Cracking

**Cracking** is the seventh episode of the the first season of Snowfall. It is the seventh episode overall.

Outline

Franklin, Leon and Kevin take a game-changing road trip. Teddy deals with a sin from Alejandro's past. Lucia makes Gustavo's partnership official, much to Pedro's dismay.

## Summary

### Franklin

Franklin returns back home and places his bag on the dining room table. His mother sees him and joked about him taking off toward Vegas. Franklin tells her a white lie about some kid hitting her driver side window with a baseball. He tells her the window got fixed. Afterwards, Franklin returns back to the dining room, grabs the telephone, and calls Kevin. There is an answer, and Franklin says to Kevin, 'Talk to me about Oakland'.

### Gustavo

Gustavo and Lucia are at Stomper's place collecting their money as they are fulfilling their drug deal with Los Monarcas. They return back to the crack house with a duffel bag loaded with cash and dumps it all on the table. Lucia is now in the mood for celebration as she grabs bottle of Mezcal and and a shot glass to place in front of Gustavo and grabs another glass from the cabinet. Gustavo grabs a portion of his share and pockets it while Lucia pours some tequila into the glasses. They toast to a job well done and drink. Gustavo gets ready to leave and Lucia asks if he's heading off. Gustavo tells her he is grabbing some food and asks if she's hungry. Lucia then kisses Gustavo and they pretty much get intimate as Gustavo lays Lucia on the table with the drug money and removes his shirt. Pedro enters the crack house to hear a commotion in the lab only to discover Gustavo screwing his cousin and doing something explicit. He then exits the lab in disgust as they continue.

### Teddy

Alejandro holds the missing persons ad of Kristen Grelli, telling Teddy how Logan OD'd on the product and the girls were screaming in horror. He then brought up Kristen attempting to call 911. He asks Teddy what he would have done for he didn't want the police to find 50 kilos of cocaine and a dead CIA agent in their home. Teddy states he would have told the truth. Alejandro then states he didn't want to take risk. He then finishes his phone call and informs Alejandro the number on the missing persons ad was traced back to Kristen's apartment. The duo are outside the apartment complex trying to figure who is looking for Kristen and are staking out her apartment until they know who's looking for her. Teddy sees a blonde woman exiting Kristen's apartment and photographs her as she reaches her vehicle and drives off. Back at the apartment Alejandro states at the photo of the blonde woman and notices the resemblance of her and Kristen indicating they're sisters. They uncover more information about the mysterious woman being a grad student and working as a paralegal. The phone is ringing and Teddy ignores it for the moment. It's Julia leaving a message and Teddy shuts off the message machine and suggests to Alejandro on finding out what she knows. Alejandro states that she's just a grad student and asks what she could do. Teddy points out she could keep going around and asking questions and eventually get the police involved. Teddy then asks Alejandro about the bodies. Alejandro tells Teddy he took the bodies out of town and dumped them somewhere off Highway 14 in the Antelope Valley and dug them deep. Alejandro asks Teddy what could happen if this woman could jeopardize the op, and Teddy suggests deterring her and hopes it doesn't come to that. There is a scene where Teddy breaks into Kristen's apartment and searching the woman's purse. He then discovered a table full of missing persons ads which he snapshots with his camera. He soon discovers she has ads made for the other 2 woman Alejandro killed the night of Logan's death and a list of missing people. He realizes this woman is building a case.

### Franklin

Franklin is in the backseat of Kevin's station wagon outside Cho's store waiting on Leon and Kevin. They return to the vehicle and start pulling out snacks they bought from the store and distributes them in the vehicle. Kevin assured Franklin and Leon he has things set up with his cousin Devon as they prepare for the road trip to Oakland. This is a long trip as we see the trio riding up the California coast. They finally arrive in Oakland outside what appears to be a biker rally. Franklin and Leon follow Kevin through a secret door leading into the club house of the Murder Dubb Devils MC Club and are approached by Cabbage, the MC prospect and unpatched member running the security, demanding to know who they are. Kevin tells Cabbage he and Devon are cousins and are there to deal. Cabbage then walks off. The trio continues further into the clubhouse as they are searching for Devon. Kevin is then approached by his cousin, Devon and they fool around for a bit. Kevin then introduces Devon to Franklin and Leon. Devon tells them Little Joe, the club president, is not there at the moment and for the guys to chill for a bit and enjoy the party but Franklin wants to carry out the deal immediately. Devon didn't take kindly to Franklin rejecting his hospitality. Franklin agrees to stick around and enjoy the party while waiting for Little Joe to arrive. While Leon and Kevin are off doing their thing, Franklin observes the club more and passes up another member named Headbutt who is in the middle of getting a tattoo done. Franklin sees a tent with some concealed inside screwing and asks Headbutt if Devon is over there. Headbutt, who is high, asks about his tattoo. Franklin checks out his inkwork which appears to be either a hideous woman or really bad artwork. He lies and says it's good. As he prepares to enter another room, the artist asks Franklin if he wants a tattoo. Franklin declines and exits. He continues searching for Devon and is approached by an MC Clubs Old Lady who checks out Franklin asks what's in the bag. Franklin makes a hasty retreat and continues the search for Devon and upon closing up on a tent went there are people screwing, Headbutt and the tattoo artist appear as Kevin and Devon emerge. Franklin asks where Little Joe is at. Headbutt and the artist begin to flip out at Devon on why Franklin's there. Franklin tells the bikers he is there to make a deal. Another biker, named Whiteboy Bobby, runs out of the tent in hallucination, telling Headbutt that some ladies pussy turned into a mouth on him and continues to run off in fear while everyone else laughs and continue the party.

### Lucia

While the ladies are hard at work with the cocaine, Lucia informs Pedro they were able to get the first shipment sold quickly and since the product wasn't moving fast enough, she stated Alejandro would have cut them off had they not been good with the money. Pedro was unhappy about Lucia and Gustavo making a deal without his knowledge and Lucia states it was with Gustavo's people and pointed out he found a way to move the product. Pedro asked for his cut and Lucia pulls Pedro's money out of the safe to hand to him, and informs her that Gustavo is now a partner. Lucia also tells Pedro that had to be done in order for Gustavo to help them. Pedro was dissatisfied with Lucia giving Gustavo one-third of the operation without consulting him first and asks Lucia what is going on with her. Lucia states Pedro would have done the same thing but Pedro denies it and walks out. Lucia follows him and tells him they need Gustavo. Pedro then asked Lucia if she's fucking Gustavo, knowing he had seen earlier. She lied on the spot. Pedro knew that was a lie and left.

### Franklin

Franklin leaves the party and takes a stroll in an Oakland neighborhood after waiting impatiently for Little Joe. He walks down a storefront where a Black Panther HQ was and has memories about being there with his mother as a child entering the place. It is now an old locksmith building that is shut down and Franklin enters the place. As he enters, there are flashbacks with him and Cissy seeing the Black Panthers hard at work from making calls to filling up grocery bags with food and seeing Alton there. He remembers Alton telling him how to understanding having his dignity and self respect and to make sure other people respect him as well while placing a black beret on Franklin's head. Alton tells a young Franklin to have his chest up and shoulders high, which he does, and calls Franklin his son. Back to the present, Franklin encounters a homeless female junkie. Franklin then hesitated upon the encounter and asked her if she knew about the place being a Black Panther office once and asked what she is doing hanging around an abandoned storefront. Instead the junkie has Franklin follow her and she shows him a crack rock on a straw. Franklin is intrigued and asks to take a look. The junkie lights up the crack and smokes the rock. Franklin sees as she gets high from the rock and hallucinates. Franklin then asks the junkie where they can get the product and offers to buy it. The junkie agrees and takes Franklin to a park to meet her dealer, Reg. As they buy some product, Franklin asks her to head back while he speaks with Reg. He informs Franklin that the crack he sold was indeed cocaine. Franklin wonders why the coke was so cheap. Reg points out he doesn't cook, he only moves the product. Franklin then pulls out a was of cash and offers to buy everything on him only if he introduces him to the cook. Reg doesn't take Franklin serious, but Franklin pulls off his backpack and tossed it to Reg, who then sees what is inside and is shocked by what Franklin had. Franklin assures him he wants to know how the product is made. Reg agrees, tells his buddy to hold down the spot, and escorts Franklin to meet the cook. Reg escorts Franklin through an alleyway to an abandoned building. Inside, Swim, the cook of the operation, is working on his piano. Reg then introduced Swim to Franklin and states he's from LA. Swim is asking Reg why he brought him to his place. Reg explained that Franklin bought all his drugs just to meet him and see what he's carrying 2 kilos. Swim then throw Reg another bag of crack and sends him on his way and asks Franklin why he's in his place. Franklin tells Swim he wants to know how he's making the rock. Franklin also states he's taking a big risk on showing up at Swim's front door. He then points out that Swim is an artist and implores him to show him how to convert cocaine into crack, stating the world should know who is the artist behind the drug and states the people of LA would like to know about art Swim is cooking. Swim places the kilos back in Franklin's backpack and signals Franklin to follow him. They enter the lab where another cook, Angelico, is about to wrap things up but Swim informs him they have one more round of cooking tonight. Swim pulls out the 2 kilos and Franklin observes how he and Angelico prepare and cook the crack in their lab while listening to Swim as he talks. Franklin continues his observance as he helps out in the cooking process. During the process, he sees how the rock is made and Swim asks Franklin if he wants to hit some of the rock. Franklin informs Swim he doesn't use. Swim tells Franklin to consider it. Swim then shows Franklin the finishing process. Very much interested, Franklin tells Swim he wants to use every drop of cocaine to convert into crack.

### Teddy

Teddy arrives at the police station and sees the young blonde woman there. He throw his shades on, approaches the front desk to see the police officer busy and acts as if he's desperately and impatiently looking for a woman named Jess Avon with the young lady in earshot. She approached Teddy and asked if she knew a woman of that name. Teddy, playing dumb, asked the woman if she knew her. She pulls Teddy aside and introduces herself as Victoria. Teddy however uses an assumed alias, Reed Thompson and they leave together.

### Pedro

Pedro is at his father's house fulfilling his obligations with some rancheros. Ramiro then tells Pedro it will be soldiers one day doing the runs instead of paying for rancheros and even brings up his frustration about the changing climate in the runs and states that as a boss, he must see ahead and past a mountain. Ramiro then asked Pedro what was on his mind and slowly turned away. Pedro then tells Ramiro he has something to talk about.

### Franklin

Franklin returns back to the club house only to find the place locked up and Kevin and Leon sleeping in the station wagon. He knocks on the window and asked the guys if Little Joe ever appeared. Kevin then stated Franklin's absence nearly got them killed. Franklin hopped into the vehicle and Kevin demanded to know why he blew off the deal with the Murder Dubb Devils which got them thrown out of Devon's clubhouse after driving all the way out to Oakland. Franklin then pulls out a plastic bag what used to be 2 kilos of coke now converted into crack rocks. They asked Franklin what he has in the his hands. Franklin tells them it's their future. Leon and Kevin don't buy the story and depart for LA.

## Cast

Main* Damson Idris as Franklin Saint
* Carter Hudson as Teddy McDonald
* Emily Rios as Lucia Villanueva
* Sergio Peris-Mencheta as Gustavo "El Oso" Zapata
* Michael Hyatt as Cissy Saint
* Juan Javier Cardenas as Alejandro Usteves
* Isaiah John as Leon Simmons
* Filipe Valle Costa as Pedro Nava
* Malcolm M. Mays as Kevin Hamilton

Guest Cast* RZA as Swim

Recurring* José Zúñiga as Ramiro Nava
* Kevin Carroll as Alton Williams
* Justine Lupe as Victoria Grelli
* Abby Miller as Kindly Basehead
* Red Grant as Devon Hamilton
* Peta Sergeant as Julia
* Octavio Gómez Berríos as Crack Dealer
* Johnny Ray Gill as Reg
* Tony Sancho as Stomper
* David Atkinson as Headbutt
* David Raibon as Artist
* Iain Sandison as Whiteboy Bobby
* Courtney Nichole as Hungry Eyes
* Ervin Ross as Cabbage
* Aisha Lomax as Donna
* Jake Green as User #2
* Melissa Bickerton as Desk Uni
* Anthony Rutowicz as Angelico
* Frank Merino as Memo
* Steven La Thomas as Young Franklin
* Daniel Thomas as Club Patron

## Music

* *Soul Searchin'* by **Mark G Hart & Emil Dudas**
* *In the Jungle* by **The Hygrades**
* *Dazed* by **Split Decision Band**
* *Hip Hop Bee Bop* by **Man Parrish**