‘Cross’ Season 2 Is Giving Us Vigilantes We Can Root For

I’m not sure how the creator of Cross snuck this season’s plot past Jeff Bezos. It is a story of violent and bloody revenge taken against a group of wealthy white men (and their enablers) who traffic women and children for sex and slave labor. There’s even an island. It’s not a subtle allegory. The opening scene of the first episode felt cathartic after spending so much time learning so many horrible things about so many powerful people in real life. I won’t spoil it for you, just 10/10, no notes.

The only problem the showrunners may have is that they’ve made the vigilantes the “bad guys” this season. Unless they find a very strong line for the Luz and Donnie (Jeanine Mason and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay’s Wes Chatham) to cross in their revenge tour, I think it’s going to be difficult to get the audience to root against them. They’ve only released three episodes so far, so I guess we’ll see what happens. Obviously, these anti-heroes are unhinged, but that doesn’t make them wrong. Or dangerous for anyone except the true villains of the piece, the powerful white men. One of whom is played by Matthew Lillard.

That’s the A-plot this season. It’s already taken Alex and Sampson to Texas, where they exposed part of the child-trafficking ring. Two other plots are also developing. One involves Sampson’s mother returning after he’d thought she was dead for most of his life. The other involves one of Kayla Craig’s (SEAL Team’s Alona Tal) past assignments coming back to haunt her in the worst way possible.

Choosing to spend more time on developing Kayla’s character this season is an interesting choice. From the soundtrack to the setting, Cross is a very Black show, and Kayla is one of two white protagonists. The other is Jennifer Wigmore as the Chief of Police. Kayla is definitely part of Alex’s circle of trust. But she’s made some questionable decisions already. Including springing last season’s Bobby Trey (Johnny Ray Gill) from prison to help her track someone down from her past. And sleeping with Alex after a night of shots, line dancing, and Cross getting all hot and sweaty in a cowboy hat and a tank top. This might jeopardize their relationship, or it might be setting up for her character for a messy end.

(Dear Prime Video, please make episodic photos of Alex Cross all hot and sweaty in a cowboy hat and a tank top available for publication. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.)

I can hear a bunch of you asking, “But what about Elle?” The character played by Samantha Walkes was an excellent love interest for Alex. But after being held hostage at the end of last season, Elle has moved on romantically. She’s still around, though, coming over for Sunday brunch and leaving Alex feeling confused and vulnerable after a spontaneous physical encounter. But she’s dating a very ambitious community organizer. I don’t see it working out. He’s put a lot of pressure on her already by saying he’s “looking for [his] Michelle Obama.” And I don’t think he got the reaction he was hoping for from that conversation.

The season had a strong start. If season one was any indication, we can expect this season to go equally as hard on the storylines and subverting gender norms for emotional intelligence. Cross and Sampson are both poised for growth in the midst of their investigation, while Kayla is trying hard to avoid her past catching up with her.

The first three episodes of Cross are available to stream on Prime Video. New episodes will be released on Wednesdays until the finale on March 18th.