Sumith Prasad
Franklin Saint’s life has been under threat ever since he lays his hands on a brick of cocaine in FX’s crime drama series ‘Snowfall.’ Franklin has to confront several life-threatening situations to emerge as the kingpin of Los Angeles’ drug scene. He even has to encounter death at a short distance several times, especially when his former love interest Melody Wright shoots him for killing her father Andre. The young kingpin survives all those situations to build his empire in the City of Angels. As the series is slated to end with the finale of the ongoing sixth season, the viewers must be eager to find out whether Franklin’s death will mark the conclusion of his saga. Here are our thoughts concerning the same! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Uncertain Fate: Death or Worse for Franklin
It is an understatement to say that Franklin Saint’s life is under threat in the sixth season of the series. When the season starts, Franklin is not only battling Teddy McDonald to get his $73 million but also Jerome Saint and Louie Saint, who conquer his empire and make it theirs. In the fourth episode of the series, Franklin’s ally Kane Hamilton’s former “cook” Todd joins Jerome and Louie and rains bullets at Kane’s house. Franklin, who has been talking business with Kane, has to run away with his ally amid unceasing bullets to save his life. The incident must have piqued the curiosity of the viewers concerning Franklin’s fate.
Franklin’s major concern in the season is retrieving the money Teddy stole from him. As his girlfriend Veronique and her mother Cassandra are trying their best to regain the money, Teddy may need to be careful about Franklin. However, the former CIA agent may not be invested in killing his former ally at this point since he is being hunted down by the DEA and the Cuban spy Rubén separately. Thus, we may not need to worry about Teddy pulling the trigger on the kingpin. Rather than the former CIA agent, Franklin may need to worry about his uncle Jerome and aunt Louie.
Jerome and Louie’s ambitions have made them conquer Franklin’s drug empire and they are not expected to back off after putting their lives on the line to become the king and queen of the city’s drug scene. Since Jerome and Franklin share the same blood, he may not be keen on putting a bullet in his nephew’s head. But Louie may not hesitate to shoot down Franklin if his death will assure her the throne of the city’s drug scene. Considering that the kingpin and his uncle’s discussion to reach a truce ends miserably, Louie may turn out to be his biggest concern. If Franklin needs to avoid his death, he may need to kill his aunt and eventually his uncle to avoid his retaliation.
Co-creator Dave Andron and the writers behind the series conceived the final season as a tragedy. “I think this last season, the story has to ultimately be a tragedy, and this last season is going to feel, I think, a little heavier,” Andron told The Hollywood Reporter. Since the fall of the hero is an inevitability in a tragedy, it will not be a surprise if the series ends with Franklin’s death. “[…] the arc of the character and where Franklin is going to end up, although it’s a tragedy, it’s also inevitable. But at the same time, unpredictable. And we’ve seen these stories before. Franklin’s one is going to really, really stab people in their hearts,” Damson Idris, who plays Franklin, told Rolling Stone.
Andron and Idris’ words make it clear that Franklin will not end up in a good place at the end of the series. But it isn’t sure whether it will be his death or something worse. From a creative standpoint, Andron didn’t want to end the season like any other crime series or film. “There’s a tradition in this genre about how anti-heroes stories have to end and I felt like we had to do something that subverted that a little bit but stayed true to our show and who Franklin is,” the co-creator told Deadline. Andron’s words do not necessarily mean that Franklin won’t die. He might have subverted the genre conventions with an element of surprise such as Jerome killing Franklin despite sharing the same blood.
‘Snowfall’ can end as a tragedy without the death of Franklin as well. The kingpin may lose his empire, money, and even loved ones, left with a life that’s not necessarily worth living. Franklin ending up in the streets of Los Angeles without anything to hold onto can be the “inevitable” ending Idris and Andron had teased. According to Gail Bean, who plays Wanda, these likely are the two options in front of him. “From watching it and from the scripts that have come from the cast, I definitely think — you know Snowfall goes out with a bang every season — I think Franklin’s gonna die. Or if he doesn’t die, everyone around him is gonna die, and he’s gonna get locked up,” Bean said in a June 2022 interview.
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