By Johnny Loftus for Decider
SIX MONTHS LATER. Yow! Gotta love a good time jump. And as the camera descends over another picaresque Los Angeles neighborhood in The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3 Episode 3, it soon becomes clear that beef and bread and gravy aren’t the only ingredients in a French dip sandwich.
Evidently there’s randiness in there, and mutual attraction, too. We were not imagining the heightened level of comfort between defense attorney Mickey Haller and prosecutor Andrea Freeman at the end of The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3 Episode 2. With a close-up on the two cups of coffee in Andy’s kitchen, who comes fixing his tie out of her bedroom but Mickey. It’s been a few weeks of this, and they’ve been keeping it casual – she turns down his offer to join him at Middle Eastern hotspot Saffy’s later – but it’s enough of a thing that Andy jokes about maybe keeping Mickey around for awhile. A prolonged kiss before they leave (separately) for work. “Mmm. Keep that up, and I might just let you keep a toothbrush in my bathroom.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Haller, I’m no chismoso.” Eddie Rojas knows his job is not to gossip about his boss’s love life, but to shut up and drive the Lincoln. And while Julian La Cosse’s trial isn’t for another three months, Mickey has asked for a hearing on potentially tossing his client’s original police interview. In the courtroom, there’s a touching moment between Julian and his partner David. They hadn’t seen each other for the entire time jump! But for us, the hearing is mostly about enjoying the work of some total TV pros: Merrin Dungey (Alias, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as Judge Regina Turner, and Paul Schulze (24; an incredible turn as a boss alien in the recent Sugar) as Detective Mark Whitten. The pressure builds as Mickey, using video evidence, seems to prove that Whitten wanted to detain and question Julian without officially reading his Miranda rights. Judge Turner even shuts down a bunch of objections from prosecutor William Forsythe. But in the end, she rules against the motion. Outside, when Forsythe offers a plea deal, Mickey turns it down immediately. It’s a not guilty verdict or nothing for Julian. It looks like jail is crushing him.
We always wish The Lincoln Lawyer had more time for Cisco. In part because Angus Sampson is so good in the role, all grumbling sincerity and reformed bad man biker guy vibes. But also because we love how Cisco is always willing to go the extra mile. Or about 30 miles, as he travels from Haller & Associates out to a scrapyard in Duarte, just to inspect a wreck that could be the vehicle which tailed Glory Days. Lincoln Lawyer’s got Sampson out here crawling all over the Civic’s busted frame, pulling necessary tools from pockets – a felt tip pen from here, an telescoping mini-mirror from there – until Cisco finds the car’s VIN stamped on the back of its engine block. Sure, Mickey Haller’s smooth like silk during final arguments in a courtroom. But legwork like this wins cases, too.
Read the rest of the recap, HERE.