‘Snowfall’: Michael Hyatt Talks Cissy’s Life-Altering Decision; Working With Damson Idris & How John Singleton Changed Her Life

SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from tonight’s episode of FX’s Snowfall.

After nearly 6 seasons, tonight’s episode of FX’s Snowfall really hammers in the reality that the series is almost over.

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Things really started feeling real after Uncle Jerome (Amin Joseph) was killed, no doubt, but since the beginning, this story revolved around Franklin Saint (Damson Idris) and Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson) who finally come face to face in episode 9 aptly titled “Sacrifice.” This was a complicated relationship that fluctuated between business partners, and friends, to mortal enemies caught up in a cat-versus-mouse game where no one is a winner.

As for the Saint family and the rest of the surviving characters who made it this far alive, there is no happy ending no matter how you slice it. Everyone was gobbled up by Los Angeles’ seedy underbelly at the height of the crack epidemic, and Franklin and Teddy are no different. But tonight was game over for all involved.

(l-r) Sergio Peris-Mencheta as Gustavo Zapata, Carter Hudson as Teddy McDonald

Franklin managed to capture Teddy with a little help from El Oso (Segio Peris-Mencheta) in a cute nod to Season 1 when a young Franklin excitedly got to greet his wrestling hero. For his help, Franklin helps Oso escape into the night in search of new adventures.

The only thing Franklin has on his mind is his money and Teddy is standing between him from getting it. With Teddy in tow, Franklin and his mom Cissy (Michael Hyatt) meet with Teddy’s handler Stephen Havemeyer (Matthew Alan) who’s willing to make a deal to secure Teddy’s safe return. Teddy and Franklin agree they will split the money between them and each will go their separate way. But as Teddy is speaking to a banker to make the transfer, Cissy shoots him three times before he can give the account password. Teddy is gone and so is the money, forever.

Story continues

(l-r) Michael Hyatt as Cissy Saint, Carter Hudson as Teddy McDonald

What Franklin hadn’t realized is that his dear devoted mother noticed how lost he was; obsessed with money and power to the point that he probably would’ve killed anyone—including Cissy—to get it all back. Franklin is devastated but as reality sets in, he tries to flee the scene rushing Cissy to join him. He says frantically, “Come on, momma,” as blaring police sirens get louder by the second.

She gets down on her knees with her hands up and looks deeply into her son’s eyes, resigned. “Goodbye, Franklin,” she said. Panicked, Franklin hightails it on foot as the police take her into custody. The Saint family has lost everything, but maybe she could still save her son’s soul. For now, he lives another day and for at least one episode, before the story concludes on April 19 and everyone’s fate is revealed.

Deadline spoke to Hyatt about the events of episode 9, how working on Snowfall and creator John Singleton changed her life, and what Damson Idris is really like behind the scenes.

DEADLINE: In order to discuss the events of tonight’s episode, we have to talk about Cissy’s journey across 6 seasons. How did she get there?

MICHAEL HYATT: The journey that we’ve been on with Cissy has been in many ways very true to life. I’m old enough that I’m able to look back on my journey as a mother and even before motherhood, the hills and valleys that we all have to go through, and what they mean. The nuances of those hills and valleys, I feel, are the story of Snowfall from Cissy’s perspective as a single mother, an entrepreneur, and a person who just wants better for her life than what she was dealt.

In the beginning, when she was a property manager dealing with an asshole boss, she did it because she had to provide for her child and it was a struggle—an emotional struggle and a struggle for her integrity. But it was something that she had to do so that she could make a way for her son. It’s something we saw again when she had to choose the drug game— which is something she would never be a part of—so that she could take care of something bigger than herself and her integrity, her child. The struggle of a parent for their betterment is something I understand viscerally. This is all much bigger than a TV show, and that’s been the beauty of this journey and of the show’s creator John Singleton who focused on those nuances which the audience really connected with.

DEADLINE: On the surface, Snowfall seems like it’s just a show about the drug epidemic in 1980s Los Angles but it’s those nuances you’re talking about that make this story about something much more powerful.

HYATT: Yes, it’s why people identified with this show so viscerally. Whenever we traveled throughout these six years as a group and now individually, people would stop us and say, ‘That’s my mama; that’s my auntie; that’s my sister or my uncle— I know those people.’ We are speaking their truth.

Snowfall is talking about drugs and the drive-bys that were happening in South Central but the bigger conversation is about systemic oppression, pain, and the struggle. It’s the consciousness of not-enoughness and what that frustration and desperation can lead you to. It’s ego and how f**ked we can get when we don’t check our egos. And so many of us fall prey to that. As we tell the story of the crack epidemic, we focused on the journeys of these people through different chapters in their life and the specificities of their pain, joy, and frustrations. That’s how we got people to watch, by telling the truth.

Damson Idris as Franklin Saint

DEADLINE: What can you share about working closely with Damson for so many years?

HYATT: It was effortless. Damson is a sponge. He is a baby, just open and available for the truth. And thankfully, whenever we worked together, that’s all we had. There was no fluff. We both surrendered ourselves to each other. There was no quote-unquote, acting and there was no trying. It was just two people who were open sores and just let it be that way. However that’s captured, let it be captured. There was no thinking and preparing outside of, ‘I’m gonna allow myself to be open, period,’ and that was beautiful. I enjoyed it very much.

DEADLINE: Cissy makes the ultimate sacrifice for her son tonight. What insight can you share about her decision to kill Teddy?

HYATT: You know the idea that when you love somebody, sometimes you gotta let them go? Where Sissy has evolved to this point in her life is that it’s simply not only about her child anymore and the pains of her specific family. The time that Cissy spent in Cuba was life-altering. She got an opportunity to have different conversations and to take the blinders off that I think many of us who live in America allow ourselves to wear because this is our life and it’s what we know. It was not until she had the opportunity to step outside of the consciousness that America offers that she heard a completely different conversation about the government and what is possible. That year and a half that Cissy spent in Cuba opened her eyes to an understanding of herself as an African person she didn’t have before. So as we go through this struggle, and she comes back into the country, it becomes a bigger conversation than just her son. Her son is lost. We’re all gonna die because where else does a life like this take us?

DEADLINE: And sometimes, not even death is the worse thing that can happen.

HYATT: If we don’t die physically, we’re gonna die spiritually because there’s no way you choose this life and it does not affect you to the core. Right? When you understand that, we can focus on the bigger story like how this affects my community and my people. How long are we going to stand for this oppression? As much as this is hard for a mother to let go, if you’re not going to get the drug out of your child’s hand then you can kill the drug dealer. This has to stop somewhere. When you have stripped away everything from somebody and you ask them to define what life means, it’s a different conversation. That’s where she is. As much as we fall in love with Franklin and this family, it was important to me and I think Cissy to understand that what is happening is so much bigger than us and it’s worth it.

DEADLINE: As much as Cissy changed and evolved each season, would you say you did also?

HYATT: Oh yes, absolutely. Working on this show has been an absolute blessing. Having met and interacted with John Singleton has changed my understanding of who I am as an artist in this industry and the value of my voice. Before this experience, I was an actor booking the next job and getting paid for it so I can be a working actor and provide for my family. And then this journey happened. You know, I spent so much of my life studying my heroes, like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass, and the list goes on. But I had an opportunity over the last 6 years to experience a living, breathing hero. Seeing this man fight for his place at the table, and to use his voice and be respected for it. We used to do tours across the country promoting the show during the first three seasons and John shared his journey, and his struggles to make this film or that TV show and he inspired me. He fired me up so much. He taught me the importance of controlling the content and writing your own story instead of waiting on somebody else who may not understand the cultural significance and the nuances because we lived it. John Singleton changed my life and I am so grateful. I can’t ever go back.

This interview was edited for clarity and length.

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