TEOTWAWKI

"TEOTWAWKI" is the third episode of Season 3 of AMC's Fear The Walking Dead and the twenty-fourth episode overall.

Plot
Still finding their place, Alicia and Nick fall in with new crowds; while Madison discovers Otto's past mimics that of her own.

Synopsis
In a TV commercial from 1996, Jeremiah Otto promotes his four-part video series on how to survive “TEOTWAWKI,” his acronym for “the end of the world as we know it.”

American democracy is about to be destroyed at the hands of foreign nationals and greedy politicians, he warns. By stockpiling for the end and learning how to defeat the “urban hordes,” Otto promises that his tapes can teach anyone to survive.

Madison, Nick, and Alicia attend Charlene’s memorial at the ranch. Sensing hostility from members of the community, Madison introduces herself to the ranchers and thanks them for taking her family in.

Ranchers demand an update on the helicopter attack, and Otto assures the crowd that he is looking into the incident.

In line at the mess tent, a man accuses Madison and Alicia of being freeloaders. Gretchen, a young rancher around Alicia’s age, introduces herself to Madison and Alicia, then invites Alicia to Bible study. Madison nudges Alicia to accept the invitation.

Nick takes care of Luciana at the infirmary. Luciana insists they leave the ranch as soon as she’s feeling better.

Madison finds Troy lounging in Nick’s bed in her bunkhouse. He opens up to Madison and says that he picked her, not Nick, to join his community. Madison insists Nick will earn his keep, and orders Troy to make the bed before he leaves.

Strand drives to a water depot at a dam, where he finds a long line of thirsty Tijuanans trading for water. He cuts to the front of the line and asks to speak with Dante. A guard orders him to wait in line and shoves him to the ground. Dante, Strand’s former business associate, emerges and greets Strand.

In the bunkhouse, Madison assures Nick and Alicia that they can win over the minority of people who don’t want them at the ranch. She also warns them to stay away from Troy. Nick insists they start over elsewhere, but Madison refuses to leave the relative safety of their new home.

Madison asks Otto to protect her family from Troy and other hostile community members. She goes as far as threatening to expose Troy’s twisted experiments at the fuel depot. Otto refuses to tell people how to behave, but offers to teach her the culture of this ranch. He asks Jake to show her his video lectures.

Jake sets Madison up to watch Otto’s old video tapes. He promises to protect her family from Troy. Madison tells Jake she wants to find whoever shot down the chopper. He understands her desire to know who killed Travis.

Nick asks Alicia if she wants to stay at the ranch. She reasons that the ranch is just as bad as any other place, so why not stay.

Jake orders Troy to stay away from the Clark family. He reminds Troy that he’s protecting him by hiding his psychopathic nature from others in the community.

Gretchen takes Alicia to a bunker for “Bible study.” Inside, Gretchen and her friends pass around a bong and introduce Alicia to “Geoff,” an Infected head in a cage. Alicia bursts out laughing.

Madison discovers a collection of outtakes from Otto’s commercial. In the video, Otto fights with his drunk wife and yells at a young Troy. She turns off the video when Otto walks in the room.

Otto explains that Jake and Troy are children from two different marriages. He admits that he and his second wife were alcoholics and that Troy took care of his mother towards the end of her life.

Dante and Strand trade stories over drinks. They have history from back when Strand and Thomas Abigail were doing business in Mexico. Strand tells Dante that Thomas is dead.

Alicia tells Gretchen and the other members of the "Bible study" group what life is like on the outside. She reveals that she killed a man, then admits it was an easy thing to do.

Dante leads Strand to a walkway on the dam and ambushes him. Strand watches as Dante's men push a prisoner over the edge into a pit of Infected. Dante accuses Strand of being a thief and orders his guards to throw him over the edge.

In an attempt to make himself indispensable, Strand tells Dante that people will turn against him if he keeps serving water too close to his source. He offers to help organize an off-site water depot. Dante agrees to spare his life, and in exchange, Victor will become a worker for him: “You will feel just like the people you have taken from. You will feel powerless,” he tells Strand.

Troy invites Nick on a nighttime boar hunt. Nick agrees and climbs into Troy’s truck.

Madison informs Otto that Nick is an addict. Otto understands, having battled his own issues with alcohol. Otto offers to show Madison why he tolerates Troy.

Troy and Nick hunt boar in the darkness of night with a group of fellow ranchers.

Otto takes Madison to the “pantry,” which is well-stocked with guns and supplies. He explains that he “broke” Troy in the old world, but that Troy now has a purpose in the new world. He has the killer instinct needed to survive. Madison pledges to help rebuild in Otto's new world.

Troy stalks Nick around a corner, but then Nick tackles Troy and holds a gun to his face. Troy dares Nick to shoot and guesses it would take him 87 minutes to turn. Disgusted, Nick asks Troy what’s wrong with him. “I just need to know why we spoil,” Troy explains. Nick shoots the ground next to Troy’s head and lets Troy go. Then, Troy tackles him. Nick grabs Troy’s “scientific” journal, rips up the pages and laughs hysterically. Troy declares that they can now be friends.

Madison visits Luciana in the infirmary and explains that she doesn’t want to leave the ranch because Travis died trying to bring them there.

Alicia and Gretchen leave the bunker in an inebriated state. Alicia crosses paths with Jake and he smiles.

Otto announces to the community that it’s been 36 hours since they dispatched a unit to investigate the chopper attack. He asks for volunteers to accompany Troy on a search mission to find their men. Madison volunteers.

At mealtime, Madison sits next to Troy instead of eating with Nick and Alicia. She lays out a napkin on Troy’s lap.

Strand sits in a cell. Someone hands him water through a window. He chugs it, then looks through the window to see that the offering was given to him by Daniel Salazar.

Co-Stars

 * Faustino Bojorquez Arellano as Officious Guard
 * Hugo Armstrong as Vernon Trimbol
 * Alex Aschinger as Director
 * Sarah Benoit as Pat Daley
 * Justin Deely as Mike Trimbol
 * Philip Fallon as Terrence Shafford
 * Marshall Fox as Geoff
 * Eva Luz Corpus Guajardo as Old Woman
 * Worth Howe as Russell Brown
 * Matt Lasky as Coop
 * Daniel Moncada as Bloody Man
 * Luke Spencer Roberts as Gabe Dille
 * Tyler Sanders as Young Jake Otto
 * John Schaffer as Apron Man
 * Jackson Robert Scott as Young Troy Otto
 * Nathan Sutton as Jimmie
 * Heather Wynters as Martha Brown

Uncredited
(To Be Added)

Deaths

 * Geoff (Confirmed Fate)
 * 1 unnamed prisoner

Trivia

 * First appearance of the Gonzales Dam.
 * First appearance of Dante Esquivel.
 * First appearance of Gretchen Trimbol.
 * First appearance of Vernon Trimbol.
 * First appearance of Mike Trimbol.
 * First appearance of Pat Daley.
 * First appearance of Terrence Shafford.
 * First appearance of Coop.
 * First appearance of Gabe Dille.
 * First appearance of Jimmie.
 * First (and last) appearance of Tracy Otto. (Video Tape)
 * First (and last) appearance of Geoff. (Zombified)
 * This episode marks the return of Daniel Salazar to the series after being absent since Season 2's mid-season finale, "Shiva".
 * Daniel mentioning being Strand's guardian angel is a reference to the episode "We All Fall Down", in which it was Daniel's reply when Strand called him a "specter of death" while Daniel was hovering over him and being suspicious of his motives on the Abigail.
 * Teotwawki is an acronym for, "The End of the World as We Know It".