You know there’s a reason why the finale of The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 is called “The Gods of Guilt.” I mean, except for the fact that it is the title of Michael Connelly’s book on which the season is based. The term was first used by Mickey Haller’s father, who considered the jurors the ‘gods of guilt’ because they sit on the high table and decide who is guilty and who is not. But in Mickey’s case, it was different. Mickey’s ‘gods of guilt’ were all those people whom he believed had lost their lives because of him. Throughout the season, he was burdened by their deaths and was trying to redeem himself by getting justice for them. Mickey believed that Gloria Dayton died because he made a deal with her to give up Hector Moya to the DA’s office, though that wasn’t the case. She was knee-deep in the mess already. By the end of season 3, Mickey had realized a very simple but very important lesson in life. His ‘gods of guilt’ didn’t blame him for anything. They just wanted Mickey to continue doing the good work and save innocent people on his way up. But I know you aren’t here for a lesson in philosophy, so without any further ado, let’s jump straight into the ending of The Lincoln Lawyer season 3.
Spoiler Alert
Neil Bishop Shoots Himself On The Witness Stand
Mickey and ex-LAPD cop Neil Bishop had known each other for a very long time, and it was obvious they didn’t like each other much. However, Bishop was a crucial witness in Gloria Dayton’s murder case, and Mickey wanted his testimony to bring Gloria’s killer, DEA agent James de Marco, out of his hole. Before the session started, Mickey showed him the CCTV footage, which indicated that Bishop had been working for Marco all along and also helped him plant bags of cocaine in another witness’ house so he wouldn’t be able to testify. Both Marco and Bishop didn’t really know that it was a fake witness Mickey had put on the list in order to catch the culprits red-handed.
When Bishop saw the video, he knew that it was a dead end for him, and he wouldn’t be able to come out of the mess. But before killing himself, he wanted to do one good thing, which was to give the defense enough evidence that they could save their client Julian La Cosse and start an investigation into James Marco. On the witness stand, he revealed how Marco corrupted him some ten years ago and then used that to blackmail Bishop to do his dirty work. Marco had hired Bishop to find out Gloria’s address, and the night he found her, she ended up dying. Bishop speculated that it was indeed Marco who had killed Gloria Dayton. And the guilt had been eating him up since that day. He could have done something different to save a woman’s life, but instead he helped a corrupt DEA agent in a murder who just wanted to cover up his tracks. A broken-down Bishop quickly pulled a gun from his socks and killed himself on the spot.
Hector Moya Kills James de Marco
So, the decorated DEA agent and ex-LAPD cop, James de Marco, had actually been working for one of the deadliest cartels in Mexico. The bosses in the Juarez Cartel most likely ordered Marco to take care of Hector Moya, a shot caller for the rival Sinaloa Cartel, and that’s when Marco started investigating Moya. He found out about his favorite girl, Gloria Dayton, and arrested her to use her to get to Moya. Marco asked Gloria to plant a weapon in Moya’s room that not only led to his arrest but also got him a life sentence. Marco had covered up the loose ends pretty well and was certain that he didn’t have to bother about Moya anymore. But unfortunately, Moya met Sly Funaro Sr. in Victorville, who later filed a Habeas corpus petition for his client. When Gloria received a subpoena, she freaked out and anxiously contacted Marco, because of which he decided to murder her to cover up the tracks so nothing could be traced back to him. However, when Mickey took Gloria’s case, everything started to unravel, and Moya found out that it was Marco, working for the Juarez Cartel, who had sent him to prison, and therefore decided to take revenge.
I guess Bishop’s testimony in court became a turning point in Moya’s case as well, and the court dropped all charges against him after Marco’s crimes came to light. And as soon as Hector Moya reached his homeland, the first thing he did was to hunt down Marco, who had most likely fled to southern Mexico. Later, he sent Mickey an envelope with a picture of Marco hanging from a bridge with a snake wrapped around his neck, which was his signature style. In season 3’s ending, Moya also assured Mickey that he didn’t need to worry about the Juarez Cartel anymore as he was back in his homeland and would turn their lives into such a nightmare that they wouldn’t have time to threaten an American lawyer.
In the book’s ending, Mickey received a similar email, where he found a fifteen-second video of a man hanging by his neck from a tree. The dead man’s face was badly swollen up with blood smeared all over it, because of which Mickey failed to recognize the man in the video, though he was certain that it was none other than James de Marco.
Mickey Cracks a Deal with DA Adam Suarez
Lalo Vasquez, the inmate who stabbed La Cosse in prison, was working for the same cartel as James de Marco, which means it was Marco who had planned a hit on Mickey’s client in order to disrupt the trial. Mickey argued that his client could have lost his life due to the corrupt legal system and therefore demanded that his client should be compensated generously for everything he’d gone through. The new DA, Adam Suarez, who didn’t want Marco’s crime to go public, agreed to Mickey’s demands and paid a huge amount to his client. Julian and his partner decided to use the money to leave LA and start a new life somewhere, while Mickey felt that he had absolved himself of his guilt. After facing all these trials and tribulations, Mickey felt that he deserved a much-needed break, but he ended up crossing paths with yet another murder, which dashed his dreams of a vacation.
Mickey Will Be Arrested For Sam’s Murder
In season 3’s ending, while returning from the success party, Mickey was stopped by a uniformed officer, Officer Roy Milton, who asked Mickey for his car registration and insurance. Mickey couldn’t understand what it was all about until the officer revealed that he stopped him because his car was missing a license plate. And before he could speak in his defense, the officer noticed blood dripping from beneath the bumper of the car. Upon further investigation, the officer found a dead body in the trunk, which, as you might remember, belonged to Mickey’s client, Sam Scales, whose case Lorna had taken up in episode 7 of The Lincoln Lawyer season 3. Sam had been using a number of aliases to pull off several government-related frauds. In episode 7, he used the alias of Senor Varela to collect money to buy grocery cards for striking workers, and he’d raised around 300,000 dollars, out of which he kept 200,000 for himself. When his crimes came to light, he was quickly put behind bars and called in Mickey for his rescue. The episode also revealed that Sam owed some money (consultancy fees) to Mickey, which would be used as a motive for Sam’s murder in the upcoming trial that we’ll come across in season 4. Also, Sam had told Lorna that he had a much bigger money-making project going on, which most likely got him killed. So, Sam messed with the wrong people who killed him and planted his body in Mickey’s car to frame him for murder, and now Mickey had to fight his own trial to prove his innocence. Sweet. By the way, the fourth season of The Lincoln Lawyer will follow Michael Connelly’s 2020 book, The Law of Innocence, in case anyone is interested in knowing Mickey’s fate before the show comes out.
