Snowfall Season 5: Everything We Know So Far

It's time to celebrate, "Snowfall" fans! The Emmy-winning series has been greenlit for season 5, which means we're not done with the story of Franklin Saint (Damson Idris) yet. Created by the late John Singleton, Eric Amadio, and Dave Andron, the FX show is set in 1980s Los Angeles against the background of the first cocaine epidemic in the city and its ultimate impact on the people who lived there. It tells "the stories of several characters whose lives are fated to intersect: 20-year-old drug dealer Franklin Saint, Mexican luchador Gustavo 'El Oso' Zapata, CIA operative Teddy McDonald, and a Mexican crime boss's niece, Lucia Villanueva."

"Snowfall" is a realistic and gritty drama ideal for fans of crime fiction, and though the violence can be a bit brutal and intense, the well-written show has generated a large following. It's a cautionary tale of what a crack epidemic can do to a city, and the character development of its protagonist, Franklin, from a straight-laced convenience store clerk to the business-minded drug kingpin, easily makes "Snowfall" one of the most interesting dramas on television. Now that the series is set to return, here's what we can expect from the upcoming season 5.

As per co-creator Dave Andron, "Snowfall" season 5 will heavily rely on action and violence as the "war on drugs" reaches new heights.

In an interview with GoldDerby, Andron explained that the action in the fifth season will "jump forward a little bit in time." The characters will be seen getting "into the meat of 1986 when the violence was really ramping up, when you really started to feel the full militarization of the LAPD when the War on Drugs was on its way to reaching its apex".

He continued, revealing that season 5 will be a massive moment for the neighborhood, thanks to the "pop culture explosio"n brought about by gangster rap: 

"And then this kind of pop culture explosion that was brimming in South Central – the rise of gangster rap and you had Straight Outta Compton and those things getting ready to drop and blow up. It's a huge sea-change moment for the neighborhood."

Alongside protagonist Damson Idris as Franklin Saint, the following cast members are expected to return: Carter Hudson as Teddy McDonald, Michael Hyatt as Cissy Saint Sergio Peris-Mencheta as Gustavo "El Oso" Zapata, Amin Joseph as Jerome Saint, Isaiah John as Leon Simmons, Angela Lewis as Aunt Louie, and Suzy Nakamura as Irene Abe.

On November 9, Deadline reported that three new cast members would join "Snowfall" season 5 for "heavily recurring roles." Brandon Jay McLaren ("Graceland", "Ransom"), DeVaughn Nixon ("Prom") and Tiffany Lonsdale ("Siren") will join the crew. McLaren plays Buckley, a detective battling his drug addiction while navigating a failing marriage. He works with the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (C.R.A.S.H.).

Nixon stars as Kane Hamilton, a former member of the neighborhood and a notorious ex-con. He's essentially a big brother to protagonist Franklin as well as Leon. Tiffany Lonsdale portrays the strong-willed Parissa, a powerful woman and a former physician who has a history with Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson).

The publication previously reported that Devyn Tyler ("Clarice") would join "Snowfall" as a series regular, to portray Veronique, a "sophisticated yet compassionate woman with a law degree and a killer instinct."

A release date hasn't been announced yet, so it is likely that "Snowfall" season 5 will not premiere until mid-2022. Each of the previous seasons consisted of 10 episodes, and it's like this season will follow suit.

After returning to television for its fourth season earlier this year, the finale saw Franklin confront his childhood friend and former crush Melody Wright (Reign Edwards). You might remember that Melody shot Franklin multiple times in the season 3 finale and left him for dead after she figured out that he killed her father, Andre. The injury caused Franklin to walk with a limp for most of the fourth season.

But in the season 4 finale, he was able to confront her. Refusing to admit that he had killed Andre, we see Franklin hanging his cane on the back of a chair and walking away — with no traces of an injury. It was an incredibly powerful scene for Franklin, and radiated a renewed sense of confidence for the character, who seemed finally ready to focus on his business and set aside any distractions. It'll be fascinating to see where Franklin's business takes him in "Snowfall" season 5.