The Uncanny Valley
Episode 9 of The Lincoln Lawyer begins with Mickey trying to get Trevor Elliott ready for cross-examination from Golantz. Given his precarious position, Trevor’s idea is essentially giving him a free shot to get back in the fight. Mickey’s whole case is hanging in the balance. ..
Father Cruz, the priest who signed for the delivery of the phone that was bugged, is questioned by detectives. His story seems to check out, as he signed for the delivery and knew about Alvin Aquino’s involvement in the murder of David Loresca. Maggie and Lankford have 10 hours to try and nail him.
Trevor takes the stand and tells the court about his love for Lara and his marriage. He admits to the court that he knew about the affair and he too was cheating on Lara. Golantz offers to settle things but Trevor is having none of it. Instead, they go with the initial plan which includes Trevor taking the stand himself. He speaks about his love for Lara and his marriage, including the problems they had. He admits to the court that he knew about the affair and he too was cheating on Lara.
Golantz hammered into Trevor’s shaky testimony, including how he had 7 meetings and didn’t clear his calendar before driving out to the house to surprise his wife with this trip. Not only that, but the gun used in his game, Nocturna, is actually the same one used to kill Lara and Jan. ..
It doesn’t look good, and eventually we come to the closing statements. Golantz’s statement is done based on “common sense and logic”, with Trevor framed as a jealous husband and wanting to control Lara. For Mickey? Well, he uses math to point out there are 7 minutes to kill and cover up the crime scene. Naturally, Mickey frames Anton as the real killer here.
Mickey meets with Cisco, who has some revealing details for him about the Russian gangster who was accused of killing Trevor Elliott. Kosevich’s son, Pavel, wasn’t Trevor’s only roommate. There’s also Ben Hoffman, who’s the CTO of Pavel’s company. Apparently Pavel hated Trevor’s guts and because of that, there’s no way his father is going to fund him. This throws the story of a Russian gangster out of the picture. So if not the Russians then who’s been following Mickey? Either way, when the jury return then Trevor Elliott is found not guilty by them.
Mickey has just learned that he was used as collateral damage in Jerry’s practice and is now looking to sue the practice. This could help Eli get back on his feet. When Eli mentions how Mickey has taken the glory for Jerry, a lightbulb moment ensues.
Elsewhere, Maggie gets her surgery underway. With Tanya wearing a wire, she heads off to visit Soto. There, he admits outright that he killed David, intending to protect their family and “their baby.” Unfortunately straight after this, Soto realizes that she’s wearing a wire and rips her shirt off, seeing it for himself. As she’s choked out, LAPD come rushing up to the rooftop to save her life. ..
Lara was the one who wrote the code that made Nocturna an amazing game, not Trevor. For 10 years she watched him make it to the top. The tell? Sonia’s statement. Apparently, this argument was actually about Lara outing him to the investors so he “dealt with her.”
Remember that footage of Trevor sitting on his phone? Well, it turns out he was actually controlling his drone, which was used to move the bloody clothes out to the ocean, covering his own back. However, Trevor does confirm he has no idea who killed Jerry – and he doesn’t care.
When Mickey arrives home, he is informed by Anthony Reyes, part of the LAPD Valley traffic division that Izzy has been arrested for a DUI. When Mickey arrives at the meeting spot, there is no one there. McSweeney appears and knocks him out, sending Mickey crashing down to the ground with a hard thud.
The Episode Review
After all this time, it appears that Trevor Elliot was actually the killer after all. I’m sure all the pieces will fall into place during this final episode, but these past few chapters have been very engaging and certainly tense. ..
The courtroom drama has been one of the show’s strengths, and it feels like a different animal than the early few chapters which felt ripped right from a network TV show. Now though, things are gearing up for a very dramatic finale to come, one that should, hopefully, see all the puzzle pieces come together in a satisfying manner.
