The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 teased with unexpected season 3 cliffhanger

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from The Lincoln Lawyer season 3.

In The Lincoln Lawyer season 3, Mickey Haller tackled his most personal case yet. Following the tragic death of his friend Glory Days, Mickey represents Julian La Cosse, who has been accused of the murder. As daunting of a task as it might have been, Mickey and his team fight tooth and nail to get to the bottom of what really happened to Glory Days.

As with the previous season finale, a cliffhanger ending helps set up the potential follow-up season, and this particular cliffhanger just might be the show's most shocking one yet. If your jaw is still on the ground after watching The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 finale and its cliffhanger, we're diving into what it could mean and which Michael Connelly book to read next.

Here's your final spoiler warning!

Mickey is being framed for Sam Scales' murder

The final scene of The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 finds Mickey feeling great relief after successfully completing Julian's case. He helped the innocent man receive a not guilty verdict and uncovered the winding conspiracy that ended with DEA Agent James De Marco killing Glory Days. After the intense court battle, Mickey and his team celebrate with a special dinner.

On his way home from dinner in his convertible, Mickey gets pulled over by a cop. When the cop spots blood coming from Mickey's car, the encounter begcomes more serious. Mickey's placed under arrest and the cop opens his trunk to find the dead body of Sam Scales. It's as much of a shock to Mickey as it is to us the viewer. Clearly, he's being framed for this murder.

In season 3 episode 7, Lorna took on Sam Scales' (who previously appeared in a season 2 episode) new case. He was arrested after raising $300,000 to donate $100,000 in gift cards to striking workers in Los Angeles. Obviously, he pocketed over half of the money he raised. He's looking at jail time for wire fraud and theft, but Lorna scored him a more lenient deal for probation and paying the money back.

Outside the courtroom, Sam tells Mickey and the team that he won't be able to pay back the money because he owes his last investor "way more" money. As he says, "If I don't pay them, I'm dead." Well... Mickey isn't pleased to hear this from Sam, since he owes the Haller team money, too. Clearly, whoever's after Sam is now coming after Mickey to bring them all down in one fell swoop.

While The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 hasn't been formally announced as of the release of season 3 on Oct. 17, the likelihood of the show being renewed is almost a given. Neve Campbell already shared that she's committed to returning to the series full time for season 4, which indicates there have seemingly been some discussions behind the scenes.

Based on the case that has been set up in the season 3 finale, we can presume that a potential fourth season would move straight from the fifth Mickey Haller book, The Gods of Guilt, to the sixth, which is called The Law of Innocence and was released in 2020. Here's the official synopsis for the book via Connelly's website:

"Defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is charged with murder and can’t make the exorbitant $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge.

Mickey elects to defend himself and must strategize and build his defense from his jail cell in the Twin Towers Correctional Center in downtown Los Angeles, all the while looking over his shoulder–as an officer of the court he is an instant target.

Mickey knows he’s been framed. Now, with the help of his trusted team, including Harry Bosch, he has to figure out who has plotted to destroy his life and why. Then he has to go before a judge and jury and prove his innocence."

While The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 would borrow the overall story from the book, some things would be changed for the show, as they have been from the beginning. Harry Bosch doesn't appear in the Netflix series, and though that could possibly change (you never know!), it's not likely. Season 4 would find Mickey doing something for the first time: defending himself and proving his own innocence. Stay tuned for more news and updates about what's next as they're revealed!

Watch The Lincoln Lawyer only on Netflix.