The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Ending Explained: What Happened to Glory Days?

This article contains spoilers for The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 finale.

Mickey Haller’s life has been very eventful. From working out of the back of his car at the beginning of season one to his own office, his own staff, and being on the front page of every newspaper in the country, the titular Lincoln Lawyer from Netflix’s hit series The Lincoln Lawyer has had quite a turn-around. A high-profile murder case ending with your client getting executed vigilante-style in broad daylight tends to boost your profile. Now sober and ready to build his life again, Mickey (Manuel García-Rulfo) has clearly made the most of his second chance. 

He’s clearly busy. Mickey spends season 2 rushing around from interview to interview, case to case, striking while the iron is hot. He’s stretched thin, and that strain is falling on everyone around him. The LA Times interviews and horseback riding lessons are all fun, meanwhile Lorna (Becki Newton) and Izzy (Jazzy Raycole) try their best to keep his practice above water while negotiating their own busy lives. Lorna is deep into law school and marriage prep stemming from the season one finale and Izzy is working to achieve her dream of owning a dance studio. 

Just when things were starting to look a little too calm, another murder case falls into Mickey’s lap, this time involving a talented chef he’s been hooking up with, Lisa Trammel (Lana Parrilla). Never one to turn away a chance at more headlines, Mickey ends the affair and takes on another headline-making case. Here’s how it all goes down by the end of The Lincoln Lawyer season 2.

Was Lisa Trammell Guilty?

The chemistry is clearly there between Mickey and Lisa Trammell, and her pozole is good enough that he’s willing to overlook the possible red flags and represent her in her trial for the murder of billionaire land developer Mitchell Bondurant. In a lot of ways, Lisa’s a terrible client to have. She’s got a public grudge against the gentrification ruining her neighborhood, she’s got a hot temper, and her dealings with sleazy podcast producer Henry (Matt Angel) mean she introduces a lot of damning evidence against herself that Mickey has to fight against. Even the murder weapon and putting the witness on trial isn’t enough to derail him, and in the end, Mickey wins the fight and Lisa is exonerated for Bondurant’s murder.

The two celebrate with Mickey’s official firing as her lawyer and the resumption of their intimate relationship. However, it’s Mickey, so something is rotten in Denmark. Lisa’s ex-husband, Jeff (Adam J. Harrington) had been a mysterious figure throughout the case. He technically was still married to Lisa, but had run off to Mexico without finalizing the divorce he filed for, then rescinded. He was difficult to locate for trial, and every mention of him caused Lisa to fly off into a rage that wasn’t commensurate with Lisa’s story about a couple growing apart due to business stress. Also, moving to Mexico when you hate cilantro sounds like a fate worse than death given cilantro’s delicious importance to Mexican cuisine.

A fateful trip to the beach to surf gives the game away. When “Jeff” called to talk to Mickey, the same background construction and blues guitar Mickey heard was on Jeff’s end of the phone. A dig into the social media of Lisa’s employees reveals that “Jeff” is a former waiter and out-of-work actor who Lisa hired to play her husband. Mickey cleverly figures out that while Lisa didn’t kill Bondurant (his ties to Armenian gangster Alan Grant likely led to his death), she wasn’t exactly guilt-free where her husband was concerned. Mickey, as her former lawyer, can’t rat out his clients, but fortunately, Lorna can and does.

What Happened to Glory Days?

Gloria Dayton a.k.a. Glory Days (Fiona Rene) was the linchpin that Mickey Haller needed to both free Jesus Menendez from prison and put Tattoo Guy a.k.a. Russell Lawson (David Clayton Rogers) in jail to protect his family. She does both these things, then promises Mickey that she’ll be on her way to Hawaii to spend a little time with her mom and clean up her act, much to Mickey’s relief. She’s been very helpful to him on several cases, and Mickey’s got a soft touch for his clients.

Glory’s happy ending doesn’t last very long. Mickey gets a call from Lorna about Julian La Crosse (Devon Graye), someone who claims to be an acquaintance of Mickey’s and a new client accused of murder. The stiff on the table, allegedly named Giselle Dallinger, turns out to be none other than Glory Days. Turns out she might not have gone to Hawaii after all, and the murder case against Russell Lawson might have just gotten a little bit more complicated.

What’s Next for Mickey and Maggie?

Speaking of more complicated, Mickey’s on-again, off-again relationship with his first ex-wife, Maggie McPherson (Neve Campbell), seems to have taken a turn for the permanently off-again. Maggie is dating another man (though that’s not that much of a deterrent) and her career in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office is on the skids in the wake of the events of the first season of The Lincoln Lawyer. Maggie wasn’t involved in the corruption, but she was close enough to it that she’s become radioactive and is banished from her big office to an outlying suburban facility where all the good cases get taken from her. 

That’s not the way for Maggie to live. Bad enough she’s not happy professionally, but being trapped in a perpetual back-and-forth with Mickey isn’t great for her personal life or daughter Hayley’s mental health. They can’t stay together. They can’t stay apart, either. In order to get a little emotional distance, Maggie has to get some personal and professional distance. She’s last seen breaking the news to Mickey that she’s leaving Los Angeles and taking a job with the San Diego DA’s office. Sure, she’s gone, but Hayley will still be going to school and taking riding lessons in the area, and Maggie is planning on commuting, which means she’s only a trip in the Lincoln away from Mickey and far from out of Mickey’s life going forward. 

Mickey Haller is short of allies. His first wife is gone. His second wife has remarried to his investigator and will be starting her own law practice soon enough. His assistant is starting her own business. Even his mother has fled for Vancouver and a second chance at television stardom. The Lincoln lawyer’s life remains a mess, with a murder case to crack and the looming specter of gangland revenge around every corner, at least it’s not boring.

All 10 episodes of The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 are available to stream on Netflix now.