Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer is no stranger to making changes to the source material, and season 2 is no exception. Based on Michael Connelly’s book series of the same name, The Lincoln Lawyer follows defense attorney Mickey Haller, who works out of his Lincoln Town Car rather than a traditional office setting. Michael Connelly’s books and Netflix’s version of The Lincoln Lawyer follow the same premise and use many of the same characters, but the Netflix series takes liberties with the books’ plots, both big and small.
The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 adapts the story of the fourth book in the Mickey Haller series, The Fifth Witness. In The Fifth Witness, Mickey defends Lisa Trammell, who has been accused of murdering businessman Mitchell Bondurant. Over the course of the story, Mickey begins to have doubts about Lisa’s innocence, which he must put aside to win the trial. However, while the story leading up to the end of The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 bears many similarities to The Fifth Witness’ plot, Netflix made some big changes to the source material.
14 Lisa & Jeff Trammell’s Marriage Has A Different Backstory In The Fifth Witness
Towards the end of The Lincoln Lawyer season 2, part 1, Lisa Trammell reveals to Mickey that she had previously been married, but her marriage has a slightly different backstory in The Fifth Witness. In Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer, Lisa and Jeff Trammell are both pretty secretive about the nature of their marriage and past together, making their relationship one of The Lincoln Lawyer season 2’s biggest mysteries. However, The Fifth Witness provides way more detail about Lisa and Jeff’s marriage, which appears a little differently than it does in the show.
In the original Lincoln Lawyer book, Lisa and Jeff are technically still married to each other (albeit separated), while the Netflix show depicts them as divorced. They even had a son together, Tyler, who doesn’t appear in Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer. The Fifth Witness depicts the Trammells’ marriage and family life as being happy until Jeff suddenly left the family and moved away. Like in Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer, what happened to Lisa's husband Jeff is incredibly important to explaining Lisa’s nature, but The Fifth Witness' version of the Trammell family gives Lisa a slightly different backstory.
13 Lisa Is A Teacher In The Fifth Witness
In the Netflix adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer, Lisa Trammell is a chef and restaurateur at one of Mickey’s favorite restaurants, but she has a different profession entirely in the original book. The Fifth Witness depicts Lisa Trammell as a high school social studies teacher whose life gets derailed when her husband, Jeff, steps out on their family, leaving her with many financial burdens. After several unexcused absences, Lisa loses her teaching job, which leads to the troubles she faces in The Fifth Witness.
Changing Lisa’s profession for The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 is a huge difference for the character. In Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer, Lisa and Mickey bond over food, which becomes a big part of their personal connection. This aspect of their relationship doesn’t appear in The Fifth Witness at all, which makes Lisa and Mickey’s book relationship very different. Additionally, Lisa losing her job as a teacher is integral to beginning her feud with Bondurant, whereas in The Lincoln Lawyer, it is primarily chalked up to Lisa’s dislike of gentrification. It might seem like a small change, but Lisa not being a teacher in the show is a huge book difference.
12 Henry Dahl Is Different In The Fifth Witness
Henry Dahl is a massive thorn in Mickey Haller’s side while representing Lisa Trammell, but Henry appears differently in The Fifth Witness. Though The Lincoln Lawyer changed Dahl’s name to Henry, he is called Herb in the book. Since The Fifth Witness was published in 2011, podcasts weren’t as popular, so in the book, Herb Dahl offers Lisa a movie deal. Despite this, Mickey and Dahl are just as antagonistic to each other as they are in the show. These changes to Dahl were likely made to update The Fifth Witness’ story to make it more modern, but doing so made Lisa’s “friend” pretty different in the process.
11 Mickey Haller Is Still ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ In The Fifth Witness
The Lincoln Lawyer season 1 sees Mickey Haller finally get an office after working out of his Lincoln Town Car for so long, but this isn’t the case in the books. In The Fifth Witness, Mickey never receives an office for his practice, so he’s still working out of his Lincoln. Netflix changing this detail begs whether Mickey is still “The Lincoln Lawyer” if he has an office, but the original The Fifth Witness makes it clear that Mickey is and will always be the Lincoln Lawyer.
10 Lisa & Mickey Aren’t Romantically Involved In The Fifth Witness
Mickey and Lisa’s relationship in The Lincoln Lawyer is messy due to the blurred lines between a personal connection and a professional one, but this isn’t the case in the book. Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer portrays Mickey and Lisa as being quasi-love interests after the two hook up prior to Lisa becoming Mickey’s client. This is a significant aspect of The Lincoln Lawyer season 2, as Mickey’s complicated feelings about Lisa make his questioning of her innocence even more difficult. However, Mickey and Lisa’s romantic connection is exclusive to the Netflix adaptation, as they only have a professional relationship in The Fifth Witness.
9 Lorna & Cisco Are Already Married
In The Lincoln Lawyer season 2, Lorna and Cisco’s subplot revolves around the couple trying to agree on plans for their wedding, but their relationship is different in the books. In The Lincoln Lawyer's books, Lorna and Cisco are already married. This means that a lot of the obstacles Lorna and Cisco have to overcome with their relationship in The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 are created for the Netflix show. However, in both the books and Netflix show, Mickey has no problem with Lorna and Cisco’s marriage, which allows the three Lincoln Lawyer characters’ working relationship to be as successful as it is.
8 The Road Saints Have A Way Smaller Role In The Fifth Witness
Cisco’s story in The Lincoln Lawyer season 2, part 1 centers around him settling his unfinished business with the Road Saints, but they have a far smaller role in the original book. In The Fifth Witness, the Road Saints mostly appear as part of Cisco’s backstory rather than factoring into the plot. Throughout The Fifth Witness, Cisco gets help from some of his friends who are still in the Saints, but that is the extent of their involvement in the book’s story. While it might not be faithful to The Fifth Witness, increasing the Road Saints’ role in the Netflix adaptation expands Cisco’s The Lincoln Lawyer book story, making the change’s outcome positive for the character.
7 Alex Grant Doesn’t Exist In The Fifth Witness
At the end of The Lincoln Lawyer season 2, part 1, Alex Grant begins to emerge as a significant figure in the murder of Mitchell Bondurant, but Grant’s character doesn’t actually appear in The Fifth Witness. Alex Grant is a potential alternative suspect in Bondurant’s murder outside of Lisa, as Grant and Bondurant are revealed to have been embroiled in a business dispute at the time of the latter's death. Grant becomes an even more compelling suspect when it’s discovered that he had changed his name to downplay mob ties. However, despite Grant’s significant role in The Lincoln Lawyer, he doesn’t appear in the book.
Rather than Alex Grant, The Fifth Witness utilizes a similar character named Louis Opparizio. Like Grant, Louis Opparizio had been at odds with Bondurant when the latter was murdered, making him the only other potential suspect besides Lisa. Louis had even changed his name to help downplay his past, just like Alex Grant had. In The Fifth Witness, Louis Opparizio becomes a straw man that Mickey uses to convince the jury Lisa is innocent, similar to the way Mickey uses Alex Grant in the show. Though Opparizio’s character doesn't appear after he pleads the Fifth, The Lincoln Lawyer hints Grant wants revenge against Mickey, suggesting the disgraced businessman could return.
6 Lisa Is More Explicitly Guilty Of Mitchell Bondurant’s Murder In The Lincoln Lawyer Books
In both Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer and in The Fifth Witness, Lisa Trammel receives a “not guilty” verdict, but it’s clearer that Lisa actually did kill Mitchell Bondurant in the book. At the end of The Fifth Witness, Mickey has the epiphany that Lisa really did kill Bondurant, and when he confronts her about Bondurant’s murder, Lisa doesn’t deny she did it. This scene isn’t in the show, and it’s instead replaced with Mickey confronting Lisa about Jeff Trammell’s death. Lorna later shares her theory that Lisa was associating with Alex Grant, which implies Lisa could have been responsible for Bondurant’s death, but it’s not confirmed, unlike in the book.
5 Izzy Isn’t In The Lincoln Lawyer Books
A major subplot of The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 is Izzy’s struggle to open her own dance studio, but this doesn’t happen in the books. Since Izzy is a TV-original character, all the subplots involving her personal life, especially her dance studio dreams, unfortunately don’t exist in the Lincoln Lawyer book series. Instead, Mickey’s driver in The Fifth Witness book is a man named Rojas, who is also a former client of Mickey’s driving his Lincoln to pay off legal fees. Although the addition of new characters is a major book change, it’s not necessarily unwelcome, as Izzy makes a great addition to The Lincoln Lawyer cast.
