Cross

Undone by the same sort of distension that plagues so many modern television offerings, not to mention a contrived plot that’s as ridiculous as its attempts to straddle the line between celebrating and critiquing cops.

Though Hodge’s grounded center singlehandedly keeps the drama watchable throughout, the material around him is exploitative, frustratingly trashy and absolutely destined to be a hit.

Cross’ attempt to both create and critique a TV police procedural that offers a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase between killer and cop comes up short. But that’s not for lack of ambition.

Ultimately, the premise is too limited to fill an eight-episode series, and I couldn’t watch the scenes featuring the killer and his victim. They are too frequent. Too miserable.

This version of "Cross," however, seems like all the worst stereotypes about the genre mashed up into a slow, overly long season of television.

Cross knows what type of show it wants to be, but it can't commit to going all the way.

Hodge, usually a magnetic performer, settles on a glaring, unmediated intensity. The A plot, in which Cross investigates the murder of a defund-the-police activist, blossoms into a richly nonsensical “Silence of the Lambs”-style fantasia. Common sense is left far behind, in matters large and small.

The result is a frustrating show that swings between compelling drama and hackneyed melodrama – alas, more often the latter.

Despite only being eight episodes, the season still feels overlong. The serial killer storyline in particular is dragged out beyond all reason, and even at times when it appears to be coming to a head, a new spanner will be thrown into the works to explain why the renowned detective Cross can't capture the most obvious villain in TV history.