Flashbacks frame episode 6 of The Lincoln Lawyer.
The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 episode 6 ‘Bent’
Written by Gladys Rodriguez
Directed by David Grossman
Flashbacks to a memory of Mickey visiting his father at trial book end the episode. We get strong 1980s vibes and a glimpse of Chris Gehrt playing young Michael Connelly as a crime reporter.
Maggie and Mickey are concerned for Hayley as she deals with the aftermath of seeing Maggie’s witness die. Maggie enlists Mickey’s help with Tanya Cruz.
Mickey gets helpful insights from both trusted friend Legal Siegel and daughter Hayley. Trevor reveals some serious complications with his business.
Let us investigate further our case file for The Lincoln Lawyer S1E6 ‘Bent’.
Refresh your memory:
- Tanya Cruz is the girlfriend of Angelo Soto. Soto has been indicted on human trafficking charges. He is accused of using Filipino immigrants as slave labor in his nursing care facilities.
- Judge Mary Holder is supervising Mickey’s management of Jerry Vincent’s cases.
- Jesus Menendez is Mickey’s client that is serving 15 years in prison after the star witness left town. The witness was going to testify to Jesus’ innocence. The case haunts Mickey.
- Ted Vogul is the leader of the Road Saints, the motorcycle gang Cisco left.
- Hard Case Casey is a member of the Road Saints with a parole violation. Mickey agreed to work on the case.
- Janelle Simmons is Maggie McPherson’s boss in Major Crimes. She is running for District Attorney of Los Angeles.
- Robert Cardone is running against Janell Simmons for District Attorney of Los Angeles.
- Tony Walsh is a fellow defense attorney who invited Mickey to Jerry Vincent’s memorial and offered to be Mickey’s second chair on the Elliott case.
Flashback to Mickey Haller, Sr.
The camera filter has changed, and we find ourselves in a 1980s flashback with Mickey Haller, Sr. (Jon Tenney). Young Mickey Haller, Jr. and his mother are visiting from Mexico. Young Mickey has been watching his father try a pro bono case for a young man he believes to be innocent.
Mickey is in awe of watching his father work and proud that he is doing his best to help the young man. Haller Sr.’s right hand man, Legal Siegel, is on hand to sit with Mickey, Jr. while his dad talks to the accused. Legal gives Mickey a court drawing of his dad – no cameras in the courtroom back then! Mickey is pleased to receive the drawing of his dad.
Michael Connelly cameo, sort of
During the flashback scene, Haller Sr. walks out of the courtroom after closing arguments and faces the press. He refers specifically to one young reporter wearing glasses. Haller calls out to “Connelly”. Chris Gehrt plays the young Michael Connelly working the crime beat for the Los Angeles times. It is a fun throwback to Connelly’s time as a reporter.
Breakfast with Legal Siegel
We flash to the present where Mickey is eating breakfast on his patio with the current day Legal Siegel, his late father’s trusted colleague for so many years. Mickey tells Legal that Detective Riggs believes Jerry Vincent may have bribed someone in the Trevor Elliott case.
Siegel says Mickey’s dad would have simply considered the bribe a “gift”. He suggests that since Mickey did not offer the bribe, he should just carry on as usual. Their conversation is interrupted by a call from Maggie.
Visiting Hayley
Mickey goes to check on Hayley as requested by Maggie. He finds Hayley in her room playing the new video game just released by Trevor Elliott’s company Parallax.
We learn that Hayley was not ready to return to school after the traumatic experience of seeing her mom’s witness die from gunshot wounds on a gurney. Even still, she declines to talk about it further with Mickey. She does want to talk about how far Mickey will go to defend someone accused of a crime.
Mickey attempts to remind her that everyone deserves a fair defense, but Hayley just wants to know if there is someone he would not defend. For instance, would he defend Angelo Soto who Maggie believes had her witness killed? Mickey says he will not defend someone who has been charged with harming children.
Hayley also wonders if her father has ever had an innocent client. Mickey refers to the Jesus Menendez case and tells Hayley that he is currently working to expose the truth about Jesus’ innocence to let him go free.
Maggie’s favor
Mickey returns to the kitchen to talk to Maggie. She asks him the favor she mentioned the night before. Will he defend Tanya Cruz who is accepting the offer to be a confidential informant? Mickey agrees but says it will have to wait until after his trial. Maggie says they cannot wait. If she does not get Soto for the murder of Loresca asap, her boss Janelle with let Soto’s human trafficking case go.
Mickey agrees but asks Maggie for a favor in return. He wants Hayley to come to the beginning the trial on Monday. Maggie is reluctant but agrees. He then reveals to Maggie that he has already spoken to Tanya. He was just pulling Maggie’s leg about having to wait.
Campaign season
A commercial from Janelle’s team criticizing opponent Robert Cardone plays on the television. Maggie mentions the fundraiser for Janelle’s campaign that night. She is supposed to give the introduction for her boss.
Mickey says he would like to go and watch. Maggie takes him up on it since she did not think she could get anyone to go. Besides, they can use that time to work on the “cooperation agreement” for Tanya Cruz.
Tunnel vision
Mickey confers with Cisco and Lorna at the office. He wants to point the finger at Anton Shavar for Lara and Jan’s murder. Mickey talks about tunnel vision keeping you from seeing the truth. What if Trevor really did not commit the murders.
Also, Mickey tells Cisco and Lorna about the bribe he believes was made prior to him accepting the case. Lorna is visibly concerned when Mickey suggests it may be Judge Stanton who was bribed.
Mickey asks Lorna and Cisco to investigate the restaurant where Stanton’s husband is chef. It closed and then reopened with renovations. Was the bribe money used for that?
Mickey to Judge Holder
Mickey is running late for his debriefing appointment with Judge Mary Holder. Judge Holder tells Mickey he needs to make a donation to charity for being late to the appointment. The judge mentions that her husband, also a defense attorney, laid eyes on Mickey at Jerry’s memorial at Casey’s Grille.
Mickey insists that he did not actually take a drink at the bar. He tells her he is going to meetings and offers paperwork to prove his status of recovery. The judge says there is no need for that. She simply wanted to let him know that help was available if he needed it.
Cisco and Lorna make a restaurant visit
Mickey asks Lorna and Cisco to investigate the possibility that Judge Stanton accepted a bribe. Stanton is married to the chef at a high-end restaurant. The restaurant recently closed and then re-opened. Could bribe money have been used to pay for restaurant renovations?
Lorna and Cisco pose as an engaged couple looking for a venue for their wedding reception. We know that at least one of those things is true. They ask to look at the menu and sneak in some questions about funding for the renovations.
Sonia Patel
Mickey stops to speak with Sonia Patel, a friend that Lara Elliott called two nights before she was killed, while she eats her lunch outside. Sonia and Lara worked at the same video game company before Lara married Trevor. The company was called Chaos Games and they were both coders. Sonia is still working at Chaos Games.
Mickey asks her what the call was about. Lara had asked Sonia to go to lunch. Mickey wonders why. Sonia thought maybe Lara was going to offer a job to her at Parallax, but she never had the chance to return Lara’s call or meet with her. Sonia describes Lara as “a brilliant coder” and Trevor as “controlling”. She believes Trevor is to blame for she and Lara not staying in touch.
Mickey asks Sonia about anyone else who may have wanted to bring harm to Laura. Sonia tells him, “Everybody loved Lara.” Sonia leaves.
Call to Trevor
Mickey calls Trevor to tell him about his visit with Sonia. Trevor claims he does not know why Lara would have called Sonia recently. He says that Sonia always wanted to work for Parallax though.
Mickey mentions the missing $100,000 from the retainer. There is no information about what it was used to pay for. Trevor does not know anything about it. But Mickey mentions a video re-enactment of the crime scene that Jerry was considering. Trevor does recall the idea and says it was expensive but does not have any further information on it.
Mickey returns to the Lincoln and tells Izzy that people are not being truthful.
Client memories
Sitting alone at dinner, Mickey notices the Jesus Menendez file. Mickey pulls out the court drawing of his father that Legal Siegel gave him when he was a boy.
The next day Izzy drives Mickey to see Jesus in prison. Jesus is not happy to see Mickey and feels like Mickey let him down. Mickey tells Jesus he is trying to find the witness, Glory Days, to testify in a habeas hearing. Mickey assures Jesus that he believes in his innocence.
Jesus has been reading law books in prison and feels that he does not have a chance. But Mickey wants a chance to make things right. Jesus is skeptical but Mickey wants to keep fighting.
On the ride back, Mickey confesses to Izzy that Jesus is the real reason he abused the pills. Mickey did not know how to face the pain of seeing Jesus going to prison. He says he must get Jesus released.
Client meeting
Izzy drives Mickey to the overlook above Dodgers stadium to meet with Tanya Cruz. He makes sure she knows that the decisions about her being a confidential informant are hers to makes. She is not required to participate.
She tells him her story about being an immigrant working at the nursing home. Soto took a special interest in her and treated her differently. She says she does not love him, but as his girlfriend, he has provided for her.
He wonders if Soto talked about his business with her. She says he did not, but she has seen things she can share.
Mickey asks her the gender of her baby. She is pregnant with a girl and Mickey tell her he has a daughter. Mickey promises to do all he can to help Tanya and her baby escape Angelo Soto.
Fundraiser
Mickey invites Lorna and Cisco to attend the fundraiser for Janelle Simmons. Lorna obliges, but Cisco does not enjoy such things.
Mickey and Maggie reminisce about Mickey bringing her to the same venue for her 30th birthday dinner. Maggie does the introduction and looks a little nervous when she touches her hair. Golantz is standing next to Mickey and comments on how Maggie does that when she is nervous.
Golantz is clearly trying to bait Mickey by making him think he and Maggie are more involved than they really are.
Tony Walsh gives Mickey a crime lab audit from his own discovery file for a case that was dropped due to lab mistakes. Mickey thanks him for the information.
Lorna and Maggie talk
Lorna and Maggie speak briefly outside. Maggie did not realize Mickey had invited her. Lorna asks how Hayley is doing, specifically about seeing David Loresca die. She also offers to come by for a visit if that might help.
We can tell Maggie is a little uncomfortable with Lorna’s history with Hayley. It is clear, however, that Lorna cares very much for her former stepdaughter. Maggie calls to Lorna as she walks away telling her that her shoes look nice.
Maggie and Mickey talk Tanya
Mickey wants Maggie to arrange for housing for Tanya after testifying that Soto was behind the hit on her witness, Loresca. Maggie agrees they will house her during the trial. Mickey says she will need support for longer, like a year, especially being an immigrant without connections here. She agrees to talk to Janelle.
Later, Mickey offers to give Maggie a ride home, especially since he is always sober now. She declines as she has already called for a car. Mickey leaves.
A car pulls up next to Maggie. Robert Cardone lets the window down and says he is there to talk to her. He makes a pitch for her siding with him in the election. He suggests that he can give her more opportunities than Janelle does.
Judge not bribed
Cisco reports to Mickey that Judge Stanton does not appear to have taken a bribe. He did not fund the restaurant renovations.
Cisco asks about Mickey about seeing Hard Case Casey listed on the client schedule. Mickey says he will be assisting him with a parole violation. Cisco does not understand why Mickey is helping someone from his old motorcycle gang, the Road Saints.
Mickey reminds Cisco that he has been taking cases from the Road Saints for some time now. He explains that Ted came to him and asked for help with Casey.
Breakfast revelations
Mickey goes to Maggie’s house to pick up Hayley to go for pancakes. Maggie mentions that Janelle offered 2 months of support for Tanya. Again, Mickey insists it must be longer. He mentions the name of a woman who has been receiving support for 7 years while waiting to testify in a case.
Mickey suggests that Maggie talk to Lankford since the police budget is hefty. Maggie remarks that it will not be if the police are defunded.
Hayley sparks a thought
As Hayley and Mickey drive to the restaurant, Hayley asks if her mom and dad were on a date the night prior. Mickey says no and asks why? Hayley shares that she saw Mickey comforting Maggie the other night in the living room. Mickey admits that they care for one another, but it is much more complicated.
Hayley also asks if Mickey would defend the killer of David Loresca. Mickey makes a turn and says they will go somewhere else instead of getting pancakes.
The underdog
Mickey and Hayley sit and eat by the fountains in the middle of the government buildings downtown. He points out all of them. They talk about underdogs and defending them. Hayley reminds him that Trevor Elliott is not an underdog. Mickey shares that he has had an underdog case before, and he is planning to make things right with it.
Hayley wonders why her dad does not spend more time on that case than the Elliott one. Mickey explains that Trevor insists on going forward with trial next week. Hayley is confused. If Trevor is facing the potential of jail, would he not want to delay it as much as possible? Something clicks with Mickey, and he says they need to go.
Juror #7
Mickey confronts Trevor about juror #7 being bribed. Trevor says Jerry set it up. Mickey does not understand why the sale of Trevor’s business would be more important than going to prison because they rushed to trial.
Mickey says he is going to quit, but Trevor warns him not to. He also brings up the fact Jerry was going to file for a continuance. Unfortunately, he was killed before he could do it. Trevor insists that is why Mickey cannot quit. He connects Jerry’s murder to the decision to file the continuance.
Mickey asks if Trevor killed Jerry. Trevor gets emotional and swears he did not kill Jerry, Lara or Rilz. Mickey does not understand and demands answers.
Sergei Kosevich
Trevor tells Mickey that his company Parallax was funded by money from Sergei Kosevich, father of his college roommate Pavel Kosevich. Sergei is associated with the mafia and wants to recover his money when Trevor’s company is acquired in the upcoming deal. Trevor explains that it is not about him benefitting from the sale because it was not his money in the first place.
Trevor says Kosevich will not allow anything to prevent him from getting his money back. He says Kosevich knows that Trevor and Laura did not have a prenuptial agreement, meaning half of Kosevich’s money would be given to Lara if she divorced him. Trevor says he tried so hard to get Lara to change her mind, but Sergei got to her first.
Mickey realizes it must be Sergei’s people following him and listening in on him. Trevor says the point is that he must be acquitted, so that the deal goes through and Kosevich gets his money back. He says that everyone associated with Trevor is in danger, including Mickey and his family.
Trevor reminds Mickey that he is innocent. He wants to know if Mickey believes him. Mickey agrees that he does not believe he murdered Lara and Jan, but he is clearly disgusted with Trevor’s mess.
Leaving and flashing back
Mickey drives away deep in thought and frustration. He flashes back to his father’s pro bono trial and how his dad explained why this case was harder. It is easier to lose if you think someone is probably guilty, but if you know they are not, it is painful.
Sidebar:
Is that overlook at Dodger Stadium where Mickey talked to Tanya the same place that Bosch and Edgar were in the opening scene of the Bosch series pilot episode?
Closing Argument:
Trevor is exhausting. Did he really think he could keep all this from his lawyer? If Trevor thinks he knows better about everything, maybe Mickey should just spend his time concentrating on Jesus Menendez like Hayley suggested.
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