Snowfall ending sacrificed character development for poetic justice

 Snowfall was one of the greatest tv series about the drug trade and inner city crime dramas I had ever seen. Every episode for six seasons was a cliff hanger, with twists and turns that furthered the plot. Viewers saw Franklin Saint go from an innocent kid working in a grocery store to becoming a major narcotics trafficker. Even after the show creator John Singleton passed away, the show continued and did not skip a beat.

However, for some reason Snowfall has failed to garner the same respect as the Wire. Even though Franklin Saint is every bit as intelligent and as ruthless as Marlo Stanfield and Avon Barksdale. I feel that Snowfall dropped the ball in the finale. A few things did not make sense in the ending. 

Why did Franklin Saint bring his mother to the safe house where he was torturing Teddy Mcdonald? Franklin was an intelligent guy, there was no reason to have his mother in there. What purpose did it serve? Obviously the writers had to get his mother in place to shoot and kill Teddy, thereby landing in jail. That was a sloppy job by the writers. 

Another thing that made no sense was why the writers made it so easy for Franklin Saint to storm the place where Kane was holding Louie hostage. And why didnt Kane just shoot Jerome and Louie without getting himself shot in the process. 

Finally, the ending that saw Franklin become a hobo and a drunk was nonsensical. The writers sacrificed character development for poetic justice. They wanted Franklin to become like his drunken father and to show that he could not escape his genetic destiny. But Franklin ending up a half-mad alcoholic went against his character. All of a sudden a guy who never abused alcohol or drugs becomes a drug addict is unbelievable.

If I was a writer in Snowfall, I would have had Franklin lose all his money and then followed his mother's advice. He should have gone back to college, graduated and then gone to have a legitimate job like becoming a pilot and become a law abiding citizen. At least there would have been a moral lesson that would have been consistent with Franklin's character. 

For botching the finale, Snowfall will not be on the Mount Rushmore of crime dramas with Sopranos, the Wire and Breaking Bad.