If “Snowfall” is any indication, being cut from the same cloth doesn’t necessarily mean meeting the same fate.
The original iteration of FX’s crime drama, set in South Central Los Angeles, chronicled the rise and fall of unassuming teenager-turned-ruthless drug lord Franklin Saint (played by Damson Idris). After its six-season run, the series largely ended in tragedy for those caught in the crossfire of the greedy kingpin’s friends-and-family dope operation, built amid the 1980s crack cocaine epidemic with the help of an off-the-books CIA assignment. Franklin himself ultimately suffered the consequences, ending up drunk, destitute and wandering the same streets he once flooded with crack rock.
But not everyone involved met such a tragic end — Wanda Bell managed to escape.
Introduced in Season 2 as the fun-loving girlfriend of drug dealer Leon Simmons (Isaiah John), Franklin’s former right-hand man, Wanda (played by Gail Bean) initially became part of the local crack business as a member of the Saint crew. She helped cook up the very drug ravaging her community, only to become one of its victims after developing a heavy addiction. But Wanda ultimately fought her way to recovery and, unlike Franklin, rebuilt her life by the series’ end.
