The Lincoln Lawyer ended season 4 by dropping bombshells in Mickey’s murder trial.
Based on Michael Connelly‘s books, The Lincoln Lawyer follows lawyer Mickey (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) as he works in the back of his Lincoln Navigator while taking on cases in Los Angeles. Netflix’s hit series returned on Thursday, February 5, with Mickey having to represent himself after being charged with murder.
“We knew going in that season 4 was going to be the most emotional and personal [one yet],” executive producer Ted Humphrey told Tudum. “I had already played the Mickey Haller that can do everything. In this season, he really feels down. He’s trying not to show it … but deep inside, he knows that most likely this is it.”
Mickey received help from ex-wife Maggie (Neve Campbell) and other colleagues and friends including Lorna (Becki Newton), Izzy (Jazz Raycole), Cisco (Angus Sampson) and Legal (Elliott Gould) after the body of his former client Sam (Christopher Thornton) was found in the trunk.
Armenian mobster Alex Garizian (Michael A. Goorjian) was the one actually responsible for Sam’s murder. While Alex killed Sam because he thought he was scamming him, it was later revealed that Sam was working as an informant for the FBI to gather evidence to take down Alex.
Mickey isn’t allowed to expose the truth in court once the FBI told him he would compromise their investigation. Before a witness can take the stand to side with Mickey’s version of events, the judge paused the case.
The District Attorney ultimately dropped the charges against Mickey after he promised to not speak about the FBI’s involvement. Mickey ultimately asked to be publicly exonerated.
“It’s his realization that he was this close to going to prison,” showrunner Dailyn Rodriguez told Tudum. “I really loved how Liz [Friedlander] shot it too, with people going about their regular day, and nobody has any idea that this terrible thing had just transpired, and his life had almost completely changed forever. The lack of words is the best part of it.”
Mickey was then able to move on with his life — until a mysterious woman played by Cobie Smulders approached him. Mickey is then nearly killed by the Armenian mob but is saved by the woman, who he found out was his sister.
“The desire to expand Mickey’s universe in terms of his family connections was always there. … We just thought it was something that maybe our show was missing,” Humphrey explained. “That all inspired inventing a character who, in some ways, is similar to what’s in the books. But it’s a completely different person, a completely different character, with a completely different backstory.”
He continued: “Well, first of all, the obvious question: Is she telling the truth? Is she his sister? And if so, what does that mean? Mickey has these very set ideas about who he is and about his past. What if there’s more to the story than he thought?”
The Lincoln Lawyer is currently streaming on Netflix.
