The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Obligations
Denis Kimathi
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Good villains are hard to find, and even after teasing one for two seasons, The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Episode 2 brought Russell to an unsatisfactory conclusion.
Mickey hatched a plan that saw him kill more than two birds with one stone as he helped Glory Days out of a fix while saving an innocent client and freeing himself from a psychopath.
Most of what happened was quite satisfactory, apart from the resolution Russell got.
The show had teased him since The Lincoln Lawyer Season 1, and the cliffhanger was him watching Mickey as he went swimming.
He was given a grand entrance as he found a way into Mickey's life and had Mickey right where he wanted him.
Left without any course of action, Mickey sought Siegel's help, but honestly, he almost knew everything Siegel would say. He wanted to hear it from someone else, but he knew he was in a bad place even before getting there.
Legal: The worst part is the conflict of interest. You-- The hypothetical lawyer. He's gotta withdraw from representing the innocent client.
Mickey: I was afraid you were gonna say that.
Legal: There's no way around it.
The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Episode 1 showed that Russell was a terrible person, and in keeping up with his persona, he paid Mickey a visit at the office.
His greatest weapon was his ability to play with people's minds.
Who's willing to bet he purposefully got himself that speeding ticket because he wanted to torture Mickey with it?
It was a bold move showing up at the office like that, but in his cockiness, he gave up something about himself. He couldn't stay put and had to go through Mickey's stuff. That would be his downfall later.
When one door closes, another one opens somewhere else, and Glory Days getting arrested was the door Mickey had been looking for.
She was the first step in executing his plan to get Russell out of his life for good.
Mickey caught up with Lisa at her restaurant, and they talked about growing up as children.
It didn't help Lisa's case how fast they were going. They had met a few days ago, and now they were ready to tell each other their deepest darkest secrets.
Lines between professional and personal conduct were blurring quickly, and when they mixed, it would be a mess.
At the back of my mind, I felt that there was more about her than meets the eye.
Izzy, the projected lesson and moral compass, had a story about how she and Andy were also blurring the lines by starting a business together.
In any relationship, there should be constraints on how the relationship is supposed to operate. It is what people have built most of the society on. When one or both parties cross into another territory, they risk hurting themselves and others.
That was the exact case with Lorna and her former professor on The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2.
The relationship was purely academic based as she had a certain view of him as her professor, but then he made a pass at her, and he crossed into another territory.
Lorna recounting how she felt after the sexual advance hit harder than normal because it made us consider that even the smallest of actions can have huge consequences.
You don't remember me, do you? I was a first-year in your torts class a few years ago. I was so intimidated by you. You were the best professor in this school. I felt so lucky to get a spot, and then you started to notice me. You called on me all the time. You made me feel like I was the smartest person in the class. Until you made a pass at me in your office, and I turned you down. Remember that? I don't know if you meant to make me feel like shit after that, or if it just happened, or if some of it was in my head. But I do know that what you did was wrong. I let you make me doubt myself. But that's over now.
Lorna
She was lucky the professor didn't press on, but he had already done the damage.
When he did that, it changed her entire worldview. Was he trying to sleep with her and fed her lies about her academic abilities? Was she basking in the Glory of her prowess when she didn't earn it? Was she stupid?
It can't be stressed enough why keeping different relationships separate is important.
The episode's highlight was when Mickey's plan came into focus. He had executed it so well it eased seeing such a good villain go to waste.
The best part was that even the keenest of viewers was in the dark.
The earliest indicator should have been Glory Days explaining the attacker's appearance when she only glanced at him for a few seconds.
Detective: What else do you remember? Anything specific about the attack?
Glory Days: He grabbed me from behind, put a knife against my throat.
Detective Griggs: Right-handed? Left-handed?
Glory Days: Left. His tattoo was on the left forearm. Yeah, that's close. Uh, his face was not as long, and his nose was not as wide, maybe.
Detective Griggs: So, you got a good look at him?
Glory Days: Just for a second.
Then Mickey went to play tennis all day. And the look Siegel gave him at the court?
If you read our The Lincoln Lawyer quotes, you know why seeing how he played different people to get his plan to work was so surprising. Even Griggs was none the wiser until the plan was complete.
I wasn't thrilled with the decision to have Russell out of the picture.
I was getting comfortable having him around, and even after seeing he would go to prison, part of me wanted him to come back and raise some hell.
On the flip side, Jesus was free and his case done.
Unfortunately, your retainer ran out. So, I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to find yourself another lawyer. Oh, and Russell, just so you know, I have clients in every prison in California. Very loyal clients. If anything were to happen to my family, I'd make sure a few of them pay you a visit.
Mickey [to Russell]
Apart from an innocent man going free, it was good that Mickey had left that chapter behind. With Lisa's call and his dedication to helping her, things were getting too personal on too many fronts, which was not thrilling.
Elsewhere, Lorna clocked something wrong with Cisco and confronted him about it. He gave a pretty generic non-response which seemed good enough for Lorna. But being the smart woman she is, she'll see through it.
Cisco was back working for the biker gang, which was not good for him.
Even though "Obligations" had its moments, they let go of something that could have been entertaining for a few more episodes or the entire season.
The show has a way of reinventing itself, so we'll see what happens. Will Russell return, or will someone else take his place? We didn't see much of Maggie, and I liked it.
Did Lisa kill Bondurant? There was still so much to come, and I was excited to see how it played out.
What did you think? Let us know in the comments section.
Denis Kimathi was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.
