Review: ‘Countdown’ Brings the Action – But That’s Not All!

I don’t like to spoil anything in reviews, so I’m saving the details for Countdown’s actual release day, but here’s the bottom line – you’re going to want to watch this show!

A brief synopsis: ‘Countdown’ follows an LAPD officer (Jensen Ackles) who is recruited to a secret task force to solve a murder. In the process a sinister plot to take down the whole city is uncovered, upping the stakes considerably.

Yes, as many reviews have said, it’s a high stakes action packed procedural that’s going to have wide appeal. It’s a roller coaster of a suspense ride, filmed so that you feel like you’re right there in the midst of the action, dodging bullets and bad guys and barely escaping with your life just like the task force members. It’ll get your adrenaline pumping and keep you on the edge of your seat, and that is just plain FUN.

But is that all?

I’ve read some reviews that the suspense and action are its strength and that Countdown falls short in between the chase sequences and shoot outs, but I disagree. That’s never enough for me to keep watching a show – it has to grab me by the heartstrings, and ideally by the analytical part of my brain too. This show does that. Every character is unique, and all have something going on that they’d rather not talk about – something underneath the uber competent personas they show on the surface. We find this out little by little, as (to put it how the actors love to put it) they peel back the layers so we can see that none of them are as put together as they want us (or each other) to believe.

Shout out to Derek Haas’ writing, but the cast are also talented enough to make these reveals believable, and allow themselves to show enough vulnerability that we care about their challenges. I was rooting for all of them by the end of the first episode. Full disclosure, I’m a long time Jensen Ackles fan, so I knew he could make Mark Meachum a nuanced character – and I’m here to tell you that he does. Once we know what Mark is facing, there are innumerable little moments when a subtle change in expression lets us know that he’s struggling before he quickly covers it up again. That’s the kind of acting that does justice to a character written to be complex. He can be a cocky asshole, and then two scenes later a vulnerable human being facing the most human of struggles.

The ensemble cast – every member of the task force – is capable of the same nuanced acting. Someone owes the casting agency a big fruit basket!

We also get to see Ackles play action hero of course, jumping off moving vehicles and rolling around in the dirt and wrestling bad guys (kudos to the stunt actor too, but apparently Ackles got to do some of that himself, much to his delight).

I wasn’t familiar with Derek Haas’ previous very successful shows, but his writing is solid here in creating these characters and beginning to weave relationships between them. The show has a very “real time” feel to it, so it feels like those relationships are developing organically, with us witnessing them.

There’s a dark backstory full of tragedy that’s also at its core very human, a mystery that slowly reveals itself as the task force realizes what they’re actually dealing with. It was confusing at first, but that gave me an Aha moment that was satisfying when I realized what (and who) (and why) they were up against.

The production value of Countdown is impressive. I am always pulled in by a show that’s visually appealing, and this one is. It’s obvious right away that this isn’t just a show filmed in LA – LA herself is a character in the show. Both its iconic touristy locations (the Hollywood sign looming in the background) and its lesser known neighborhoods, from the quirky to the quaint to the gritty, are lovingly featured. I always felt like Vancouver was almost a character in Supernatural, its beauty enriching the show, but in Countdown, LA isn’t standing in for anywhere else – she gets to be herself. And the directors know how to show her off and incorporate her unique personality into the show.

One more thing – and this is something that amplifies what I’ve already pointed out as positives – the music in the series is awesome. I had a brief conversation with Ackles trying to characterize it, with neither of us really succeeding, but it’s effective in part because it’s an eclectic mix – there’s grunge and alternative and good old rock n roll, and most of it is not something that will be instantly familiar, but it’s always something that works with the scene. The action sequences are already heart-pounding, but the rapid pace of the music chosen amps the adrenaline up even more – and in those quieter scenes, amplifies the emotionality that the actors are already bringing.

I can’t wait to tell you more! Countdown premieres on June 25 with the first three episodes. The remaining ten release weekly on Wednesdays on Prime Video.

See you back here on the 25^th!

-Lynn

You can read more from Jensen Ackles in

his chapters in Family Don’t End With

Blood, There’ll Be Peace When You Are

Done, and Supes Ain’t Always Heroes 

(all about portraying Soldier Boy)