Countdown Premiere Reveals 2 Heroes Are Ticking Clocks, As Well — 'I Want You On The Edge Of Your Seat,' Says EP
The following contains spoilers from the Countdown series premiere, now streaming on Prime Video.
The Countdown is now on, with Wednesday's three-episode premiere of Prime Video's new thriller from #OneChicago vet Derek Haas.
But as viewers learned from the very first episode, multiple "countdowns" are at play.
Yes, Task Force Hurricane — comprised of SAC Nathan Blythe (Euphoria's Eric Dane), LAPD detective Mark Meachum (Supernatural's Jensen Ackles), DEA badass Amber Oliveras (All Rise's Jessica Camacho), DHS intelligence offer Damon Drew (The Chosen's Jonathan Togo), LAPD gangs unit officer Lucas Finau (Young Rock's Uli Latukefu), and FBI agents Evan Shepherd (The Flash's Violett Beane) and Keyonte Bell (The Boys' Elliot Knight) — has been tasked with hunting down a man named "Volchek," who has brought a sizable amount of fissile material to Los Angeles, for an unknown nefarious purpose.
Beyond that catastrophic threat, two team members are "ticking clocks" in their own ways.
Meachum, we learned from a doctor appointment he slipped away to in Episode 1, was diagnosed nine months ago with glioblastoma multiforme, a highly aggressive and malignant type of brain tumor. His doctor urged him to kick back, pop pain killers and "live out the time you have left in as much comfort as you can," but Meachum, you know, has a nuclear bomb to find. "Wish I could, doc...," he shrugged.
Oliveras, meanwhile, picked up a drug addiction during one of her undercover DEA assignments, Blythe learned from a friend. Given the way she struggled to flush some seized smack in Episode 3... well, we are more than a bit concerned.
'THE COUNTDOWN MEANS MORE THAN WHAT VIEWERS THOUGHT'
"One of the things we talked about with Amazon," showrunner Derek Haas tells TVLine, "is that the countdown clock isn't just this giant external threat to a major city that is informing the case of the entire show, but it's also an internal countdown clock that's going on with multiple characters.
"I think it'll be fun for audiences to discover as they go that the countdown means more than what they thought it meant," the EP adds.
WILL MEACHUM MAKE IT OUT OF SEASON 1 ALIVE?
Upon hearing Meachum's dire diagnosis, which is recounted a few times throughout Countdown's first 10 episodes (of 13), Ackles' passionate fan base may be quite concerned that his character will D-I-E by season's end.
What words of reassurance, if any, can Haas offer?
"I hope that that's what they are thinking," the series' creator says, "because to me the danger in this job is real" under any circumstances. "And then you throw [his diagnosis] on top for them...?
"I don't want you comfortable in this show, [thinking] that these characters that you've gotten to know and love are going to be around the whole time, because otherwise the danger doesn't feel real," Haas stresses. "Anytime that they roll out, I want you on the edge of your seat — and that'll get reinforced later in the series."
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