‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 3 Finale Recap: It’s Always Somethin’

The Season 3 finale of The Lincoln Lawyer definitely connects all the dots. But not before it brings out another shocking act of violence, and not without upholding the series’ precedent for establishing what’s to come. Will there be a Lincoln Lawyer Season 4? That’s up to Netflix. But for now we’re just gonna say yes, because damn do we want it. It’s only our opinion, but season 3 was the best Lincoln Lawyer yet. Let’s get to it. 

“The defense calls Neil Bishop to the stand.” After a quick flashback that establishes exactly how crooked DEA Agent James DeMarco installed a handle on Bishop’s back, the former LAPD homicide detective and current district attorney’s office investigator is called to testify, just like Mickey promised. But with our knowledge of their episode 9 conversation, we can see that this Neil Bishop is not the same swaggering piece of work he once was. From the stand, he readily admits he had an ulterior motive in getting assigned to Julian La Cosse’s case. As the DA shifts awkwardly in his chair, and Judge Regina Turner reacts with concern, Bishop continues to incriminate himself in the scheme that killed Glory and that now threatens to lock up Julian forever. Another flashback reveals how Bishop tailed Glory Days to the Roosevelt Hotel. How he told DeMarco where she lived. How all of it led to her murder. And as Mickey continues with a careful line of questioning, the judge asks her bailiff to confiscate Bishop’s service weapon. This season, there were plenty of tense courtroom moments. But this exchange tops them all. 

“He owned me,” Bishop continues. Ten years of doing dirty work for DeMarco, all because Neil made that first mistake, accepting cash from the DEA spook back when he hoped it would help him stay in his young son’s life. No one in court can believe where this testimony is going. It’s everything Mickey had pushed for, but given freely by Bishop of his own volition. “I’ve committed no crime,” he says, and begins to tear up before reaching for something out of view. “Tell my son I’m sorry.” And Neil Bishop puts the barrel of his holdout piece in his mouth and pulls the trigger. 

As a bookend to the shocking death of Eddie Rojas, Neil Bishop’s very public suicide is another stunning moment for this season of The Lincoln Lawyer. But this act, together with the rot revealed to be endemic to the system, spins Mickey Haller toward more guilt and even the consideration that he might quit the game. In a final quiet moment with Andrea Freeman, she urges him not to blame himself. And appearing at his place to apologize for shutting him out, Mickey’s daughter Hayley says there’s no way he can quit now, since he fought so hard to free an innocent man. (“The system will never work if people don’t make it work.”) Somewhat reassured, Mickey heads to the hospital to visit his recovering client, who’s accompanied by his partner David. The charges were dismissed; their ordeal is over. “You’re a free man, Julian.”

It’s four months later – hey, another time jump! – and not only has Mickey not quit the life of LA’s highest profile defense attorney, but Haller & Associates is rocking, with Lorna Crane taking on a big money divorce case. (It’s the wife of the smarmy rich guy who originally tried to racially profile Eddie.) In another final bit of gruesomeness, Hector Moya sends a pic of how he captured James DeMarco and went full La Culebra on the agent’s corrupt ass. The district attorney has quietly settled with Julian and Mickey. (The amount is unnamed, but it contains a lot of zeroes.) And the entire team celebrates their bonuses at a chatty lunch, they toast to the gods of guilt. It’s not a reference to Mickey’s nickname for the jury this time, but instead an acknowledgement of who they carry with them. And on the way out the door for a well-deserved vacation that actually sounds incredible, Mickey nods to the ghosts he carries: Glory Days, Eddie Rojas, and Mickey Haller, Sr. 

Not so fast. If you’ve seen previous Lincoln Lawyer season finales, you were probably expecting that Mickey wasn’t gonna make it to that tennis tournament in San Diego before driving on to Mexico. And sure enough, he’s pulled over by an LAPD patrol car and asked to step out of the Continental. As his protestations go nowhere, Mickey watches as the officer points out something dripping from the convertible’s mile-long trunk. He stresses that cops cannot search a vehicle without proper legal consent. You know where this is going. Inside, a dead body is curled up next to the Lincoln’s spare tire. Mickey Haller has just been framed for murder.

So who is Sam Scales (Christopher Thornton), the guy in the trunk? Well, he’s a con artist about town. Sam has popped up here and there in The Lincoln Lawyer, usually on the bad end of a scam, but sometimes as an asset for the team, even though at the time of his death he was badly in arrears on fees. And his death will be the reason Mickey has to defend himself from a jail cell, as detailed in The Law of Innocence, author Michael Connelly’s sixth book to feature the Lincoln Lawyer. Again, we’re really hoping the series gets renewed for season 4. Because for as cool as his cornflower 1963 Lincoln Continental is, it’s an even cooler idea to take it away from him. This time, let’s see Mickey Haller battle the injustices of the system from the inside.

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.

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