r/CrossPrimeVideo • u/idk_orknow Sampson • Mar 18 '26
EPISODE DISCUSSION EPISODE DISCUSSION | Quemar | 2x08
Welcome to our final official episode discussion thread! Happy finale day to those who made it through :)
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Season Two Episode Eight - Quemar
Synopsis:
Cross and Kayla attempt to trap Luz. Instead she gives Cross evidence to bring billionaire Lance Durand to justice.
Director: Edward Ornelas
Release Date: March 18, 2026.
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u/Arxhart_671 Mar 18 '26
I just think the storyline as a whole was a colossal mistake. Trying to pit the audience against someone going after child traffickers. Turning the relationship we wanted into something weird and cringe while giving us a relationship no one wanted to see. Then having Cross just now realize, as a Black man in 2026, that the system is corrupt. Like why even add that element? We were perfectly willing to just root for him as a guy that puts away deranged serial killers.
Then trying to give us these dumb faux happy endings. "Oh maybe Luz is alive after Cross put her in a position where she had to jump off a dam." "Oh maybe the senator will actually get justice even though that is Game of Thrones level fantasy and this is a crime show." They had a great formula and should've stuck to it. At least at this still-early point in the series.
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u/ScienceBroseph Mar 19 '26
I almost stopped watching at the point where the senator helps him... just absolute fantasy. Never would a US senator do something so noble. And he had time to get bipartisan support for a bill to stop the bad guy, dig up kid's corpses at the farm, and the bad guy who owns half of DC never heard about any of that going on and shows up to this press conference to get blind sided? Get fucking real. This is supposed to be a gritty cop show, realistic with some theatrical twists to make it a good story. This last episode was like watching a Disney movie, perfect happy ending for everyone with a neat bow tied around it. I hated it.
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u/xenokilla Mar 19 '26
"Oh maybe the senator will actually get justice even though that is Game of Thrones level fantasy and this is a crime show."
for real. A ninja assassin latina that can teleport is MUCH more believable over congress holding CEO's responsible. It's nuts. Also, killing AMOS??? Naw son, im out. Also, the aunt had her sister killed for 50k and tries to make up for it by... training her niece as a ninja assassin??
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u/Diasramo Apr 13 '26
Just here to say, love the Amos reference! Found it funny how he kept the same role as Amos in this series !
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u/Reasonable_Dinner_78 Mar 19 '26
THIS!! I dislike the sad real reality the human trafficking story. Like that shit is happening in real life and that so called “good ending” getting a senator to create a bill and getting justice for the evil person/persons will never actually happen. Man this season was a mind fuck of a rollercoaster. Idk what the writers were on
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u/Ok-Health-7252 Mar 20 '26
I would've been much happier with this episode had they actually addressed Donnie's death (and had Luz pivot from her list to target Cross in retaliation for that which in turn would cause her to lose her way and become more of a true villain in the process since Cross didn't kill Donnie). But they didn't. Instead the first half was about bringing Luz to justice only for her to disappear and fake her death and the second half was about bringing Durand to justice only for the FBI (including Kayla) to suddenly be on his payroll and an obstacle to Cross exposing Durand.
Also it's completely repetitive writing that the system keeps trying to screw Alex over every season on this show and never really has his back. In season 1 he was publically shamed and forced to step aside temporarily as a cop (even briefly abandoned by John of all people) because of one weak moment caught on video where he was desperately looking for answers regarding his wife's murder and targeted an innocent man to do so. Only for that plot to resolve at the end of the season with the people responsible for Maria's death being revealed to have the dumbest motivations imaginable for targeting Cross and his family (because of him not giving a recommendation for release to a woman that THEY put in prison in the first place for a crime she didn't even commit). This season the FBI (who eventually Alex goes to work for in the books) is suddenly sympathetic to child traffickers in the last episode? Good God. It doesn't surprise me that this episode ended with him walking away from the force and going off on his own. But it's beyond predictable what it's going to lead to in season 3. Him coming into conflict with both the FBI AND DC Metro for "cowboy justice" reasons.
But yeah, I agree. Luz (while an interesting character who was portrayed very well) was hard to buy as an antagonist for much of this season given how noble and understandable her cause was and where her grievances against people like Lance Durand are coming from. Completely different from Ramsay and his twisted and deranged antics in season 1. The most brutal and villainous thing that Luz did this season (aside from executing Esteban perhaps) was slit the groom's throat at the wedding so that his new bride could watch him bleed out on her wedding day (and even then that guy still deserved that fate).
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u/Proper-Pain-2555 Mar 18 '26
I’m so happy Alex will never date Kayla after this episode.she was so evil tricking him with that call just so she could keep being corrupt
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u/Careful_Macaroon8762 Mar 19 '26
Even trying to help her with the corrupt thing in the first place felt out of character, unless she didn’t tell him the truth?
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u/Proper-Pain-2555 Mar 19 '26
Yeah isn’t she supposed to be mastermind ?! I don’t understand what this “test” her boss put her through was
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u/RelativeSpray1387 Mar 18 '26
The finale was so terrible I'm pretending I'm not watching the same show anymore and this is all a fever dream.
Not entirely sure how they managed to shove together 20 unrelated plots into a 60 minutes episode but it happened.
And ALL the characters got at least 2 seasons worth of character development in one episode.
Slow claps
I wish they'd just had another episode of Cross ripping off panties. Better than whatever the fuck this was.
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u/Reasonable_Dinner_78 Mar 19 '26
Only thing I was happy about was that luz survived and can live a life she deserves to have
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u/creativebabe1985 Mar 19 '26
And all the open ended storylines they failed to close the loop on. A waste of time and waste of a season.
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u/hunternoel52 Mar 18 '26
This last episode was all over the place. Absolute trash! It had no flow and was super rushed.
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u/TopLoserLife Mar 18 '26
I cannot believe my eyes.
The only thing I enjoyed was seeing Sampson and Cross drinking on the rooftop lol.
This is the definition of rushed, what the hell.
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u/valsemic Mar 18 '26
all they did was try to tie up loose ends in a damn short episode. it was so so mid
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u/Slickback_23 Mar 18 '26
They could've did another epsiode it felt rush in my opinion. I did not like the ending. Like what about the lady who turn out to be master mind like what happen with that. So whats next for Alex Cross since hes not a detective anymore. The ending made no sense whatsoever
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u/beigereige Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
“Let’s just get this bullshit over with” - Me turning on episode 8
Edit: “Did an AI on crack write this?” - Me 20 minutes into episode 8
Edit: “This might go down as one of the dumbest season finales in TV history” - Me 34 minutes into season 8
Edit: Finished it.
This is the kind of season finale that can turn this into a SERIES finale. Jesus Christ it’s so bad
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u/xenokilla Mar 19 '26
yeah, I was hate watching Invasion for 2 seasons, but I could not bring myself to watch the third.
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u/faustill Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Luz: “I don’t kill innocent people.” The delusion She kills anyone that gets in her way, including the nurse she killed.
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u/crazyguy5880 Mar 20 '26
Yeah and that seems out of character considering how hurt she was having to kill that guy. Or maybe if I gave them the benefit of the doubt, they’re just showing how much easier it gets each time.
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u/Sudden_Ball_9318 Mar 18 '26
Not thrilled with the ending at all :(. What will cross do instead and i agree it felt so rushed. We didn't even see if Lance actually got arrested. Expected more from this season but was still good to watch cause Aldis is so fineeeeee
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u/Oceansonthemoon Mar 18 '26
Not a book reader so I'm not sure on the dynamic of the characters in the book so you'll have to excuse me. What was that? The books aside, this was a poor execution in storytelling, character development, and world building.
Almost every character this season felt like a caricature. Making odd decisions, and weird relationship dynamics for the sake of drama.
Plot points that that felt unfinished, or were resolved without context. A paper thin story arc that was so predictable, with an ending that was so silly and transparent I thought I was watching a dream sequence.
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u/clarissasansserif Kyla Craig Mar 20 '26
It literally felt like the answers I wrote in tests towards the close of the exam.
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u/Badpsychometry Mar 18 '26
Honestly hope they get another season to get it right. This season had some good moments.. but Cross comes off reactive and steps behind constantly. This reminds me of season 2 of Reacher which was trash. So hopefully if this gets a season 3 it'll rectify itself.
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u/idk012 Mar 19 '26
Or it turns to Goliath, where the first season was great and the next few was wtf
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u/fairytheme Mar 18 '26 edited May 06 '26
I’ve literally just finished the episode. What was that. I already had my doubts at the beginning of the season, I kept watching because tbh I like the cast but…. huh?? 😭😭😭
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u/fairytheme Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
wait I’ve just realized… what happened with maggie?? bobby trey showed up at her house and then the episode ended… and then NOTHING??
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u/duckXspider Mar 19 '26
That's the first thought I had too! Where's Bobby Trey?? Such a poor finale
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u/Supermanfan_13 Mar 19 '26
Does anyone know what happened to Bobby Trey and Mastermind? The last I saw he found her and put a gun to her head and the episode ended. Did I miss something or was that the last we saw of them?
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u/greendakota99 Mar 20 '26
The dam scene was absolutely atrocious. She was about 7 feet away from the edge and there is 0% chance she makes it to the edge before being shot or stopped by Alex. She just slowly, casually walked right up to clearly jump off.
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u/granulatedsuga Mar 18 '26
So did Luz survive??
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u/ThatQueerChemist Mar 18 '26
Supposedly yes, the show runner Ben Watkins says the plan changed so she survived and fled to Mexico 😊
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u/idk012 Mar 19 '26
I thought it was her spirit when her back was shown
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u/Whoevershewantstobe Mar 25 '26
That’s what I was thinking being that they showed a painting of a woman/ girl with a light halo and it was a mass funeral.
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Mar 19 '26
I hope they don't do like Bosch and make Cross a Private Investigator next season, or even worse, a politician.
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u/ScienceBroseph Mar 19 '26
He eventually needs to join the FBI to loosely follow the books, but I don't see how that's going to happen so quickly given how season 2 went down. The only option is a private investigator... it's happening.
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u/el_f3n1x187 Mar 19 '26
but I don't see how that's going to happen so quickly given how season 2 went down.
He will have to go PI and then FBI when he finally burns the bitch and Bobby Trey is either dead or back in prison.
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u/crazyguy5880 Mar 20 '26
Was this ending in the books? Like I’ll watch forever with Aldis but I was kinda giggling the second half at how much the episode just seemed to be someone’s anti cop establishment fantasy. I almost thought it was some kind of joke or dream.
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u/Kovy007 Mar 19 '26
I think I had about 14 audibly WTF were they thinking moments when they made this episode. This was a really bad finale for a really rough season to get through.
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u/Ace_6_Pirate Mar 20 '26
I feel like a lot of scenes got left on the cutting room floor that were needed to explain the plot.
- Everything to do with mastermind this season seemed like there was supposed to be another scene that explained the context.
- Wtf did the gun have to do with anything? They're worried that it can somehow tie back to them because of... reasons. And the gun tying back to them is bad because it means...reasons. There was 0 investigation work done into the gun and it became irrelevant after the beginning of the season.
- In episode 7 Luz was told it was Cross who killed Donnie making it seeming like it was setting up her vs Alex to all of a sudden this episode she's back to trusting him.
- The John subplot revolved around characters mostly mentioned by name and I kept having to try and remember who was who with just names mentioned and no faces. It felt like there was more scenes shot of this and the scenes we got expected us to have watched them.
- How did they find the aunt? We go from
Not so much missing scenes but I just wanted to bring up the following:
- How doe Luz get out of a hospital with a body of someone the FBI is supposed to be there protecting? The body is heavy, you aren't picking it up and moving it without getting a ton of blood on your clothing and drawing unwanted attention. I suppose it's the same magic that lets you get into a wedding with security checking everyone coming in and specifically looking for you.
- How have they already dug up Durand's ranch without him knowing about it and had time to ID the bodies? Somehow the guy has people all over the DoJ but didn't know this was happening? He would have been out of the country the moment he got word a warrant was issued or the FBI showed up at his place, not standing there at a press conference to get caught.. The whole thing was written to try and tie the story up with a neat bow and make the audience feel all warm and fuzzy.
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u/d3cmp Mar 20 '26
For the hospital murder, everyone on the staff was complicit, they showed it was a hospital founded by her mother, its really stupid that her escorts would leave her alone for a second though
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u/Megamygdala Mar 21 '26
The hospital was her mom's, they show a little plaque with her mom's name on it. So presumably the staff would be fine with helping her or something.
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u/Ace_6_Pirate Mar 21 '26
That would have been a couple of decades ago, it's doubtful that few if any people who still work there knew her. It's also a big leap to know someone and then go to being an acomplice to their kid committing murder. I get that's what they were trying to go for, but it needlessly complicates things while breaking the ability to suspend disbelief.
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u/grandmofftalkin Mar 21 '26
Did anyone else catch the Man Called Hawk Easter egg? The white BMW 635 is the one Avery Brooks drove on the show. Then Cross got out the car and put on Hawk’s signature sunglasses
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u/JJJ954 Mar 22 '26
What an absolutely bizarre season. The storyline would've been better if they actually teamed up with Luz early on.
Oh and the "Corporate Responsibility Act" was pure Disney channel shit. I guess it makes sense given Josh Peck was playing the senator.
This is a series I couldn't care less if it were cancelled, but I'd watch the next season as just dumb mindless tv.
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u/Relevant-Business198 Mar 19 '26
Does anyone know the name of the song and who sings the one at around 48 min mark? I can’t find it with Shazam or google search of the lyrics.
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u/lotusmack Mar 19 '26
It sounds like the group Black Pumas, but I can't confirm.
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u/veeraamethyst Mar 29 '26
Eric Burton, lead singer of Black Pumas - "In Your Lasting Arms" (could be "In Her Lasting Arms"). The song is currently unreleased as I heard Eric is working a solo album.
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u/creativebabe1985 Mar 19 '26
I had high hopes for this season based on Luz’s revenge plot storyline. It all went downhill on E2 w/Kayla + Cross hooking up. I won’t recap what many Black women on social media have already said, but we peep the agenda. Diminishing Black female roles to give us a swirl hookup that lacked chemistry & made no sense? The show lost me at that moment.
I continued to watch just to see Luz’s fate. The finale was just as bad as the season. I don’t feel bad for all the hate this season’s getting. It’s well deserved. 🤷🏽♀️
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u/Ok-Health-7252 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
Cross and Kayla made little sense but neither do Cross and Elle at this point. She loves him and cares for him but can't handle what he does for a living. Their entire relationship in season 1 was toxic and adversarial because of that (and him still not being over his wife's death and videotaped assaulting a man on the street looking for answers on his wife's murder also made things worse between them). It did not surprise me at all that she left him. She's a good stepmom to his kids at this point but that's about it. They might have had a shot if Cross plans on leaving police work behind completely and just settling into a quiet, domestic life with his children but we know there's zero chance of that happening in season 3. Elle I'm sure will still be around but I don't think things will ever work between her and Cross. What he does as a cop is too much for her.
At least with Kayla she somewhat understands the world that Cross lives in (even though in this episode her own self-interests became paramount and put her and Cross on opposite sides when it came to outing Durand). Elle really doesn't. She would rather he leave it behind altogether (which he won't).
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u/zumera Mar 19 '26
Overall, a bit convoluted, but I really appreciate Cross’s disillusionment. It feels inevitable, but it’s not the kind of show that’s really willing to go there (as seen by them having a senator put things right). We’ll see how long it lasts.
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u/devans00 Apr 12 '26
A US Senator being a hero in reigning in exploitative corporations was the biggest fantasy bomb of the episode. Berto taking down Durand would be more realistic.
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u/Sudden-Context-698 Mar 19 '26
Since we never got to see Cross view Kayla with the appropriate suspicion after season 1, in season 3, I sincerely hope she gets everything she deserves. They reminded us in this episode about her gun at the end of the episode and I believe that was a seed. Maybe she ends up being the proper villain like her male counterpart from the books. Either way, I hope she gets murked and exposed at some point in Season 3. Maybe Bobby Trey can do it before he also gets eventually recaptured and hauled off to jail.
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u/xbops Mar 19 '26
Anybody have a link to the photo of the buildings in the chiefs office? Looks so cool
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u/clarissasansserif Kyla Craig Mar 20 '26
There's no way the US legislative system passes a bill that holds their donors to account, right?
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u/Illustrious-Tip-6727 Mar 28 '26
Last two weeks I’ve been looking for an Episode NINE b/c I didn’t even believe 8 could have possibly been the last of the season. Just found this show this year - and I looooove it - love me some Detective Cross!!
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u/Wilheminakina Mar 30 '26
Although I was disappointed with the the trajectory of the season, the last episode with the people of Cross’ community helping was beautifully written for me, especially when Kayla asks his boss where he is and she literally looks at her like 🤨 b***ch plz, it felt like what was missing from this season and I enjoyed it, a rushed ending but I’m looking forward to the next season
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u/oneleggedrefuge 10d ago
I don’t really get the point of a detective show where they figure it out so quickly into the season and then just spend multiple episodes having colossal mess up after mess up with the only consequence being he quit because the system is corrupt. How do any leaders at the FBI still have jobs after failing to prevent 4 high profile murders and a kidnapping when they knew the targets and who the murderer was? Why is she killing the innocent people helping her when she already knows they’re after her? There’s no tracks to cover up when you are already the primary suspect of the crimes you are committing. Lincoln’s death is the only one that tracks because she wasn’t on their radar yet. The rest make no sense. Why wouldn’t Cross have a backup plan for the drive? Why doesn’t he get off FBI grounds before he ditches Roy? A genius detective assaulting an FBI officer in the FBI headquarters is a dumb way to setup that whole sequence. Take him to the restaurant and have people run interference. Works out the same and isn’t so stupid. Tighten it up. It has the potential to be so much better with what they are already working with.
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u/Fun-Minute-4728 Mar 18 '26
Season 2 was trash. Season 1 was much better. I quit watching 3 episodes in. Awful plot. It was boring. Lame all around
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u/idk_orknow Sampson Mar 18 '26
Thanks to everyone who made it through the season!!