12/12

I guess it’s popular

Chronology

A series adaptation of James Patterson’s novel about the complicated and brilliant detective Alex Cross. In episode 2, Cross tells Sampson that he smells like "mothballs and old spices" In real life, Isaiah Mustafa is portrayed in the great Old Spice commercials as "the man your man could smell like". I’ve never read Patterson’s novel. I see them in stores.. By the way, I watch Prime (despite the commercials) mostly for the documentaries, but this show "Cross" came on and I thought I’d give it a try. I watched all 8 episodes.

There’s nothing really original here

Cross is an amalgam of "Luther" and "The Wire". Seriously. Both Luther and The Wire are probably better, but Cross isn’t bad. I’m glad I stuck with it until the end. HOWEVER — it has Aldis Hodge, and for those of you who are fans of Leverage… his character is very similar, but much more fleshed out (he’s the star of Cross).

I loved Leverage

I really enjoy his physicality and he’s great to watch. Ryan Eggold plays the villain and OMG he’s… he’s way above the top villain. He’s disturbing and unsettling and awful. What a shock to see him like this after his "How can I help it?" role in New Amsterdam? He seems to have really enjoyed this role.

It’s also violent and bloody

This is a good show although it does drag a bit halfway through (I think they could have done it in six episodes instead of eight if they tightened it up a bit). BTW we know very early on (way before Cross and MPD in general) who the villain is. This finding out makes everything more suspenseful for the viewer. It’s a serial killer show and without giving anything away, it portrays the serial killer as the main character down a rabbit hole. I’ve fast-forwarded through some of the scenes that will obviously upset me. Coming at this without any context, I find Cross’s background in psychology interesting.

So, again, caution

It’s a kind of profiling thing that he does, but he gets inside the heads of his suspects, and it’s quite (as I said) interesting. I think there are aspects of this show — some scenes — that will keep me unsettled for a while. I recommend the show. The new season of "The Silos" is one of the biggest TV and streaming premieres this month. Check out our November calendar for more!