Season 1 of Prime Video‘s Cross, Ben Watkins’ take on one of James Patterson’s most memorable detectives, was solid but not spectacular, often playing out more like a network cop procedural than a twisty psychological thriller. Season 2 embroils DC Metro police detective — and forensic psychologist — Alex Cross in a new mystery, but there’s a whole lot of other stuff going on while he’s trying to solve it.
CROSS SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: On the shore of a tropical town, a man loads a small boat with boxes full of booze, and a woman slips in under the boat’s deck.
The Gist: When Donnie (Wes Chatham) arrives at the mansion on a private island, he tells the guard at the door that the usual alcohol delivery guy called in sick. But what he’s really there for is to help the woman he’s hiding, Rebecca (Jeanine Mason), execute her plan to kill the pervert rich guys at the house and save the young women who have been trafficked to have sex with them. As she holds the owner of the mansion captive, she explains why, telling him about the death of her mother. Then she stabs him in the neck and cuts off two of his fingers.
Back in Washington, DC, Detective Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) speaks to a new class of academy graduates, admitting to his mistakes as much as he takes kudos for the cases he solved. After solving the case of his wife death and putting away Ed Ramsey, Cross is looking to get back together with his ex Elle (Samantha Walkes). His partner/old friend John Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa) thinks he has no chance, and besides, she’s dating someone. But when she shows up to dinner with his kids and mother, as well as Sampson and his girlfriend Malika (Ashley Rios), he starts thinking otherwise.
FBI agent Kayla Craig (Alona Tal) is told by her boss (Ben Watkins) that she is being is paired with Cross on a special case; they’re investigating threats against a billionaire named Lance Durand (Matthew Lillard), who finally called the FBI after he was sent two severed fingers. While this case is going on, though, Craig finds out that a serial number-free gun that the MPD is investigating might get traced back to her activities on a previous case. Sampson, who is on the task force led by Craig and Chase, gets called away to question a suspect who will only talk to him, for reasons that will shake him to his core.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Ben Watkins based Cross on James Patterson’s Alex Cross novels, though the stories Watkins and company are writing are new. The series has the procedural feeling of shows like Luther, which puts its titular cop into a new case every season.
Our Take: Season 2 of Cross suffers the same fate as a lot of police shows that have a central mystery that drives its title character to distraction during the first season: Once that case is solved, then the writers dunk the cop into a case where the overall stakes may be high, but the personal stakes aren’t. That’s one of the reasons that the second season suffers. But the other reason is that the story is being spread amongst more of the main cast, and we’re wondering if there is going to be enough time to service all of them.
There’s Cross and Craig trying to essentially track down Rebecca, even though they don’t know who they’re looking for yet. At the same time, Craig is trying to make sure that her last operation — which we don’t know a heck of a lot about — doesn’t come back to her, because for some reason what she did there was bad enough to get her thrown in federal prison. Cross is trying to restart his relationship with Elle. And the (not so) shocking reveal that Sampson finds out about when he’s asked to interrogate a women that will only talk to him is going to get into his head, as well.
Through it all, of course, we still have Cross and Sampson’s longtime friendship as the show’s through-line; the chemistry between Hodge and Mustafa is still evident, whether they’re having half smokes at Ben’s Chili Bowl (which we highly recommend, by the way) or having dinner with “Nana Mama” Regina (Juanita Jennings) and Cross’ kids Janelle (Melody Hurd) and Damon (Caleb Elijah). He’s one of the few people who can fully call out Cross, as he does when he thinks that Cross and Craig’s “psychobabble” banter isn’t helpful to the rest of the taskforce.
That friendship is helpful, because there’s so much going on in the first episode that we’re not really sure what’s going to get story attention and what’s going to wither on the vine.
Performance Worth Watching: Aldis Hodge still gives Alex Cross the right level of intensity, right up there with Morgan Freeman’s portrayal in the two Cross films he was in.
Sex And Skin: There are a couple of scenes where first Sampson, then Cross get busy. Cross’ sex scene makes sense, but we’re not sure of what to make of what happens between Sampson and Malika.
Parting Shot: After the surprise of who was in the interrogation room looking for Sampson, Cross and Sampson have a beer on the roof of the police station.
Sleeper Star: We’ll give this to Melody Hurd, who plays Cross’ daughter Janelle, mainly because she really sells Janelle’s argument on why she should get a cell phone.
Most Pilot-y Line: The shocking discovery from Sampson’s past was a bit too easy to figure out, but we’re still not going to spoil it here.
Our Call: STREAM IT, but with reservations. The second season of Cross still has a lot of charm, especially in the relationship between Cross and Sampson, but feels like it’s going to take some time to really find what its primary story is going to be.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
