Last year I reviewed the series premiere of The Rainmaker. As someone who read the book and watched the 1997 Matt Damon starring-movie, I found certain changes baffling. If you want more details, you can read the review for yourself. I thought I was maybe missing the bigger picture, so I continued watching. It turned out my first impressions were mostly right.
Even if the show was a subpar adaptation, parts of it were still enjoyable with many of those being those faithful to John Grisham’s novel. Most of it though was just the routine of watching it. It was surprising that USA Network renewed the series for a second season. I didn’t know what its ratings were like, and more importantly I didn’t know how another season would be possible as the book doesn’t have a sequel.
The Rainmaker diverges from its source material by keeping protagonist Rudy Baylor (Milo Callaghan, The Strangers: Chapter 2) a lawyer. In the book, he retires from being an attorney with plans of becoming a teacher. He also ends up with Kelly Riker (Robyn Cara, Bodkin), whereas in the show he just helps her escape an abusive marriage. The series solves this by making up new cases for Rudy and his friends. As far as I know, only the returning characters originate from Grisham.
The writing decision to make Bruiser’s (Lana Parrilla, The Lincoln Lawyer) firm wait for the money from last season’s trial on appeal is realistic and understandable, considering the show wants to keep them as a ragtag team. The show has two new cases for them, one involving Bruiser’s ex-husband Tom (Austin Nichols, Virgin River) and one involving a 12-year-old boy named Victor Suffredes (Asher De Land, That’s What I Heard) serving a harsh juvenile detention sentence for a prank. The ex-husband story is definitely the B-plot. While Bruiser’s style and sass is entertaining, her relationship troubles aren’t, save for the moment when she takes her ex’s wife’s expensive bag as a retainer.
The story with the boy in juvie is more intriguing. There appear to be layers to it yet to be peeled back. There are some similarities between this show and both Defending Jacob and Adolescence. The differences are Victor has already been convicted and, as far as we know, he’s only guilty of playing a prank, not murder.
One of the biggest divergences from the source material was Rudy having a girlfriend who was also a lawyer. The show wants us to feel bad for Sarah (Madison Iseman, Jumanji: The Next Level), even though she compromised her morals working for Tinley Britt. Her father saying she committed a crime by losing is melodramatic. Not being able to get a new job is a relatable problem, making her sympathetic enough. This is unlikely to last as she goes to work for Amanda Vonn (Merle Dandridge, The Last of Us).
While the season premiere doesn’t have the book to rely on, the big case and the upcoming appearance of Deck Shiflett’s (P.J. Byrne, Coyote vs. Acme) father, Larry Shiflett (Richard Kind, Only Murders in the Building), are enough to bring me back for at least another episode.
