The Lincoln Lawyer Season 4: Can It Handle the Harry Bosch Problem?

The Lincoln Lawyer Season 4: A Sibling Rivalry That Can't Be On Screen!

The Lincoln Lawyer Season 4: A Big Problem with Harry Bosch

The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 is coming! And we know the main storyline involves Michael Connelly’s novel The Law of Innocence; it’s all set up at the end of season 3 with Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) getting framed for murder! But there’s a huge wrench thrown in – that storyline in the books involves his half-brother Harry Bosch – and this is a serious problem that needs addressing.

Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch are half-brothers in Connelly's books. That creates compelling stories! However, Harry Bosch is firmly planted in Amazon’s Bosch series! And because of this fundamental issue with rights ownership that is present at many points – Mickey can't be in that other show. It is complicated.

So far, this issue of separate rights ownership had been largely avoided: Mickey was written as an only child! But season 4? That Law of Innocence storyline is all about Harry; creating new difficulties to overcome!

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Harry Bosch’s Enormous Role in The Law of Innocence

Bosch spinoff series the lincoln lawyer Amazon prime Image

Mickey’s framed, his most personal and challenging case ever. And that means his half-brother plays a critically important part, a much larger role that would fundamentally impact those emotionally driven moments which would normally make such intense personal drama and connection so much more impacting for viewers! It's not merely investigating – this is family drama too, making this impossible scenario incredibly complicated, with various factors and elements working to make this completely unique and surprising! Even Mickey's ex-wife Maggie McPherson (Neve Campbell), who only appeared in two season 3 episodes, becomes a far more significant person!

The book’s main events: Harry is part of Mickey’s defense team; even acting as a co-investigator. And it is important to note just why his involvement matters in such critical parts of that story: It enhances those deeply felt family moments making it something very personal and profound, instead of the strictly professional work highlighted earlier, before all the developments regarding this family reunion happened!

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Why Harry Bosch Can't (and Likely Won't) Appear

Mickey Haller looking off to the side in The Lincoln Lawyer. Image

The reason? Amazon owns the rights to Harry Bosch. Netflix (who runs The Lincoln Lawyer)? They own the rights for Mickey Haller! If these companies were the same– we’d have a cross-over. But getting this kind of cross-over requires a deal; think Sony leasing Spider-Man to Disney! A huge amount of negotiations and financial incentives are all completely required to accomplish even the simplest of changes.

The Lincoln Lawyer has dodged Harry Bosch for three seasons. Season 4’s unlikely to be any different! There are alternative solutions; adding extra episodes with Neve Campbell, getting Hayley involved to get at those deeply rooted family elements; increasing the amount given to Cisco or just getting some entirely new character – anything's really possible to try.

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What the Showrunner Says: The Law of Innocence Without Harry

The Lincoln Lawyer - Season 2 | Season Poster Image

Co-showrunner Ted Humphrey already mentioned Harry Bosch’s absence; a critically important aspect, when considering what to do with the current storyline given. He claims that the character is “not a possibility.” And they intend to reimagine things: getting entirely new characters that weren't from the original books! Think Neil Bishop (from season 3), a new character totally replacing Detective Lankford’s role (played in season 1).

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Conclusion: The Lincoln Lawyer's Creative Challenge

This missing brother’s situation presents unique issues. Season 4 must replace Harry Bosch somehow! Getting a crossover? Highly unlikely. Instead, The Lincoln Lawyer will get those very interesting and extremely creative, non-book character inclusions – a choice that will necessarily create those unique aspects not entirely apparent from Connelly’s books, but also maintains some fidelity to that original plot.