Before Scarpetta, Prime Video's 2-Part Crime Thriller Was Its Best CSI-Like Show To Binge

While Scarpetta might seem like the perfect CSI replacement, Prime Video has an earlier hit that already proved an ideal substitute for the long-running franchise. When CSI first began back in 2000, the show was an innovation. Where most police procedurals focused on the cops chasing criminals, CSI delved into the gruesome particulars of forensic analysis.

Much like the later hit Mindhunter took a look inside the minds of murderers, CSI pushed the boundaries of network TV censorship by getting up close and personal with the insides of their victims. This was an original, refreshing angle for a TV series, but one that had already been explored by two hit book series.

Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta novels gained a screen adaptation in 2026, with Nicole Kidman playing the titular troubled but brilliant forensic pathologist. However, before Scarpetta arrived, Prime Video’s James Patterson adaptation Cross saw Aldis Hodge play an equally iconic forensic psychologist.

Prime Video’s Cross Is The Best CSI Replacement In Years

©CBS / courtesy MovieStillsDB

Cross’s title character is a detective whose hot temper only gets worse when his wife is murdered before the series begins. Unfortunately for his superiors, he is also the best forensic psychologist in the business, and the only one who can be relied on to track down killers and criminals as well as to root out corruption within his department.

While Morgan Freeman played Cross in the 1997 movie Kiss the Girls and 2001’s sequel Along Came a Spider, Hodge’s take on the character is more true to the source novels. Like Prime Video’s Lee Child adaptation Reacher, Cross outdid the earlier movie versions of the bestselling novel series by offering viewers a more faithful adaptation.

Since Cross focused on a forensic psychologist rather than a standard detective or private eye, Patterson’s books felt as innovative and original as Cornwell’s Scarpetta novels when the series began in the ‘90s. However, since CSI and its spinoffs borrowed this premise, both shows now feel like perfect follow-ups to the long-running procedural franchise.

Prime Video’s Cross Has Another 30 Novels To Adapt

Aldis Hodge's Alex looking in thought with a light shining behind him in Cross season 2 — Aldis Hodge’s Alex looking in thought with a light shining behind him in Cross season 2

Luckily for fans, Cross could last even longer than CSI’s 15 seasons thanks to its surfeit of source material. There are a whopping 34 novels in Patterson’s ongoing series, meaning there are still 30 more books that the series could bring to life onscreen before the show runs out of source material.

Since Scarpetta fared worse with critics than Cross, it is fair to assume that Hodge’s series could outlast the Cornwell adaptation. As such, even if Scarpetta can’t replace CSI in the long run, Cross is a perfect substitute for the beloved procedural.