Seven-Four boasts an intriguing cold open. For the second straight episode, Snowfall begins with an eerie atmosphere. Last week it was the aftermath of a killing, this week Teddy and Alejandro stranded in the Mexican desert. Their plane sitting on a pile of rocks, while Teddy tries to tinker with things on the underside and Alejandro lays in the shade. But it's no beach vacation, as Alejandro is unconscious with a bloody bandage wrapped around his head. Identical to last episode, the cold open presents a lot of questions: What happened on the landing? Why did Teddy freak out and change the plan? How long have they been there? Definitely intriguing questions, the problem being that Snowfall isn't interested in providing any answers. Halfway through season one, Snowfall's biggest problem is that it's spread too thin. In the early episodes, especially the pilot, Snowfall's greatest asset was the sprawling story. The pilot felt alive, as the characters came and went and an atmosphere of joy yet impending doom took hold. Now Snowfall is struggling to use all of its pieces in a meaningful way. The narrative is getting lost, because there isn't much focus on how to pace the stories across ten episodes. These pacing issues are most evident in the Teddy/Alejandro storyline. In four episodes we've seen Teddy force himself into a new gig after a timely drug overdose, snag a bunch of US government weapons for anti-communist fighters in Latin America, travel to the jungle to meet said forces, and reconnect and then disconnect from his wife and son. That's a lot of ground to cover in four episodes, and it's robbing the story of any impact. It's hard to care about Alejandro and Teddy's plight in Seven-Four because Snowfall hasn't given us much to connect with. Their goals and motivations are unclear, so stranding them in the desert doesn't feel tense or unpredictable, but dull and contriving. Likewise, pacing issues are evident in Gustavo's story. This episode he's at a Fourth of July party at the command of Pedro. Gustavo's presence serves as a way to get the heat off of Pedro and Lucia, by allowing Pedro to show his father that everything is under control and they have a man they can trust. It makes sense that Gustavo would have to be introduced to the family, but Snowfall doesn't know how to make the moment meaningful. Gustavo just sits in a room with Pedro's father Ramiro, answers two questions, then tells Lucia that he's ready to be an equal partner because he's killed two men for them. This Fourth of July party underscores how quickly Snowfall is becoming stagnant. Franklin's story provides something more substantial. For his Fourth of July, Franklin bails his father out of prison, leading to him showing up at Jerome's party and provoking tension between Cissy and her ex-husband, as well as between Franklin and his mother. It all boils over when a pair of white cops try to break down the party, putting Franklin in a chokehold and nearly killing him before a black officer intervenes. The scene is uncomfortable, but Snowfall isn't sure what to do with it. Snowfall is attempting to show how the current political climate is a result of policies and systems that were refined in the 80s, but there's no punch behind the comparisons. Snowfall could use a little clarity, which is impossible considering how many storyline's it's juggling. The idea is that this run-in with racially charged authority, combined with the criticism of his father, sends Franklin back to Avi, back to a life where he can "become his own man." Identical to last episode's sudden departure from the game, everything is so rushed, resulting in a storyline with the potential to be dramatically entertaining, but hasn't hit that height yet.
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