Notice! This article contains spoilers for season 1 of Cross.Nancy remains a secondary character almost the entire time Cross the first season’s runtime until the show reveals the hidden truth about his real identity and motives. Created by Amazon’s Ben Watkins Cross season 1 is based on James Patterson Alex Cruz series of books. Despite being an adaptation of a book, the program aims to record its identity by borrowing only a few main characters and stories from the original material. However, when it comes to its villains, it features some originals that never appear in James Patterson’s books.
While the main villain, Ed Ramsey, in Cross The first season has nothing to do with the titular character’s past, but he proves to be an intelligent serial killer. The secondary villain, Nancy, is much more intrinsically linked to the protagonist’s story. Her identity and motives remain hidden for almost the entire run of the show, as she works behind the scenes and pulls many strings. However, as Cross season 1 reaches its final moment, its plan and true intentions become clearer.
Nancy is actually the mother of Deirdre Norman, who died in prison after Alex testified at her trial
She convinced Deirdre to take responsibility for Peter
While trying to understand who may have killed his wife, Alex Cross retrieves an old tape of one of her court appearances. In the statement, he concludes that a murderer, Deirdre Norman, who murdered a man after asking him out on a date, cannot “readjust” to society. He says that even if therapy can help her, a psychopath like her can never be fully cured and needs to stay behind bars for the rest of her life. The judge trusts Cross’s insights and gives the girl a life sentence.
After being sent to prison, Deirdre was attacked by her fellow prisoners, driving her to commit suicide. Cross deduces that a man named Peter, who frequently visited his prison, is trying to avenge his death by targeting his family. However, when he meets Peter’s case manager, she reveals that Peter and Deirdre often found her with a woman who was her “street mother”. Although he initially struggles to find out who this “street mother” is, he eventually discovers that she is Miss Nancy, his son’s new piano teacher..
When Nancy manages to corner Cross and his family in the final episode of the Amazon Prime Video detective show, Cross confronts her saying she is responsible for Dierdre’s death. He reveals that after Peter killed a man, Nancy convinced Dierdre to take the blame, believing that the jury and judge would be relatively lenient with her. However, Alex Cross’s testimony convinced the judge to punish her as a hardened criminal, which ultimately led to her death. Refusing to take responsibility, Nancy blamed Alex Cross and hoped to avenge Deirdre’s death.
Why Nancy and Peter Killed Maria Cross
They wanted to avenge Deirdre’s death
Nancy’s pain seems to manifest as anger as she seeks revenge. Instead of taking responsibility for convincing Dierdre to take the blame for Peter’s actions, Nancy blames Alex Cross. Therefore, to make him feel the pain of losing a loved one, she asks Peter to murder Cross’s wife, Maria. Maria had nothing to do with the world of crime, but became a mere target because of her connection to Alex Cross.
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Cross analysis of the main facts |
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Created by |
Ben Watkins |
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Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score |
77% |
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Rotten Tomatoes audience score |
66% |
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Based on |
James Paterson Alex Cruz book series |
Despite getting Alex Cross’s wife out of the way and inflicting enough pain on him, Nancy struggles to deal with her own pain. She believed revenge would relieve her of the guilt of being responsible for Deirdre’s arrest. However, when she continues to feel the heavy burden of Deirdre’s death even after killing Maria, she decides to formulate an even bigger plan to harm Alex Cross and his family.
Nancy’s Real Plan for Alex and Her Kids at the Cabin Explained
Nancy wanted Alex to feel the pain of losing a child
After Peter attacks Alex Cross’s mother, Cross fears for his children’s safety and considers moving them to a safe house before his wife’s killer targets them. That’s when Miss Nancy offers to keep them at her house. Since Alex Cross and her family trust her, they agree that it would be a good idea to keep the children at her house because the killer wouldn’t know their whereabouts. Little do they know that Miss Nancy is one of the killers. Later, when Cross discovers the truth about Nancy’s connection to his wife’s murder, he rushes to her house to save her children.
Nancy’s twisted revenge plan forces Alex Cross to make an impossible choice, but he still manages to manipulate the situation to his advantage.
However, to her dismay, Nancy stays one step ahead and ends up gaining the upper hand. With his two sons at gunpoint, she asks him to choose one of them, hoping to inflict the same pain she felt when she had to choose between Peter and Deirdre. Alex Cross asks her to leave her children alone and take him in, but she refuses to show mercy. Nancy’s twisted revenge plan forces Alex Cross to make an impossible choice, but he still manages to manipulate the situation to his advantage.
Why did Nancy kill herself at the end of the first season
Nancy realized that only she was responsible for Deirdre’s death
When Alex Cross exposes the truth behind what Nancy did and how she manipulated Deirdre into taking the blame for Peter’s crime, Nancy realizes it was her fault all along. A part of her always knew that Deirdre went to prison because of her. However, she remained in denial and tried to hold Alex Cross responsible to ensure she did not have to live with the guilt of Deirdre’s death.
His confrontation with Alex in Cross The season one finale forces her to accept the truth: she was responsible for Deirdre’s arrest. Unable to deal with the guilt that accompanies this acceptance, Nancy commits suicide in Cross final moments of season 1.