That sheared pin might have been a heat issue more than a cheap part. When a hinge pin goes soft and snaps like that, it usually means the grease cooked off over many cooks and the metal got stressed from the lid heat cycling. Same thing happens on oven door springs and it always fails right when you open it. Next time you replace it, put a dab of high temp copper anti seize on the pin and it'll outlast the smoker.

Gotta disagree with you here, but I see where you're coming from. The published ending feels urgent, almost breathless, and that's kind of the point. Danny's whole story is about outrunning his demons, so a clean, neat wrap-up would've betrayed that messy energy. The cut draft with him dying sounds like it would've been too final, too tragic for the arc he earned. I'd rather have the messy survival than a poetic death, honestly.

Met my friend crying over Watership Down at 34. She thought it was cute bunnies.