Cross season 1 review: Aldis Hodge is the Alex Cross we need

When we heard there was going to be another adaptation of the Alex Cross novels by James Patterson, I think a few of us worried. Nobody has quite managed to capture the man we saw Cross as in the books. Well, Aldis Hodge has done it in the Prime Video series Cross.

Caution: There are some SPOILERS for Cross season 1 in this post.

All eight episodes of the first season are now available. I had high hopes once I saw Amazon renew the series way ahead of its premiere. It meant that the hype was good and the execs were impressed with the series. It gave me feelings that I had with the likes of Jack Ryan and Reacher.

Amazon hasn’t disappointed. The show is powerful, and it takes us on plenty of twists and turns. Even knowing who Alex and the cops are after for the main case of the season doesn’t affect the intensity of the story.

I worried Cross would have a problem with dragging out the case

Most shows would start off with a killer getting their second or third to last victim. This would allow for bodies to turn up for the police to handle. That wasn’t the case with Cross. Ramsey took his last victim in the first episode, after the second to last victim turning up dead. The cops didn’t even know there were as many victims out there as there were!

Having the police on the back foot the whole time worked. I feared for Shannon’s life all the way through to the end. I thought Ramsey was going to have to kill her soon if the show wanted to keep us on the edge of our seats. How could it get dragged out, especially once Alex and the rest of the cops had figured out who was (most likely) behind it all.

It didn’t drag, though. We got to see the mind of a serial killer at work. We saw what money and power bring, and we saw just how easy it was to manipulate people. That scene at the party as everyone sees the video of Alex beating on a suspect was intense and raw, and it made it clear that it didn’t matter what other people knew or saw. Once you paint someone as a bad guy, they’re not listened to anymore.

Interspersing with Alex’s personal grief was powerful

We also got a man who was grieving. This happens a lot in shows. There is a huge issue with killing the wife. It’s a trope that does need to come to an end, but in Cross it worked and it was needed.

Alex wasn’t just a man grieving. He knew what was wrong with him psychologically. He knew that he needed help, but he couldn’t get the right help. He just wasn’t ready for that. It’s rare that the lead will even admit that they aren’t handling things well, but every now and then we saw Alex break that mold.

Then there was the way his grief would push him forward. He was determined to find Shannon, and some of that clearly came from him not wanting her family to go through the grief he felt.

I did wonder who was behind it all, and I’m impressed that we didn’t get huge moments where the show was only focused on Alex’s need to solve his wife’s murder. Maybe setting the story a year after her murder helped with that. We got through the original anger, and we could see Alex try to (and fail to) move forward with his life.

This allowed us to see what Alex’s grief was doing to his family, and we need that reminder. These children lost their mother, and Alex couldn’t quite be there for them. They had to walk on eggshells at the moment. There has to be a balance in grief, but Alex is unapologetically grieving. He needed to work through that, but only answers would offer him the closure he needed.

I didn’t see the twist coming at the end. I was sure that it was going to be Elle behind it all. However, when it was all explained, it did finally make sense why the show would cast Karen Robinson in such a small part up to the finale. I should have seen that twist coming. Robinson is spectacular on the screen, whichever side of the law she’s on. She commanded the screen in her time in the finale. Bravo to the writing and everyone else playing opposite her. I believed every single word she said, and I genuinely feared that something was going to happen to someone close to Alex.

Let’s talk the supporting cast in Cross season 1

Isaiah Mustafa was everything we needed in John Sampson. He tried to be there for Alex, but eventually, he had to step away for his own sake. I’m not convinced with how Sampson just jumped into bed wit Kayla, though. I think we needed more time between those two to be fully convinced there was even something there. I am looking forward to seeing how Alex and John’s friendship can recover after some of the words said, though—and real friendships could recover from that, so I have hope.

As for Kayla, there’s something about her that I don’t trust. I have adored Alona Tal since her Supernatural days, and I love seeing her gain bigger and bigger parts. Now, I know Kyle Craig in the novels, so I’m curious at whether Kayla is related or a gender swap of that character. The gender swap would explain why I’m getting some trust issues from the character. Tal played the role well, though. She’s cocky and smart, but she also knows how to build up favors.

I also want to give a shoutout to Eloise Mumford, who played Shannon. Mumford oozed so many emotions without even having to say a lot. In fact, she was gagged for a lot of the show. You could see the mixture of fear, anger, frustration, and so much more in her eyes. Shannon was not going down without a fight, and Mumford gave us that portrayal in every single scene. It was Mumford’s portrayal that made me want to see Alex finally find out where she was being kept. I had to see her get out alive.

Overall, the first season was a strong start to this adaptation. We know Cross season 2 is happening, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of Hodge in the lead role. I do hope we see him focused more on his family and on finding happiness, as well as being a better cop. That’s what is needed after this strong start.

Cross is available to stream on Prime Video.