After the premiere’s nightmarish cliffhanger, it’s no wonder Cross (Aldis Hodge) is having bad dreams. Cross Season 1 Episode 2 opens with his mind full of images of Maria (Chaunteé Schuler Irving). In some, she’s singing a love song; in others, she’s dying in his arms. He wakes up, hears a sound in the house and opens a bedside safe to retrieve his gun.
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He makes his way downstairs with his weapon drawn. Following the sounds to the kitchen, he shouts, “Don’t move!” only to discover it’s his daughter Janelle (Melody Hurd) getting a glass to get a drink. Nana Mama (Juanita Jennings) follows him in and turns on the light. She shouts his name before rushing to Janelle’s side. Cross puts his gun down, a stunned look on his face. Damon (Caleb Elijah) comes into the kitchen. Cross picks Janelle up in his arms, apologizing, and carries her up to her bedroom. She comforts him as they go.
Cross, “Ride the White Horsey”
In the morning, Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa) is quizzing the kids in the kitchen. As they head out the door with Nana Mama, Cross stops to talk to Janelle about the night before. He assures her that she did nothing wrong, that he shouldn’t have scared her, and that he’s sorry.
Sampson questions his mental state after hearing about what happened. However, the case takes precedence, and he informs Cross that Tavio’s (Demani D. Sease) phone has gone missing. As it’s the only lead on the Emir Goodspeed (Donovon Brown) case, Cross is determined to figure out where it went.
Breakfast Convos
Shannon (Eloise Mumford) waits at a table in a cafe. Ed (Ryan Eggold) approaches and introduces himself as Josh. She points out he doesn’t look like Josh. He tells her that the nature of his work prevents him from using his own picture on dating apps. She doesn’t buy it and is about to leave. He manages to talk her into staying for breakfast and a conversation.
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Over at Ben’s Chili Bowl (an actual place, btw), reporter Tania Hightower (Siobhan Murphy) tracks Cross and Sampson down to ask them why they’re looking for Tavio’s phone. Cross insists on not commenting. However, she knows Tavio was shot with a sniper rifle and drops that tidbit before leaving.
At the precinct, Massey (Sharon Taylor) shows a viral video of the aftermath of Tavio’s murder. Cross spots a girl kneeling next to Tavio’s body pocketing his phone.
Scared
In a car in a parking lot, Vanessa Norris (Kristin Dodson) shows her sister, Melanie (Briana Starks) the phone she took of Tavio’s body. There’s a voicemail from Emir on it. Mel scolds her for bringing it to her, reminding Vanessa that Tavio was killed for having this on his phone. Vanessa pauses, looking at her and Tavio’s son, Tavie Jr. (Baeyen Hoffman), in the backseat, listening. She hands him a tablet with headphones so he can’t hear the rest of the conversation.
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She asks Mel to take care of him while she lays low and gets the phone to someone who can get real justice for Tavio. Mel hands her a kids’ meal box with a gun in it for protection. Vanessa tells Tavie he’s going to stay with Mel but he protests she’d promised he could ride the white horsey. She promises he will when she gets back.
Getting Clear
Ed calls Bobby Trey (Johnny Ray Gill) in for a face-to-face, irritated that the situation hasn’t been handled. Bobby tells him about Vanessa grabbing Tavio’s phone and Cross calling out a search for it. Ed stares intently at his computer monitor. Bobby leans over and sees a side-by-side of Aileen Wuornos and Shannon. He warns Ed that this is a bad time for him to grab another victim. Ed promises it’s the last one and asks Bobby about Cross.
Ed decides he’s going to need to learn more about Cross. He sends Bobby to Vanessa’s salon to track her down and warns Bobby he should stay on his leash if he wants to keep getting paid. Bobby retorts he’s not one of Ed’s minions. If there’s blowback on him, he won’t stay quiet or docile.
Somebody’s Watching
Janelle plays hopscotch outside the house with the music playing. Nana Mama comes out to talk to Damon about a letter inviting him to a music program. He tells her he doesn’t want to do it. While they discuss it, Janelle hears a robotic voice calling her name. She follows it to the backyard. Nana Mama tells Damon to go inside and do his homework. She goes looking for Janelle and finds her standing at the back of the house, looking for the man who was talking to her. Janelle stares up at the surveillance camera.
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Cross knocks on Elle’s (Samantha Walkes) door. He brings a gift box with crystal glasses to replace the ones broken during his fight at her dinner party. She invites him to help her break them in. Just then, he receives an alert that his surveillance cameras have gone offline.
Arriving home, Nana Mama and Sampson are waiting. Nana Mama clipped the wires to the cameras. Cross notices some of the numbers on Janelle’s hopscotch grid have been changed to 1-15-1-47 which he interprets as a reference to January 15, 1:47 pm. That’s the date and time of Maria’s death.
Hunted
Bobby shows up at the salon where Vanessa works. He intimidates her co-worker into telling him how to contact her.
Cross sets up a police protective detail outside his house. Sampson informs him that Vega (Mercedes de la Zerda) called and gave him Vanessa’s sister’s address where word is she’s crashing. (They think the sister’s name is Dawn for some reason.)
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Ed takes Shannon to an avant-garde art exhibit. Part of the experience is that all visitors relinquish their phones at the door. One of the door people activates a “Remote Code Activation” on his phone near the bag of phones while Ed distracts her with flirty banter.
The exhibit is one of macabre displays. As they walk through the exhibit, they connect over how staring at Death makes one feel more alive. She tells him that her dream job would be curating art for The Ritz.
A Good Mother
Cross visits Melanie/Dawn Norris where Tavie Jr. is playing on Nessa’s tablet. He tells her they know she has Tavio’s phone. Mel/Dawn loses her temper when Tavie Jr. asks for help with his game. Cross offers to help. Tavie Jr. tells Cross he knows where his mom is and that when he goes there, he’ll get to ride the white horsey. Mel/Dawn kicks Cross out. Outside, Sampson’s waiting and says Kayla (Alona Tal) is tracing Tavio’s phone.
Nessa buys a new burner phone at a convenience store and calls Mel. Mel tells her Cross was looking for her. Nessa reassures her that no one knows where she is and leaves the store. Bobby Trey pays for his purchases — a bottle each of whisky and gin — and follows.
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In a motel room, Bobby cranks the music and gets liquored and high. It’s a pretty wild ritual involving a lot of dancing and posturing in his underwear and yelling. Nessa, in the room next door, pounds on the adjoining wall. She sits down, calls Tania Hightower, and leaves a message asking her to call her back regarding Emir Goodspeed.
You Get What You Need
Damon is angry that Nana Mama invited the Early Mozart Program director, Miss Nancy (Karen Robinson) over. Miss Nancy manages to reverse psychology him into playing the piano. While they’re in the other room, Cross receives a message from the stalker, a recording of the footage they took of Janelle in the back of the house with the surveillance camera. When Nana Mama asks, he deflects, and they go watch Damon play for Miss Nancy. Cross flashes back to Maria teaching Damon to play.
Shannon calls her mother and leaves a message that The Ritz has called her for an interview. As she hangs up, Ed arrives and congratulates her on the good news. He admits he made a couple of calls to arrange for them to call her in. He offers to help her prep for the interview at his place.
In the evening, Sampson arrives and encourages Cross to go to Elle’s for their dinner date. Cross tries to make excuses, but Sampson rolls right over them.
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In the motel room, Vanessa’s burner phone rings. It’s Hightower calling her back. Nessa tells her about the cell phone and the voicemail from Emir. Hightower asks where she is.
Vanessa’s a Superhero
At Elle’s, Cross discusses the hunt for Vanessa with her over their meal and wine. He’s convinced that Vanessa’s still nearby, that she’d never leave her son. A song comes on, and Elle reminds him that they danced together to it at their junior high dance. They begin dancing, then kissing, but Cross pulls back when it gets more serious. He tells her he’s not ready and she says she’s willing to wait.
When he gets into his car, his phone buzzes. It’s Kayla calling to tell him Tavio’s phone pinged six minutes ago.
At the motel, Vanessa returns to her motel room with some supplies. Bobby’s waiting for her. He’s taken the gun from her kids’ meal box. She begs for her life, and he agrees to let her go if she unlocks Tavio’s phone. She fights back but can’t get away.
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Sampson and Cross meet Kayla at a hotel bar. She shows them the radius of the city where the phone pinged. He and Sampson point out the landmarks in the radius Vanessa would know. Sampson remembers the Paradise Motel’s in the radius as well. Cross recalls the motel has a mechanical white horse out front.
Another Dead Body
In the motel room, Bobby’s torturing Vanessa. Sampson and Cross roll up and check with the clerk. He recognizes Vanessa’s picture and directs them to Room 222. In the room, Vanessa manages to send the voicemail from Tavio’s phone to hers while Bobby’s looking out the window. Bobby realizes what she’s done, removes both SIM cards and swallows them. Before fleeing through the bathroom window, he cuts her throat. Sampson and Cross find her dying. Cross relives Maria’s death in his arms again.
Massey and the rest of the force arrive to investigate. Kayla’s told Cross that Tavio’s phone sent a message before Vanessa died. Hightower shows up and Cross strikes a deal with her. She holds off on breaking the story, and he’ll answer three questions. Hightower also gets an exclusive if anything breaks from this story.
I’m a Superhero
Cross finds Tavie Jr. sitting on Mel’s stoop with his tablet. He tells him he has a secret code for the game. Tavie Jr. hands the tablet over, and Cross finds the voicemail and forwards it before entering the code for the game. When Tavie Jr. asks if he’s going to help his mom, Cross warns him it’s not going to be a good day, but Tavie Jr.’s got everything he needs to deal with the bad stuff inside him. Cross reminds him that his mom and dad made him a superhero. He hears raised voices inside the house and urgently coaches Tavie Jr. on thinking positively about his resilience.
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Mel bursts out of the house and screams at Cross to get away from Tavie Jr. She drags the boy into the house and slams the door. Tavie Jr.’s eyes are still locked on Cross when the door closes.
Cross gets into the car with Sampson. Sampson plays the voicemail from Emir on his phone. In it, Emir’s calling Tavio for help because he believes he’s been drugged. He gives the address as 41 Price St.
Like a Fly to Honey
Shannon stands outside 41 Price St. She texts her mom she’s going in and to call the cops if she doesn’t hear from her in an hour. Her mom texts back jokingly that SWAT is standing by.
Ed answers the door and invites her in. She steps past him and helps herself to the hand sanitizer by the entrance. He asks when the interview is and she says it’s at 2:30 pm. She wasn’t able to sleep. He offers her a mimosa which she turns down. With a smirk, he puts them down and agrees she’s right to be cautious, but it’s not the mimosas she should’ve avoided. It’s the hand sanitizer.
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He reveals he’s figured out she’s a germaphobe based on the hand sanitizer she keeps in her purse, at her desk at work, and all over her apartment. Shannon stumbles. He catches her and explains if she’s feeling fuzzy, that’s the fentanyl he laced his hand sanitizer with. She pushes him away and warns him that her mother knows where she is. She tries to call her mom but Ed’s phone rings instead. He answers and asks if she needs her mommy. Shannon falls to the ground. Ed calls her name a couple of times, and when she doesn’t respond, he takes a photo of her unconscious face.
Cross is currently streaming on Prime Video.
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