swilliky FX steps deep into the drug game jumping back to the dawn of crack with a clever show that has its highlights but plods along with the pace and feels like a lesser version of similar shows. The show is ambitious though and the first season seems to plant a lot of seeds that could grow and pay off in future seasons to come if renewed. The story is broken up into three different stories that follow various aspects of the drug trade from the source to the transport to finally distribution. It only has a distant relationship to major historic events, at least so far, and the characters interact minimally in a few scenes of little consequence. There also aren't many stories of the dangers of the drug game as the effects of this new substance hardly have time to take effect since crack really isn't introduced until the last few episodes.The main story, and the most interesting one, is about Franklin Saint (Damson Idris), a young black entrepreneur who hopes to make enough money to solve all his problems. When a rich white friend asks him to ride along and then send him inside to buy coke from Avi Dexter (Alon Aboutboul), he learns that he can make more money from selling coke than weed. The coke turns a profit nicely but garners attention and Franklin is jumped for his cash. He seeks out help from Leon Simmons (Isaiah John) and others but the search for his money turns violent. Franklin quickly learns that there is more to the coke game than supply and demand. When he really works to turn a profit is when he heads up to Los Angeles to learn more about the mysterious recipe of mixing the cocaine with baking soda. This accelerates his business and leads to what will eventually be the crack epidemic. We only see the start of this change but already know the future. Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com

mtjohnson-61001 This show is a decent street drama depicting the rise of crack cocaine and the lives of those entangled in the web of greed and destruction that led to this tragic epidemic. I was enjoying this show until the third episode, spoiler here, that horrifically showed the brutal sexual assault of a male street criminal. In an effort to push the envelope for shock value or to show just how vicious the street game can be the show chose to use a male rape which in my opinion took it over a ledge. This may have worked in a prison based show but I didn't get shock factor, I got repulsion, a lack of realism on street cred and flat out trying to hard to be gritty. This could have been done in so many ways to bring out the brutality of the street and yet, this show chose not only to introduce homosexuality but a vicious sexual assault and casually move on to other mundane scenes it frankly left something to be desired. In this day and age where the more outrageous the better in all things from nudity, profanity, etc. I am sure some will feel this demonstrates just how far this show is willing to go. However, for those seeking a quality experience it took the show a step in the wrong direction and was simply overkill.****Update, I was pretty turned off with the rape scene on the show but soldiered on and just finished the season finale. It's actually a good show and the season finale brought it full circle with much to look forward to next season.

escctrlshift More than just another narcodrama, this is a fine example of a new formula genre in serialized television: the racially, culturally and linguistically diversified period-piece gangster/narco-drama, with a CIA-intelligence twist in the making. Think, in recent years, of 'Sons of Anarchy', 'The Bridge', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'Queen of the South' and especially 'Narcos'. Of course, it was 'Breaking Bad' that started it all.In the diversity department, this one stacks up well, even next to 'Sons'. There are well-developed characters who are white, Jewish, Israeli, African-American, and Mexican. Significant portions of dialogue are in Spanish. The setting is Los Angeles. Personally I appreciate the mix of plots and subplots and how that relates to the different characters, their families and businesses. The diversity factor should, in the long run, serve to drive home the basic point of the plot, which is, Privileged White Dude(s) were responsible for the cocaine that fueled the LA crack epidemic of the 80's. The rape scene of Episode 3 illustrates, symbolically how cocaine directly or indirectly fuels the violence of drug gangsterism. The historical and political subtext of 'Snowfall' boils down to this: the CIA-enabled cocaine trade in LA in the 80's made a whole bunch of people -- mostly not white people -- do horrible things. That's the truth of the matter, which could make this series great, if it's told well enough. So far I think it's a terrible story told amazingly well. The images of violence are gut-wrenching, because they are so well-depicted in terms of the action development. Special-effects-wise, at least some of the blood (on a T-shirt, in a bar) looked like ketchup. But small special-effects glitches like that don't matter when the writing, acting and direction have chutzpah like this. I'm making note of the historical accuracy of the plot (i.e. how many different ethnicities did you ever score coke from in the 80's?), which so far is easy to follow. The casting is excellent. With its abundance of fresh talented faces, the series has star-making potential. The success of the series will come down to direction and writing, in my thought. The story has to get deeper, slowly, and the directorial style has to remain consistent. So far (two episodes in), so good.As someone well-traveled in America, north south east and west, and also who observed cocaine consumption and its attendant dramas on a variety of occasions in the 1980's, I find this a richly satisfying drama. The last shot of episode 2 is brilliant.

Billy Jason I find the objections that this show tells a the story about the origins of crack cocaine in the inner cities hypercritical since breaking bad used meth as a gimmick and actually glorified the potential profits you could make in that industry. The story about crack is one about the social and economic environment during that time in the inner cities and how it effected everyone who lived in those areas. It should be told. The show definitely has enough moments to keep me watching but overall it's a disappointment. The acting is hacky. Avi for example chews up every scene he's in. We get it. He's wacky and dangerous. The actor doesn't pull it off and instead of being impulsive and menacing he comes off as trying too hard and as a joke. Overall, the acting with two exceptions, franklin and cissy, are either way over the top or too self conscious. They don't seem authentic.The show has a great soundtrack, and often the right inner city 1980 vibe. The story is muddled. There are many stories, four main ones, about a dealer, distributors, king pin, and CIA. Yet with so much going on it seems empty. They make a lot of noise, maybe to distract from the reality, they don't have a lot to say. Which is s shame cause there should be too much material to fill 12 episodes. There are moments, like when franklin is waiting for the bus in the hot sun and buys a motorcycle that work. That's why he's doing this. To get rid of the shame of poverty and to feel liberated. The near riot at the apartment complex cissy works at reveals the racial tension in the city and foreshadows the riots to come.Moments like these make you hope the characters and actors will feel comfortable inside their roles and a good coherent story is told thru them. So far most of the time it is failing.