There’s always a point where things look really bad for our hero. With Cross Season 1 Episode 6, “A Bang. Not a Whimper,” Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) is pretty much at rock bottom. Ed Ramsey’s (Ryan Eggold) release of the video of Cross beating and drawing a gun on a man in the street has deep-sixed his reputation and exposed him at his worst. Even knowing that Ed is The Fan Boy killer, circumstances have Cross throwing up defenses that will block his own ability to move forward.
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The episode opens with him meeting with his union rep, Cortes (Michael Scholar Jr.), who explains what the next steps are. He’s warned that he’ll be placed on non-contact status — he’s not to talk to colleagues or superiors — pending the outcome of the investigation.
Cross, “A Bang. Not a Whimper”
Outside the precinct, an anti-police rally includes posters calling for the force to fire Alex Cross. Uniforms keep the protesters away from Cross as he walks into the building. Malika Goodspeed (Ashley Rios) steps up to confront him, and although he tells her he did everything he promised for Emir’s (Donovan Brown) case, she curses him and law enforcement in general.
Inside, Cross sits in Massey’s (Sharon Taylor) office, looking at the front page image of him beating on the man in the video. Anderson (Jennifer Witmore) demands his badge and gun. He wants to discuss Ed Ramsey being The Fan Boy, but she won’t listen. Massey tells him they searched Ed’s house that morning at his invitation. Cross argues that gave Ed plenty of time to move Shannon (Eloise Mumford) and clean up any sign of her captivity.
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Anderson’s gone talking, but Cross insists on reminding them that Shannon is the final victim, and Ed plans on going out with a bang, not a whimper. The final execution of his killing spree will be a spectacle. It will be a huge, splashy reveal because Ed’s profile is that he will want everyone to know that he did these deeds.
Suspended
Anderson goes toe to toe with Cross, threatening him with an even messier public humiliation than he’s feeling right now if he doesn’t hand over his badge and gun and leave without another word. He puts the badge and gun on the desk and, after stating one more time that he’s right about Ed, leaves.
Out on the floor, the other police go quiet at the sight of Cross. Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa) gets off the phone and stands up to greet his friend. Cross is silent and heads to the locker room. Sampson follows. He promises to keep working on the case until they catch Ed. Cross thinks that’ll be too late for Shannon. They get into an argument so loud that the others can hear them out on the floor. Cross says a lot of hurtful things to Sampson, telling him he’s not family and no longer even a friend. De Lackner (Stacie Greenwell) comes in to intervene and end the fight. Cross leaves.
Another bouquet of flowers sits on Cross’s desk. The card reads, “You’re still my number one.” No one knows who sent them. Cross knocks the flowers and vase onto the floor and walks away. Outside, he discovers someone has spraypainted “ABOLISH” on his car door. While he’s looking at it, his phone rings.
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At Damon’s (Caleb Elijah) school, Principal Brock (Bam Hall) informs Cross that Damon attacked another student but won’t explain why he did it. Brock explains the school has a zero-tolerance policy for violence, and Damon’s been suspended for a week.
Kayla to the Rescue
Arriving home, Cross sends the kids into the house with Nana Mama (Juanita Jennings). Kayla (Alona Tal) approaches and comments on the car’s paint job. She tells him she spent the weekend tracking down the guy Indiana Dex (Jim Annan) mentioned to Sampson, known back then as White Mike. After couriering everything to Sampson, he called her to tell her everything needed to be hand delivered to Cross because he’d been kicked off the force.
She shows him a video of White Mike’s punk band performing in the 90s. The climax of the performance is a staged live ritual sacrifice of a naked crowd member. Zooming in on the fans, she shows him a young Ed Ramsey (Matthew J. Lindblom). Mike Grisham (Dylan Trowbridge) is now an actuary in Philadelphia. Kayla hands Cross a flash drive with all her findings.
Scored with classical strings, a dental technician creates a set of teeth to perfectly match Aileen Wuornos’s smile. Pendleton (Richard Waugh) takes them and hands him an envelope stuffed with cash.
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At Nana Mama’s house, Miss Nancy (Karen Robinson) sits in the kitchen discussing Damon’s suspension. Cross comes in and tells Nana Mama that he’ll be back from Philadelphia in a day. She insists that he needs to hit reset with Damon because the boy’s in crisis. Cross insists he’s strong enough to wait a day.
Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile
In a new laboratory, Ed shows Shannon the dentures. When he pats her hand, she grabs his fingers and twists them. He grabs her wounded face, causing her to cry out in pain, and shoves the dentures into her mouth. She screams her hatred at him, which only delights him more as she looks and sounds as angry as Wuornos was at the world. He promises he’ll have someone fix the cut on her face, and the event will move forward as planned.
Cross comes downstairs and finds Damon waiting. Nana Mama insists that they go to Philadelphia together. Miss Nancy hands Damon his music book and asks him to practice at least two hours a day, even on the road trip. The new silver Mustang comes out of winter storage for the trip because of the vandalism on Cross’s other car.
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Kayla drops in at the boxing gym to talk to Sampson. She tells him Cross is heading to Philadelphia and puts her two cents in on their falling out. He refuses to listen to her relationship advice, so she changes the subject to a dinner date she feels he owes her for all the favors she’s been doing for them. She adds that she froze the account to which Ramsey had been sending money. Sampson agrees that’s worth a nice dinner.
Bobby Trey’s Mojo’s Riled
In a Louisiana bank office, Bobby Trey (Johnny Ray Gill) is sitting with his dog, Mojo, in the chair next to him, staring at the banker behind the desk. The banker tells him there’s no money and the property he wanted to buy is no longer available to him. Bobby Trey gets up, takes Mojo, and decides to drive north. The banker breathes a sigh of relief once he’s gone.
In the car, Damon reveals the reason he hit the other kid was because he was showing the video of Cross beating up the man. The other boy was trash-talking Cross, and Janelle (Melody Hurd) was there with a crowd of other students. Damon told him to stop first and when he wouldn’t, Damon hit him.
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Back at home, Miss Karen and Nana Mama are doing shots and Miss Nancy’s singing along with the radio. Nana Mama’s feeling low. Miss Karen insists she talk it out. Nana Mama talks about Maria’s death and the stalker’s harassment and shares how Cross was as a child after his parents died.
Only the Road Knows
Arriving in Philadelphia, Damon’s excited when Cross pulls up to a burger joint. Cross explains the rules of the road trip, meaning Damon can’t tell Janelle about having a fast food dinner. Damon agrees and asks Cross about the video. Cross admits he made a big mistake. The man he beat up wasn’t guilty of anything. Damon asks if it was about Maria. Cross is uncomfortable talking about it and tries to explain he was looking for answers. When Damon pushes for more, Cross pushes back and tells him to leave it.
Dr. Daine (Kristin Booth) explains the procedure for cosmetically concealing the scar on Shannon’s face so she’ll look perfect for the execution event. Once she’s done, the scar is invisible on the unconscious woman’s face. Ed smiles down at the work.
The next morning, Nana Mama’s putting the booze bottle in the recycling and looks up to see ADA Susan Kowaleski (Shannon DeVido) arriving. Susan asks to speak to Cross. Nana Mama asks if it’s about Deidre Nolan (Jessica Clement) and insists Susan share what she’s learned.
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In the motel room, Damon practices on an electronic keyboard. Cross comes out from taking a shower and tells him it sounds good. Damon decides to put his headphones on. Cross walks away to get dressed, looking a bit defeated.
White Mike
When Cross knocks on Mike Grisham’s door, he leaves Damon in the car. Mike initially denies knowing Ed, but Cross catches the clues he’s lying. Inside, Mike tells him about Ed’s obsession with the death and murder Mike’s band used to sing about. Cross asks about a knife Ed had Dex dig up and send to Mike. Mike tells him he sent it back as soon as he got it. Breaking down in tears, he tells Cross that Ed used the knife to kill a man named Rodney (David Webb). Mike was there but not part of the murder. He shows Cross a video of the event where Ed guided the knife into Rodney’s chest, making it look like Mike killed him.
The video is staged so the viewer never sees Ed’s face. Mike tells Cross how everything happened. Ed switched out the stage knife with the real one. Rodney realized something wasn’t right and demanded to be let up. Ed convinces Mike to stage one more picture with the knife over Rodney’s chest and then plunges it into Rodney before Mike can stop him.
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Cross convinces Mike to testify and help save Shannon. Kayla drives down to pick up Mike. Cross gives her the VHS tape and tells her to give it to Sampson to get digitized immediately. She tells him it would be faster and easier for him to talk to Sampson directly. He says he’ll fix it when Ed’s been captured.
Deirdre’s Accomplice
Roger Thorn (Michael Rhoades) arrives home from fishing to find his wife, Tippy (Darla Biccum), entertaining Nana Mama at the kitchen table. Nana Mama explains she’ll be heading out as soon as he gives her the name of Deirdre Nolan’s accomplice. Susan had given her the file that showed that two witnesses to the Deirdre Nolan crime said there was an accomplice and gave Roger the name. He buried their statements because Deirdre said in her confession she acted alone and he wanted the easy win in court. Nana Mama explains the accomplice is now harassing her family and demands the name.
At the precinct, Anderson, Massey, and Sampson observe Mike in the interrogation room looking very nervous. Sampson wants to arrest Ed immediately, but Anderson wants the indictment first. They’ll put Mike in a safe house overnight. Massey drops him off.
Sampson finds Kayla at the bar where a young Senate employee is hitting on her. Saying he’s Kayla’s husband, Sampson scares the kid off. He tells Kayla they’ll be moving in on Ramsey in the morning and offers her the chance to come with him.
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Back home, Damon practices on the piano. Cross comes in to apologize for snapping at him. Damon tells him he wants to talk about Maria a lot because he thinks about her a lot. Cross admits he misses her, and talking about her makes him sad. Damon tells him that Cross lost Maria, but he lost both his parents when Maria died. Cross is stunned by this share. They sit down, and Cross invites him to ask him anything. They share some of their favorite memories.
Oh My…
The alarm goes off at six AM, and Sampson gets out of bed, leaving Kayla to use the shower. Since they don’t need to be on-site until seven, Kayla points out they could make love again before getting going. Once they’re staked out at Ed’s to make the arrest once they have the go-ahead, Kayla asks him if he’ll tell Cross about them. Sampson plays dumb. Ed comes out to greet them.
At the safe house, Massey is picking Mike up to go to the Grand Jury. He confesses he’s nervous. His stomach is in knots. Massey points to her pregnant belly and says the baby’s super active.
Ed approaches Sampson’s truck and identifies him.
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Mike asks if Massey’s picked a name for the baby. She says he’s going to be Chance. Baby starts kicking, and Massey invites Mike to feel it.
Ed asks who Kayla is, and Sampson introduces them. When Sampson mentions they have a witness to tear Ed down, he’s surprised to hear about it and asks if they’re sure they have a witness. He winks and walks away.
As Mike leans in to talk to Chance, Massey pulls her sidearm and shoots him in the head. As he convulses on the ground, bleeding out, she puts another two bullets in him. Massaging her baby bump, she reassures the baby (and herself?) that they’ll be okay.
Cross is currently streaming on Prime Video.
