This character deserved so much more!
Spoilers for Season 3 of The Lincoln Lawyer are ahead! If you haven’t watched the latest episodes, you can stream the series in full with a Netflix subscription.
Since its release earlier on the 2024 TV schedule, The Lincoln Lawyer has been dominating Netflix’s Top 10. However, that’s really no surprise. The series is beloved, and with each episode ending on a heart-pounding cliffhanger, it’s impossible not to click on that next episode button. However, while I was binge-watching the latest installment, there was one death that took place at the end of an episode in the middle of the season that left me reeling, and I can’t get over how the show handled it.
I’m, of course, talking about the death of Mickey’s new driver Eddie Rojas. Allyn Moriyon’s character joined the show this season as Mickey’s babysitter turned driver, and he was the most lovable guy. However, he was sadly a victim of the ongoing violence in the lawyer’s life, and he met his end during a car crash in Episode 5.
To an extent, I get why this happened. This season, Mickey was facing the consequences of the impulsive and reckless decisions he made in the name of helping his clients. Sadly, Eddie was one of the casualties. Losing him kind of forced Mickey to reckon with his behavior and consider how he should evolve his practice in the second half of the season. Plus, it added a lot of emotion to the story, as co-showrunner Ted Humphrey told ScreenRant:
“We love the character and we love the performance, but, you know, in part, that was why it made sense to do what we did. I think it was John Wells who used to talk about audience testing of shows, and he was like, you know, the studio would complain that all the dials went down when the kid died. And it’s like, well, yeah, they’re supposed to go down. You’re supposed to feel sad when the kid dies. That’s how you know that it worked, right? So, yeah, I love that you loved him, and I love in a weird, twisted way, that you were devastated. That means it worked.”
Well, it certainly did work, and it’s one of the reasons why this series is one of Netflix’s best binge-watches. However, I did not like how the show handled Eddie’s death after it happened.
While it was addressed, it didn’t feel like it was really honored, and the man deserved more than a few mentions and an appearance as a ghost.
I found that Eddie brought some much-needed wholesome energy to the show, and he was teaching Mickey how to slow down his life a bit. Plus, his having fun hobbies like live-streaming his crocheting was adorable. In his short time on the show, Moriyon’s character was fleshed out, and I immediately loved him – just like how I instantly fell for the other members of Mickey’s team.
Think about it, if Lorna, Izzy or Cisco went down, the next episode – at least – would probably be devoted to grieving and honoring them. Eddie was mentioned here and there and the crew was saddened by his death. However, they also just kind of moved on without really getting sad about it. Now, I know they had a job to do, but still…can’t we at least get some sort of commemorative moment for the character?
Later in the season, Mickey did see Eddie as a ghost as he reckoned with the negative impacts of his actions. However, I needed more than that! I needed more mention of Eddie; I needed tears to shed over this boy’s death for Pete’s sake!
I know he wasn’t around for long, but the love I felt for him was big, and he deserved better. So, here’s hoping that if The Lincoln Lawyer gets renewed for Season 4 – which I assume it will since it’s been a big hit among Netflix’s 2024 releases – we find a way to keep Eddie’s sweet legacy alive.
