Snowfall 1×08 Review: “Baby Teeth”

We are inching closer to the end of the freshman season of Snowfall and we aren’t any closer to a defined story line. In “Baby Teeth,” Snowfall was stuck in the same rut it has been in since the second episode.

After last week’s development with Franklin discovering the new product, I had high hopes coming into the eighth episode. Instead, I found myself questioning the point of everything. “Baby Teeth” progressed just as slowly as previous episodes, leaving us with a cliffhanger to finish off the hour. Every time Snowfall ends on a cliffhanger there is promise for action and progression following in the next episode but that rarely ever happens.

In “Baby Teeth,” Franklin is finally coming into his own as a businessman now that he has control of the new product. He starts off having Leon and Kevin give free samples to the neighborhood so people get hooked. Once that happens, they’re set with a steady flow of income as people come back for more.

After a bum tries to steal more than one sample from Leon and Kevin, Leon approaches Franklin wanting hazard pay. When Franklin says no, for good reason, Leon attacks him. It’s a ridiculous argument and honestly, Franklin’s friends don’t realize how good they have it because Franklin puts himself on the line every day, especially after being shot, beaten and robbed.

Because he’s put himself in the line of fire every day, Franklin has gained some enemies. Lenny to be exact. When Leon goes to Franklin’s to apologize, Lenny is waiting in a nearby car. Once Franklin arrives home he finds Leon bloody with a gunshot wound to his side in his backyard.

“Baby Teeth” ends with Franklin applying pressure to Leon’s side as it fades to black. Snowfall has definitely perfected the engaging final minutes of each episode but it doesn’t make up for the lack of focus and drive in the preceding fifty-five minutes.

Take Teddy’s storyline, for example. His entire character arc could be a series on its own. Teddy is currently trying to undermine a girl’s search for her missing sister who is dead thanks to Alejandro. Teddy is constantly throwing her off the path every chance he can get. It is such a twisted storyline, but somehow Snowfall has you still rooting for Teddy.

However, it is hard to completely root for someone when their character only gets a small amount of screen time. Hopefully, in the final two episodes of the season, Snowfall will be able to prioritize and knock out storylines in a simple and quick fashion instead of letting them hang. By doing that, it might be able to find the finish line it has been chasing since the premiere.

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