lawyer friend is murdered, Mickey inherits the friend’s practice, including the high-profile murder trial of Trevor Elliott, a wealthy video game creator who says he found his wife and her lover shot dead. As Mickey works to defend Elliott, he also handles other dangerous cases and tries to rebuild his life, reputation, and relationships.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this season is most entertaining and superbly made. It tells an engrossing, captivating story filled with courtroom drama, clever plot twists, and exciting jeopardy.
The series is superbly acted, written, and directed. Garcia-Rulfo is especially strong as Mickey Haller, while the other actors also do very well. The season ends on a strong positive note, giving its flawed good characters some redemption and delivering justice to the guilty.
The Worldview
The series presents a strong moral and redemptive worldview overall. Guilty people receive their just desserts, innocent people go free, and flawed good people experience some redemption. Corruption and shady legal dealings are condemned and ultimately overcome.
The story also takes place in a dark world of crime, sin, murder, and human weakness. It includes references to adultery, prostitution, homosexuality, and human trafficking, along with pagan language about juries as “the Gods of Guilt.” Addiction is treated as bad, while recovery is treated as good.
The season finale gives Christianity a positive reference. While celebrating a redemptive outcome, Mickey explains that his Christian mother reminded him that Easter was more important than Christmas. The series recognizes redemption, but Scripture points to its foundation: “He is not here, but has risen” (Luke 24:6).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral, redemptive worldview overall where the guilty people get their just desserts, the innocent people go free, and the flawed good guys experience some redemption, with some strong redemptive content, including positive overt references to Christmas and Easter in the season finale, marred by pagan, immoral content revolving around crime, corruption and shady legal dealings Foul Lan-guage: One episode has 28 obscenities and profanities (LLL) and most have less than 20 (LL): 15 obscenities (including four “f” words) and three light profanities in Episode 1.1, 19 obscenities (including five “f” words) in Episode 1.2, 23 obscenities (including two or three “f” words), one Jesus profanity, two GD profanities, and two light profanities (in-cluding one in Spanish) in Episode 1.3, 22 obscenities (including nine “f” words) and three light profanities in Episode 1.4, 12 obscenities (including four “f” words), one Jesus pro-fanity, and one light profanity in Episode 1.5, 16 obscenities (including six “f” words) and no profanities in Episode 1.6, 13 obscenities (including five “f” words), and one Jesus pro-fanity in Episode 1.7, 13 obscenities (including seven “f” words) and one Jesus profanity in Episode 1.8, 16 obscenities (including five “f” words) and one light profanity in Episode 1.9, and 17 obscenities (including five “f” words), one GD profanity and one light profani-ty in Episode 1.10
Violence
Mostly strong, some light violence includes threats of vio-lence, images of people who’ve been shot dead, a man is shot dead while he’s in his car in a parking garage, a character is shot dead by a revenge-minded person, killer tries to beat up and kill the title character, threats of violence, and human trafficker tries to strangle his woman who’s betrayed him to police because the man is a mean person who forced her to be with him
Sex
No depicted sex, but there are references to adultery, the new driver who drives the title character’s cars is a lesbian so there are references to that and to her ex-girlfriend, there are references to the male partner of the judge in the main case in one se-quence in one episode, there are references to prostitution (a witness in another case involv-ing an unknown killer is a prostitute who was attacked by the killer but got away), and the title character is still in love with his first wife, and they start to take off their clothes while passionately kissing, but they are interrupted when one of them is called out to a work emergency
Nudity
Some upper male nudity in several scenes and images of rear male nudity of a man who’s been shot dead and images of a naked woman covered up by bed-sheets who’s also been shot dead
Alcohol Use
Multiple scenes of alcohol use
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
Smoking and references to two people being in recovery from drug addiction, one by pain killers and one who had a heroin habit (the TV series views addiction as a bad thing and recovery as a good thing); and, Miscellaneous Immo-rality: Lying, deceit, bad guys game the justice system, some corruption in the justice sys-tem but it’s rebuked and overcome, lawyer refers to juries as “the Gods of Guilt,” and a character mentions visualization and positive thinking in one episode.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The series shows flawed people experiencing redemption. What does genuine repentance look like, and how is it different from merely escaping consequences?
2 Corinthians 7:10 · Psalm 51:17Corruption in the justice system is rebuked and overcome. Why does God care about justice, and how should Christians pursue it?
Micah 6:8 · Isaiah 1:17Mickey’s mother taught him that Easter was more important than Christmas. What does Easter reveal about guilt, justice, and redemption?
1 Peter 2:24 · 1 Corinthians 15:3–4Several characters struggle with addiction and recovery. How can a Christian community respond to people seeking freedom from destructive habits?
Galatians 6:1–2 · James 5:16The Final Word
This is an engrossing, superbly acted legal thriller with clever twists, strong moral elements, and a redemptive Easter reference. Its profanities, violence, and mature crime content make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults, the answer is WORTH WATCHING — ADULTS ONLY. For family viewing, choose something else.
