What Happened to Alex Cruz in the 'Lethal Weapon' TV Series Anyway?

By Dustin Rowles | TV | January 16, 2018 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | January 16, 2018 |

I love Fox’s television reboot of Lethal Weapon. It is not a “great” series, it typically gets creamed in the ratings, but I adore it. As I have mentioned in the past, I make room for one procedural at a time, and for the last two seasons that slot has belonged to Lethal Weapon (although, Ryan Murphy’s 9-1-1 may force me to make an exception for a second procedural). Lethal Weapon is not a great television show, but it is very fun to watch, and the soulful eyes of Clayne Crawford — who plays Martin Riggs — are like television crack. As much as I enjoy Lethal Weapon, let’s all acknowledge that Crawford deserves better.

Damon Wayons does not, necessarily.

But we’re not here to talk about Murtaugh or Riggs. We’re here to talk about Alex Cruz, and more specifically, what the hell happened to Detective Alex Cruz? He was a seriously interesting character: He played a hardened former gang member turned cop, which interestingly mirrored the real life of Richard Cabral, the actor who plays Alex Cruz. Cabral had also spent time as a gang member. In fact, he served a stint in prison.

Alas, Cruz disappeared from Lethal Weapon, last appearing in the 13th episode of the first season, which aired about a year ago this month. Where did he go?

We don’t have specific details, but my guess is that Cabral — who also appeared in the first two seasons of American Crime (and was nominated for an Emmy) — signed on for only the first 13 episodes, and after Lethal Weapon received an extension, Cabral was simply too busy to return. He’s actually a fairly in-demand actor following that Emmy nomination. He was cast in an action film, Peppermint, with Jennifer Garner; Breaking In with Gabrielle Union; Windows On The World with Edward James Olmos; and All Creatures Here Below with Karen Gillan.

More pressing — and the show most likely to prevent him from ever returning to Lethal Weapon — is Mayans MC, Kurt Sutter’s Sons of Anarchy spin-off, in which Cabral has been cast as one of the lead characters. That series has just been greenlit.

That’s a long way of saying: Alex Cruz is probably never going to return to Lethal Weapon and his departure had nothing to do with the show itself, and everything to do with scheduling. Alas, we will miss him.

My partner in crime, Detective Bailey // @michellemitchenor… This Wednesday at 8pm on @FOXTV. Lethal Weapon Captured by @pointshootthink

A post shared by Richard Cabral (@richardcabralofficial) on Oct 3, 2016 at 5:24pm PDT