The Magic Bullet Redux
Episode 8 of The Lincoln Lawyer begins with Mickey’s contact, Cherry, learning that Glory Days is actually lying low in Vegas. She does come back to LA every now and then to see some clients. Scribbled down in lipstick, she writes “Raj Ecco on Beverly.” So off Cisco goes to find Raj. He convinces the guy to bring Glory back to town. This is, if you’ll remember, directly linked to the Jesus Menendez case, and something that could prove vital later on in the season. Back in court, a new witness from the press called Sonia Patel is brought in for questioning. She was friends with Lara and spent quite a lot of time with her and Trevor. Apparently Trevor cut Lara off from all her friends. Sonia believes that Trevor isolated her and held her career back. The last message she received was to go and meet for lunch. She had something to say when they met, but before she could reveal this, she was tragically killed. When Mickey cross-examines her, he points out the emails Sonia sent to Trevor. He spins this into her wanting a promotion and resenting Trevor for not giving her a job. Next up is Eric Loomis, a forensic technician who works with gunshot residue. He claims that there was gunshot residue all over Trevor’s hands and clothes, which backs up the notion that he was the one who fired the gun. As Mickey calls him out for old work discrepancies, we soon learn that all of his work has actually been double-checked and signed off by a Dr Tan, his supervisor. So that throws the whole day’s work out the window. Back at the office, Lorna gives some encouraging words of wisdom to Mickey and urges him to look back over the evidence he has. Everything here points to the Temple Casino and it’s interesting that in the distance, a billboard happens to be advertising the Nocturna game Trevor has been developing. Between visiting the area and looking back over the CCTV footage, Mickey suddenly realizes what he’s been missing. Mr Muniz, the videographer, is called into court the next day. Muniz confirms he shot footage of Trevor with the patrol car (the one Murray saw the previous day in court.) Muniz also confirms that there was an incident around 2am at Topanga State Park. That’s the Eli Wyms case. Golantz is incredulous over how these fit together, but if you’ve been watching this far then the pieces are starting to slot together nicely. Next up, Dennis Bryne is thrown in next mix. He’s a mechanic who maintains police cars. One of the SUVs had their taillight shot at that night, given it was stationed outside Wym’s house. The vehicle had around an hour to be fixed up before being thrown back out on the street again. In that time, the mechanics didn’t get a chance to clean it. So what is Mickey getting at? Well, remember the 90 rounds shot by Eli Wyms? That same patrol car was the one Trevor Elliot was sitting inside at his house – something the forensic scientist (who’s interviewed next) confirms could lead to transference. Transference is when residue from gunshots can get on your body (say your hands and clothes) after being plastered on an object. This would see Trevor actually innocent and covered in residue because of that aforementioned transference It’s not enough to bring a conviction, and Mickey knows that. He brings Detective Kinder back into court, followed by Anton Shavar, with the latter claiming he’s not a violent man. Well, footage from Cisco contradicts that. With Anton being framed as the murderer here, he’s not happy about this and rasps at Mickey after, claiming that all lawyers are the same. Throwing a spanner in the works is Trevor himself, who wants to go up on the witness stand and testify. Meanwhile, Mags is given more detail on her case. Specifically, the man from the flower shop, Aquino. He was tracked down within a quarter mile from the murder site by the police on the side of the road. He seems to be their shooter but without enough evidence to go on, this case is hardly airtight, which concerns her. She believes they need to turn over Soto. Mickey receives a message that night, sending him out of Trevor’s compound and away to find Izzy. She’s in a rough way, crying after almost turning to the dark side and taking drugs again. As he drives her home, the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
Everything is starting to come together and this episode finally frames everything that Jerry had found out before he died in a satisfying reveal in court. The show has been a bit of a slow burn and at times has meandered through different subplots that don’t really go anywhere. Maggie’s case, being the prime example. I’m still not sure what relevance Maggie’s case has to the whole show, although it seems to hint that this is going to somehow tie into what happened to Jan and Lara. How or why though is still a mystery. Still, we’ll have to wait and see. The Lincoln Lawyer delivers its best episode yet; an enjoyable slice of law drama that brings the whole case together rather well.
