Cross

A solid crime procedural. If you like the whodunit mystery genre, this is an effective and time-worthy addition to the category. I've been a fan of James Patterson's Alex Cross character for as long as I can remember, with Kiss the Girls (the second book in the Alex Cross series) as my introduction to the character when I was in 8th grade. Even as a middle schooler, I was immediately hooked by Patterson's thrilling and detailed exploration of the criminal mind from the POV of his psychologist / detective protagonist Dr. Alex Cross. Patterson delved into the dark, twisted mind of his charismatic and psychotic villains to take the reader along on a sinister and heroic journey. And while, unlike Amazon's other hit book adaptation, Reacher, Cross is not a direct recounting of one of Patterson's novels. However, it is still an effective and well-told addition to the series. Aldis Hodge plays the titular Dr. Cross as a modern day interpretation of the literary character. Aldis's portrayal is slightly edgier and more propulsive than the book version, but stays true to the core of the character, which is pleasant for a long-time fan like myself. But it is also effective at making the character feel more current. The show also manages to involve Cross in some of the more modern social issues affecting many of today's Americans without beating the audience over the head with social commentary, which I also appreciated. The shows central mystery was intriguing, the villain was appropriately creepy and demented, and they surrounded Hodge with an excellent supporting cast. The best of whom was Isaiah Mustafa as John Sampson, Alex's long-time partner. Overall, I would highly recommend this show to anyone who loved the books or is just a fan **** ol' fashioned murder mystery.

Alex Cross is the detective in James Patterson's popular novels. Aldis Hodge is cast in the title role, as this DC homicide detective and foresenic psychologist on a relatively standard police procedural. After several murders are getting blamed on Black drug crime, he sets out to prove that someone else is behind them. In this case it's a serial killer (Ryan Eggold), whose his evil procedure takes up more time as the series progresses. Meanwhile, Cross has to deal with the loss of his wife and helping his 2 kids adjust, adding the personal angle. This series starts slowly, building up the case and dealing with community blowback. It's not until about halfway thru that tension starts to heat up. This series doesn't offer anything new to the genre (the ending is obvious in the 7th episode), but it's fun to see some DC locations, including famous Ben's Chili Bowl and the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, which I'd never seen. If you enjoy intense personal drama and a solid, but unoriginal murder mystery, Cross will work fine. (8 one-hour eps)

Aldis Hodge gives a quality, and occasionally gripping performance, in this Amazon show. Sadly, the show overall doesn’t match Hodge’s performance. The first few episodes are too heavy handed with certain political and cultural situations, much like Luke Cage from Netflix/Disney, and can easily alienate demographic audiences thus hurting the overall reach. I often found myself easily distracted from some episodes. Pacing was a problem throughout, and excessive amounts of dark scenes, which will be an issue for anyone watching on mobile devices. The show suffered some continuity issues and fell victim to standard cliches and tropes, and even mixed in plot armor to create tension that would’ve been best to let happen organically. These types of shows and movies often paint psychopaths as masterminds, which often bends reality a bit too far. CROSS isn’t going to bring Amazon back to where it once was with Bosch, Reacher (S1), Jack Ryan (S1). A much better offering than Rings of Power, though.

Wasn't familiar with the title character and the books, but I was hooked from the jump. However, that intrigue wavered very hard by ep. 5 as its thin plot lines seemed to be too easily solvable. I was glad that by ep. 8 the season was over and it would be the end of this series for me. For me, the only enjoyable character was John, played by Isaiah Mustafa (the former Old Spic commercial guy).

The series was OK at first but got more preposterous as it went on. I was groaning by the end and would have quit but my wife was curious to see how bad it could get. Very Bad.