'The Lincoln Lawyer' Season 4 Episodes 1-10 Recap: Who Is Mickey’s Sister?

Following the cliffhanger ending to the third season, which saw Mickey Haller getting arrested and sent to prison on false murder charges, the fourth season of The Lincoln Lawyer turns up the heat by putting the LA-based maverick defense attorney in his toughest personal battle to date, as he has to fight for his life, career, and reputation. While the majority of the season revolves around the central case of Mickey’s efforts to prove his innocence, the highlight is undoubtedly the support provided by his close ones/associates—Maggie, Lorna, Cisco, and Izzy—and their teamwork, which uncovers the truth behind the large-scale conspiracy that has turned Mickey into a scapegoat.

Spoilers Ahead

Mickey Gets Bail 

Previously, the corpse of Sam Scales, a conman and one of Mickey’s former clients, was discovered inside the trunk of Mickey’s car when LAPD patrol cop Collins stopped him for a traffic violation involving a missing license plate and conveniently found the corpse. Without having a chance to explain his side, Mickey was arrested, and the fourth season begins with him in prison. Mickey’s newfound infamy has hampered his reputation big time, the adverse effects of which have taken a toll on Haller and Associates. With clients staying away from the firm, it is up to Lorna to handle the work pressure, keep the firm afloat, and at the same time act as Mickey’s co-counsel in the ongoing prelims of his trial. Maggie is quite concerned about Mickey’s situation, as this could strain his relationship with their daughter, Hayley. Even though Hayley remains supportive of her father, at one point in time she gets bullied by her classmates for Mickey’s situation. For Mickey, merely getting acquitted of the false charges is not enough; he wants to restore his reputation and prove that he was wrongly framed for a crime he didn’t commit. To find the culprit who has framed Mickey, Cisco decides to go through the list of people who hold a grudge against him—and given how long the list is, the ordeal is like finding a needle in the haystack. Given the person(s) who shot Sam to death incriminated Mickey further by shooting the conman in Mickey’s garage, where the bullet casing was found—things gradually get more complicated. Izzy becomes acquainted with Grace, one of her batchmates in her paralegal class, and the duo hit it off pretty quickly. Later on, Grace proves to be quite helpful in Mickey and co.’s investigation of Sam Scales’ murder mystery. 

The biggest impediment in Mickey’s way is public prosecutor Dana ‘Death Row’ Berg, who has a vendetta against him thanks to their past rivalry in court and replaces the already assigned prosecutor as a last-moment change. Mickey and Lorna appeal to have Detective Collins’ bodycam footage of the night of the arrest be delivered, and getting his hands on the dashboard and bodycam footage, Cisco and Mickey deduce that Collins was presumably instructed by someone to apprehend Mickey, as he had received a message from someone moments before stepping out of his vehicle. Even though a search of Collins’ phone returns nothing, it becomes apparent he used a burner phone, but Mickey has no evidence to back this speculation. However, Mickey and co. pull off a sneaky one while filing a bail motion. Knowing Dana Berg will tap into his conversation through privileged calls made to Lorna from prison, Mickey willingly makes it appear he is going to flee to Mexico. As Berg charges Mickey as a flight risk, Mickey is able to bring strong allegations of undermining confidentiality against the authorities by revealing the recorded conversation of the fake call. Berg and LA County police stand humiliated, and for the time being, Mickey gets bail in exchange for a million dollars, and gets an ankle monitor strapped to his leg. In prison, Mickey had worked out his protection with a fellow inmate named Bamba, who gets bail soon, and Mickey recruits him as his chauffeur. Although Mickey’s iconic Lincoln Continental is in LAPD impound, and with authorities seizing his armored Lincoln as well to get back at Mickey for the humiliation in the court, Mickey has to roam around in Bamba’s wheels. 

How Are the Armenian Mafia and the FBI Connected With the Case?

To know the identity of the perp who has framed Mickey, it is important to find out about Sam’s dealings in the immediate past. Given Sam was a conman, Mickey rightly assumes that a crucial detail about his recent fake identity might have been present in his wallet, which the authorities conveniently chose to cover up. LAPD Detective Drucker, who is leading Sam Scales’ murder investigation and is already in cahoots with Berg and the higher-ups who want to throw Mickey under the bus, fails to provide a valid reason for this missing evidence. Cisco makes his tricky arrangements with Izzy’s help to fast-track Sam’s toxicology report.

Cisco finds out Sam used to send money to a certain Austin Niederland, a fellow inmate in an Arizona prison, who might have crucial intel about him but will not divulge any unless Mickey meets him in person. This leads to a clash with Berg, as Mickey has to seek permission from Judge Stone to leave the state for a limited time period. After getting the permission, Mickey goes to Arizona which lead to hilarious drama as he and Cisco has to make every necessary arrangement not to get flagged by the authorities for the ankle collar issues,  and in the end the duo manage  to return to LA just in time. However, Mickey learns something important from Austin, who reveals Sam was living at his uncle Kirk Lennon’s place in San Pedro, using his identity. Mickey and Cisco visit the residence and find out that paraplegic Sam retrofitted a semi-truck, which he was using to transport biofuel for a company called Biogreen. The biofuel or similar substance was also found in Sam’s wheelchair, which indicates their investigation is on the right track. Izzy stumbles upon an LA Times article that highlighted the potential of large-scale subsidy scams as conmen like Sam try to take advantage of the government’s green energy benefaction policy, described by Mickey as the “bleeding the beast” method of draining resources. However, as Izzy meets the journalist (writer of the article) to learn why he didn’t follow through with the report, it is revealed that the FBI intervened to ensure his silence on this matter. Additionally, Mickey finds out that, under the Kirk Lennon identity, Sam was detained in Orange County on minor traffic violation charges, where it was found he’d previously been flagged by the FBI, and Agent Vasquez, with whom Mickey has a terse relation, had approached him. Realizing the federal agency is somehow involved in the cover-up/framing, Mickey daringly serves a subpoena to the FBI office in LA, prompting Agent Vasquez and Agent Ruth to pay him a visit. Vasquez holds a grudge against Mickey, who forced an Armenian gangster named Alex Gazarian to plead the fifth during the murder investigation of Mitchell Bondurant back in the second season, and the federal agent lost track of the gangster, whom he’d been investigating for a long while. At present, while having a back-and-forth with Mickey, Vasquez puts his hands on him—an incident that is secretly recorded by Hayley, who was present with her father. Mickey later tries to coerce Agent Ruth to cooperate using the footage, to no avail. 

Looking into Biogreen’s background, Izzy and Cisco find two names, Spencer Bagwell and Jeanine Ferrigno, two investors of the company who are represented by the same law firm that represented Gazarian in the past. As they find out that Bagwell is an invalid, and Jeanine is a longtime acquaintance of Gazarian, the bigger picture becomes quite clear to the team. Sam helped Gazarian defraud the government with the biofuel subsidy policy through Biogreen, where Jeanine and Bagwell act as patsy investors to keep the Armenian gangster out of the picture, and the FBI, who forced Sam to act as an informant, wants to keep their investigation a secret, even at the cost of Mickey’s life and future. The problem is, Mickey has no evidence to prove this in the court, and the coalition of Berg, LAPD, and FBI are hell-bent on burying the case by posing him as a murderer. Mickey allows the LAPD to search through his office and financial records, which allows Detective Drucker to get his hands on a generalized automated letter sent to Sam about continuing missed payments. Berg twists this to concoct a narrative about monetary gain being Mickey’s motive for murdering Sam, and pushes to revoke his bail by bringing a new indictment for murder with special circumstances. With the pressure of other cases and that of Mickey’s mounting on her, Lorna seeks Maggie’s help, who decides to step up and replace Lorna as Mickey’s defense counsel, leaving her career as a deputy district attorney in the backseat for the time being. Cisco decides to look into Jeanine and reaches her place in Palm Springs, where he learns that Gazarian has been holed up, but later gets beaten up by a bunch of Armenian thugs. In the prelims, Judge Stone offers Mickey two options—either to have his bail revoked and settle the case with a speedy trial or to keep his bail and delay the trial further. Right before Mickey and Maggie decide to go with the second option, Mickey receives the devastating news of his mentor/idol David ‘Legal’ Siegel’s sudden demise upon suffering a heart attack. A crestfallen Mickey decides to opt for a speedy trial to have his legacy restored as soon as possible, and once again, he is sent behind bars. 

Lorna’s Rise as a Credible Lawyer

One of the most important aspects of the fourth season is Lorna’s growth as a capable, headstrong, and skilled defense lawyer, who holds the fort practically on her own while also helping Mickey clear his name. Lorna, who has started to build her own reputation as a billboard lawyer, helps her new client, Celeste, to coerce an insurance company into paying remuneration for a case that involves her cheating husband negligently infecting her with an STD. However, Mickey’s trial puts pressure on Lorna’s cases, and following a couple of setbacks, she seeks advice from Legal, who shows faith in Lorna’s potential. Bamba returns to jail after getting caught for a minor probation violation, and Lorna helps cut his sentence to less than one-third of the original by showing the probation officer how he is trying to change his course of life. 

Following his return to prison, Mickey gets acquainted with a certain Carter Gates, a liquor store owner who has been incriminated for a murder. As Lorna decides to take the case, adhering to Mickey’s request, she initially struggles as the circumstantial evidence points against the convict. However, using her deft interrogation skills and bringing in an expert witness to point out discrepancies in the statement of the eyewitness and highlight weapon details, Lorna is able to turn the case upside down and ensure Carter gets his long-deserved freedom. Her relationship with her husband, Cisco, hits a minor speedbump after Cisco continues to follow Jeanine and Gazarian, ignoring the risks, but eventually the couple reconciles. With Grace’s help, Izzy gets her hands on recorded footage of the night of Mickey’s arrest, where Detective Collins is clearly shown leaving a burner phone in his car. However, as Mickey presents the footage in the court as proof that the cop was instructed by someone to apprehend him, Collins dodges the questioning by lying about having an affair, for which he needed the burner phone. 

Does Mickey Finally Get His Freedom?

During the trial, Berg brings in a ballistics expert who doubles down on the possibility of Mickey using a suppressor to kill Sam in his garage to keep his neighborhood from getting alerted. However, Maggie manages to use this to her advantage by cross-examining his statement, as it also implies that Mickey might not have heard if the real perp killed Sam in his garage. Berg brings in a disgruntled former employee of Mickey’s law firm, who tries to portray Mickey as a vindictive murderer, but Maggie manages to silence her by revealing she is just trying to get back at her former employer for her firing. Grasping at straws to strengthen their case, Berg brings Lisa Trammel, Mickey’s old flame who is serving prison time for murdering her husband, to testify against Mickey, and Lisa, who already holds a grudge against Mickey for her present predicament, lies about Mickey betraying her over not being able to obtain her life rights. However, showcasing the malicious letters Lisa wrote to Mickey from prison and the fact that Mickey was already able to buy the life rights, Maggie once again humiliates Berg.

In prison, Mickey faces trouble as he is wrongly accused of starting a riot and sent to solitary confinement, prompting Maggie to argue her way to get permission from Judge Stone to get Mickey released, although he has to remain under the observation of a deputy under house arrest. Things go awry as after delivering a subpoena to Gazarian, Cisco finds out he has been murdered by Armenian goons. However, Cisco manages to rescue Jeanine just in time, before she meets the same fate. In the meantime, Izzy convinces EPA specialist Dr. Schultz to appear in court and expand on the biofuel subsidy scam, and he reveals in one of his past operations he was assisted by FBI Agent Vasquez. Agent Ruth, who was present in the courtroom, is visibly startled as the FBI’s connection to the case is about to be revealed, and she brings Mickey in to convince him to keep the federal investigation a secret. In the meantime, Maggie meets with Jeanine, who reveals that Gazarian killed Sam after learning that he was stealing from him by creating his own shell company and had no idea that the conman was acting as an FBI informant. Gazarian held a grudge against Mickey over the Bondurant case and tried to frame him by putting Sam’s corpse in the trunk of his car. She reveals that Gazarian has been killed by his own family, the head honchos of the Armenian crime syndicate. However, Jeanine will not testify in the court, as she is already being targeted by the mobsters, and this can lead her to further trouble. 

Out of options, Mickey pulls off a risky move by blackmailing Agent Ruth as he mentions taking Jeanine to the trial, and as proof, Lorna disguises Grace as Lorna. Given the fact that Jeanine’s testimony in court could jeopardize their entire operation, Agent Ruth and Agent Vasquez arrive to privately meet with Judge Stone and the defendant party, and offer a settlement. The FBI agrees to let Mickey off on the charges, but he remains adamant on his demand of full exoneration. Mickey finally agrees to the deal, as he is assured that Berg herself will deliver a public statement of Mickey’s exoneration, representing the DA’s office. Mickey and his team finally breathe a sigh of relief as the four-month-long ordeal comes to an end, and Haller and Associates has gotten their lost credibility back. 

Maggie and Hayley take their leave from LA after joining Mickey and his mother, Elena, on a family dinner. En route to their home in San Diego, Hayley points out the obvious: that Maggie finds her rhythm in Mickey’s presence, which isn’t the case when it comes to Maggie’s boyfriend, Jack. Maggie doesn’t entertain the possibility of getting into a relationship with Mickey once again, but there are strong chances, given how much the former couple supported each other throughout the season. Mickey has gotten his iconic Lincoln Continental back from impound, and during a conversation with Izzy, he reveals his wish to sell off his house, as it has been marked by almost every law enforcement agency and criminal organization at this point. 

Who Saved Mickey’s Life?

As the fourth season comes to an end, Mickey is shown to be in a grocery shop and sharing curious glances with a stranger woman, played by Cobie Smulders, who later approaches him in the parking lot. Before she can introduce herself, she notices that Mickey is being targeted by the Armenian mobsters, who’ve been on his trail ever since he was exonerated. The unnamed woman acts quickly and saves Mickey from getting shot, and Agent Ruth, accompanied by other FBI operatives, who were following Mickey while anticipating danger, quickly takes down the assailants. Mickey thanks the woman for saving his life, who reveals that she acted on her instincts, which clearly indicate that she is associated with law enforcement. The woman introduces herself as Mickey’s sister, and the season ends by focusing on the profile of the dumbfounded defense attorney. For viewers who are not familiar with Connelly’s novel series, aside from Harry Bosch, who is his older half-brother, Mickey Haller also has three elder half-sisters. The character played by Cobie Smulders is mentioned as Allison, who is revealed to be one of Mickey’s siblings, so it will be interesting to see how their dynamics are shaped in the upcoming season of The Lincoln Lawyer.

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