Snowfall (TV Series) Trauma (2017) User Reviews

TIME FLIES

[douglasjordane · 6/10 · 20 May 2022]

IT IS FUNNY HOW TIME FLIES WHEN YOU ARE HAVING TRAUMA. AFTER ALL THE SCENARIOS OF CONFUSION, OUR BOREDOM IS AWAKENED BY THE SHOTS WE TAKE IN LIFE. THE DANGERS ARE MIXED RIGHT INTO THE FABRIC OF EVERYDAY NORMALCY AND YOU CAN NOT AFFORD TO LOOK BACK WITHOUT TIME BEING ALTERED INTO AN EVEN WORST NIGHTMARE. TIME FLIES WHEN IT IS TIME TO WALK AWAY. BUT THEN SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE IT IS DRAGGING ALONG.

Reveals Snowfall's Flaws

[mbloyd · 10 August 2017]

If you've watched the show up to Trauma, you're already aware of the show's flaws. However, the first three episodes did a good job at masking those flaws. Because of the primary focus on Franklin, Snowfall was able to deliver three straight compelling episodes. However, you can only rely on shock and action for so long before you must offer up something more meditative in order to deepen the psychology of the characters. Trauma was that meditative episode, but it didn't add layers to the story. It instead exposed the struggles of Snowfall up to this point. Trauma picks up in the aftermath of some big decisions. Franklin is ready to find Carvell and get his money back, while Teddy finds his way in the jungle in order to repair his relationship with Alejandro. Then there's the episode's stunning opening scene. Gustavo, Lucia, and Pedro take in the work they've just completed. Last episode left us with a cliffhanger, as the trio was about to attempt to kill Enrique and frame him for the inter-cartel robbery. The scene is subversive, removing us from the action and allowing us to only see the aftermath. Lucia is bloody, Gustavo is calm, and Pedro is shaken. It's a quiet scene, and doesn't tell us what happened at Enrique's but does give us insight into the emotional state of these characters. In a perfect world, that opening scene would serve as inspiration for how to structure the rest of the episode, as everyone is dealing with the fallout of their actions. It doesn't follow through. It does, however, present two dull stories: Franklin and Leon chasing down Carvell, and Teddy in the jungle. The Teddy storyline is a mess, lacking the attention to detail necessary for a story about complex geopolitical struggles. It's a frustratingly vague story. In addition to the vagueness, Trauma tries to maintain the theme of contemplating the cost of certain actions by having Teddy meet a young boy at camp. He talks to the kid about baseball and tries to learn about his dead father. The twist comes when Teddy discovers an infrared device in the tree where the boy was scouting for trespassers, which can be used by the Sandinistas to locate the camp. He sends the boy to his death by pegging him as working for the Sandinistas. The moment feels rushed. Trauma removes all the complexity of the CIA's attempts to fight communism. Trauam really only hints at a moral reckoning for each character. Pedro gets the most insightful character work. He questions everything he's said about himself after he is unable to kill Enrique when he was choking Lucia. He's having an identity crisis, threatened by Gustavo's presence and his own failures. Pedro's lashing out and falling apart is Trauma's only meaningful character work. Nobody else has to deal with the destruction they've wrought. There is something potentially interesting in that Franklin hunts down Carvell, but ends up letting Leon kill him, because he will eventually have to reckon with the fact that he caused all of this. But that isn't happening right now, and the lack of conflict contributes to the fact that Franklin is untouchable. In addition to that, he walks away from Avi and cocaine dealing. He got shook, and now he's out. That's too easy. Reductive and simplistic storytelling is Trauma's hallmark.

And I'm done

[wiseguy233 · 1/10 · 1 August 2017]

There are three story lines and two of them, Sandinista/CIA plot and the Gustovo telenova soap opera, are unwatchable. Franklin is infuriatingly dumb. They built Carvelle into a scary predator last week, but he doesn't even tie him up in his trunk. Franklin walks in the back of a gang operated club with 30 k, into a back ally, with nobody to watch his back or protect him. After all that dumb mistake cost him, he does it again at the end of this episode! The Lucia, Gustavo and Pedro character study is shallow enough to have been accomplished in one scene. We are three episodes in and we still are being told Pedro is a hot head who deludes himself into thinking he's hard but he's just a punk. You know, seeing that murder would have been fun. Watching them brood about its aftermath is redundant and boring.

The Teddy CIA story feels so thin it's reduced to a sketch. Shows like Narcos are readily available. Why would anyone want to see some weak sauce white man's burden in the Nicaragua jungle? Watching Teddy stammer for half his scenes is not endearing. It's not good acting. He's comes off as condescending and contrived.

Singleton should have just stayed in the neighborhood and focused on issues of masculinity in the black community. That's what he knows. He's way out of his lane in this show. My TV time is limited and there are too many good shows to watch. This one doesn't cut it.