Well that makes more sense. Lol

 

Ok, I'll ignore some of my smaller issues with this episode. Super croc, the fact that we get this tension filled scene with both John and Strand in the water only to completely ignore them getting back to shore. How the dirty lady knew how to operate the guns, how John managed to remove a fuel tank from a truck with no tools, so on and so on.

I'm going to focus on the ultimate failure these show runners have, they simply can't tell a compelling story and often waste build up.

All season long we have had these moments that feel like they are part of the larger story, like they are building towards something. Yet they end up going nowhere, cool hints that just get ignored. Worse than that, when they do have their "reveal" moments, they only reveal something from the same exact episode. Instead of dropping hints throughout the season and have the final reveal come as more of a surprise and a twist, they introduce the buildup for the twist in the same exact episode the reveal takes place. It's such wasted potential.

Case in point, Clayton. The twins have talked about "this man" they stole the truck from for a few episodes, but nothing has been revealed about him. It's to the point where we may have assumed the first walker that filthy lady had, before Quinn, was the truck driver. Then in this episode Luciana meets Clayton almost at the same time the twins mention him being "polar bear". It's pretty obvious rather quickly that Clayton is the truck driver the twins stole from. Then his books are revealed, again in the same episode. The two in the truck and the two Clayton gives Lucy. All of this happens in the same episode. There is literally no build up, no interesting slow reveal of information going over the episodes. They shoot their wad all over this single episode when they could have dropped clues throughout this half season so the reveal would have had some weight. Instead the reveal will be left up to the characters to learn, while we, the audience, will already know what's going on. That is shitty storytelling. We, as the audience, should learn these things at the same time the characters do.

Shocking reveals only work when both the audience and the characters are shocked at the same time.

Clayton should have been introduced earlier, even giving the books to Lucy. That entire thing should have happened episodes before. Lucy meeting Clayton should have taken place a few episodes ago, don't have Clayton specifically say he was a truck driver, just that he took a job that got him away from people, and don't reveal what he gave Lucy, just have him mention there is something in the trunk she should take that could be helpful. Then in another episode have Morgan ask more about "polar bear", and drop a few more hints. Then wait until the group is together to have Morgan ask about the truck drivers ledger, like we saw in this episode. Give another hint by having Lucy react in a way that she realized something when she sees the books but don't reveal what it is to the audience. Even have her start to be very hesitant to stick with the twins, again dropping hints but not revealing anything. Only to have the reveal in another episode where Lucy reveals that Clayton gave her matching books, so both the audience and the rest of the group now know that the man Lucy found was "polar bear". It would have been such a better reveal after a few episodes of hints.

They have done this a few times, instead of telling one large story that has 16 chapters, it feels like they are telling 16 different stories that are all sort of connected.

 

This. In fact, this for the entire season.

As I've said, the 5 minute trailer for TWD is more entertaining than this entire series. There have been moments, but I feel I'm just hanging on to this show because of the first 3 seasons, hoping it is going to return to it's previous excellence.

I first started watching because I thought there'd be another facet of TWD, but was expecting a bit of a poor relation type of show. Instead I was absolutely captivated by the trials of the Clark family and Strand. Now half of those protagonists have gone, and one member has been reduced to a minor character. Morgan, for me, has been the character central to the show, but I still get the feeling he shouldn't really be there. The washed out colours are tiring on the eye. The stories drag or stand still. Episodes full of bizarre coincidences or mind-boggling stupidity (19, 20, oh 27... An alligator that eats so much it should be the size of a bus). Even 'Talking' has been muted and desperate to find some positives, in my opinion, because of this season.

Bring back last season's showrunner and writers. Just put this down to experience.

 

Looks like Al left the instruction booklet behind.

 

To me Clayton was also the only interesting new character from the second half of the season, and then he was gone. The approach you mentioned here would have been better and we could have seen more of Luciana with Clayton during the storm etc, and got to understand what he had been doing.

 

For the record Faidkit ice packs need to be "activated" and then they last several hours, like those hot hand packs but the opposite, so yes it is quite possible to make beer cold that way... I had little problem with that part, other than I also didn't care how they were killing off the "original" trucker.

Dirtwoman will most likely die ultimately but it could take some time, and maybe not, maybe she just disappears and off she goes not to return to this area of the 'world,' much like Qaletaqa did.

Never thought I'd say that, especially since I played Unturned long enough to become a lot like that. I don't particularly wish to explain the psychology but I will anyway since I totally relate to dirtwoman, although now I also see what her actions look like to the outside world which explains the general hostility (however one wonders if the hostility were any less any other way, which I doubt).

Dirtwoman is a lone wolf survivor, she hunts and forages and pillages but generally stays in the background preferring to stay out of sight (hence the "dirt" which is actually a camouflage of sorts).

The wolf's attitude is a sad one, we would prefer to live in a community but the constant distrust and dishonesty and the "hehehee's" are too much to tolerate. We then come to the realization that the dead aren't the greatest threat, it's the living! Try and exist in an apocalyptic world and it isn't long before you're attacked for no good reason, folks steal from you, they lie and cheat, they snipe you from up top a tree and don't care if you die either, it's just horrible.

The traps are there to help make the noob (she calls them "weak" lol) stronger, because ultimately it is the noob who will help fight the vultures and in this world one needs all the help one can get... Lone wolves fight vultures too but we're antisocial and it is difficult to fight vultures solo, the noobs tend to form packs with ease and they are strong in packs, let them kill each other off for all the wolf cares.

A radio is always good to have, it's like a passive radar of sorts. Any noobs using radios to communicate will alert you to their presence and you need these early warning devices because noobs can be quite wild, come upon you unawares you never know what they'll do to you.

Because the wolf, and this is the sad part...
The wolf doesn't need other human beings around, at least not to survive.
The wolf can survive in an apocalypse all on his or her own.
The loneliness is terrible but there is always a compromise.