The stakes are growing even higher in The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 episode 5.
The Lincoln Lawyer: Case File for season 3 episode 5 ‘What Happens in Victorville’
Written by Ryan Hoang Williams
Directed by Ben Hernandez Bray
Let’s get into The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 episode 5.
Refresh your memory:
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- DEA Agent James De Marco has let himself in to the backseat of the Lincoln for a chat with Mickey.
- Andrea is deeply troubled by the murder of Deborah Glass at the hands of her ex-husband who was out of jail on a Cruz Waiver.
- Haller and Associates was originally searching for a connection between investigator Neil Bishop (aka “the man in the hat”) and Hector Moya.
- Sly Funaro, Jr. has filed a habeas petition on behalf of Hector Moya who claims the gun that landed him life in prison was planted. It is Sly, Sr. who is actually running the case from prison even though he is no longer licensed to practice law.
- Mickey paid a visit to Sly Funaro, Jr. at his office. He tells Jr. to inform Sly, Sr. that he will be coming to the Victorville prison for a visit and joining as co-counsel in Hector Moya’s case.
- Izzy is now sub-leasing her studio to the production company for the television show that her friend is choreographing.
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A “friendly” chat
Agent De Marco sits in Mickey’s Lincoln, but driver Eddie is not there. Mickey asks about Eddie, but De Marco claims no knowledge of his whereabouts. Haller accuses De Marco of having him followed, but De Marco insists he just happened to be there tracking down Sly Funaro, Jr. who recently served him a subpoena.
Instead, De Marco tells Mickey he is there to help. The agent paints a vivid history of Hector Moya as a teenager working as a sicario for the cartel killing three men at the age of only 16. He shares that Moya hung and tortured his victims even leaving one in the desert with a rattlesnake around his neck thus giving him the moniker La Culebra “The Snake”. Per the law in Mexico, minors can never be charged as adults, so Moya simply moved forward with the cartel as an adult.
When Mickey refers to the law, De Marco minimizes the notion and calls the situation a war where you must choose sides. Mickey asks if Glory Days was one of those choices or a sacrifice. Mickey demands the rules of law. De Marco exits the vehicle and urges Mickey to tell Cisco and Lorna that there is no need for them to clandestinely investigate him. Instead, they should just reach out to him saying, “I’m right here. All the time.” De Marco leaves and Eddie returns, thankfully, from a coffee run.
Team meeting
Mickey returns to the Haller and Associates office to update the team on his findings. Intern Jessica has delivered some pan dulce from Monarca. Izzy knows things must be serious when Mickey declines the offer of pan dulce.
Mickey explains his plan to join as co-counsel on Moya’s case. He explains that the two cases are intrinsically tied to one another. His goal is to use Moya’s case to prove that De Marco murdered Glory Days after she was served a subpoena in Moya’s case. He wants to show that De Marco was trying to keep her from testifying that she planted the gun under De Marco’s order. Of course, that in turn would show that Julian was not guilty in his own case. Lorna thinks Mickey’s plan is ridiculously dangerous, but Mickey insists that he must bring justice for Glory Days and Julian.
Meanwhile, Mickey thinks they need to be looking for a connection between investigator Bishop and De Marco instead of a connection between Bishop and Moya. Cisco shares that Gabe from the Sherman Oaks Castle Park knew there was cartel activity in the Valley where Bishop worked as a homicide detective. Izzy and Lorna can review Bishop’s search warrants in the Valley where the DEA may have been involved in hopes of making that connection between the two men.
Finally, Mickey tasks Cisco with a trip to Vegas to talk to gun salesman Budwin Dell, the man who testified that he sold a gun to Hector Moya, the one that was “found” under Moya’s mattress.
In other news, Izzy opens a check for $15,000 from the production company subleasing her studio.
Funny Bone
After the team meeting ends, Lorna and Cisco canoodle as Cisco talks about needing to leave for Vegas. They sense they are not alone. The newlyweds look up and see that Eddie remains standing at the table staring at the pan dulce.
Lorna notices him eyeing the pan dulce. She calls him “a walking bicep” and orders him to “eat a carb”. Eddie complies excitedly saying “maybe one”.
Andrea is struggling
Lorna is working while LIVE with Kelly and Mark plays on her iPad. Suddenly, the news story about the Deborah Glass murder comes on screen. She rushes to Mickey’s desk to see if he knows (and remind him that people think she looks like Kelly Ripa). He has not heard, but that might explain why Andrea cancelled their date last night. Lorna implores Mickey to call Andrea and check on her. Mickey hesitates since it’s something a “boyfriend” would do. Lorna insists and Mickey leaves a message for Andrea.
Andrea comes to Mickey’s house that evening to confide in him. She admits that she forgot to call Deborah to warn her that Scott Glass would be out of prison for one day to attend his grandmother’s funeral. She meant to call Deborah but was distracted by a visit from her boss and a staff meeting she needed to attend. Mickey comforts Andrea and encourages her the next day to take a day off from work. She insists she is fine and goes to work the next day.
While in the courtroom during a motion to compel discovery, Andrea has a blank stare and is unresponsive. She finally comes to and the judge asks if she is okay. Andrea confirms that she is not okay, and the judge orders a brief recess.
Later, we see Andrea leaving Mickey a voicemail telling him she will have to miss dinner again and she will explain later. We see Andrea walk out her front door with suitcase in hand.
Sidebar: What is it with Mickey and women walking out with suitcases?? Maggie shared the news about San Diego with her suitcase at her side. Now things are seemingly going well with Andrea, but she leaves home with suitcase in hand.
“Viva las Vegas”
Cisco makes his way to Vegas on his motorcycle. He does a little recon before confronting Budwin Dell at his gun store. The investigator snaps photos of Bud talking with his wife outside the store.
Inside the store, Budwin is not much help. Cisco feigns shopping for a gun and then asks about the gun Dell testified to selling to “Reynaldo Sante”. He shows the gun salesman a photo of the gun and the fake ID with Moya’s photo. Budwin insists that his testimony was the truth. Even when Cisco points out that Hector Moya has many other ways to procure a gun then coming to his shop, Budwin does not budge.
Cisco calls to check in with Lorna. He is stumped. Budwin’s record is clean, so how could De Marco have a hold on him. Lorna notices the expensive purse that Budwin’s wife is holding in one of the surveillance photos Cisco took. They realize that his wife, Amber, must be the one under De Marco’s control. Her job serving drinks in the casino will not likely cover the cost of that handbag. Cisco pretends to be looking to score some drugs. Amber meets him in the parking lot. Sure enough, she has little bags of cocaine curiously marked with a blue star logo. He reveals that he now knows Amber is the one De Marco extorted to get Budwin’s testimony. He tells her she should talk to him.
Searching the Valley
The next morning Lorna arrives to the office to learn that Izzy stayed at the office overnight checking Bishop’s Valley homicide cases and looking for a connection to De Marco. Lorna is concerned and asks Izzy how she is doing. Izzy explains that she is feeling out of sorts saying she has basically become a landlord by leasing the studio instead of teaching in it.
The ladies continue their search using Izzy’s color-coded system to narrow down the cases. They make progress and find a case that the DEA participated in.
Meanwhile, Mickey is on his way to Victorville to see Sly, Sr. and Hector Moya. Cisco calls Mickey to explain De Marco’s modus operandi. He preys on people in trouble with drug charges. The charges usually go away, but his hold on them to do his dirty work remains.
The Lincoln Lawyer visits Sly
Mickey gets his visit with Sly, Sr. at Victorville. Sly explains how Hector came to him for legal help insisting the gun under his mattress was planted. Sly helped Hector figure who had the ability to plant a gun. Hector did not want to think Glory did it, but she certainly had the opportunity if she had a reason. Mickey mentions De Marco. Sly, Jr. tracked down Glory via sex worker sites on the internet.
Mickey says the subpoena delivery scared De Marco and that’s why she was murdered. Sly insists that the subpoena was under seal. Mickey reminds Sly that they know he knew something went awry because they generated a fake off the record subpoena for Kendall Roberts. Sly becomes angry and we suspect Mickey will not get the visit planned with Moya. Mickey threatens to make Sly’s sentence longer for practicing law without a license. He urges Sly to allow him to join Sly, Jr. on Moya’s case.
The Lincoln Lawyer visits Moya
Sly orders Mickey out, but it turns out he is really telling the guard to take Mickey to Moya. It’s a menacing walk through the prison kitchen to reach Moya. There are knives slashing and slicing meat. The prisoners have intimidating looks on their faces. Someon is delivering a steak to Moya down the hall.
Moya himself is holding a knife but tells Mickey he is safe. Six months ago, however, was a different story, he shares. Back then he planned to kill him and Glory.
Mickey talks about De Marco’s desperation to cover his tracks and willingness for Glory to be silenced by death. He points out that a badge cannot shield someone in court. Mickey shares the discovery that De Marco had a hold on the wife of the gun salesman that lied in court about selling the gun to Moya (or “Reynaldo Sante”). Moya asks what Mickey wants from him. Mickey wants the truth. Moya confesses that the fake ID did belong to him but not the gun.
Mickey asks Moya to agree to Mickey sharing the case with Sly, Jr. He emphasizes that Junior is not capable without his father. Furthermore, he points out that everything Moya says to Sly, Sr. is not protected information since he is not a lawyer anymore. Habeas petitions have a minimal success rate as it is, so Moya should want his help.
Moya agrees and reminds Mickey to secure his own safety.
The road ahead for The Lincoln Lawyer
Mickey leaves Victorville and joins Eddie in the Lincoln. On the road, Mickey receives a call from Lorna who wants to tell him about a case they identified that should be able to connect Bishop to De Marco.
Suddenly, a tow truck speeds up and slams into the Lincoln causing multiple rotations of the vehicle. Lorna is calling out for Mickey over the phone fearful for what could be happening.
The Lincoln comes to a stop upside down. Mickey releases his seat belt and falls to the ground. He makes his way out from under the wreckage calling out for Eddie. Then he sees Eddie’s lifeless body.
Episodes 1 – 10 of The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 are currently available on Netflix.
Stay tuned for ongoing coverage of The Lincoln Lawyer including interviews, recaps, and all new episodes of our podcast Lincoln Law Pod on SoManyShows.com.
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