Hedgehogs is the eighth episode of the the third season of Snowfall. It is the twenty-eighth episode overall.
Outline
Andre receives help from an unexpected source. Franklin finds himself exposed. Julia forces Teddy's hand.
Summary[]
Prologue[]
Melody is in her bedroom lying on her bed blowing out smoke from the pipe. There are events of her in her room from smoking a rock, to sneaking out her bedroom window, to experiencing side effects, to taking some of her belongings to trade, and getting shouted at by her father who even checks her room for contraband. Other events unfold as Melody is even resorting to selling her clothes and eventually gets caught by Andre smoking a crack pipe. Andre even decided to nail some 2x4's on her bedroom window, but that didn't stop Melody from sneaking out at night. Andre even entered her bedroom with a pizza in hand to see that his security measure has failed and could feel nothing but disappointment knowing his daughter is hooked on the rock.
Franklin[]
At Cissy's place, Top Notch, an old buddy of Alton's, is observing the photos of Teddy McDonald that he has taken and is showing the others that he checking the reflections of windows to see if he is being followed. Alton then asked if he spotted any surveillance or support, and Top Notch tells him that he is apparently working alone. Cissy then asked if he was vulnerable and Top Notch referred to him as a hard target who tends to sleep with one eye opened and getting the drop on him would be difficult. Franklin then asks what's then next step, and Top Notch suggested following him to bring back useful intel such as where he lives or if he has a family, anything that could identify who he is. Franklin then asks Top Notch what would happen if Teddy caught him and how he would act. Top Notch tells him not to worry about him and Alton tells his son people don't call him 'Top Notch' for nothing. Alton then points out how they need to build up some leverage and create some kind of protection plan. Franklin then asked if that was the only option, making it known he wasn't impressed with the idea. Top Notching also suggested running and threw Cuba in as a good hiding place. He also reminds the Saints that once the CIA has them in their crosshairs, there is no real cover. Franklin later exits the house and approached his car. He then sees Andre smoking his cigarette and asks if Melody is gone again. Andre refuses to answer and just stares at Franklin, who then lets Andre know he'll put the word out as he drives off.
Teddy[]
At the warehouse, Teddy and Julia enter the room where the kilos are and Julia, who is second guessing the idea of funding a Contra war via drug trafficking, implored Teddy that there must be another way. Teddy refuses to listen to reason and begins loading duffel bags with coke. Julia tells her ex she has been trying to give him space but weeks have already passed. Teddy makes it clear this is an op he cannot abandon, fighting the Communists is on his agendas, and should Nicaragua fall, Honduras and El Salvador are next which he refuses to allow. He then tells Julia to give him a year. Julia then speaks about hedgehogs during the winter time huddle together to keep warm when it's freezing and they have to move apart because their sharp spines prick each other and on and on. Teddy then realizes that Julia is describing their relationship, proclaiming them as hedgehogs, can't be together, can't be apart. Julia then tells Teddy it felt like they've had this conversation before. Since Teddy won't answer her, Julia then tells Teddy he can finish bagging up without her. Teddy carries on without any care and Julia just looks back in complete disappointment.
Andre[]
Andre is on the phone talking to his sister about Melody while cooking supper. He tells her he can't take her to Spelman in the state she is in and his sister tells him he should bring her out to Texas to give her a clean slate and start fresh. There is a knock at the door and Andre tells his sister he is still suspended from the force, he'll have to think on it, and he'll have to call her back. He hangs up and checks outside his home to see Julia at his doorstep. He answers and she introduces herself as Kate Miller and would like to speak with him, noting how her agency is dealing with a highly-sensitive op and she ran across his name during the prep. Andre then asked what agency she came from and how she got his address. Julia then tells him that Detective Han told her, stating he is the LAPD liaison to the FBI, DEA, and CIA. She also talks about dealing with the Colombian Cartel and that he understands what it is like working for a government bureaucracy, with the hierarchy's wanting to go after the top dogs, which would be good for a news conference. She then tells him that it's the guys on the bottom racket that need to go down. Andre then tells her he has enough on his plate as it is and Julia mentions Franklin Saint by name. She now has Andre's attention as she spoke of Lorena recanting her statement as well as Franklin's file sealed, and his job was made all but impossible. She then tells Andre she wants to level the playing field. A smoke alarm goes off in the house. Andre then realizes he left the stove on and rushes in to deal with it. The kitchen is filled with smoke as Andre removes the hot pot foaming with suds and throws it into the sink. He shuts off the oven and attempts to clear the air of smoke. Julia then appears in his kitchen with a piece of paper in her hand and lets Andre know that they are on the same side. She places the paper on the table and leaves. Andre then checks out the card she left him.
Franklin[]
Teddy and Franklin are fulfilling yet another drug deal and trade and notices Teddy is a little off. He tosses the bag in Teddy's trunk and before Teddy shuts it, Franklin stops him and points out his keys in the trunk. Teddy grabs his keys and Franklin asks if he is alright, noticing something amiss on him. Teddy then asks Franklin if he has a girlfriend. Franklin then tells Teddy he's single. Teddy then asks if he has ever been in love. Franklin then tells Teddy there was a woman he care about but didn't know if 'love' was the right answer, and this was when they were younger and things started changes. Teddy advises Franklin to wait as long as he can so that there is as little chance as possible for someone to go and change on him, for if he makes the wrong decision too early, then he could wind up being tethered to someone for the rest of his life who would drive him completely crazy. He then turns to his vehicle and notes he could still be in love with her as he hops in his car. Franklin then thanks him for the advice and begins to wonder what he was talking about.
Leon[]
Leon and some Family members are on the sidewalk, including C.J., who is dealing with a customer who can't pay for a rock and offers to get him something other than money. C.J. then tells him to beat it as Bootsy and some Crips appear. There is a conflict as Bootsy accuses the Family of slinging in Crips territory. Leon tells him doesn't a sign that says it's Bootsy's corner. Bootsy then offers him a sign and takes a swing at Leon.
Franklin[]
Franklin and Louie are at Jammin' Jerome's and grab the duffel bags of kilos from his trunk while talking about Teddy who brought up something personal to him. Louie suggested it may be a bonding moment. Franklin then stated that it sounded like there was something messing up his life. Louie then states she knows Franklin has enough drama happening with him and lets him know that Leon and Jerome need to know what they're dealing with. Franklin promises to tell them and wants to find the right time. Louie then points out that with a possibility of him needing to run, this would be the time, and she makes it clear that she does not want to hide things from Jerome no more. Franklin gets a page and realized Melody has been found. As he approached the exit, Louie stops him to let him know that the Melody he knew is long gone and he must let her go. Franklin refuses to hear another word and opens the garage door.
Melody[]
Melody is at a dealer house attempting to trade a camera for some rock. The dealer is refusing to take a camera as payment and Melody suggested pawning it. The dealer then asks why she couldn't pawn it, and when she didn't answer, he knew the item was stolen. Melody then offered to take a rock for the camera, even though the camera is worth more than that. The dealer returns the camera to Melody and Franklin appears. Franklin asks Melody to come with him and Melody tells Franklin not to lay a hand on her. Franklin lets Melody know they're not going to sell to her. Melody then lashes out about how Franklin can cook the rock but she is not allowed to smoke it. Franklin then lets her know she is someone he cares about and begs her to stop. He tells her she needs to get cleaned up, go to school, and get her life straight. He then tells Melody she is better than this. Melody, appearing to be moved by Franklin's words, makes it clear she doesn't know if she can do that. Franklin then offers to take her home and as he approaches for a hug, Melody jams her right knee into Franklin's ball. Some of the dealers and customers start to laugh as Melody mocks Franklin, who is now losing his patience with her as he approaches her. Melody then tell him that if he lays a hand on her, her dad would kill him. Franklin then walks away and orders the dealers never to page him about her again. Melody once again attempts to barter the stolen camera with the dealer for a rock.
Andre[]
Andre appears outside Franklin's new pad, in which the address is written on the paper Julia left him. He then exits his car and approaches the home, also noticing he has a security system set up there. He then returns to his car and pulls out some wire cutters, then uses the tool on the security system, cutting the correct wire. Andre then smashes open his window, and no alarm goes off. He then enters the house to search for anything out of the ordinary and discovers a steel door with 3 pad locks keeping it locked. He breaks the pad locks and discovers it being used as a safe for all his cash, but knows that's not what he's looking for. He then searches throughout the house and even trashes the home. Upon reaching his game room, Andre discovers a hidden compartment in the pool table consisting of files and find a photo of Franklin dealing with Teddy. Andre is later going through the files and is trying to figure out who Franklin's connect is.
Manboy[]
At the Crips cookhouse, Manboy is berating Bootsy who is covered in bruises after the fight with Leon. Bootsy, of course, lies about Leon sucker punching him. Manboy shows he is no fool and asks if they rolled up on them. Bootsy states that the Family was slinging rock in their territory and wants to know who will get hit first. Manboy then makes it clear that there will be no retaliation until he speaks with Franklin. Bootsy is then impatient and states the time for talk is over, and Manboy makes it known that he's not gonna start an open war because one of his guys got some cuts and bruises. Manboy tells Bootsy he has tunnel vision but lucky for him, he can see the whole field and yells for someone to get Bootsy some ice for his bruises.
Teddy[]
Teddy is loading some money into his safe and then pulls out some photos consisting of him and Matt and some photo of him with Julia and Paul. Teddy then gets a page. He puts everything away and reads the page. He then calls the number and learns of something urgent stating he will be there in the next half hour and ends the call.
Franklin[]
Franklin returns back to his home scrummaging through the mail, grabs a soda from the fridge, and soon discovers his window broken. Franklin now realizes someone broke into his home and bypassed his alarm system. He then rushed into his living room to discover his money room unlocked but no money was ever taken. Realizing all his money was still there, Franklin then ran to his billiard room to discover the compartment holding his files of Teddy were opened and some files are missing. He realized the files were opened up and looked into. He bagged all the cash from his safe room and placed them in the trunk of his car. He then drove down the road away from his house in frustration.
Teddy[]
Teddy arrives at Rigo's nightclub and follow his bodyguards to a room that is tarped possibly for renovations. He then sees Rigo and his men staring at him and notices a chainsaw sitting in a room that was tarped. He knew he was set up and demands to know what this is. Rigo then decides to tell Teddy a story. He asks Teddy if he takes baths, but Teddy states he's a shower guy. Rigo then told Teddy about how while he was soaking in a tub, his DEA mole, Eddie tells him he needs to leave town and learns the DEA is coming after him, it is later discovered that Agent Marino has alerted him that the Villanueva case was reactivated and knows where Rigo can be found. Rigo, who is out of his mind, tells Teddy he is the only link between him and the Villanueva's. Rigo then picks up his chainsaw and demands to know why the DEA is after him. Teddy then tells him he has no clue and he doesn't have to worry about it. Rigo then demands to know why. Teddy then states the truth that his name is not Reed Thompson, it's Teddy McDonald of the CIA. Rigo refuses to believe that and makes a sarcastic remark. Teddy then asks Rigo what the CIA does, and Rigo notes how they overthrow governments and install dictators who answer to their whims. Teddy then states they do that by making friends with those who stand to gain while the U.S. is making advances on interests and offers Rigo a chance to be a friend and asset of the United States Government. Rigo then asks that if Teddy is CIA, why would he bring cocaine into America. Teddy then suggested taking a ride so he can explain everything.
Andre[]
Back at Andre's place, he and Nix are going over the files and photos he found when ransacking Franklin's new place. Andre then states how they are getting themselves killed keeping the drugs off their streets while the United States Government is pushing them in. He stares at a photo of Melody as a child realizing how difficult it is to believe and claims he wants to burn it all down. Nix then talked about a sniper he knew while serving in Vietnam, and how he had a box of left thumbs from the folks he killed in combat. He then tells Andre that guy is now working for the CIA. Nix then tells Andre that even though he is dealing with some drama from Melody, he notes that blowing the whistle from what he stole from Franklin's place could bring people far worse than the Family after him. Andre then asked what should he do. Nix suggested offing Franklin seeing how Teddy could possibly care less, even though someone else would take Franklin's place. Nix then makes it known that it's open season on Franklin Saint and the best way to deal with the problem is to go at him like Andre suggested.
Teddy[]
Back at the warehouse, Teddy gives Rigo the lowdown on what he does after moving the cocaine, using the money to buy weapons and other essentials for the Contras in Nicaragua. Rigo then asks what he would get should he be friends with the CIA. Aside from the money, Teddy suggested giving him intelligence about anyone that could be a pest to him, doesn't matter who they are or work for. He then offers a true partnership, Teddy keeping Rigo safe and Rigo keeping Teddy's secret. Rigo then asks what would happen should he not want to partner with the U.S. Government. Teddy then suggests to Rigo that he kills him but would add the CIA to his list of enemies. Rigo then tells Teddy they will have a deal as long as he gets to meet his boss. Teddy then welcomes his as an asset to the CIA and they shake on it. Later, Teddy is contacting all his connections. The first one to call back is Avi, and Teddy tells him they need to shut everything down and he needs to get out of town for a while and just lay low. After that call ends, the next one to call is Gustavo, who is in the middle of building a tunnel through the house in Tijuana. Teddy tells him they need to shut everything down, but Oso can't hear him through the jackhammering. Oso then ordering the jackhammering to stop and continues the conversation. Teddy then tells him to lay low, not to contact anyone, and not to head back to Sinaloa. Oso tells him alright, he though he continues the digging. The final call is from Franklin, who Teddy alerts that they have been compromised and promises to let him know as soon as he learns more. Franklin then lets Teddy know that someone broke into his home. Teddy then asked if anything was taken. Franklin lied about it, Refusing to reveal that he had Teddy watched, but noted how whoever broke in bypassed his alarm system and tore up his place. Teddy finally realizes who did it, stating to Franklin that the person he was thinking of, Franklin would never know that 'she' was there. He tells Franklin to lay low and he'll be in touch. The call ends and Teddy realizes he has been betrayed.
Franklin[]
After the call, Franklin was wondering what Teddy meant by 'She'! Franklin then tells Louie and Alton at the club that Teddy said it wasn't him. Alton and Louie find that hard to believe and Franklin notes that the person who trashed his home was angry and wanted to tear it apart. Franklin then stated the only person who matches that bill is Andre. Louie then asks how Andre would have found that place. Franklin thinks maybe he followed him. Alton also noted how some of these cops are connected to these security system guys, which explains how he bypassed the alarm. Franklin then states that something was stolen from the house, a file containing all his deals with Teddy which he kept as collateral in case things went sideways. Alton asked what exactly was inside that file, and Franklin tells them it consists of all his dealings with Teddy as well as the photos Top Notch provided. There was also research, maps, and newspaper articles which involved the CIA and the Contra wars in Nicaragua. They now know that Andre has a photo of him with the CIA connect and roughly 200 kilos of coke.
Avi[]
Avi prepares to exit his home with Lior carrying his bags out to the vehicle. Yuda then asks if they have room for the shofar, but Avi states he doesn't want the shofar and orders him to hand him the keys. Yuda tosses Avi the keys while staring at the shofar and Avi is infuriated that he has to kneel down and pick it up. He then hears a bullet fly and make a hit. Avi looks up and sees that Yuda was shot in the head as his lifeless corpse falls over. There is a sniper aiming for Avi and even Lior takes cover from the sniper fire. Avi then rushes to his vehicle with his weapon in hand while the sniper is shooting in their direction. Avi looks back to see Yuda dead and both him and Lior fire back towards the sniper and jump in the car. With the sniper still firing, Avi and Lior managed to flee in the vehicle, leaving their luggage behind.
Teddy[]
Back at the warehouse, Teddy is watching his surveillance videos and sees Julia returning. He sees Julia has brought some food and wine and then demanded to know if she was behind the sabotage of his op. He tells her how he walked into a room at Rigo's club completely tarped and how there was a chainsaw there waiting for him. He also pointed out how Avi called him and told him that Yuda was killed during the attempt on his life. He then told her that someone broke into Franklin's home. He then demanded to know was it her or the agency that screwed up his op. Julia then tells Teddy that the CIA sent her out there to learn of everything on his op, and take it away from him. She said it was her idea to end it, she then she how Teddy knew how she felt about this op. Teddy loses it, after learning his ex-wife sabotaged his operation and outed all his assets. Julia then snaps at how Teddy lost his mind when he brought cocaine in the US and nearly exposing the CIA. She then throws out how he covered up murders and possibly committing them. Teddy then demands to know what she has done so he could fix this, but Julia tells him it's already done. Julia then tells Teddy to let it go and they could still walk away from this together before he or the Agency could get hurt. Teddy now makes it clear to Julia that their relationship is officially getting the final nail into the coffin. He promises her he will salvage the op and afterwards he's going to destroy her career in the CIA.
Melody[]
Melody is hanging around near an abandoned storefront and is approached by Wanda. Melody tells her to go away, and Wanda has it in her head that they were pals. Melody reminded her that the last time they saw each other, she stole her necklace and knocked her out. Wanda tells her that's water under the bridge and suggests breaking into the skating rink. Melody then tells Wanda she got fired from her job and the passcode to the place was changed. Wanda then suggests they go hustle and she knows someone who could hook them up. She suggested Melody distracted some woman by knocking on her door and Wanda does the hard part. Melody realizes she is talking about stealing and refuses to partake in a burglary. Wanda then has it in her head that Melody is carrying some rock and is grabbing at Mel, who then shoves Wanda away and heads home. Wanda then shouts at Melody to go ahead and run home to her daddy.
Andre[]
Back home, Andre is cleaning one of his shoes, but then breaks into tears, knowing he is facing various issues at that moment. He then hears someone entering through a window and Andre believes it's Melody returning home. He rushes to the bedroom only to be met by Franklin who is pointing his own service weapon to his face. Andre then asked how he got inside, and Franklin noted how he used Melody's window since he was 8. Franklin then sees the file and photos stolen from his home sitting on Andre's table and asked if anyone else knows about what he found. Andre then tells Franklin what kind of people he's working with and Franklin tells him to take a seat. Andre sits down and Franklin then tells him to put everything back into the folder. As Andre does, he suggested to Franklin to put down the gun and they could talk. While Franklin states there is nothing to talk about, Andre tells Franklin that he helped raise him, that he is one of the smartest kids he knew, and that he was no cop killer, nor was he dumb enough to off one in his home. Franklin lowers the guns and brings up the crack den Andre dropped him off at and gave him a chance, so now he offers Andre a chance to forget what he read from the file, take Melody, leave Los Angeles, and never return. Andre then asks who Franklin's connect is and why he is protecting him. Franklin repeats once more for him to take Melody and leave LA. Andre agrees as he tells him he'll leave with Melody, get her clean, and ready for Spelman. Then Andre makes it clear he will return, noting how he only served 18 years of his 20 and doesn't plan on letting him ruin that for him nor will he let Franklin destroy the community. Andre then makes it known that he will return, fresh start, and it will just be the both of them. He throws him the file and tells him to leave his home. Franklin then picks up the file and tells Andre he's right, that he's not a killer. He then walks toward Andre and fires a bullet through his head using his service weapon, killing him instantly. Franklin then wipes down the gun, and places the gun in Andre's hand which then hits the ground, making it look like a suicide. He then wipes Andre Arm of any fingerprints and walks toward Melody's bedroom with the file in hand leaving Andre's corpse on the dining room table.
Cast[]
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Episode Deaths[]
- Yuda - Shot in the head by a Mossad sniper
- Andre Wright - Shot by Franklin Saint
Music[]
- Everybody Loves the Sunshine by Roy Ayers Ubiquity
- Slice by World Class Wreckin' Crew
- Lollie Pop by Kick