Franklin Saint, the young antihero at the center of FX’s blood-soaked “Snowfall,” evolved from crafty entrepreneur to lethal drug kingpin in a journey that was anything but heavenly.
Tracing Saint’s rise and fall over six seasons, the final episode was bathed in tragedy. Saint (Damson Idris) was a lost soul, wrecked by alcoholism and poverty. Many members of his inner circle, including family members, were dead, fugitives or behind bars. His former right-hand man, Leon Simmons (Isaiah John), and Leon’s girlfriend, Wanda Bell (Gail Bean), were striving to rebuild their lives after getting married.
“Snowfall” became one of FX’s signature series, dramatizing filmmaker John Singleton’s portrait of the complexities of the crack epidemic that wreaked havoc on Black communities. Idris and producers carried on with Singleton’s vision when the “Boyz n the Hood” writer-director died of a stroke in 2019.
More than three years after the finale, FX is launching a fresh chapter on Sept. 8 with “The Drop: A Snowfall Saga,” pivoting from exploring the effect of crack in the 1980s to depicting the rise of hip-hop in Los Angeles during the 1990s. (The series will also stream on Hulu.)
In the new series, Wanda moves to center stage as she becomes laser-focused on making it big in the music business, convinced that the fledgling rap genre can revolutionize American culture. She is also channeling her strong will to get beyond her addiction to crack, which plagued her in “Snowfall.”
She enlists her young cousin Lamar Kinsey (Asante Blackk), a young music prodigy raised by strict religious grandparents, as her vehicle to stardom. Lamar is also trying to deal with his identity as a Black man living in a community overrun by warring gangs.
“What we’re doing is a love letter to Los Angeles, and also to West Coast rap,” Bean said in a recent interview. “It’s also most importantly an homage to John. The legacy of ‘Snowfall’ and other Black shows on FX like ‘Atlanta’ is important, and a responsibility we don’t take lightly. We understand the weight of it.”
She is thrilled that “The Drop” is exploring a vitally creative era: “The ’90s was a great time. We’re looking at what it was like for rappers coming up. It was fun, sometimes reckless. They had no idea where it was going. But there was an awareness and responsibility knowing all these eyes were on you. The talent was within them, and the community was rooting for them.”
Blackk defined “The Drop” as a central component in what he calls a renaissance of new Black-oriented series including the reboot of “A Different World” on Netflix, the drama “Nemesis,” also on Netflix, and Starz’s “Power” universe.
“All these Black artists are getting to tell stories in a way that is entertaining and benefiting us in cultural ways,” he said.
Munching on French fries in a West Hollywood restaurant, the two displayed a palpable warmth toward each other that mirrored their onscreen relationship. Bean gushed about Blackk’s Emmy-nominated performance in Netflix’s “When They See Us.” She blushed as Blackk complimented her smile (“You’ve got some pearly whites”).
A “Snowfall” sequel has been percolating since the final season, when Bean was informed by producers about plans for a spinoff featuring her and John. “We were told not to say anything,” she said. “We were ecstatic. And then a year passed. And then two years passed. I think they wanted people to have a blank slate in going into ‘The Drop.’”
When “The Drop” kicks off, Wanda and Leon are no longer a couple, but are on friendly terms. Details about the ending of their relationship will be unveiled during the season.
Executive producer and showrunner Malcolm Spellman, whose previous credits include “Empire” and “Bel-Air,” said the show’s new perspective was a natural: “Crack came with a soundtrack and a culture that blended into hip-hop. So it felt very organic in terms of exploring that phenomena.”
“The Drop” retains much of the rawness and explosive energy of “Snowfall.” Much of the show is shot on location, the soundtrack is crammed with rap and the violence is explosive and bloody.
With the exit of Idris, building the series around Wanda also seemed logical, Spellman said: “That relationship was already established, so it was a matter of thinking of the right angle and dimension to demonstrate that this show deserves a life of its own. And with Wanda, we wanted to show the phoenix rising out of the fires of crack.”
Wanda’s addiction was a key “Snowfall” storyline. Bean underwent a dramatic physical transformation with furiously unkempt hair and horribly stained teeth. She hit rock bottom during the fourth season when she was shot and wounded in a drive-by shooting soon after trying to sell a rotted tooth from her mouth in order to get drug money.
“At first I thought playing Wanda would be fun,” Bean said. “I’m from Stone Mountain, Ga., so I didn’t know anything about the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles. And I didn’t know Wanda would be introduced to drugs and actually get addicted.”
She added, “Playing her helped me see people who are addicted in a completely different way. I have family members who were already on drugs and were addicts when I met them. So I only knew that side of them instead of seeing the humanity of what they were before. They will never get back. That’s what beautiful about Wanda. She’s able to have that redemption.”
But she also encounters pitfalls that threaten to derail her ambitions. Wanda’s obsessive drive to succeed ignites her darker side and self-destructive tendencies that led to her drug addiction.
“What’s burning for Wanda is the chance for her to show that she is a formidable and brilliant human being,” Spellman said. “But once you get sober, you don’t forget all of the dirty tricks you learned. In order to make it in music, she will have to resort to the destructive skill set she learned in the streets, and that starts to compromise her most essential relationships.”
Blackk said he is thrilled to explore the dynamic between Wanda and Lamar: “They are a volatile combination, and a lot more similar than they realize.”
Lamar will also have face considerable challenges. “He grew up in the cauldron and chaos of the crack era, but he’s a nerd and a square,” Spellman said. “Lamar has the ego and inclination to know he is a gifted musician, but there is immense pressure in his hood to conform to the Black male identity that is being formed with hip-hop.”
Bean said she hopes fans of “Snowfall” will allow the new show to succeed on its own terms.
“I hope fans give us the room and grace to grow,” she said. “One thing ends so that another can begin.”
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