Protect and Swerve

**Protect and Swerve** is the first episode of the the third season of Snowfall. It is the twenty-first episode overall and season premier.

Outline

Franklin and Cissy look to make an investment in the community, while Andre tried to figure out what is destroying it; Jerome unveils his new business; a new cook on the streets competes with Franklin crew.

## Summary

### Andre

Sergeant Andre Wright is on patrol driving down the streets of Compton. During his patrol, he watches for any suspicious activity as he continues his rounds. He then passes up potential drug deal and spot a female junkie attempting to buy a rock from a dealer in his car, and hops out to observe what is happening. The deal begins to go south when the dealer tells the woman she's a dollar short. When Andre approaches the vehicle calling for them, dealer then orders the woman to leave and prepares to drive off, but the woman refuses to leave and jumps through the window until she has the crack. The dealer starts speeding down the road with the junkies legs sticking out the window while Andre is chasing after the vehicle on foot. The junkie manages to get a hold of the rock and flies off of the vehicle and onto the asphalt. Andre stops his on foot pursuit as he sees the junkie light up the rock, smoke it, and get high right before his eyes. He now sees what damages the crack cocaine has done to his community.

### Cissy

Cissy is touring a crappy apartment with a realtor and she is not impressed with the foundation of it. The realtor continues to pitch his sale towards her and Franklin appears stating he would pay with cash if he made an offer. He then excuses the realtor for a moment with his mother. They speak about the apartment, how the price is high, and the entire place needs a serious remodel. Either way, Cissy tells Franklin she found the place.

### Jerome

Jerome is suited up and ready to go to the grand opening of his new shop Jammin' Jerome's and calls for Louie and finds her in the bedroom putting her earrings. When Jerome asked Louie is she was ready, she told Jerome she was waiting on him. He snaps and claims the same thing, almost accusing her of missing his grand opening. Louie calms the tension and kisses Jerome.

### Leon

In the Projects, Leon is getting his afro trimmed with a new crew enforcer, Fatback, standing guard. Fatback then sees Rob approaching them in a tuxedo and is made fun of for it. Rob said Leon told him to dress nice for the occasion. Fatback saw the outfit as ridiculous, but Leon gives him props for the tuxedo. Leon then has his haircut finished. A youngster named C.J. approaches Leon, but Fatback steps in his way and tells him the crack is being sold elsewhere in the projects. C.J. then explains that he's not a customer, that he wants to join up and was informed Leon was the guy to see. Fatback then tells the guy to leave and return when he's old enough. As Leon, Rob, and Fatback walk away, C.J. follows then begging for a shot and Fatback continues to tell him to scram while a car with some suspicious characters pulls up to the Projects.

### Teddy

Teddy, Matt, and Lorena are in Mexico acquiring a shipment of cocaine from their new supplier, Rigo Vasco, a Colombian drug lord who is stirring up a conversation that isn't drug related. Rigo speaks about his bad experience at a club and tells Teddy he wants to start up his own nightclub and suggests Teddy being his partner. Teddy is puzzled for a moment, but Rigo is very adamant about Teddy being his business partner if they are going to continue with their transactions. Teddy then laid down another issue to Rigo, involving the DEA raids on his facilities. He tells Rigo he found out through about them through Lorena, who he claims was ex-DEA. Rigo then approached Lorena and asked what turned her, and Lorena stated she learned from Teddy that she was fighting an unwinnable war. That answer pleased Rigo and he agreed to continue working with them. He then tells Teddy to let him know once they found their space and named his future club 'Rigo and Reeds' and left with his guards.

### Franklin

It is the grand opening of Jammin' Jerome's, Jerome Saints new speaker store. Franklin and Peaches are there congratulating him on the opening of his new store. He then receives the same respect from Cissy and Alton. Franklin then spots Melody walking in with her friends, Eva and Shon-Shon, and approaches them. He then introduces Leon to Eva and Shon-Shon, and Leon leads the 2 ladies to the bar. Melody then told Franklin she got into Spelman and she'll leaving next month but won't start classes until September. Franklin then pulls out a wad of cash and tells Melody he's been planning on getting her a graduation gift as he hands it to her. Jerome then calls for all family to take a picture with him outside the store. Everyone is now outside preparing to take a photo while Sergeant Wright is watching from his squad car across the road.

### Teddy

Teddy arrives back to the warehouse with Lorena and Matt. Teddy checks on Matt, who is still experiencing side effects from the cocaine he was force fed by the Cali Cartel. Matt is opening the back of the van while Teddy and Lorena enter the warehouse. Lorena expresses her concern with Teddy about the Medellín Cartel having a mole in the DEA and must alert them. Teddy agrees with Lorena but reminds her that signaling her old bosses would rattle some cages and set Rigo's sights on her. As Teddy opens the loading bay door, he sees Matt calling for help and struggling to move in the back of the van. Teddy rushes to his brother to see him in excruciating pain. Lorena approaches Matt and asks if he has experienced numbness in his left hand at all or had been nauseated. Matt answers yes to all. Lorena then tells Teddy that Matt is having a heart attack and rushes back into the warehouse.

### Melody

Andre is at the table going over some bills and case files and Melody enters the house with her roller skates in hand. Melody admits to being a few minutes home late and blames it on Eva. Andre explains he doesn't want to spend their final month together fighting and has her sit at the table. Melody sets down her skates and takes a seat. Andre shows her the bills and the taxes and explains it's a huge part of his life. They then talk about her hanging out with her friends and bring up ice fishing in the conversation. Andre then speaks about Jerome's new speaker shop, and knowing he saw Melody there, he asked if she knew anything about it. Melody then realized she was being tested, realizing her father had seen her there, and walked toward her bedroom frustrated. Andre halted her and explained that he didn't want to fight. He also asked her to be smart about her decisions. Melody then entered her bedroom and took a gander at the money Franklin handed her.

### Tyrell

3 members of the Crips — Levon, Dejon and Tyrell — are staking out the Projects. Levon and Dejon are talking about some lady they were checking out while Tyrell states he needs to take a piss. They tell him to go use a bush, which he refuses. As they are about to leave the Projects, they spot one of Franklin's ice cream trucks and decide to carry out their drug heist. While Levon and Dejon prepare to hit the truck, Tyrell reminded them that Manboy's orders were to only stake out the Projects. Levon and Dejon ignore Tyrell as they exit the vehicle armed with Tyrell jumping from the backseat to the driver seat. Tyrell then watches as Levon and Dejon approach the ice cream truck with guns in hand. Levon then takes a bullet through the head. Dejon fires back and attempts to run back to the car, only to be gunned down by Leon and Fatback. Tyrell then speeds away with Leon and Fatback shooting at his car.

### Franklin

There is a Family meeting at Jerome's house discussing the attempted heist on one of Franklin's trucks. They learned that the guys Leon and Fatback capped were Crips working for Manboy. There is a discovery that they are running a rival crack dealership. Leon states they need to answer the attempted heist. Franklin states to the Family he wants to know everything from where they are, what they're cooking, where they selling, and who set them on his trucks.

### Manboy

The Crips are holding a meeting at the barbershop and Bootsy is going off at Tyrell over Levon and Dejon being dead. Tyrell explains that both brothers chose to hit the truck rather than leave and report. We then see Wanda there, which explains how the Crips knew about the trucks, and she called Tyrell and the dead boys dumb for approaching Franklin's truck like that, and chastised Tyrell for letting Levon and Dejon getting killed. He explained he tried to stop them and Wanda and Tyrell mouth off to each other. Manboy halts the war of words, and defends Tyrell, knowing there was nothing he could have done. Wanda then reminds the Crips that she was the one who taught them how to cook crack and advises them to figure something out, for Franklin doesn't play around. As she prepares to take a hit of a rock, Manboy then asks Wanda what she knows about the Family. He then shows her a rock and she agrees, taking the rock desperately to get high.

### Franklin

Franklin is at the underpass awaiting Teddy who arrives late for the meet. Teddy states he hit a snag that Franklin shouldn't worry about and lets him know he would need a few days just to get him the product. He informed Franklin he will get a hold of him once he's ready to resume transactions and the prices will go up to 15k a key. That did not sit well with Franklin as Teddy explained how the DEA has enacted open season in Colombia. Franklin then tells Teddy he had it in his head that he was immune to the situation without making it known that he knows Teddy works for the United States Government. Franklin then shakes it off and agrees to 15K a key, then Teddy reminds him that is the only reason he is free and has the power to return him back to prison. Teddy then heads to his vehicle and tells Franklin that someone will be in touch with him about the next shipment as he departs. Back at Cissy's place, he and his mother are going over some contracts that he is signing. Franklin then brings up his meeting with Teddy and states he may have overstepped his boundaries with him. Cissy then brought up how she terrible days and reminds Franklin how seeing him in prison was the worst for her. She then tells her son she is all in with him and it's up to him to protect everyone around him. Later that night, Franklin returns to his brand new home in the hills. He goes through his lock box in his billiard room and goes through some files and newspapers. He also leaves records a passage in his journal.

### Teddy

Teddy is back in Kansas with his brother, Matt, and arrives at his father's place. They enter to find their father having a little shut eyes on the recliner in the living room. He is surprised to see Matt and informed him he had a doctor's appointment at the end of the week. He then acknowledges Teddy. Matt states he needs rest and his father shows him to his bedroom.

### Franklin

Peaches is at Jerome's place reporting in to Franklin about Manboy's residency and hotspots. He asks Franklin for some men per house to pull all of the stops. Fatback then enters and alerts Franklin that Manboy has arrived to meet him. Franklin then orders his men to frisk him and welcome him inside. They comply, then Manboy enters, greets Franklin and Leon, and introduces himself to Jerome and Louise. Manboy cuts to the chase about wanting to be square now that 2 of his boys are in the morgue, and suggests doing business with the Family by buying the merchandise from them. He even offers to throw Tyrell under the bus to them. Franklin gives Manboy a 24 hour notice and Manboy takes off.

### Teddy

The next morning, back in Kansas, Teddy exits to the back yard and greets his father. Teddy then asks how the tomatoes are doing this year, in which his father states the deer keep breaking in and suggests shooting them. Teddy states he shouldn't shoot the tomatoes, even though he knew he was talking about the deer, and states he gonna get some coffee. Teddy's father then demanded to know what happened to Matt. Teddy just stated the obvious, damages to the lining of the aorta. The Colonel then brings up that Matt was healthy as an ox when he left with Teddy. His dad is not too happy with Teddy bringing home Matt in such a state that he was in and Teddy offers to hire some help for the both of them. The Colonel refuses any more help from Teddy and they part ways on a sour note. As he prepares to exit the house, Teddy comes across an old photo of him and Matt when they were kids and took the photo with him.

### Jerome

Jerome arrived at his store to see windows busted, especially on the front entrance, and the security alarm going off. He is frustrated as he enters. He discovers his brand new store trashed and his merchandise destroyed.

### Louie

Later that night, Louie tells Franklin how her contact in the LAPD identified Claudia as the one who orchestrated the ransacking at Jammin' Jerome's. Franklin then asked if Jerome knew, and Louie call Franklin crazy, knowing what Jerome would do to her nightclub if he knew who trashed his store and believes it was some punk kids. She then offers to talk some sense into Claudia and Franklin agrees as he drives off.

### Gustavo

At a bar in Tuscon, Gustavo is doing some work as a bouncer and a drunk customer is hassling the owner, Sophie. The irate drunk then grabs the womans tits and Gustavo attacks the man, only to be jumped by two more guys and ganged up on until Sophie draws a pistol on them and orders them to leave. After the bar closed, Sophie checked on Gustavo and complimented him as the worst bouncer they had, while suggesting checking up in a hospital, which Oso's refuses. She then offers to bring him to her place to patch him up, but he declines the offer and prepares to exit. Sophie then states that Lucia isn't coming back and Gustavo's refuses to accept that. Someone enters the bar and Sophie states they are closed. It's Teddy and he requests a moment with Gustavo. Teddy states that Matt is out of commission and he needs a way to smuggle in coke past the border. He then asked to use Lucia's family farm as well as the routes. Gustavo then informs Teddy that Lucia is no where to be found and suggested finding her if he wants to use her families routes. Teddy claimed he already tried to find her and Gustavo didn't recommend finding Lucia at the farm since she hated the place and hasn't contacted her mother. Teddy then suggests getting into business with Mariela and her rancheros since he needs those route. He then made it clear that Oso should accept the offer or continue screwing things up as a bouncer. Teddy then lays down some advice for Gustavo, that if he really wanted to find Lucia, getting in business with the Villanueva's would be a good place to start.

### Claudia

Claudia is at her home fixing a glass of wine and Santos approaches her, informing her that Louie is there. She then orders Santos to frisk her and let her in. Claudia watches as Santos opens the door for Louie, frisks her, checking her purse, gives Claudia the OK, and exits the house. Louie stated she came to apologize for her part in what went down, but claimed Claudia hurt her, and demanded to let the past be the past, knowing what she did to Jerome's speaker shop. Claudia then pointed out the migraines she's experienced since the fight at the club while cooking up a shot of coke in a spoon. She then stated how many doctors she visited as she filled up a syringe with the coke. Claudia then dropped her robe, completely nude, and hopped into her tub. She then signaled Louie to walk over to her as she grabbed a rubber strap and wrapped it around her right arm. Louie then picked up the syringe full of the cooked coke.

### Andre

Franklin exits Cissy's home and Andre is sitting outside next to his vehicle. He calls up Franklin, noting how he spent a lot of time at his mother's home. Franklin then tells Andre he has places he needs to be at. Andre then states to Franklin that he needs to take a ride with him and it's 'Just two neighbors talking'. During the ride, Andre takes Franklin down the routes he patrolled on duty and Andre asks Franklin what he saw in him, whether it was the man who watched over his family while Alton went drunk and AWOL or if it's a just a man with a badge and a gun. Franklin then called him a fraud, a man who betrayed his people to a system that kept folks like them down. Andre then pulls over and Franklin tells him what real power is and suggests throwing his badge away and working with him. Andre refuses the offer and Franklin tells him not to knock it unless he tried it. Andre states he already done it and Franklin calls 'bullshit' on Andre, who then talked about his time after serving in Vietnam. How he was laid off from his job after the Chrysler Plant in Commerce closed, his wife abandoning him and Melody, and bills piling up. He spoke about what he learned in Vietnam and how he used force just to survive. Andre spoke about how he was able to provide for Melody and keep a roof over his head, but couldn't sleep, knowing what he'd done just to pay the bills. He then brings up the crack Franklin has been cooking and selling and how it has a hold on people. Andre then tells Franklin that unlike weed and sherm, it's damaging the community. He then asks Franklin how he sleeps at night. Franklin then smiles and states he sleeps like a baby. Andre then tells Franklin they are at war. Andre states he has seen his business getting to big and Franklin is out in the open, especially with his crew doing his dirty work.

### Epilogue

Tyrell is at his home watching television and hear Leon and Fatback rushing in to his home. Tyrell runs to the kitchen only to be cornered and shot by Leon. Louie returns to see her husband on the couch barely sleeping and lays her head on his chest crying. Jerome awakens to see her there. Cissy is busy going over some papers and typing. During all that, Andre is reminding Franklin that once his own crew starts slipping up, he will pick off each and every one of them and Franklin is the last man standing, and will save him for last. Franklin then exit the vehicle to see a crack house in front of him as Andre drives off. He sees people getting high on his product, especially those with toddlers. He, however, walks away.

In loving memory of John Singleton (1968-2019)

## Cast

Main* Damson Idris as Franklin Saint
* Carter Hudson as Teddy McDonald
* Sergio Peris-Mencheta as Gustavo "El Oso" Zapata
* Michael Hyatt as Cissy Saint
* Amin Joseph as Jerome Saint
* Angela Lewis as Louanne Saint
* Isaiah John as Leon Simmons
* Marcus Henderson as Andre Wright

Recurring* Kevin Carroll as Alton Williams
* Jonathan Tucker as Matt McDonald
* Reign Edwards as Melody Wright
* Judith Scott as Claudia Crane
* Adriana DeGirolami as Lorena Cardenas
* Melvin Gregg as Drew “Manboy” Miller
* DeRay Davis as Peaches
* Jordan R. Coleman as Fatback
* John Diehl as Colonel McDonald
* Gail Bean as Wanda Bell
* Christian Tappan as Rigo Vasco
* Taylor Kowalski as Rob Volpe
* Asjha Cooper as Eva Walker
* Thiree Pinnock as Tyrell
* Gloria Garayua as Sophie
* Moe Irvin as Santos
* Bentley Green as C.J.
* Evan Allen-Gessesse as Renny
* Nate' Jones as Shon-Shon
* Calvin Clausell Jr. as Bootsy
* T.K. Richardson as Levon
* Natascha Hopkins as Brianna
* Freddie Davis IV as Dejon
* Edwin Garcia II as Ernesto

## Episode Deaths

* Levon - Gunned down by Leon and Fatback
* Dejon - Gunned down by Leon and Fatback
* Tyrell - Shot by Leon Simmons
* Claudia Crane - Drowned in a bathtub courtesy of Louie *(Revealed in Season 5)*

## Music

* *People Make the World Go Round* by **The Stylistics**
* *Super Jake* by **Chocolate Star**
* *Five Minutes of Funk* by **Whodini**
* *That Good Old Feeling Back Again* by **Johnny Gamboa**