‘Cross’ Showrunner Explains the Jeffrey Epstein Symmetry In Season 2: “People Who Have A Certain Amount of Money And Influence Get Away With Things And I’m Not Cool With That”

By Hope Sloop

If you’ve watched the first three episodes of Cross Season 2, you know that there are some not-so-subtle nods to real-world issues, including the ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and those he associated with. There’s a very good reason for that, according to showrunner Ben Watkins.

Chatting with DECIDER about the first few episodes in the second season of Prime Video’s hit series, the creator and executive producer shared that having Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) deal with a vigilante who is hunting down those related to a human trafficking ring was one of the only ways he could find justice in a world that has delivered so little to date.

“I still feel like people who have a certain amount of money, a certain amount of influence, get away with things, even when we know, and I’m not cool with that,” Watkins told DECIDER. “So, I said, ‘Well, if I can’t get them myself, we’re going to get them through the page.’ And so that’s why we did that. Also, I know that that’s something that a lot of people relate to. If I’m going to introduce a vigilante character that I want to seduce you into rooting for, one of the first things they have to do is kill someone that everybody thinks deserves to die. And so that was the easy one.”

In the first episode, viewers watch that exact situation unfold as Luce (Jeanine Mason) and Donnie (Wes Chatham) arrive on a billionaire’s island and free a group of young women who were being held as sexual prisoners. Before fleeing on a speedboat from the secluded estate, Luce brutally murders Cross‘ Epstein proxy, Richard Helvig (Geoffrey Pounsett), cutting off his fingers to send to another person on her hitlist as Donnie sets the whole place ablaze.

Hitting the nail on the head with the Epstein comparisons was second-string to telling a compelling and interesting story in this second season, Watkins explained. First and foremost, it was about making a relatable storyline that scratched an itch he (and many others) have had for quite some time.

“On the mystery side, I had really been marinating on this feeling, like so many people were, walking around feeling dissatisfied, feeling like they’re getting the short end of the stick and not knowing what to do about it. And it didn’t matter what your view on the world was, you kind of felt like that,” Watkins added. “So I thought, what if we come up with a villain who feels like that but decides, ‘I’m going to take justice into my own hands?'”

Photo: Prime Video

He added, “I wanted to go on a ride like that, because if you do that right, you’re going to eventually go down a rabbit hole that gets you to the place where, you know, somebody goes too far and they cross the line, but it’ll be after you’ve been rooting for them. And that’s the kind of fun place to be.”

As for the stars of the show, they told DECIDER they were equally excited to go on the ride with Watkins, especially after realizing it would go to places that feel both timely and just. Alona Tal, who plays Kayla in the series, said that she thinks it will be cathartic in one way or another.

“I think that this make-believe world sense of justice will give people, I hope, a sense of [real justice],” said Tal, adding that she hopes people dig deeper, as well. “I hope that it will raise questions as to who is the good guy and who’s the bad guy. That’s kind of where we’re we we’ve noticed that is a repetitive theme.”

The first four episodes of Cross Season 2 are now streaming on Prime Video. New episodes stream on Wednesdays.

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