‘The Walking Dead’ Retro Recap: ‘Always Accountable’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

One particularly delightful aspect of the AMC series, The Walking Dead, that we don’t discuss enough, is how the show has for the most part… constantly pushed the story forward to new heights. For outside of the farm storyline, which was essential to growth for Rick Grimes and his extended family, this group, and the troubles they encounter(ed) were (and are) constantly in motion. For the prison gave way to war with the Governor, twice even, and that gave way to tough times at Terminus and Atlanta before even tougher times on the road. All before this group settled into Alexandra, which in brought forth its own conflicts, most recently in our discussions… the Wolves. But all of that is proof positive that this series is/was constantly in motion from a story perspective, and even after wrapping up the Wolves storyline… it immediately went to work on the next one. 
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For ‘Always Accountable’ is our first real taste of the ugly and devastating troubles to come for the group. Specifically… the arrival of Negan and his savage Saviors. A feat that this tale accomplished by having Daryl, and Sasha and Abraham finally complete their twenty-mile mission and run into new trouble shortly thereafter. For they quickly found themselves under fire from a mysterious group of aggressors, a sequence that separated Daryl from his friends and sent him deep into the woods… where he encountered yet another surprise. Specifically, a group of people composed of a man named Dwight, his girlfriend Sherry, and their good friend Tina and they… did not really offer hospitality to Daryl. In fact, they claimed he was the enemy and treated him as such.

To the point where Daryl was forced to fight and escape his bonds in an effort to get back to his friends. But the discovery that these folks were carrying insulin with them, helped him to understand they might not be evil. They might in fact, be running from evil and they most certainly were. Since more strangers came by and demanded they return home. An act they eventually did after those men left and Tina was lost, but not before robbing Daryl of his possessions and well, in hindsight, it is obvious now that this was our first introduction to the Saviors. And the savvy comic book fans knew this as well back then and even then… giving Dwight and Sherry this much screen time and spotlighting those troublemakers in depth, made it clear to the uninitiated that something was brewing on the horizon and trouble was only twenty miles away, making this a pivotal tale for the future.

However, there was more to this story than mere foreshadowing and quality tension. For this is another story that took the time to explore a different angle of PTSD, through Abraham’s story. Since his tale more or less spoke to how this affliction can motivate us to always be on guard and ready for the next disaster and the next battle, even when we’ve won the day and found safety. Since Abraham was still ready for war and ready to harm himself if it somehow meant he could keep his edge rolling or find a sense of honor for the greater good. But much like how Eastman helped Morgan rationalize his pain, Sasha did the same here, in the bold terms only he could understand. Leading to growth and calm from Abraham and eventually, a reunion with an old friend when Daryl came back to bring them home in a giant fueling truck.

If anything, this is an episode that has only grown better with time. Because back in the day, this felt transitional in nature and something of a one off because of how many didn’t know the comic book story. Which isn’t a bad thing by any means, since clearly, this introduction brought forth all kinds of powerful moments for those viewers, something the comic fans could only reminiscence upon when they occurred. But looking back at it, and knowing the story and its direction now, this really does become a keystone episode. One that sends chills down your spine a second time around because you know the pain that is coming your way, and well, now that we’ve reached the end of this important story, it’s onto to another critical one. Which just so happened to offer some good news regarding a beloved character that we were all worried about back then. Until next time.  

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