Netflix’s 4-Part Michael Connelly Series Has 1 More Chance To Beat Suits

Published Sep 18, 2026, 5:45 PM EDT Tom is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, with expertise covering everything from hilarious sitcoms to jaw-dropping sci-fi epics. Initially he was an Updates writer, though before long he found his way to the TV and movies team. He now spends his days keeping Screen Rant readers informed about the TV shows of yesteryear, whether it's recommending hidden gems that may have been missed by genre fans or deep diving into ways your favorite shows have (or haven't) stood the test of time. Tom is based in the UK and when he's not writing about TV shows, he's watching them. He's also an avid horror fiction writer, gamer, and has a Dungeons and Dragons habit that he tries (and fails) to keep in check. Few, if any, TV shows have experienced the kind of streaming success enjoyed by Suits. The legal drama had an admirable nine-season run on the USA Network, but its second life was far more noteworthy. After arriving on Netflix in 2023, Suits became a streaming phenomenon, dominating Nielsen’s rankings and ultimately generating 57.7 billion viewing minutes that year across Netflix and Peacock (via THR). Unsurprisingly, the thousands of new Suits fans created by that streaming boom have been waiting for a worthy successor. The highly anticipated spinoff Suits L.A. ultimately failed to provide one, but Netflix already had another legal drama perfectly positioned to fill that gap. Based on Michael Connelly’s novels, The Lincoln Lawyer has quietly become one of the streamer’s most reliable ongoing hits and the perfect follow-up to Suits. The Lincoln Lawyer follows defense attorney Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), who conducts much of his business from the back seat of his Lincoln while handling increasingly dangerous Los Angeles cases. The show has four seasons so far, with a fifth and final chapter on the way. For Suits fans looking for another slick, character-driven legal drama to binge, few shows are better suited to take its place. Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer Was The Perfect Suits Successor Suits and The Lincoln Lawyer may both be legal dramas, but the reasons the latter is the perfect follow-up to the former extend far beyond a shared genre. Each show understands that courtroom victories and complicated cases are only part of the appeal. Suits built itself around Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), and the relationships inside Pearson Hardman, and The Lincoln Lawyer makes Mickey’s professional and personal relationships equally important. Both The Lincoln Lawyer and Suits also have the same accessible, polished quality. Neither is interested in being a dry procedural that simply moves from one legal problem to another. They use unusual cases, clever courtroom strategies, charismatic lawyers, romantic complications, workplace conflicts, and ongoing mysteries to keep their narratives moving. This similar creative approach makes The Lincoln Lawyer an especially natural next watch after finishing all nine seasons of Suits. The comparison becomes even stronger when looking at their streaming performances. It would be hard to claim that The Lincoln Lawyer is a solid Suits follow-up if it wasn’t doing well in its own right. Thankfully, the viewing figures for The Lincoln Lawyer are incredibly impressive (even if they’re not as newsworthy). During Suits’ enormous 2023 resurgence, The Lincoln Lawyer was simultaneously becoming a Nielsen success in its own right. The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 helped it repeatedly top Nielsen’s U.S. streaming-original rankings, including a 1.7-billion-minute week in July 2023 (via Deadline). That success has only grown. During the week season 4 debuted in February 2026, The Lincoln Lawyer to 2.54 billion viewing minutes (via TVLine). It still hasn't replicated the extraordinary scale of Suits’ streaming phenomenon, but it has firmly established itself as both a Netflix hit and a worthy successor. Why The Lincoln Lawyer Is Ending With Season 5 Despite its continued popularity, The Lincoln Lawyer will end with season 5. However, it’s not a premature cancellation. Showrunners Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez have been candid that their intention from the beginning was to give Mickey Haller’s story a proper conclusion rather than try and string out the narrative indefinitely until the show’s popularity dwindled (via Netflix): “From the very beginning, the mission was always not only to tell the story of Mickey Haller and his compatriots, but also to give that story a proper conclusion. And while it is, of course, bittersweet, it’s also an amazing opportunity to bring this adventure to a close and perhaps chart a new course for some of our characters into the future.” It’s a decision that may be disappointing for some fans, but could ultimately work in The Lincoln Lawyer’s favor. Five seasons will make it a substantial but manageable binge, while a deliberately constructed ending will prevent it ending on an unresolved cliffhanger. Essentially, ending on season 5 is The Lincoln Lawyer opting for rewatch value over longevity, which is a smart move in the age of streaming. A planned ending could also ensure The Lincoln Lawyer avoids one of Suits’ biggest weaknesses. Suits remained entertaining across nine seasons, but its later years were more uneven, particularly after season 6 and as its original ensemble began changing. Its remarkable streaming numbers prove that it’s still far from a bad show, but even the most dedicated fans would find it hard to argue that it wasn’t uneven. The Lincoln Lawyer gets to leave before facing the same problem. If season 5 delivers a satisfying conclusion while maintaining the quality that has carried the Netflix show this far, its shorter run could become one of its biggest advantages. Suits remains the streaming benchmark, but The Lincoln Lawyer now has one final season to establish itself as an equally bingeable destination for fans wanting a slick, quirky legal drama. Release Date 2022 - 2027-00-00 Network Netflix Directors David E. Kelley Cast Manuel Garcia-Rulfo Mickey Haller Writers David E. Kelley Creator(s) David E. Kelley