FX's most-watched series in 2021, Snowfall, returns for season five with a double-episode premiere on FX and Hulu on Wednesday, February 23rd at 10/9c. “We did something different this year, which is we opened the whole season with a historical event, which is not something we've ever done before,” series co-creator, showrunner, writer, and executive producer Dave Andron said during a TCA press conference. “When you see it, it was not an event that was specifically about the rock trade. I think anything that we feel is kind of pertinent to the time period and the things that happened as a result of the epidemic, we try to incorporate.”
(FX Networks)
The inciting incident this season is the sudden and tragic death of basketball star Len Bias, which turned the rock cocaine epidemic into front-page news. “We are definitely dealing with how all of a sudden the official crackdown, no pun intended, on crack, is with Black people,” executive producer and writer Walter Mosley added. “Where all of a sudden if you have some cocaine, you get one year, if you have some crack, you do eight. We are definitely talking about that, and that was happening then. We are beginning to talk about the impact of racism on the trade that Franklin and his crew are involved.”
Damson Idris reprises his role as Franklin and also adds producer to his credits this season. With the season jumping forward to 1986, the actor revealed that playing Franklin at various stages in his life was part of the original audition process. “When I auditioned to play the part, there are three scenes every actor was supposed to audition with,” Damson recalled. “It was kind of a juvenile season one Franklin. And what Dave [Andron] did in the final round is he actually wrote a scene which jumped ahead. And it was a hypothetical scene that hasn't happened yet. Maybe it will happen next year. But it was a scene that kind of allowed me to show everyone, [John] Singleton and everyone, where I wanted to take this character and how I wanted him to be in the future. So, I always kind of had an image that he would darken throughout the years.”
“Nobody was expecting to lose John in the process,” Carter Hudson, who plays Teddy McDonald, explained about the death of one of Snowfall’s co-creators. “To go from collaborating with a person to trying to honor a person is a really unique journey to move through.” It takes a large team to get a TV show up and running and part of the success of Snowfall has been the support from the network. “They said, listen, you guys, the show itself, John Landgraf on down, just made a decision, this show is saying what needs to be said,” Walter Mosley shared about FX’s support. “And regardless of anything else, we are going to keep saying it. To have that kind of commitment until the show actually is on its own two feet is just extraordinary.”
“When I look back narratively at the show, it started as a little more of a bigger, sprawling show,” Dave Andron reflected. “We were kind of trying to tell three stories. When I look back on the whole thing, I am pleased with how it narrowed its focus, and I think got sharper. I think of this cast. Michael Hyatt had had a pretty big resume when we brought her in already, but boy we had a lot of young, new faces. It was great that FX allowed us to go with people we didn't know and to watch them grow and evolve into the powerhouse actors that they are, that is the thing that I'm kind of most blown away by and really proud of, even though it had nothing to do with me.”
“The show per season has only gotten better,” Damson Idris concluded. “Every season has outdone the one before. We are on a great track. After knowing what happens this season, I think the same's going to happen. I think it is something the viewers truly believe, too. It is the thing that everyone talks about.”
Don’t miss the season five premiere of Snowfall on Wednesday, February 23rd at 10/9c on FX and Hulu.