Dhruv Trivedi
Netflix’s ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ sees prolific attorney Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) return to criminal law after recovering from a drug habit. Right off the bat, Mickey is thrown into the deep end when his colleague is mysteriously killed and leaves all his cases in the hands of our hero. From representing marginalized clients to tech billionaires, Mickey weaves an intriguing path through Los Angeles while working in the back of his car. The ominous death of his colleague also looms large, and Mickey soon finds himself in the crosshairs. Let’s take a closer look at how things turn out at the end of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer.’ SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Lincoln Lawyer Recap
The show opens with Mickey, recently out of drug rehab, being called in by Judge Mary Holder. She informs him that the recently murdered attorney, Jerry Vincent, has left his practice to Mickey. Realizing he suddenly has a whole host of new cases to fight and not wanting to leave Jerry’s clients in the lurch, Mickey decides to return to practicing law.
Jerry’s most high-profile client is Trevor Elliott, who owns the videogame company Parallax. Trevor is charged with the murder of his wife, Lara, and her lover, Jan Rilz. The tech billionaire is initially skeptical about Mickey being able to take over from Jerry but ultimately relents. However, there is a mysterious angle to Trevor’s affairs, and the attorney soon finds himself being stalked by unknown individuals.
The videogame mogul subsequently reveals that he is being threatened by a Russian family with ties to the underworld. Mickey finds himself overwhelmed by trying to tackle Trevor’s seemingly unwinnable case while also fighting a number of smaller cases. He works on the move, with his signature Lincoln automobile driven by Izzy Letts, a former client. As Trevor’s trial starts, it is revealed that one of the jurors has been bribed. Always on the side of righteousness, Mickey informs the judge, and the trial moves ahead.
Ultimately, with some deft sleuthing and legal reasoning, Mickey is able to prove Trevor’s innocence. However, doubts remain in the lawyer’s mind about the mysterious Russian family and Jerry’s murderer. Right after Trevor’s acquittal, Mickey realizes that his client could have actually killed his wife and that he might have helped a guilty man go free. Soon after, at a Parallax press conference announcing the acquisition of his company, Trevor is shot by a woman who promptly gives herself up to the authorities.
The Lincoln Lawyer Ending: Who Killed Trevor Elliott’s Wife Lara Elliott?
Mickey then moves on to an old case involving a young man named Jesus Menendez, who is wrongfully convicted of murder. The lawyer tracks down a crucial but reluctant witness called Glory Days (or Gloria Dayton) and eventually helps Jesus get free. However, Mickey’s win hurts his ex-wife Maggie’s case and causes a rift between the two. In the final moments of the season finale, Mickey confronts Judge Mary Holder, claiming that she is responsible for bribing a jury member in the Trevor Elliott trial. The judge warns our hero to watch his words, but Mickey has already informed the authorities and leaves the judge’s chambers just as a detective walks in.
Season 1 of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ is abound with mysteries and hidden motives, so let’s take them one by one. The mystery of the Trevor Elliott case centers on who killed his wife, Lara, and her lover, Jan. Though Trevor is found in the house with the dead bodies and has a strong reason to commit the murders, he claims to be innocent. Mickey also argues that Trevor wouldn’t have enough time to dispose of the incriminating clothes and gun he used for the crime.
Unfortunately, once Trevor goes free, Mickey realizes that his client was actually guilty all along. The first sign of Trevor’s trickery comes when Mickey’s investigator, Cisco, finds that Trevor was lying about his entanglement with the dangerous Russian family. It is also suspicious that Trevor insists on testifying at the trial, which is an especially risky move for the defense.
Ultimately, Mickey figures out that it was Trevor that killed his wife, Lara. It becomes clear that the real genius behind Trevor’s video game company was Lara and that she threatened to leave him. Realizing that Lara leaving with her proprietary code and genius ability would result in the downfall of his company, Trevor killed her. In a particularly smart move, the murderous husband then used his drone to fly his blood-spattered clothes and gun out to sea, ensuring that they are never found. Ironically, being unable to dispose of the incriminating materials so quickly is the exact argument that Mickey uses to win the case and get Trevor acquitted.
Who Killed Jerry Vincent?
The longest-running mystery in season 1 is the death of attorney Jerry Vincent, who is killed in the early moments of the opening episode. Not only does Mickey inherit Jerry’s clients, but he also seems to become the focus of the ominous forces that were after Jerry. Thus, for much of season 1, Mickey is warned that his life is also in danger and that he could be killed just as easily as Jerry was.
Despite Mickey and Detective Griggs’ best efforts, the killers remain absconding. Finally, there is an attempt on Mickey’s life, and he narrowly survives it because of the detective’s timely intervention. Mickey recognizes the attacker as McSweeney, the absconding juror number 7 from Trevor Elliott’s trial, who is earlier discovered to have been bribed.
Slowly, Mickey discovers that the only one with the resources and knowledge to rig a jury is Judge Mary Holder. He subsequently confronts her, and it is revealed that Jerry actually paid the judge to rig the jury on the trial but then got cold feet. Since the judge didn’t want Jerry backing out of the deal, she hired McSweeney to kill him. Realizing Mickey might become a problem too, Mary then directs McSweeney towards him as well, but to no avail.
Is Trevor Elliott Dead? Why is Trevor Elliott Killed?
Trevor getting shot is one of the season’s biggest surprises. It is also fitting since the video game mogul is revealed to have actually killed his wife after being acquitted of the crime. Trevor is killed during a press conference wherein he announces the acquisition of his company. A woman in the crowd quickly fires multiple rounds into Trevor’s chest and then quietly gives herself up to the cops.
For all intents and purposes, Trevor is well and truly dead. It is unlikely he would survive the multiple shots to his chest, and Mickey also gets a few words of condolences about his former client. The woman that kills Trevor is Carol Dubois, a former student and lover of the Yoga teacher Jan Rilz, who subsequently had an affair with Trevor’s wife, Lara. Carol has romantic feelings for Jan despite the latter’s promiscuous habits.
Most notably, she is one of the few people that (rightly) believes that Trevor killed Lara and Jan. Carol doesn’t seem too saddened by Lara’s death but Jan’s death hits her hard. She, therefore, attends the trial from start to finish, hoping to see Trevor convicted. When he goes free, the grieving woman cannot contain her anger at the outcome and takes the first opportunity to dispense justice, fatally shooting Trevor.
Read More: Who is Angelo Soto in The Lincoln Lawyer? Does He Get Arrested in the End?
