Abhiroop Das
Created by Ben Watkins, Prime Video’s ‘Cross’ follows Alex Cross and his team of brilliant FBI agents on their quest to solve mysteries and bring criminal masterminds to justice. The path isn’t always as straightforward, however, and in season 2 of this crime thriller series, he encounters a serial killing duo who are specifically taking out millionaires and billionaires who built their empires by exploiting children. In a cruel twist of fate, Alex finds himself tasked with guarding Lance Durand of Crestbrook Industries, even when it is clear that the man has a shady past of his own. In episode 5 of the season, titled ‘Climb,’ Cross comes face-to-face with the cold-blooded killer he has been chasing this entire time, and reality reveals itself to be far from his expectations. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Kayla’s Scary Video Turns Out to be a Deepfake With Sinister Implications
‘Cross’ season 2 episode 5 begins with the coroner inspecting Lincoln Esteban’s dead body. While we know exactly what unfolded between him and Luz, the narrative they framed appears to have worked, and Lincoln’s case is ruled a death by suicide. At the same time, we return to a deeply heartbroken Luz, who tries to drown her sorrows by taking part in what appears to be a purification and mourning ritual. Following that, she gets a new tattoo etched on her back, one depicting an angel riding into heaven, which is how she imagines Lincoln’s fate to have turned out. Elsewhere, Kayla returns home to find it broken into by none other than Bobby, who is armed and has questions.
As Bobby replays the video he uncovered, Kayla is left in utter disbelief when her own face stares back at her from the experimenter’s table. While Bobby is ready to kill her right there, Kayla assures him that the video is a deepfake, likely meant to pin everything down on her when push comes to shove. Operation Bad Religion, as it turns out, is a mind-controlling program that the government has been fiddling with, and while she indeed dipped her toes into it by supplying ammunition, Kayla swears that her involvement ends there. Bobby, still doubtful, chooses to hold off and expand his search, with the first step being to undo the deepfake and figure out the real experimenter captured on video.
Cross and Kayla Identify Their Elusive Serial Killer
At Ben’s, Cross and John sit down to discuss the details of the Lincoln case, and specifically how his suicide doesn’t make sense. For a man so passionate about justice to die seems more like a cover-up for a greater secret, and it is here that Cross puts two and two together. The girl who escaped looks strikingly similar to the drawings Lincoln left behind in the sewers, and it is possible that she was his accomplice of sorts, who had to pull the trigger to avoid getting caught. While the lead is substantial in and of itself, it is still only half-baked, and a large part of that is Lance Durand’s mountain of lies and evasions. With the discovery of child laborers at one of his farms, Lance is under great pressure, but he seems to have successfully tricked the masses with a rousing speech on television. Cross and Kayla, however, aren’t as easily convinced, and while their hands are tied by government orders, they now understand what the fact of the matter is.
With the case now shifting to a new lead suspect, Kayla and company have to start from scratch and reevaluate all the threads they previously discarded. Luckily, one of the agents hit the jackpot early, identifying Gabriela, who we know to be Luz’s deceased mother, as a person of interest. Some thirty years ago, Gabriela led a campaign against Crestbrook Farms, but was defeated, and, some believe, killed. Interestingly enough, she had a young daughter at the time, and while there exists a single picture of her as a kid, the daughter, named Luz, appears to have vanished from records as well. However, the team’s next big break comes in the form of Gabriela’s sister, who has been living with a fake identity along with Luz, who now goes by Rebecca Matthews.
John Realizes That There is More to His Mother’s Case
With a name and address at last, Kayla and Cross prepare for a definitive confrontation with Luz, but without any real evidence, all they can hope for is to convince her. Meanwhile, John sets out to conduct his own investigation into the murder case for which his mother is in jail. As Amielynn points out, something seems amiss here as well, as audio recordings of the event indicate six gunshots, but the reports list only five casings. John produces a new theory based on the evidence at hand, that there may have been a third person in the room that day, who was shot and either escaped or was taken care of. Locating the person can bring the case to a close, which means that it is time for John to hit the streets.
Elsewhere, Cross and Kayla’s attempt to talk with Luz goes as expected, with her promptly shutting the door in their faces. Still, Cross relays the fact that they might just be on the same side, and that she can contact him and cut out a deal at any point. Knowing that the battle from hereon out is about to be a lot more challenging, Luz nearly considers seeking the police’s help, but Donnie is there to rein in her thoughts. Together, they revisit the Crestbrook factory where Donnie got his scars and many of his friends were burnt to their death. The duo has carried that rage within them for years, knowing how big institutions are either powerless to make a change or themselves a part of the corrupt network. Not knowing where exactly Cross lies on that spectrum, Luz is cautious in inviting him to a conversation over lunch.
Cross Takes Luz’s Bait and Nearly Loses His Life
At a restaurant, Luz and Cross enter an elaborate chess game of words, where she routinely parries all accusations thrown by Cross, but still tells him exactly what he needs to hear. While Cross is right to point out that she has very few means of action left, specifically when it comes to Lance, Luz is also correct to remind him that the FBI can only work within the system. Cross’s final attempt to win her over involves invoking his own traumatic past and how he channeled the powers of others to find closure, and that seems to have done the trick. However, Kayla isn’t convinced by Luz’s readiness to cooperate with Cross within the next 24 hours, but she hardly has time to respond before she is summoned back to D.C. to deal with Bobby’s shenanigans.
On Kayla’s behalf, Bobby appears to have roped in an FBI analyst to undo the deepfake, and while the process seems near impossible at first, the tech genius is able to piece together a face from across hundreds of minor blips and glitches made by the AI at every odd angle. The result is the face of a woman whom Kayla recognizes as Elisha. While we don’t know anything about her just yet, chances are she is not someone to be taken lightly. Elsewhere, Cross gets a firsthand experience of his trust being abused when Donnie runs his car into Cross, causing him to tumble across the road. Just when Donnie prepares to land the finishing blow, Bobby enters the scene and disorients him with a shot to his chest. While Donnie is likely to survive this injury, so are Bobby and Cross, which means that the chase is far from over.
