Note: This article contains spoilers for “Cross” Season 2, Episode 6.
“Cross” star Johnny Ray Gill opened up about the backstory of his character Bobby Trey, detailing how he went from being a highly respected military sergeant to the oddball, on-call killer fans can’t get enough of.
There was always something a little off about Bobby, even from the very beginning. From slicing necks, stripping down to his undies after breaking into homes and having access to a secret intel service, to working with a deranged serial killer, he is truly one of a kind. And fans have only gotten to see him at the surface level until Season 2.
Now that Ed Ramsey (Ryan Eggold) is behind bars, Bobby has moved on to assist Kayla (Alona Tal) in her side quests while on the hunt for Luz (Jeanine Mason), which includes her tracking down who’s behind “Mastermind.” In doing so, Bobby learns about Kayla’s supposed ties to the horrific torture experiment, and it sends him off the rails and into an emotional breakdown where he shares his origins.
“They didn’t deserve to be treated like all that. No sir, no sir, no sir. Whew, you motherf—kers, you motherf—kers is monsters,” Bobby tells Kayla in disgust in Episode 6.
“Says the man who worked for a serial killer,” Kayla snaps back. “Dirty cop, drug-dealing murderer for hire.”
That’s when Bobby corrects Kayla.
“And before that, Sgt. Robert Avalard, U.S. Army 101st Airborne,” Bobby asserts. “S—t, Lord knows I’s wanted to be a hero. And then you go where they send you, and you do what they tell you to do, and then you see shit … then you realize you ain’t no hero at all. You’re just another weapon.”
As Gill reflects on Bobby’s explosive scene, he explained to TheWrap that the quirky and unhinged murderer is merely a victim of a toxic government.
“I think Bobby Trey is a product of a very dastardly system, and I think sometimes those systems create dastardly people. Bobby Trey has been indoctrinated in a lot of ways,” Gill said, mentioning that he discussed the Shreveport native’s backstory and goals earlier on with “Cross” creator Ben Watkins.
“Hopefully, if we able to do other seasons, we can get into it more, but he told me that his family’s land was stolen by the predatory government,” Gill said. “We know that in Black communities throughout the nation, through eminent domain and things like that, freeways were built through our cities; our land was taken away. And so that specific piece is very important to me about what his motivations are.”
He continued: “So he can be motivated by money, but what’s that money for? What wrongs is he trying to right. But then also, that pursuit of money in that way made me think about capitalism and how charming capitalism is, [and] also how vicious and vile capitalism can be. I always say capitalism will pollute the shoreline and then sell you the purified water back for $5.50. And that’s a level of psychosis. To do that, to chop our trees down, our rainforest down when we need the air, is a level of psychosis, but we don’t call that psychosis, we call that business. I think our characters and the show get into what does it mean to be a hero? What does it mean to be a villain — who gets to make those determinations? So it’s beautiful to be a part of a show that’s not afraid to explore these things, and it’s a gift for me as an actor to be able to put it on wax with Bobby Trey.”
As we mentioned earlier, Bobby is a pretty wild guy, as several fans have expressed. So much so that even in just the show’s second season, people are waiting to see how much more untamed Bobby could get. His sexcapade with the female nail tech in Episode 3 — a move he pulled to locate her son Ibrahim (Tevin Johnson), who has insight on the Bad Religion project and files — takes the cake thus far.
Gill says there’s nothing too extreme for Bobby to handle, especially when there’s a job to be done.
“I knew pretty early on we was gonna get down, and when you got to get down, you got to get down,” Gill said with laughter. “He has a goal in mind, so whatever is required. Bobby Trey’s got a different kind of engine running inside him. So whatever it takes, whatever, whatever it takes. If you got to get down with the nail tech, you got to get down with the nail tech. You know what I mean?”
“Cross” Season 2 releases new episodes Wednesdays on Prime Video.
