This Daryl-heavy episode underwhelms…though have seeds been planted for bigger things?
By Matt Fowler
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Eehhhhhhh.
Okay, so I don’t like to use the term “filler” with regards to The Walking Dead. Breather, maybe. Comedown chapters. Time for characters to reflect on shock and tragedy. It’s the way this show works. It’s what this story demands. The Walking Dead, like the comic series it’s based on, is a story without any clear endgame. It’s about just living in a terrible effed-up world and finding specific reasons to carry on and not stick a pistol on your mouth. And, as much as some bitch about slower, character-driven episodes, the reason this series is such a huge hit is that it appeals to large amounts of people who’d never in a million years watch a zombie horror movie or show. Because it is, in fact, all about the characters.
And I’ve loved some of the slower, character-driven episodes. The Morgan episode from two weeks back was excellent. As was Season 5’s “Consumed,” which featured Daryl and Carol heading into Atlanta in order to locate Beth. Spending some quiet, reflective time with hardened brutes can be very effective. “Always Accountable” was not, however. This Daryl (and Abraham and Sasha) adventure was very flat. And a questionable effort in the midst of a uniquely structured season that’s constantly taking us away from urgent business to look at something going on somewhere else. Which is more acceptable if you’re binge-watching Season 6, but less inviting if you’re waiting the standard “appointment TV” seven days between chapters.
We want to hear it.
“Always Accountable” opened strong. Daryl, Abraham, and Sasha wrapped up their zombie wrangling and were then immediately fired upon by vehicles filled with anonymous villains. These guys had guns. They weren’t Wolves, they were something else. Whether or not they’re related to something coming at us down the line, from the comics, is another story, but for now all we know is that the episode went to great lengths not to show us their faces.
Were they not revealed to us because, ultimately, who they were wasn’t important and the episode was really more about Daryl finding himself as a hero out in the wild? As a “recruiter” for Alexandria? Or were their faces hidden because the show wants to wait for a big reveal? A reveal of what, I’m not sure. There was a leader in jeans with a big belt buckle, but his name – Wade – didn’t ring any bells for me, as a comic reader. Nor did Cam’s name – the guy who got lured into that trapped walker trap by Daryl as part of the episode’s best scene.
If these guys are part of an important group, one that was meant to resonate, they sure didn’t make a big impression toward the end. Especially the part where they gave up and retreated, despite clearly outnumbering any adversary, after Cam got bit. I feel like there were so many ways this episode could have gone, so many more exciting avenues it could have taken, but it just sort of sat there.
As I hyperlinked to a few paragraphs back, there’s a big villain headed our way. So the biggest thing about this episode could be that it introduced us to this Negan’s crew. And because those seeds are so big and daunting, perhaps that’s why not much else really happened here. The other big thing – and I can’t help but touch upon the comics here (sorry!) – is that we may have just met Dwight and Shelly. Of course, this would be a very different way of bringing Dwight into the series, but this show has been known to reshuffle elements from the Kirkman books. If this was Dwight, who is very important in the Negan storyline, then it was sort of a “How Dwight got his crossbow” origin tale. Because in the comics, Dwight’s the crossbow guy (and Daryl doesn’t exist). And here, at the end, he swiped Daryl’s “baby” – having even previously mentioned that he knows how to use it (Daryl overheard this when he was groggy from getting knocked out).
We want to hear it.
Regardless, the chatty trio that Daryl encountered (doomed younger sister was named “Tina”) were dull and I didn’t full buy them, no matter how regretful they were, turning on Daryl at the end. After all he’d done for them. And also how much Dwight seemed to abhor corruption and duplicity. And “kneeling.” Lots of talk about kneeling. It was mentioned three times in conjunction with the new mystery machine gun gang.
I don’t know. Perhaps Daryl losing that crossbow was a good thing too since he almost got killed by a walker trying to take it out of that duffle bag. Anyone who’s ever argued that a crossbow is way too clunky and awkward to be effective in a zompocalypse now has a substantial amount of new ammo because it almost seemed like Daryl was relying on that thing too much.
Even further down on the investment scale were Abraham and Sasha, who basically used their time together to continue the conversation they started back in the car in the premiere episode. She’s trying to carry on carefully while he’s so damaged that he’s got a bit of a smirky death wish and an addiction to killing walkers. And while I certainly enjoy the fact that the group (whenever it is that they make it back home) now has a rocket launcher, not much was going on here for either character. Did Abraham start to fall for her in the end? Was that the takeaway? Because she gave him s***? I mean, it’s not like Abraham and Rosita’s relationship was any great love story, but I didn’t get this particular Abraham/Sasha moment.
We want to hear it.
Sure, I mean, Sasha did have a point about how constantly looking for a fight, for action, limits one’s choices and makes you less of a cognitive human. Abraham needed to be told that – and perhaps he needed to scream right in walker’s gnawing face to see the error of his ways – but I still feel like there were better stories to tell with this time.
So was that Glenn saying “Help!” at the end? Though the radio? (Norman Reedus sets the record straight on this in our interview with him, if you want an answer.) Is it finally time to circle back to his story, or will we not even pick up on this thread next week and everything’ll get saved for the midseason finale? Because this year, as you know, there’s no guarantee as to what comes next.
Whether or not “Always Accountable” was introducing us to characters who could become important down the line, it was a pretty tepid run. I certainly hope they find something interesting for Michael Cudlitz’ Abraham to do eventually, tough in the comics he does sort of fall off after the whole “cure” storyline. And while Daryl’s always watchable (and, for sure, we don’t need to rely on him for dialogue), this wasn’t the best use of him.
