Now on Netflix: The Lincoln Lawyer returns for Season 4 — but one key character’s arc is starting to lose its grip
The courtroom tension still crackles, but as the story shifts, a once-pivotal presence begins to fade into narrative noise. Can the show revive the spark, or has the verdict already been written in silence?

Even though I love most of The Lincoln Lawyer‘s characters, season 4 will need to work extremely hard to convince me to care about one character who will play an important role in the story. Like other fans, I cannot wait for The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 to release on Netflix. This season will pick up where season 3 left off with the arrest of Mickey Haller for the murder of Sam Scales.

The writing team on The Lincoln Lawyer has gone above and beyond when it comes to creating characters we can love and emotionally invest in. Even Mickey’s biggest adversaries in The Lincoln Lawyer are compelling. I frequently find myself loving to hate the people going up against him. However, The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 will be fighting an uphill battle if they want me to care about Sam Scales.

Sam Scales Is One Of The Lincoln Lawyers’ Most Unlikable Victims

There Is Nothing Redeeming About Sam Scales

The Lincoln Lawyer does a pretty good job of making the audience care about the victims in Mickey’s cases, even when they aren’t shown onscreen often. The show understands the importance of victims having a voice.

Sam didn’t deserve to die, but he was still a scumbag.

However, The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 centers on the murder of Sam Scales, who is one of the most unlikable victims. Sam didn’t deserve to die, but he was still a scumbag. The most unlikable victim, other than Sam Scales, is Mitchell Bondurant. However, we didn’t really get to see his horrible behavior onscreen, making it more theoretical.

In contrast to Bondurant, we see firsthand that Sam Scales was conning vulnerable people without any regard for the impact it would have on the victims. It’s infuriating how little he cares about others.

The Lincoln Lawyer Will Have To Work Hard To Make Me Care About Sam Scales’ Death

I Only Care About Sam Scales’ Death Because It Impacts Mickey

While I’m open to seeing Sam Scales as a more nuanced character, I don’t know that they can actually convince me to care about him, especially if he gets killed for the same reason he did in the book. While I won’t go into details about the people involved in Sam Scale’s murder or the motive, his death was the prime example of the phrase “f*ck around and find out.” It will take a lot to make him empathetic.

The best approach to making Sam Scales more likable would be to show him through the eyes of people who knew him on a personal level. A partner, family member, or friend who could shine a light on the nicer and less scummy side of him. Hopefully, they’ll add Austin Neiderland to The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 because hearing him talk about Sam is the only time I have even an ounce of care about the conman. However, even that didn’t get me to feel bad about Sam Scales’ death.