'Snowfall' season 3 episode 8 sees Franklin stoop to new low after Andre gets his hands on compromising information
Spoilers ahead for 'Snowfall' season 3 episode 8
From "Melody (Reign Edwards) is strong", she won't fall prey to smelling rock to "Melody is on rock", in the last episode of 'Snowfall' season 3, we saw Franklin Saint (Damson Idris) come to terms with what crack has done to Melody, a girl that he had once fallen in love with. In episode 8, we see Franklin struggle with how Melody has changed after her addiction and this is a reflection of everyone that Franklin ever sold rock to.
When he finally gives up on trying to convince her to get clean, Franklin is giving up on ever doing the right thing. Considering his worries about falling prey to CIA's operation gone wrong, Franklin is ready to do anything.
He now has two options. Either find Reed Thompson's (Carter Hudson) soft spot - maybe his family - or run away from everything to a country such as Cuba where he might get protection from the blowback if their entire drug operation were to be uncovered.
In the meanwhile, Jules (Peta Sergeant) is trying to give Reed aka Teddy McDonald, her partner and ex-husband space but she wants Teddy to reconsider their relationship and leave this operation behind. He tells her that he needs a year to wrap up his assignment.
This pushes her to reach out to Andre Wright (Marcus Henderson) as Kate Miller. She tells Wright her agency is gunning for the head honchos - the Columbian cartel who are providing the bricks - but she is interested in taking the local dealers out.
One Franklin Saint especially and we all know how Andre is when it comes to Franklin. Especially now that Melody has become an addict, Andre puts the blame squarely on Franklin for his daughter's recent behavior.
This leads to Andre finding not only Franklin's safe house but also the pictures and information he had collected about Reed's background in the CIA. Now Andre's got his hands on some very sensitive information which can be used to bring Franklin down.
He has also come to the same conclusion Franklin did, that the U.S. government is bringing in drugs while the state police try to keep them off the street. While Andre thinks burning the whole thing down is the best idea, his partner tells him to keep his eye on just Franklin because going against Reed would mean going against the CIA.
Then, we see Teddy's asset, Rigo Vascos (Christian Tappan), has a mole in the DEA and learns the agency is gunning for him because of his connection to the Usteves case, one that was considered closed. The only link between Usteves and Rigo was Reed, so Rigo decides to go after him with a chain saw in a room lined with plastic sheets - the perfect set up for a torture session.
Reed's cover is blown wide open. Not only does he have to convince Rigo to become CIA's asset, he now has a bigger problem. His other assets are burned. He places a call to Franklin, Avi Drexler (Alon Aboutboul) and Gustavo (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) to let them know that they have been compromised and tells them to lie low.
Reed realizes his entire operation was brought down by Jules after she failed to convince him to walk away from the operation. While he had some love and respect left for her, he now has nothing but hatred and vows that she will spend the rest of her career meaningless in a basement office alone.
Franklin understands the magnitude of the situation he is in. With Andre having classified information about Reed, things could get out of hand and Reed might find out Franklin has placed detail on him, or that he was followed and photographed as a protection plan. That would end Franklin's association with Reed and end his plans for the future that he had mapped.
All of this is what plays into the decision Franklin made at the end of this episode. When he tried to give Andre one last chance to leave town with Melody, the desperation in his voice is clear. If Andre doesn't take this chance, Franklin has no choice but to stop Andre from becoming a problem in the future.
Until this point in the show, the question of whether Franklin's conscience is clear despite ruining hundreds of lives in his neighborhood is something that has come up a few times. Only now, the answer has become clear. Franklin's conscience doesn't take precedence over his elaborate plan for the future or the safety of his family. Even if this means ruining more lives or killing people.
Episode 9 of 'Snowfall' will air on FX at 10 p.m. ET, Sunday.