TV's Biggest ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ Replacement Officially Takes Over Netflix

Stories about fighting for what’s right will always be in fashion, and nothing makes for better TV than watching an unlikely hero emerge to topple a great evil. It is especially satisfying to see characters uphold the law, which might explain why legal dramas like The Lincoln Lawyer, Matlock, and Cupertino have gained such a dedicated following. The Rainmaker is another legal drama in the same category that has taken the world by storm.

Based on John Grisham‘s classic narrative, The Rainmaker follows underdog attorney Rudy Baylor (Milo Callaghan) as he leaves a prestigious firm for a scrappy street-law practice run by Jocelyn “Bruiser” Stone (Lana Parrilla). Alongside paralegal Deck Shifflet (PJ Byrne), Rudy takes on high-stakes cases that put him in the crosshairs of powerful people and corporations while threatening his personal relationships. The series has solidified its place as a massive ratings triumph for USA Network, single-handedly anchoring the channel’s highly anticipated return to original scripted programming.

On a cable network that had retired from scripted shows, The Rainmaker has had to beat many odds. And while it performs decently well during live airings, the show’s real power is evident on streaming, where it has taken multiple platforms by storm. The series is available on Prime Video for U.S. viewers, has recently arrived on Netflix for international fans, and is on Apple’s PVOD platform. It has become a hit on all these platforms, ranking in the top since it returned for Season 2 on October 16. At the time of writing, FlixPatrol ranks The Rainmaker on Netflix, on Prime Video, on iTunes, and on Stan.

Four icons and four completely different ways of walking into trouble.
This is the one you would have been out there, why it fits, and what it would have cost you.

You have never explained yourself and you have never needed to,
because people work out fairly quickly that you are the most capable person in the room
without you ever having to mention it.

• Eastwood built the character out of everything he refused to do, stripping away the
  backstory, the speeches and every bit of reassurance until only the competence was left.
• You keep your own counsel, and while other people occasionally find that unnerving, you
  have never felt any real need to fix it for them.
• The Dollars films work because he genuinely is in it for himself right up until the
  moment he is not, and he never explains that part either.
• You would be gone before anybody got a chance to thank you.

You are the funniest person in most rooms and the most loyal
person in all of them, and you would be genuinely insulted if somebody suggested those two
things were in any tension.

• Doc has no real reason to be in this fight beyond the fact that his friend is in it,
  which is the only reason he has ever needed for anything.
• You lead with wit, and it does a very effective job of hiding how seriously you take the
  handful of people you actually care about.
• Val Kilmer’s performance is the most quoted in the entire genre because the jokes keep
  getting sharper as the situation gets worse.
• You would spend everything you had on this and still describe it as a good week.

You never wanted this job, and you took it anyway because the
alternative was standing there watching somebody less careful do it badly, which is the most
Western reason there has ever been.

• Earp is the reluctant authority figure, a man who came to town specifically to be left
  alone and somehow ended up answerable for all of it.
• You are protective by instinct, so when something goes wrong your first thought is who
  is exposed rather than who is to blame.
• These films understand that keeping order costs far more than breaking it, and that the
  person holding the line almost never gets thanked.
• You would do the whole thing again, and you would complain about it the entire time.

Nobody has ever successfully talked you out of something you had
already decided was right, and a long line of grown adults has found that out the hard way.

• Mattie is the most relentless character in the Western canon and she manages it through
  argument, paperwork and flat refusal rather than a fast draw.
• You have no patience for being managed, so you negotiate, you check the details and you
  turn up exactly when you said you would.
• True Grit is the rare Western where the moral centre is the youngest person on screen
  and every adult around her has to catch up.
• You would get what you came for, and the film is honest about what that takes out of
  you.

What Is ‘The Rainmaker’ Season 2 About?

• Image via USA Network

• Image via Christopher Barr / ©USA Network / Courtesy Everett Collection

• Image via USA Network

• Image via: Christopher Barr/USA Network

• Peacock

• Image via USA Network

• Image via Christopher Barr / ©USA Network / Courtesy Everett Collection

• Image via USA Network

• Image via: Christopher Barr/USA Network

• Peacock

After winning his major case against Great Benefits, Baylor is back on the grind, and this time he’s taking on another intricate crime ring being shielded by the legal system. It all starts with a coded message from a young boy who has been in juvenile prison and is facing abuse. As Baylor and the team investigate, they realize the rot runs deeper than they ever imagined. Meanwhile, Rudy’s boss is dealing with something different after her ex-husband reenters her life with a major request that puts everyone in the same orbit as organized crime. Elsewhere, Rudy’s ex-girlfriend Sarah (Madison Iseman) has landed on her feet after the Tinley Britt/Great Benefits fiasco, but the ground is shaky and could shift beneath her feet if she’s not careful.

New episodes of The Rainmaker Season 2 air on Fridays at 8 pm on USA Network. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

The Rainmaker