How The Fanboy was caught in Cross season 1 (and whether he'll make a return)

Major spoilers ahead for Cross season 1

As Cross showrunner Ben Watkins told Americans Undercover, we were going to be along for the ride with the central villain of the mystery as that's a key part of the James Patterson book series about the D.C. homicide detective and, boy, were we! While the writers didn't give away the serial killer's moniker from the start, we did know that the monied power player Ed Ramsey was who Alex Cross was going to go toe-to-toe with over the course of eight episodes.

At first, it seemed like Ed was always ahead of the game, keeping Alex, John Sampson, and the rest of the MPD from finding Shannon Whitmer. But his arrogance and desperate need to adhere to his killing pattern--murdering his victims on the birthday of the serial killer he'd fashioned them to look like--is ultimately what got him caught.

How did Alex Cross catch The Fanboy?

When Ed had to move Shannon from the house on Price Street because Alex had figured out that he must have been hiding her somewhere in the basement/tunnels of the home, he put her in his own house. By the time his birthday party rolled around, Alex had learned that Ed was the killer he was looking for thanks to some digging by the FBI agent Kayla Craig who'd traced the pseudonym Harry Powers until she'd gotten Ed on camera using the fake name when making a purchase.

Alex poked and prodded at Ed during the dinner, even using a video of Ed's mother, who he'd said was dead, singing "Happy Birthday" to him. But Alex wound up being the one dealing with a crisis when the video of him beating an innocent Phineas Carter--who he'd thought had killed his wife--surfaced. Despite being suspended, and having to turn in his badge and gun due to the pending investigation into the incident, Alex continued to work the case.

He lost his only witness, Michael Grisham, when he was murdered by Lt. Massey. He could've spoken to Ed's preoccupation with death and serial killers. And he could've also tied him to the murder of Rodney McKay, a man who looked like David Alan Gore, and Ed's first murder. He unfortunately never got the chance to do so. But that didn't stop Alex from continuing to push to find Shannon and apprehend Ed.

His breakthrough came in an unexpected way. He'd been confronting Dr. Daine, the plastic surgeon that he'd met at Ed's party, when she stuck him with a drug that would knock him out. But, before he fell unconscious, he grabbed her purse and slipped his phone into it. When John found him coming to, he was able to tell him track his phone.

They traced it to an abandoned warehouse where Ed had set-up shop, along with the Price Street house manager and Dr. Daine, to showcase his "transformation." He was giving his big speech to his online audience as he went through the three step process of executing Shannon the way that Aileen Wuornos had been. He'd even removed his mask to show his real face to lay claim to his work but Alex, John, and Kayla interrupted.

Shannon was saved before Ed could kill her, but he managed to escape. The trio sped over to his house to get him though it appeared as if he would rather die than be taken in. They'd thought that Ed had injected himself with a drug that killed him but it merely mimicked death. He came to in the hospital that Shannon was taken to as he was determined to finish the job.

As Alex had deduced, Ed had gotten sloppy with Shannon because Aileen was born on Feb. 29, and if he didn't kill Shannon on the date, he'd have to wait another 4 years. He slipped into the room after killing the medical examiner and the guard outside of Shannon's room. Thankfully, however, Alex had already figured out that Ed wouldn't have killed himself without finishing his "work." He got to Shannon in time and Ed was arrested.

But an arrest and imprisonment wasn't the sole punishment that Alex doled out for Ed. He had John burn the book that served as Ed's "masterpiece" and made sure that Ed was only charged with the murder of Emir Goodspeed and the abduction of Shannon Whitmer. Alex kept him from becoming the "god" that he wanted to be and his gun for hire Bobby Trey assumed the identity of the Fanboy, as the cops had dubbed Ed. In return for his cooperation, Bobby got full immunity from his role in Ed's killing spree as long as he served 24 months and, seemingly off the books in exchange for the information Ed had on D.C.'s elite, Kayla threw in an undisclosed amount of money.

Enraged, Ed kept screaming that he was the one who killed 11 people. He named them but Alex and the MPD are content with letting the world think he's crazy so as not to give the serial killer what he wants: fame, notoriety, and to leave a lasting, terrifying impression on the rest of the world. His story seemed pretty wrapped up tight but could we see Ed Ramsey make a return at some point during Cross' run on Prime Video? Showrunner Ben Watkins shed some light on the possibility.

We may not have seen the last of Ed Ramsey on Cross

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Watkins didn't rule out seeing Ed come back in part because of the books and certainly due to Ryan Eggold's performance in the role:

"In the Cross books, there are a lot of killers who stay in the mythology and some return. Once I was getting this performance from Ryan, I said, 'Man, this guy's going to land.' And so at that point, I had already started hatching plans of: I wonder how could we ever see Ramsey again? "

One such avenue could be through the cult following that Ed developed online. While he was consumed by the idea that he'd only truly enter the unholy halls of serial killer fame by completing his book, that may not end up being the case. We never did find out what his followers called themselves but they were his accomplices. It was a barista, with the symbol from Ed's book tattooed on his wrist, who'd spotted Shannon and took a picture of her because he saw she looked like Aileen.

Ed had enough of an audience to do his killings live. He spoke regularly to his followers and stoked their thirst for his "artistry." The MPD didn't look into his criminal network and it's possible that Ed has inspired other would be serial killers or people looking to harm in the name of their so-called art. If that's the case Cross could bring Ed back for him to consult on a case so one evil can help the MPD stop another.

But, for now, the book is closed on Ed until another chapter is written. Stay tuned to Americans Undercover for Cross coverage. Season 2 is coming to Prime Video. We'll keep you posted as news comes in. Follow us on X for more content!