Color or B&W???

I'll admit I'm not that great at doing these conversions but I really like the way this one came out. With my monitor it is tough to tell if the background is blown out in the b&w version. Any tips on how to improve?? Thanks.
This is my friend and his daughter, and what makes this picture (in my opinion) is that she knows he is going overseas for a year (Afghanistan) and lately has been super snuggly with him.
Color:

Color, but only because the blacks are too dark in the B/W.

agree with todd, BW lacks tonal range

Any constructive advice on how to do a better job with "tonal range"? Or is that an exposure issue when the image is taken?

not sure if thats something that could be fixed wit this particular setting, hes wearing a black shirt and cap with a tan, shes pale with a light shirt on.. just one of those unfortunate circumstances

I did a quick conversion here and with your original small file, so it's not going to be that great. However, I adjusted the levels a bit, used a bit of an s curve in the curves settings, and then adjusted the black levels a bit.

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Todd Lambert wrote in post #10901810
I did a quick conversion here and with your original small file, so it's not going to be that great. However, I adjusted the levels a bit, used a bit of an s curve in the curves settings, and then adjusted the black levels a bit.

Thanks! That looks pretty good. I'll just have to keep practicing I guess.

Yeah, I'd just try toning the blacks down a bit. Because her hair and his face are similar in color, it's hard to see if he's kissing her or trying to eat her brains.

hehehe...