Snowfall has never been as cohesive as Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul or other shows about the drug trade on basic cable. It has a good cast and occasionally compelling storylines, but after the first season or two, didn't seem to know exactly where it was going. The loss of John Singleton probably affected things, but it was meandering even under his producing.
It's also never been convincing as a show set in the 80s, which is especially weird given Singleton clearly made some of the seminal films of the 80s and 90s about South Central L. A., gangs, drugs, and elements of racism. The characters in Snowfall neither dress like nor sound like young people in the 80s. Perhaps there was a conscious decision to avoid anything that might be campy to young audiences -- Michael Jackson jackets, picks in hair, and calling people homeslice might be even more laughable today than back then.
But the clothes are so drab compared to the neon and pastel 80s, there's not a feathered haircut in sight (though Jerome's jerry curl is more or less on point), no jeans with the butt so tight you can see the cellulite, and no loud and fast music thumping out of cars and boom boxes. Oh, every once in a while there's a tune you might recognize from the era, and I guess the cars are from the 80s, but it's not convincing in its aesthetic, including al the mid-century modern furniture. Where are the chunky teal couches and bikini posters on the walls?
Anyway, all that aside, the show was all over the place last season and is still struggling now. We understand things are getting more real. Franklin is losing his humanity more, Teddy is a sociopath, and nobody knows who they can trust. But each episode the last two years just feels like set up for something that doesn't happen. In this one, Franklin understands Teddy is working cross purposes, but he figured that out three years ago. Teddy, meantime, is having second thoughts about franklin -- but a few years back, he clearly only saw Franklin as a means to an end. Jerome and Aunt Louie are still trying to find their place in the game. Poor. Gustavo has even less to do than Ice-T on SVu, and Lucia hasn't been heard from in years.
Things are getting more violent, but if you're not catching the drift of this review, the point is the show just seems to keep adding another brick to the wall without really knowing what it's trying to build. This episode, "Lions," gets us closer, but closer to what?
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