Netflix The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 recap guide: All episodes explained

The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 episode 7 recap: Cui Bono

Mickey gets a couple of interesting pieces of mail in the seventh episode of The Lincoln Lawyer season 2. Someone leaves a copy of an FBI target letter on his doorstep. The letter states that his alternate suspect, Alex Grant, is under investigation, meaning Bondurant’s email now carries more weight—if the letter is genuine. Mickey takes it to Legal for advice.

The first thing Mickey needs to do is to get clarification on whether or not this letter is the real deal or if someone is trying to screw Mickey over. Enter Cisco. Cisco has a contact who can find out if the letter is real, but in exchange, she wants backstage passes to the upcoming Def Leppard/Motley Crue concert.

Thus starts a suspenseful interlude throughout the episode as Mickey and the prosecutor, Andy Freeman, give their opening statements to start the trial and begin questioning the first witness, the homicide detective assigned to the case, Howard O’Brien.

O’Brien is an experienced detective who will be challenging to misdirect on cross. He connects the bloodstained gloves and the missing hammer to Lisa. However, he also points out that they found a coffee cup from Bondurant’s favorite place at the crime scene (the parking garage where Bondurant frequently parked his car) and a piece of glass that appeared to be from a broken side-view mirror.

Mickey points out that they cannot confirm the coffee cup was Lisa’s and her car doesn’t have a broken side-view mirror. He also notes that the prosecution has yet to present the murder weapon. From there, Mickey has to ask O’Brien many pointless questions regarding the chain of custody for the evidence and other minor details to stall for time so Cisco can figure out the truth.

Ultimately, Mickey is forced to take a gamble because Cisco’s contact doesn’t show, but the FBI agent who signed off on the letter, Felix Vasquez, arrives instead. He cannot confirm or deny the letter’s veracity, but Mickey takes that as proof enough and presents the letter in court.

He uses it to cast doubt on whether or not O’Brien did his due diligence to investigate every possible suspect or if he just focused on Lisa specifically. O’Brien didn’t know the feds were investigating Grant, so it begs the question, would he have looked deeper into him if he did?

During a break in court where the prosecution is given a chance to confirm the letter themselves, Mickey revisits Henry Dahl with an assignment. He needs Henry to lure Grant into a false sense of security, making him think Mickey has nothing on him.

That shouldn’t be hard since Henry has been feeding the contractor information all along. This will pay off in a future episode as part of a risky strategy Mickey is lining up. Remember, Mickey’s endgame here is to create reasonable doubt. His best way to do that is to make it look like the cops failed to investigate all potential suspects—namely, Alex Grant.

Back in the courtroom, Mickey’s gamble about the letter is correct. The prosecution has confirmed that the letter is genuine and called FBI agent Felix Vasquez himself to the stand. Andy’s goal is to make the letter appear inconsequential to the current case, to say that these target letters often go nowhere.

During cross-examination, Mickey gets Vasquez to admit that while FBI target letters don’t necessarily mean the recipient is guilty, the FBI doesn’t just send them out on a whim. And Vasquez has to remain coy because the investigation into Grant is ongoing. That word “ongoing” is all Mickey needs the jury to hear.

Afterward, Vasquez and Mickey meet briefly in the restroom, where Vasquez vaguely implies he left the letter on Mickey’s doorstep himself. Mickey realizes the feds are using this case to draw out Grant and see if he slips up or reveals anything incriminating when he eventually takes the stand.

However, the episode ends with a big reveal that could seriously hurt Lisa’s defense. Detective O’Brien and his team have found the murder weapon: the bloody hammer from Lisa’s toolkit.

Written by Maddy Lennon