‘Cross’: The Shocking Twist Ending Explained
Cross premiered Nov. 14 on Prime Video. The streamer’s new detective thriller is based on James Patterson’s best-selling series of novels about a Washington, D.C. detective/forensic psychologist. Aldis Hodge stars in the title role in the fast-paced, twisty series.
Over the show’s eight episodes, Alex Cross faced personal and professional challenges as he attempted to untangle a series of baffling crimes, several of which hit uncomfortably close to home. First, there was a series of disturbing crimes committed by a murderer determined to pay homage to some of history’s most notorious serial killers. At the same time, Cross was also coping with the seemingly random murder of Maria, his wife and the mother of two children. But it eventually emerged that someone was specifically targeting Cross and his family. That person’s identity was revealed in the finale, and to say it was a shock would be an understatement.
[Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Cross.]
Alex Cross outwits Ed Ramsey in ‘Cross’ season finale
Throughout Cross’s first season, Cross had been hunting serial killer Ed Ramsey (Ryan Eggold), aka the Fanboy. The wealthy and powerful Ramsey was obsessed with other serial murderers. He chose his own victims based on their similarity to murderers such as John Wayne Gacy and the DC Sniper, then further transformed them before reenacting their deaths.
In episode 7, Cross and his partner John Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa) discovered Ramsey’s hideout just as he was about to execute Shannon Witmer (Eloise Mumford), whom he’d transformed into serial killer Aileen Wurounos. Ramsey escaped and fled to his home, where Cross confronted him. But before he could be arrested, Ramsey gave himself a fatal injection, dying before he could be brought to justice. Or so it seemed.
In a creepy scene, we saw a very much not dead Ramsey emerge from under a sheet in a hospital’s morgue. Apparently, that drug only made him appear dead. Ramsey quickly killed an unsuspecting doctor, then made his way upstairs, where Shannon was recovering. It looked like Ramsey was going to get his 12th kill after all, thus completing his twisted masterpiece. But Cross realized that Ramsey would never give up. He rushed to the hospital, where he was able to save Shannon yet again.
Ramsey was finally in police custody. But there was still time for one more showdown between Cross and the killer. The detective had figured out that Ramsey was desperate to be recognized as one of the “great” serial killers. But when he tried to confess to all 11 murders he’d committed, Cross refused to hear it. He had Sampson destroy the scrapbook that Ramsey had kept documenting all his crimes, sending the man into a rage. Instead of getting credit for all his kills, his accomplice Bobby Trey (Johnny Ray Gill) will be recognized as the Fanboy killer.
The surprising person targeting Cross and his family
As Cross closed in on Ramsey, he was also desperately trying to keep his family safe. After Nana Mama (Juanita Jennings) was attacked in her own home, Cross gratefully accepted an offer from his son’s piano teacher (Karen Robinson) to let his children and girlfriend Elle (Samantha Walkes) hide out in her remote cabin.
But Miss Nancy had a hidden agenda. She was the person who’d been targeting Cross and his family. Years earlier, his testimony had helped send Deidre (Jessica Clement), a girl she’d informally adopted, to prison for a crime she didn’t commit. When Deirdre died by suicide, Miss Nancy vowed to make Cross pay, and she enlisted her son Peter Lennox (Ryan Allen), to help her carry out her elaborate revenge plot. Meanwhile, she’d insinuated herself into the Cross family, befriending Nana Mama and gaining the trust of everyone.
At first, Cross thought Peter was the one behind the plot. But after a casual comment about how “blood doesn’t make you family,” the pieces fell into place. Realizing that he’d inadvertently put his loved ones in more danger while attempting to keep them safe, Cross rushed to the cabin, where he confronted Miss Nancy. She said she wanted Cross to choose which of his two children to save, because that’s the same situation she found herself in.
Years earlier, Peter had killed a man. Miss Nancy was desperate to keep him out of prison, so she convinced Deirdre to take the fall for the crime. She told the girl that because she was a young white woman with a sympathetic story, she’d probably do little to no time. But then Cross did a psychological examination. He determined that Deirdre had no chance of rehabilitation (a diagnosis he’s since come to regret). Deirdre received a lengthy prison sentence and eventually died by suicide. Miss Nancy has been consumed by guilt and grief ever since. She wanted Cross to feel the same pain she does.
Once Peter understood Nancy’s plan, he turned on her. A fight broke out. Cross pulled a gun, and she confessed to having Maria killed. Then, Miss Nancy died after setting herself on fire.
What’s next in ‘Cross’ Season 2?
Cross Season 1 ends with Cross sitting down with an innocent man he’d assaulted because he believed he was his wife’s killer. The incident put the detective in the crosshairs of Black Lives Matter activists. The man urges Cross to remember that he is both a Black man and a police officer.
“You been on the job so long, you forgot what you look like?” he asks.
“No, I haven’t,” Cross replies.
Next, Cross visits a counselor. As he sits down, he says he wants to talk about Maria, indicating that he is ready to start really processing his feelings around her death.
The first season of Cross neatly wraps up its major storylines. But a final scene in the closing credits hints at what might be to come. Bobby Trey sits down with FBI Agent Kayla Craig (Alona Tal). Cross wants to pin the blame for Ramsey’s murders on him, but she tells him that he built in an “escape hatch.” All Trey has to do is provide information about where the bodies of Ramsey’s victims are located, and he’ll walk away with only a minor prison sentence.
But that’s not all. Craig knows that Ramsey gathered intelligence on various powerful figures, and he used that information to blackmail them into staying quiet about his crimes. If Trey can provide that information, he’ll be paid handsomely.
“I guess data is the new oil,” he replies with a laugh.
What kind of information will Trey provide (and is this the last we’ve seen of him)? And could that dirt possibly tie into a case in Cross Season 2? We’ll have to wait and see.
All episodes of Cross are streaming on Prime Video.
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