'Cross' Season 2 Review: Political Murder and a Killer We Know From the Start
- Niamh Brook
- 17 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Niamh Brook - February 11, 2026
So here’s what we know about the case at hand. Cross season one hit our screens back in 2024, and since then the show has been silent. But as of 11 February 2026, it’s back, with a new series, new murders, and a whole new mystery to solve.
With so many crime shows flooding our screens, it can be hard to make a splash in such a big pool. Much like season one, this one centres around a main political question. This time around, Detective Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) is introduced to business mogul Lance Durant (Matthew Lillard), whose inner circle is being picked off one by one. It’s down to Cross and his partner, Kayla Craig (Alona Tal), to solve the case before Durant is next.
Aldis Hodge continues to play Alex with a seriousness and wit that imbue him with a warmth you can’t help but feel captivated by. Similarly (and unsurprisingly), Matthew Lillard is fantastic, playing the businessman with as much slime as he can muster, making him a proper baddie. Additionally, the direction is strong throughout the season, with fun blocking, tracking shots, and intriguing sequences littered across the eight episodes.
What makes this season of Cross interesting is that while things remain a mystery to our titular detective, we as an audience are introduced to the killer in the very first scene. The series unfolds from two main perspectives: both Cross and the killer. We learn their motive, meet their family, and come to understand what makes them tick.
Now, I know Cross isn’t the first show to use this particular narrative device, but for someone who isn’t a huge fan of crime dramas, this offered a welcome respite from the usual crime show beats and allowed for a deeper exploration of both sides of the argument central to the season’s story.
Like every good crime show, there’s a healthy helping of melodrama. Big feelings, sex that comes out of nowhere, love triangles, the works. It’s almost a given that a programme like this should include these beats, but particularly in the first few episodes, they pop up randomly and completely take me out of the show.
Where the show falters is its inclusion of one too many plot points, which can make the story hard to follow at times. Cross’s partner gets a subplot, his brother gets a subplot, and there’s even a bloody subplot within a subplot. I’m aware these are her to further develop these characters, but it muddies an otherwise strong central narrative and often feels like filler popped into the story in order to stretch the story across its eight-episode runtime.
Overall, Cross season 2 is a fun watch. At times bloated, the central message at the heart of the murders (wow, that’s a weird sentence to type) is political without being preachy. It’s a show that cares about its characters and why they act the way they do. Is it the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen? No. But if you’re looking for a good, old-fashioned crime drama, Cross season two is well worth a watch.
'Cross' Season 2 is streaming now on Prime Video.
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