Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 ending explained what the show plans for future seasons. The adaptation of Michael Connelly’s popular The Lincoln Lawyer book series tied up a lot of loose ends but left open some intriguing threads for future seasons to explore. Why Jerry Vincent was killed, why Lankford set up Jesus Menendez, and the revelation of the brass verdict are some of the most important questions answered by The Lincoln Lawyer. Still, there’s more that The Lincoln Lawyer leaves open.
The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 is based on The Brass Verdict, the second book in Connelly’s series. The finale saw the exoneration of Jesus Menendez, an innocent man wrongly convicted of a crime. As a former client of Mickey Haller, Menendez’s conviction haunted Haller for years. Why LAPD detective Lee Lankford (Jamie McShane) set up Menendez was revealed, but the finale set up further threads that feature in season 2.
Why Lankford Set Up Jesus Menendez
Lankford Wanted To Convict Anyone, Regardless Of Guilt
As The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 ending explained, after defense attorney (and Haller’s ex-wife) Maggie McPherson put Detective Perez on the stand, he revealed Detective Lankford was the one who ordered her to prevent key witness Gloria Dayton from testifying in Menendez’s defense and was therefore responsible for his conviction. The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 ending didn’t make it entirely clear why Lankford set Menendez up, but the novel The Brass Verdict gives further clues to fill in the blanks.
The Lincoln Lawyer
novel, Lankford was interested in securing a conviction and less concerned with convicting the actual guilty party. He plays a larger role in later books, and his decision to set up Menendez, largely unexplored in season 1, may bear out in further seasons.
The Lincoln Lawyer’s
first season explained little of this, causing audiences to reach for the novels. Season 2 also didn’t elaborate on this plot thread, instead seeing Mickey searching for and finding the Man with the Tattoo.
Why Jerry Vincent Was Killed
Vincent Tried To Stop The Jury Rigging
Vincent was killed for interfering with a jury-rigging conspiracy. In their final meeting, Haller suggested to Judge Holder that she had a lucrative side hustle rigging juries and that she had Vincent killed because he “threw a wrench in it.” Vincent discovered that Juror Number 7 was rigged.
His decision to file for a continuance against his client’s wishes without informing his client was a giveaway that he knew about Holder’s scheme since it would have been a breach of ethics. The continuance would have required a second jury selection, excluding Judge Holder’s planted juror, and it cost Vincent his life.
What Is Cisco Doing For The Road Saints Motorcycle Club?
Cisco Wants To Repay His Own Debts
In The Lincoln Lawyer‘s cast of characters, Dennis “Cisco” Wojciechowski (Angus Sampson) is an ex-member of the Road Saints motorcycle club. In The Lincoln Lawyer season 1, he realized that Haller had compromised his reputation by trying to settle Cisco’s debt with the Road Saints, so Cisco visited them, insisting to their leader, Teddy, that his debts were his own. Teddy made an offer, which Cisco presumably accepted. However, the terms of Teddy’s offer were never revealed.
At the end of the season, Cisco rides away on his motorcycle to begin his work for Teddy.
The books don’t explicitly offer an answer, but they do provide key clues. Although Cisco was a member of the Road Saints, he had a clear record, and the Road Saints were openly engaged in criminal activity. This suggests a darker storyline in the future for Cisco involving illegal activity. At the end of the season, Cisco rides away on his motorcycle to begin his work for Teddy, which leaves open a thread for The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 to pick up, following Cisco on his new assignment.
In season 2, Cisco resumes working for the Road Saints, but he doesn’t tell Lorna about it. This creates conflict between them, but he soon explains that he has a history with Kaz, who saved him from being arrested before and who he was investigating as a possible informant. This ties into the debt he believes he owes the Road Saints. By the end of the season, though, it seems Cisco gets his happy ending and a wedding with Lorna.
Why Does Bob Cardone Remove Maggie McPherson?
McPherson Was Too Closely Connected With Lankford
The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 revealed that Bob Cardone removed Maggie McPherson from her position to safeguard his reputation. McPherson believed Cardone was less ambitious than his political rival Janelle Simmons. In turn, he revealed his ambition when he ordered Maggie to drop her case against human trafficker and murderer Angelo Soto and then removed her from her position, explaining that he ran on a platform of exposing corrupt cops and detectives.
As The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 ended, McPherson’s case rested on testimony from Lankford, with whom she’d worked closely and who Haller had revealed to be corrupt. For Cardone, McPherson’s proximity to and association with Lankford made her a political liability, to the point that even continuing the case or her remaining in office would have compromised his reputation.
Who Was The Man At The End Of The Lincoln Lawyer Finale?
The Tattoo Man Is The Real Killer
The tattooed man shown in The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 ending was the real killer who committed the murder for which Jesus Menendez was convicted. Gloria Dayton, the key witness Detective Lankford prevented from testifying in Menendez’s case, holds the only clue to the true identity of the killer: a distinctive tattoo, which is revealed on his left forearm in the final moments of the season 1 finale. The closing image reveals a huge thread to look for in season 2 — a killer with a motive to retaliate against Haller is stalking him.
As The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 ending explained, Haller’s failure to secure an acquittal for Menendez years ago had thrown his life off track and shaken his confidence in his ability to practice law. The Lincoln Lawyer episode 1’s early moments featured a tortured Haller staring into the surf, unable to dive back in, distraught over the accident that led to his painkiller addiction and more over the Menendez case, as he later revealed.
Now that Menendez’s name has been cleared, the killer is at risk again.
The finale ended, fittingly, with a mirror image of Haller at the surf’s edge, diving confidently into the water. However, at this crucial moment in The Lincoln Lawyer finale, the tattooed man was watching Haller from the shore, asking whether he was being watched all along, or whether the stalking began after Menendez was exonerated. Now that Menendez’s name has been cleared, the killer is at risk again, and Haller’s zealous pursuit of justice for Menendez makes him a target.
Why Trevor Elliot Is Killed & What Is A Brass Verdict?
A Brass Verdict Is Vigilante Justice After A Not Guilty Verdict
Trevor Elliott was killed because the justice system failed to convict him of the double homicide he committed, the target of a brass verdict. Detective Griggs explained to Haller that a brass verdict is when a jury returns a verdict of not guilty, but vigilante justice is later delivered. Carol DuBois, who shot Elliott, couldn’t have known that Elliott was guilty based on anything other than a gut feeling, as the smoking gun evidence was revealed after the trial ended.
Under the informal theory of the brass verdict, Elliott’s death is justified in an “
ends justify the means
” sense.
But DuBois was convinced of his guilt from the beginning of the trial, and she had a deep emotional connection to one of the victims. By law, DuBois would be guilty of some degree of intentional homicide. Without justification, she intentionally shot Elliott with the intent of killing him. Under the informal theory of the brass verdict, Elliott’s death is justified in an “ends justify the means” sense because the failure of the justice system to convict him created a second injustice that was corrected with his death: the brass verdict.
What Does The Ending Really Mean?
The ending of Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 ties together themes of corruption and what justice looks like within and outside the system. Through season 1, the system fails. Elliott is guilty but is acquitted. Menendez is innocent but initially convicted. Soto is guilty, but the case is dropped. People at every level of the justice system are revealed to be complicit in the miscarriage of justice. Justice denied through the judicial system was delivered outside the system, as The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 ending explained.
DuBois achieved justice for Rilz by killing Elliott. McPherson achieved justice for her witness by assuring that Soto was tried by the FBI. Haller employed Cisco and Lorna to use unconventional means to finally secure justice for Jesus Menendez. The Lincoln Lawyer is a show about justice featuring a lawyer, but it’s not about justice via law and order, and season 1’s “The Brass Verdict” episode makes that clear.
How Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Followed Up On The Season 1 Ending
Mickey Haller Set Out To Find The Tattoo Man
The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 ending explained many of its plot threads. However, it did leave the identity of the true perpetrator for season 2 to follow up on. The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 primarily focused on the murder trial of chef Lisa Trammel. Trammel was accused of murdering real estate developer Mitchell Bondurant, and the question of her innocence is the biggest mystery. Evidence stacks up, but there are nagging questions. The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 tackles the Man with the Tattoo mystery early on.
As Mickey is assigned to defend a man named Russell from burglary charges in The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 premiere, Russell reveals he is the Man with the Tattoo. Unable to help Jésus because of attorney-client privilege, Mickey sets up an elaborate trap that sees Russell attempting to attack Glory Days and being caught in the process, clearing Jésus of all suspicion.
The Lincoln Lawyer season 2’s Man with the Tattoo reveal was downplayed, as the arc lasted two episodes. However, it was necessary to delve into Mickey’s case with Lisa and move The Lincoln Lawyer story forward.
How The Lincoln Lawyer Season 1 Ending Was Received
Critics & Audiences Loved The First Season
The Lincoln Lawyer was a great success for Netflix upon its release. On top of huge streaming numbers (108 million hours in its first week via Deadline), it also received mostly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes critics certified it fresh at 80%, and the audience was even more impressed, with a high 84% Popcornmeter rating. While many audience members praised the acting and the storyline, few touched on the ending in their reviews. However, some Reddit threads showed some confusion about the tampering storyline.
“I enjoyed the show, but it got really messy near the end. Too many moving parts not clearly defined.
As for the critics, Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the show a positive review, saying it “feels like the network cop shows of old.” For the ending, Roeper mentions that most things are easy to see coming, but this is part of the fun. “We feel smarter than most of the people in the room, except, of course, our hero, who’s always one step ahead of everyone else, even when it appears as if he’s stumbled down yet another rabbit hole.“
However, Daniel D’Addario of Variety was not as convinced at the ending working for The Lincoln Lawyer. In his mostly negative review, he wrote, “At its best, the Kelley legal drama has real bite and something to say. In The Lincoln Lawyer, working off of a novelist’s script, Kelley amasses incident — personal and family drama along with court cases — but doesn’t quite pull it all together.“
