Haaaaaave you met Cobie Smulders in The Lincoln Lawyer season 4? Well, we haven't yet, but we're going to whenever the hit legal drama returns to Netflix. Variety reported on June 2 that Smulders has been added the fourth season of the Netflix original series, and while a lot of mystery continues to surround the How I Met Your Mother star's role, it seems to be a potentially big one.
According to a tease from Deadline about Smulders' role in The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 finale, there's a possibility that her character could return in the currently unconfirmed season 5. Again, there's not much known about who she's playing, but Deadline shares that Smulders plays Allison, "an important character connected to Mickey." I don't know about you, but that sounds like a pivotal role!
Smulders hasn't had a sizable role in a major television series lately, though she recently guest starred in the Apple TV+ comedy-drama Shrinking, which stars former How I Met Your Mother co-star Jason Segel, and the FOX drama series Accused, each for one episode. She last starred in the 2022 Freevee series High School and the 2023 Disney+ Marvel miniseries Secret Invasion.
As a fan of both Smulders and The Lincoln Lawyer, I would love to see Smulders stick around through the season 4 finale and into season 5, should Netflix renew the series (and there's a very good chance it will). She has the perfect balance of comedy and drama chops necessary for the blue-sky legal dramedy and will definitely have great chemistry with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey.
I have been not so secretly campaigning for Cobie Smulders to return to the small screen in a big way since her ABC crime drama Stumptown was renewed for season 2 and then un-renewed for season 2 following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. She and the show deserved a lot better (especially since she found something great following the middling Netflix comedy Friends from College).
But the question remains: Who is Allison? A cursory Google search didn't produce a character from Michael Connelly's book series, including The Law of Innocence, which has inspired season 4. Perhaps she's a character book fans know and love (educate show fans!) or she's a character that has been created for the Netflix series. We can't wait to meet her!
The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 will already be a colossal undertaking for Mickey Haller since he's been accused of murder and will be defending himself against prosecutor Dana Berg (Constance Zimmer). The season will also see the return of Neve Campbell as a series regular and more new additions, such as Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jason O'Mara, Javon Johnson, Nancy Silverton, and Kyle Richards.
Filming for The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 began in February 2025 and is expected to continue through sometime in June. Considering Smulders role in the season 4 finale has been announced in June, production seems to be right on target to wrap later this month. However, we might be waiting to meet Smulders' character until 2026 based on the latest updates from Netflix.
Stay tuned for more streaming TV news and updates from Show Snob!