I ain't sleep right after watching last night's series finale of FX's Snowfall, and I'd wager I'm not the only one.
The final chapter that concluded six seasons of the crime-drama chronicling the crack-cocaine era in Los Angeles was brilliant, dark, and riveting. I'll spare the spoilers for those who haven't yet seen it, but let's just say there are very few happy endings to be found. Yet there was one bright spot—an Easter egg that pays homage to Snowfall's creator, late film legend John Singleton, who died in April 2019, months before the premiere of the series' third season.
The final episode of Snowfall, "The Struggle," includes a time jump that takes viewers into the '90s. There, in the background of one of the show's last sequences, we see a film being shot in South Central. A man sits in a director's chair surrounded by young actors. Those in the know quickly recognized it as a hat tip to Boyz n the Hood, with depictions of Doughboy, Ricky, and Tre as children, and Singleton as filmmaker.
Yes, that movie set is a tribute to the late great John Singleton and his iconic directorial debut “Boyz n the Hood.” What a great full-circle moment to tie to his big career start to its ending. #SnowfallFX pic.twitter.com/QRZRzsTBCQ
— IAMNJERA (@IAMNJERA) April 20, 2023
"Movie business, huh?" gibes one of Snowfall's primary characters (again, no spoilers!). "Bad f**king business. Y'all ain't gonna win no Oscar!" Of course, Boyz n the Hood was released in 1991, a coming-of-age drama that Singleton wrote and directed to capture the turmoil taking place in Los Angeles in the aftermath of the crack epidemic. While the film didn't win any Oscars, it earned Best Director and Best Screenplay nominations, and has gone down as one of the most important films of our time (and the impetus for a bizarre life-imitating-art saga). Before Snowfall's closing credits, the words FOR JOHN appear on screen.
“If you think about it, in some ways, Snowfall is a little bit of a prologue to Boyz, and how the neighborhood got to the point you experience in the film,” series co-creator Dave Andron told Deadline. “We did jump forward in time a number of years and we didn’t put an actual date on it but the newspapers that Leon steps on the street are from September 1990, which was when John started filming Boyz n the Hood. It was very intentional to drop back into that moment in time to pick up that story where John picked it up with the movie."
Earlier this month, Amin Joseph, who plays Snowfall's Jerome, spoke with Bossip about making his directorial debut on the series with "Ballad of the Bear," the season's antepenultimate episode. "I... want to make sure that people are able to be empowered," Joseph said of his approach. "That’s something that John did, empowered with a voice that I’m not coming in here as a tyrant. It’s not exactly how I see it, but it’s a collaboration. To get that out of people you need people in good spirits, you need people not clocking in and clocking out, because there’s so much untapped potential."
While Snowfall's arc is complete, there are reports that a spinoff is in the works. Andron told Men's Health that word of the franchise's extension—which is set to feature Wanda (played by Gail Bean)—is premature. While it has not been green-lit, it is in development. In the meantime, let's continue to pay homage to a truly great series, and come to terms with it's truly twisted conclusion.
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