"Snowfall"'s Amin Joseph on Jerome's Tragic Fate in Final Season: "Let's Go Out With a Bang"

It's the end of an era for "Snowfall" fans and, unfortunately, of the overall journeys of some of the series's pivotal characters.

For the past six seasons, the 1980s-set crime drama has followed the dramatic tale of ambitious drug dealer Franklin (Damson Idris) and the epic rise and fall of his drug organization during the crack epidemic in South Central Los Angeles. While we've witnessed Franklin's transformation from college-bound teenager to a ruthless kingpin, one of the biggest shocks in the gritty FX series thus far has been watching his family slowly fall apart — which, in part, has led to another heartbreaking death.

The latest major "Snowfall" character to die — following major losses like Franklin's father Alton and, most recently, his crew member Black Diamond — in the show's sixth and final season is none other than Amin Joseph's beloved Jammin' Jerome Saint, aka Uncle Jerome. In "Snowfall"'s sixth episode, titled "Concrete Jungle," Jerome meets a tragic fate when he, his nephew Franklin, and his wife Louie (Angela Lewis) find themselves stuck in a warehouse shoot-out. Despite the tragedy, the death is likely no surprise to viewers. After several betrayals in season six — including robberies, shoot-outs, death threats, and secret deals — tensions finally reach a breaking point in episode six when Jerome and Franklin are forced to put their beef to the side and rescue Louie, who has been kidnapped. Unfortunately, the rescue mission results in Jerome's surprising death.

So, how exactly does Jerome's story arc come to an end in "Snowfall" season six? Read ahead to find out.

Season six, episode six starts with Jerome reeling from an existential crisis and realizing he needs to exit the drug game for good. In a drunken state, he shows up at his and Louie's house to tell her he has a plan to flee to Jamaica, knowing there's an expiration date on his time as a dealer. But Louie isn't quite ready to give up the lifestyle, so she refuses her husband's offer and instead proposes he gives her a chance to sort things out with their supplier, Teddy (Carter Hudson) — aka Franklin's now-sworn enemy — so they can access their money in Panama.

However, time runs out when Louie's foe Kane (DeVaughn Nixon) — who she put a hit out on last season — sends his men to kidnap her and hold her hostage as vengeance. Meanwhile, at a warehouse, Kane — working with Franklin — beats, brands, and organizes the gang rape of Louie while her nephew watches. Franklin is able to discreetly alert his uncle about what's taken place so they can kill Kane and rescue Louie.

All goes according to plan, with Jerome meeting Franklin at the warehouse along with backup, aka Leon (Isaiah John) and Skully (De'aundre Bonds). However, when Jerome corners Kane with the latter holding Louie at gun point, the two shoot at each other and fall to the ground. A bleeding Jerome then lies on the floor as Louie cries for him to get up. His death is shown onscreen.

The end of episode seven shows Franklin, Louie, and their family burying Jerome, as the latter still blames Franklin entirely for his death.

Immediately following episode six, the "Snowfall" cast shared their sad reactions to Jerome's death, with Lewis, tweeting, "Hard to type anything right now. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔." Meanwhile, John simply wrote, "Rip unc #SnowfallFX," on Twitter, followed by a photo of his character and Jerome, tweeting, "Thank you 💐 ⁦@Amin_Joseph." Joseph also tweeted about his "Snowfall" exit and wrote, "I gave this everything I got. Thanks for the ride."

Gail Bean, who plays Wanda, then celebrated her costar by quote-tweeting his message, writing, "You were phenomenal. Always are! Thank you for allowing us to love you x Jerome for 6 seasons." Lewis followed suit as well, tweeting, "You did the damn thing!!!! Thank you for being the best scene partner ever!! Thank you for holding us down. 💔 on all the layers."

In a March 29 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Joseph reflected on his character's demise, telling the outlet that the storyline had been in the cards since "Snowfall" season five. "I talked to our showrunner, Dave Andron," the actor explained. "Over hiatus sometimes we'll meet up before we get back into production, and I was told that, yeah, that was the road we were going down and that Jerome would meet his demise in the final season."

Joseph added that he initially didn't know how Jerome would die in the show, nor who — or what — would be the cause of his death. However, considering "Snowfall"'s overall story, he wasn't surprised about his fate. "I've always felt that more than likely this was not going to end — it's not a fairy tale," he said. "So being part of this ensemble for the last six years, I just knew that at some point rubber would meet road. Even from back in season three, I've always mentioned to the producers, showrunner, writers, that if we go out, let's go out with a bang . . . let's go out dark and hopefully leave a lasting impression and message."