Naming this episode “Trauma” was perfect because that is exactly how I would describe episode four. Everyone is dealing with the trauma of their recent actions. Gustavo, Lucia, and Pedro are dealing with the guilt and repercussions of their kill, Franklin and Leon are dealing with the aftermath of Karvel and Teddy… well, Teddy is stuck in the middle of the jungle.
Since the premiere of Snowfall, the action and storylines have plateaued. Each episode still relies heavily on Franklin’s story, but it’s gotten to a point where even that isn’t enough to keep the audience’s attention. “Trauma” was a slow moving episode as we followed Franklin and Leon in the quest to even the score with Karvel. Finally, Franklin starts to toughen up and practices shooting his newly acquired gun. In the last three episodes, he has slowly learned the repercussions of his actions and now, he’s finally taking the measures to protect himself.
Franklin and Leon ultimately drag a coked-out-believed-to-be-dead Karvel out of his home and take him out to the desert to bury him. En route, he wakes up and starts banging on inside the trunk. Rule number one: make sure the guy is actually dead.
Ultimately, Franklin pulls over to deal with Karvel, who frees himself from the trunk and takes off as Leon is shooting at him. Once they hunt him down, Karvel asks Franklin to not shoot him. But what does he do? He steps aside and lets Leon finish the job. When it seems Franklin takes two steps forward, he takes ten steps back. Every episode you can tell he is not cut out for this business. Especially when it comes to “laying down the law.”
Teddy is another character who is having trouble “laying down the law” within his storyline. There is so much potential with Teddy’s story, yet it keeps falling flat and leaving so many questions unanswered. After being left high and dry by Alejandro, Teddy finds him in the jungle with a crew and the rocket launchers.
Instead of diving deeper into the CIA’s operations, especially when being relocated to a South American Jungle, we just get the surface story. Teddy quickly bonds with a young orphaned boy but quickly learns he’s a scout for the Sandinistas. The kid had infrared transmitters that can be used to locate the camp. Like Franklin and Leon’s storyline, Teddy stands aside and lets someone else finish the job for him. It’s Alejandro’s wife who kills the boy and leaves Teddy standing there dealing with the repercussions. From the beginning, the CIA storyline seemed like the most interesting part of Snowfall, yet since the premiere, it has fallen to the wayside.
The group that deals with trauma the most is Gustavo, Lucia, and Pedro. The trio ended up killed Enrique and now they’re all dealing with it in their own way. While Gustavo and Lucia try to clean themselves after the kill and move on, Pedro sits around emotionless in a bloodied sweatshirt. It was the first time Pedro comes across as a real person since he’s been stone cold the last three episodes.
“Trauma” definitely showed Lucia’s powerful side as she later calls Pedro out for being weak. Though we never see the actual kill, Lucia describes exactly what happened and how Pedro just freeze and almost lets Enrique choke her to death before Gustavo steps in to finish Enrique off. She is now the one calling the shots and even reminds Pedro the gravity of their situation by saying, “You fuck this up and I’ll kill you.”
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It’ll be interesting to see where their storyline develops because, unlike Teddy’s, it’s made great strides since the premiere. There is still a lot of room for development and screen time, but the development of Lucia’s character specifically has been compelling to watch.
By the end of “Trauma,” Karvel’s death must have been the final straw for Franklin. After watching someone fatally shot because of his actions, Franklin faces Avi and tells him he’s out. It seems too easy for Franklin to just walk away after everything he’s been through since the premiere so it’ll be interesting to see what develops now that Franklin believes he’s finally free.
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