Mickey may become known as Lincoln’s Lawyer for a new reason in Season 4. Image: Netflix
Warning: There are deep spoilers for the Season 3 finale of The Lincoln Lawyer.
Oh, Lincoln Lawyer fans (what do we call ourselves? Lincoln Logs? I’m working on it), are we making an exciting little case for Mickey Haller’s third outing or what? The second season of David E. Kelly and Ted Humphrey for Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer novels, in which our favorite Los Angeles criminal defense attorney and owner of several Lincoln-branded vehicles receives a phone call from a man named Julian LaCosse. He’d just been accused of a murder he swore he didn’t commit, and it was Gloria Dayton – aka Glory Days, the sex worker whom Mickey idolized and became fond of (as a sort of brother) – who told him to call Haller if he was ever in trouble . The unfortunate hitch here: Gloria Dayton is also a victim.
See, Julian was a manager of sorts for the escorts, providing them with a secure website and other security checks. Glory told him that a client didn’t show up, so she couldn’t pay him, but Julian had confirmed this with the man beforehand, so he went to her house to make sure she didn’t take the money she owed him and spend it on drugs. Glory was found strangled to death and her apartment set on fire an hour later.
It becomes very clear early on that Julian is innocent – he left before she died – and that Glory’s death is linked to the fact that she once ratted out a high-ranking member of the Tijuana Cartel named Hector Moya (we saw her do that in Season 2) and now Hector, who has been imprisoned, is trying to… Life by DEA, his sentence cancelled. A week before her death, Glory was called as a witness in Moya’s case. Moya needs “glory days” to resume – he won’t kill her. And as Mickey discovers, the more he uncovers Glory’s murder, the more deeply he finds himself mixed up with some shady and suspicious members of law enforcement. But even a rattlesnake left in his bed won’t stop Mickey Haller from getting justice, okay?
Things get twisty, but in true Lincoln Lawyer fashion, the truth comes out by the end of the season. How does Mickey do it this time? Below, we answer all your burning questions about how Season 3 of The Lincoln Lawyer will conclude — and what will happen if the court reconvenes for Season 4.
Well, slow down there, buddy. Everything will be answered. It all goes back to a DEA agent named James DeMarco. DeMarco is the officer who put Moya away for life. But, as Mikey learns, Moya is right to believe he is being set up to get this life sentence. DeMarco, who had arrested Glory Days several times, made a deal with her to plant a gun in Moya’s house the next time Moya hired her, then ordered her to use Miki to make it look like snitching on Moya was a big deal for Miki. Planning again for season two; It was DiMarco’s plan all along. Clearly, the man was ready for Hector Moya and would do everything in his power to keep him behind bars permanently.
You’re probably thinking, well, this guy seems like a complicated guy trying to get justice for the cartel any way he can. But Di Marco is not complicated. As Mickey and Cisco discover by the end of the season, De Marco is secretly working for the Juarez Cartel – rivals to the Moya Cartel in Tijuana. See where this is headed? When the glory days were called, DeMarco had a lot to lose if she testified that he forced her to plant evidence. That’s what we call motivation, baby.
Photo: Lara Solanki/Netflix
Did you ever. It takes Mickey some time to connect all the dots; In fact, Mickey is suffering more losses in court than usual, and things are looking bleak for Julian – especially when De Marco uses another Juarez cartel associate to try to kill the poor man in prison. (Julian is basically an IT man; he can’t survive in these conditions! His beautiful partner, David, is suffering! Protect David at all costs!) Mikey also suffers losses outside of court when DeMarco tries to silence Mikey and ends up killing him The order to kill. Mickey’s beautiful new driver Eddie Rojas. The kid just wanted to drink his green juice and crochet scarves straight online and also be somewhat orange inexplicably. RIP to this guy!
The reason for Mickey’s misfortune comes from unexpected sources: Neil Bishop (oh, well Holt McCallany!), the prosecutor’s investigator. Bishop is a retired cop whose career was derailed 15 years ago when Mickey Haller caught him lying on the stand tampering with evidence. Suffice it to say that Bishop hates Mickey and is also teaming up with DeMarco. Mikey and the team have security camera footage of the two together. When Bishop learns this, he knows he’s cooked. Instead of letting things go (the prosecutor is quite capable), he is consumed by guilt and wants to come clean about his relationship with DeMarco. The bishop takes the stand.
Image: Netflix
Ten years ago, De Marco bribed Bishop with a large sum of money to bury a murder case linked to the Juarez cartel, and has been owned by the former informant ever since. He has used it repeatedly to do his bidding over the years, including obtaining information on Gloria Dayton. He followed her the night she was killed. DeMarco gave her address. He watched De Marco enter her house after Julian had already left, and then, under De Marco’s orders, ensured he was appointed lead investigator for the prosecution in the case. On the platform, Bishop is a broken man. He tells Mikey that DeMarco told him that Glory is already dead. “Did you believe him?” Mickey asks. “I wanted to do it,” Bishop says through tears. “Did you believe him?” Mikey asks again. “No, I didn’t.”
Mickey’s interrogation ends and Bishop doubles over, crying. Suddenly, he pulls a gun from his ankle, tells them to tell his son he loves him, and shoots him in the head.
The charges against Julian were dropped. He is a free man. He’s also a very rich man: Mickey helps Julian get a huge settlement from the city of Los Angeles, the LAPD, and the DEA. It’s a big win for Julian and Mickey (and his team, who all get bonuses).
Once Bishop takes the stand and starts spilling, one of De Marco’s men who were in the courtroom warns his boss, and De Marco flees town (after a motorcycle chase with Cisco, of course). It seems like DeMarco may never pay for his crimes… until one day when Izzy opens a package addressed to Mickey’s office with sunglasses that look suspiciously like the ones we’ve seen DeMarco sport and an envelope with a photo of the dead DeMarco wrapped in a rattlesnake. It’s not long before Mickey receives a phone call: Hector Moya is out of prison, and he owes Mickey one. De Marco won’t bother either of them anymore, and Mikey doesn’t need to worry about a negative reaction from the Juarez cartel – Moya has him covered, too. Maybe it will pay off in the future to have friends in low places?
Photo: Lara Solanki/Netflix
I’m so glad you asked. Yes there is a kiss. Not enough by most standards, but by some. Mickey Haller and Andy Freeman finally cashed in on all that chemistry between them, and found themselves in a full-fledged relationship. Unfortunately, their case and the drama surrounding those cases gets in the way, and they are broken up before the end of the season. However, I have hope for these two! Although what will Andy think when she hears that Mickey has just been arrested when a traffic cop finds a body in the trunk of his car? She won’t be thrilled, I’m sure.
You read that right. In Season 4, Mickey may become known as the Lincoln Lawyer for a new reason: driving around Los Angeles carrying a client’s body in the trunk of his car. I mean, it’s a nice little advertisement for ample storage space for this stuff, but it’s not a great situation for our favorite criminal defense attorney. He’s drunk when he leaves the celebratory dinner with the crew after Julian’s settlement arrives, but things take a wild turn when a cop pulls Mickey over for a missing license plate and then arrests him when he notices what appears to be blood dripping in the street. . Mickey points out that the cop has no legal right to open the trunk, which you know is coming next season, but it doesn’t matter — he pops the trunk and Mickey panics when he finds Sam Scales’ body inside.
Image: Netflix
He has appeared on the show several times: he is one of the clients that Mickey inherits when Jerry Vincent leaves his practice in the first season. He’s a hustler and certainly can’t pay his fees on any kind of schedule, but he’s been in play to help the team when they need support for their own hustling schemes. And yes, he was very, very dead and planted in the back of a Lincoln.
If The Lincoln Lawyer is arrested for another season, you can be sure that the fallout from that arrest will color the whole thing. You can look to Michael Connelly’s sixth Mickey Haller novel, Innocence Law, as a roadmap if you’re so inclined. While the Netflix series doesn’t shy away from shaking things up from the events of the novels, Innocence finds Mickey accused of this murder, representing himself, and running the case from inside a prison cell. If that doesn’t say “made for TV,” I don’t know what does. I’m actually starting to feel bad for the guy because (1) he’s clearly framed and (2) our little foodies in Los Angeles are going to hate what they serve in the prison cafeteria.
