34/28
I watched all 8 episodes
Line of Events
A series adaptation of James Patterson’s novels about the complex and brilliant detective Alex Cross. In episode 2, Cross tells Sampson that he smells «like mothballs and old spice.» In real life, Isaiah Mustafa has appeared in some awesome Old Spice commercials as «the man your man could smell like.» I’ve never read a Patterson novel. I see them in grocery stores. I guess he must be popular. Anyway, I watch Prime (despite the commercials) mostly for the documentaries, but this show «Cross» came up and I thought I’d give it a try. Cross is a combination of «Luther» and «The Wire.» Seriously.
I loved Leverage
There’s nothing really original here. Both Luther and The Wire are probably better, but Cross isn’t bad. I’m glad I stuck with it to the end. BUT – it has Aldis Hodge and for those of you who are Leverage fans… his character is very similar, but very developed (he’s the star of Cross). I really like his physicality and he’s great to watch.
he’s an over-the-top villain
Ryan Eggold plays the villain and, my God, he… He’s disturbing and shocking and terrifying. What a shock to see her like this with her «How Can I Help?» role in New Amsterdam? He seems to really enjoy that role. This is a good show, even if it drags a bit in the middle (I think they could have made it six episodes instead of eight, tightening it up a bit). Also, we know very early on (long before Cross and MPD in general) who the villain is.
It’s also violent and bloody
That knowledge makes it more tense for the viewer. It’s a serial killer show and, without giving anything away, it goes down the rabbit hole of a serial killer protagonist. I fast-forwarded through a few scenes that clearly shocked me. Going into this without any context, I found Cross’s background in psychology interesting. He’s a profiler of sorts, but he gets inside the heads of his suspects and is quite (like I said) interesting. I think there are some aspects of this series — some scenes — that will bother me for a while.
So again, be careful
I recommend the series. Your guide to all the new movies and shows streaming on Prime Video in the US this month.