Cross Season 1 Episode 8, “You Had Me at Motherf*cker,” concludes a solid first season. The Fan Boy (Ryan Eggold) hunt comes to a satisfying resolution, all things considered. Meanwhile, there are shocking reveals as the truth about the stalker comes to light.
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In a flashback, Young Alex Cross (Ca’Ron Jaden Coleman) hides in his bed. Young Nana Mama (Kathryn Taylor Smith) comes in and talks with him, understanding that he’s been through some rough times. She reassures him he’ll get through it. He asks what if something were to happen to her as well? She promises him that she’s not going anywhere.
Cross, “You Had Me at Motherf*cker”
In the present day, Cross (Aldis Hodge) runs alongside a gurney carrying an unconscious Nana Mama (Juanita Jennings). Damon (Caleb Elijah) and Janelle (Melody Hurd) find him in the waiting room when they arrive with Elle (Samantha Walkes) and Miss Nancy (Karen Robinson).
Cross tells Elle it was Peter Lenox (Ryan Allen) and that the house isn’t safe for the kids anymore. Elle offers her place but Cross reminds her Peter knows everything about their lives so he probably knows where she lives too.
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Nancy offers her family cabin on Goose Creek. It’s the last place anyone would think of looking for the Cross family. Cross accepts because going to a cabin in the woods is always a good idea when your family’s being terrorized. Right?
Promises
Elle and the kids leave with Nancy the next morning. Nancy gives Cross the phone number for the landline phone. Cross shows them a picture of Peter. He tells them that if they see him, they need to run and get help. Cross promises that everything will be okay.
Peter’s case manager, Kat Myers (Christina Wren), tells Cross that although Peter’s family is all dead or incarcerated, he had a “street mom” who used to help him out with paperwork and come with him to meetings.
Sampson (Isaiah Mustafa) sits vigil by Nana Mama’s bed. He considers calling Cross but doesn’t. At the precinct, he falls in step with Vega (Mercedes de la Zerda) and De Lackner (Stacie Greenwell) and asks about the hunt for Peter.
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Phone Calls
Cross sits at Ben’s Chili Bowl and picks up his phone to call the cabin. Nancy answers and asks if he’s caught Peter yet. Cross says they haven’t and asks to talk to Elle. While they’re talking, Janelle insists on talking to him. She calls Nancy “Auntie Nancy,” and says it was Damon’s idea. Janelle quotes Nancy, “What makes you family isn’t blood. It’s how much you love each other.”
Cross agrees but also hears those same words echoing in his head in Deirdre’s (Jessica Clement) voice. Distracted, he says goodbye to Janelle and hangs up. Rushing out the door, he runs into Tania Hightower (Siobhan Murphy) who has Ed’s book. He sent it to her. Cross tells her to hold onto it and they can talk later. He begs her not to make Ed a star.
Family Isn’t Blood
At home, Cross reviews the interview footage with Deirdre and she says a very similar thing too what Nancy told the kids about family.
At the cabin, Damon’s hiding from Janelle. He runs down to the basement.
Cross calls Kat and asks if she’d recognize Peter’s “street mother” if she saw a picture and sends a link to a website.
In the basement, Damon knocks over a box of pictures and starts cleaning it up.
Kat clicks the link and identifies the woman as Peter’s “street mother,” although she’s aged a bit. Cross puts his phone down, horrified. The website on his computer is for the Early Mozart Institute with a picture of Nancy.
Damon finds a photo taken at Christmas with Miss Nancy, Deirdre, and Peter. Nancy asks what he’s doing and Damon jumps up, hiding the photo.
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Caught in the Web
At dinner, the phone rings and Nancy answers it. Cross asks to talk to Elle. Nancy offers to give her a message. Cross stresses that he needs to speak directly to Elle. When Nancy asks if something’s wrong, Cross makes up a story about Janelle needing medication. Nancy calls his bluff and asks if he knows the truth.
He tells her that she’d better not hurt his kids. She calls Janelle over. Cross searches for how long it’ll take to get to the cabin. It’s nearly a three-hour and 40 minute drive.
At the table, Damon passes the photo to Elle under the table. Elle tells Damon he needs to act natural. When he’s able, she needs him to get Nancy’s keys. She promises to handle the rest.
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On the phone, Cross begs Nancy not to hurt the kids. She’s happier with this tone of voice and tells him that he doesn’t impress her. He asks her what she wants. She demands he come to the cabin alone and unarmed. He has four hours.
Finally
Cross knocks on Sampson’s door. He starts with “Look here, motherf*cker,” then apologizes and admits that Sampson was right. He tells him about the kids being in danger. Sampson cuts him off and says, “You had me at motherf*cker.” They embrace and prepare to move out.
In the cabin, Elle and Nancy are having drinks by the fireplace. Elle asks for something stronger than her tea. While Nancy’s pouring her a glass, Elle puts some sleeping powder into Nancy’s drink.
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Nancy’s fallen asleep and Elle gets up to get the kids out. As they head for the door, Nancy steps out from the storage room with the tazer gun. Elle stands in front of the kids but Nancy fires the tazer. Elle blocks the prongs with her purse and rushes Nancy, yelling at the kids to run.
They get in the car and Elle starts the engine. Suddenly, the driver’s side window smashes in. Peter opens the door, drags Elle out, and throws her onto the ground.
About a mile away from the cabin, Cross drops Sampson off. He continues onto the cabin where Nancy greets him with a gun. She lets him in.
The Plan Goes Awry
Sampson’s making good time, running through the woods when a shot rings out. Peter has a sniper rifle and shoots again. Sampson is hit and falls to the ground bleeding.
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In the cabin, Cross points out the kids haven’t done anything. Nancy replies that Deirdre didn’t do anything but Cross diagnosed that she was unfixable. He apologizes for saying she couldn’t be fixed but that’s not enough for Nancy. Peter comes in and tells Cross his buddy’s dead. Cross rushes him and Peter knocks him down with the rifle and is about to kill him but Nancy tells him the plan has changed.
She switches guns with him and tells him to get Cross back to the chair by the window. Nancy tells him that he doesn’t hurt like she does because he’s never lost a child. She tells Peter to bring the kids. Peter hesitates but follows orders.
Nancy tells Cross they’re only going to kill one and Cross has to choose. She pours kerosene all over both kids. She tells him to pick a child and Peter will shoot that one. This is news to Peter. If Cross doesn’t choose, she’ll take them outside and light them both on fire. Peter tells Nancy the kids haven’t done anything.
Mother’s Guilt
She insists Cross has to choose. Peter questions why. This distracts Nancy and gives Cross a moment to process the situation.
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Flashback to shortly after Peter killed Lance Marion (Craig Warnock). The police are looking for him and Nancy believes with his record and being black, Peter will get a heavy sentence, if not the death penalty. She convinces Deirdre to take the fall for him and because she has no record and is a young, white girl, she could be out in a year. Deirdre hesitantly agrees.
In the cabin, Cross tells Peter that Nancy was the reason Deirdre confessed to his crime and went to prison instead of Peter. Nancy tries to deflect blame onto Cross’s diagnosis. Peter tells her he’d rather be in prison than knowing Deirdre died because of him.
Nancy continues to blame Cross for saying Deirdre couldn’t be fixed, reminding Peter that she hanged herself out of despair. He’s starting to look convinced when a beer fridge comes flying in the window, knocking him and Nancy over. It also knocks over the kerosene jug. Sampson leaps into the room. He and Peter fight. Elle gets the knife Nancy was holding and cuts open the zip-ties. Cross tells her to get the kids out and grabs Peter’s gun before he can shoot Sampson. Again.
Last Words
Cross backhands Peter with a cast iron frying pan, knocking him out cold. Nancy tells them not to hurt Peter. Sampson says he has to pay. Cross tells her she does too. She replies she can’t go to jail, her babies need her. Cross says she doesn’t have a choice. She tells him those were Maria’s (Chaunteé Schuler Irving) last words. Probably.
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Cross whispers she’ll pay for this. She states she’ll pay in Hell and lights the kerosene pool at her feet on fire. Cross watches while Sampson gets Peter out the door. The wooden cabin goes up like a tinder.
At home, Cross wakes the kids up with the piano. Elle’s making breakfast in the kitchen. Sampson walks in with doughnuts.
At the precinct, Ed is perp-walked through the detective floor. He winks at Anderson (Jennifer Wigmore) as he’s escorted into the interview room.
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The kids, Sampson, and Elle sit down to eat. Cross is smiling at them from the doorway and glances at his phone. His smile fades.
The Ultimate Gaslighting
When Cross enters the interview room, Ed asks what took him so long. Cross reminds him that Ed requested Cross’s presence. Ed says confessing to the legendary Alex Cross is the perfect ending to the Fan Boy legacy. Cross asks him what legacy he’s referring to.
Ed says he’s ready to take his place in the serial killers’ Hall of Fame. Cross informs him he’s only being charged with Emir Goodspeed’s (Donavan Brown) murder and Shannon Witmer’s (Eloise Mumford) kidnapping. Ed says Cross can’t take away the infamy he earned and reminds him about the book he created. Cross asks if he means Bobby Trey’s (Johnny Ray Gill) book.
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Cross tells Ed that he’s going to tell the press that Bobby Trey is the Fan Boy. He turns the TV on and there’s Sampson holding the book. Cross leaves the room. Sampson has a fire going in an old oil drum. He tears the pages out in bunches and burns them. Ed’s on his feet and screaming, “No!” at the screen. Leaning his forehead on the one-way glass, he continues to mutter, “I will be remembered.”
Chief Anderson tells Cross that he’ll be cleared at the hearing because his victim took a settlement. He tells her he doesn’t want to live in a world where someone can do what he did with no consequences. Anderson confirms that she’s running for mayor and it helps her campaign if he’s not facing a disciplinary panel.
The World He Wants to Live in
Cross arrives at a hotel room where a camera crew is set up. Tania’s waiting. The man Cross beat up, Phineas Carter (Darnell Bartholomew) and his partner, Charlotte (Golden Madison) join him. They sit down with the cameras rolling. Carter asks why Cross targeted him. Cross explains that the day Maria was killed, Carter’s badge was used by the killer to escape. Then, when Cross tracked him down, he ran. Carter tells Cross he ran because he knew what happens when police come looking for you and you’re black.
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Carter hopes that Cross will intervene the next time police are chasing a black man. Cross promises he will. He reaches out a hand. Carter remains sitting there and doesn’t reciprocate.
Damon walks across the stage at the recital. He begins playing a song but falters. Cross gets his attention and taps his heart. Damon plays Maria’s song, Chaka Khan’s “Love Me Still.”
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In Shannon’s hospital room, she passes a note to her parents. They read it and laugh. It reads, “Sushi please.”
At the cemetery, Cross kisses his fingers and touches Maria’s name. In the next scene, he sits on a couch in Dr. Finlay’s office. She sits down and asks what they should talk about. He replies, “Maria.”
Kayla Stinger Scene
Kayla (Alona Tal) and Bobby Trey sit and talk at a BBQ chicken place about Cross naming him The Fan Boy. She says since they know he killed Tavio (Damani D. Sease) and Vanessa (Kristin Dodson), they’re offering him full immunity with 24 months served if he can provide them with information that leads at least six Fan Boy victims.
He agrees. As a final transaction, Kayla offers to put some money aside for him once he’s out if he turns over any dirt Ed had on Washington D.C. politicians and powerbrokers. When he asks if the offer is from her or the government, she shrugs and smiles.
Cross is currently streaming on Prime Video.
