Snowfall is a drama set against the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. The story follows numerous characters on a violent collision course, including Franklin Saint, a young street entrepreneur on a quest for power; Gustavo "El Oso" Zapata, a Mexican wrestler caught up in a power struggle within a crime family; Teddy McDonald, a CIA operative running from a dark past who begins an off-book operation to fund the Nicaraguan Contras; and Lucia Villanueva, the self-possessed daughter of a Mexican crime lord. In Snowfall, everyone is working toward their ultimate goals of money, power, and influence in Los Angeles.