Category: Countdown

Supernatural Creation Cons 2026 – First up, Vegas!

Supernatural Creation Cons 2026 – First up, Vegas!

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Vegas was the first con of 2026. It had been a few months since the Supernatural fandom had been together with the cast, so there was extra anticipation for this one. It’s a long flight for me, which is never fun, and it was late, so I didn’t get there until later in the day on Friday, missing lots of the Friday fun unfortunately. Also unfortunately, Jared Padalecki wasn’t able to be there, and we were all missing him. (But excited that he was filming a movie!)

There were some guests we don’t usually get to see, including Emmanuelle Vaugier (Madison the werewolf).  Barry Bostwick, who was in the Supernatural episode ‘Criss Angel is a Douchebag’, was also there, signing autographs in the vendor room just a few tables down from mine. It was surreal having someone who starred in something so formative in my very younger days – The Rocky Horror Picture Show – hanging out and chatting. Curtis Armstrong (Metatron) was also in the vendor room right down the aisle from my table, and we got a chance to reconnect and share a hug.  We all hated his character, but I love Curtis – and I’d love to see him do a panel again too!

I caught a little of the ladies panel with Emmanuelle, Alaina Huffman, Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster, Emily Swallow and Samantha Smith.

Samantha Smith: It wasn’t fully scripted when Dean and Mary look in the Impala. It was like Dean remembered being conceived there…

Briana said that her last episode on the show was surreal, because it was all of them not knowing when Covid would shut them down.

Sam is used to her character being controversial.

Sam: I have people come to my table and say, I hate your character!

Alaina: Sometimes people come up and say, you’re my hall pass, and I’m like um, nice to meet you?

Emily imitated how some people come up to her and recognize her and say “It’s the Darkness!!”

I did not make the trek all the way back to the ballroom, which was approximately 25 miles away, for karaoke, but I hear it was a good one!

Saturday was Misha Collins day. Misha said he’s trying to learn piano, but doesn’t want to practice. My thirteen year old self can so relate.

What would he like to be like if he was younger?

Misha: I have five children in my house a lot of the time and they’re always eager to learn, and I’d like that back.

He re-told the classic Jensen Ackles walks into an electronics store and the clerk just points across the room and there’s a table with a giant portrait of him in Skittles for GISH!

He tried to show the photo on his phone but it didn’t work out well.

Misha: I didn’t expect to have Jensen’s face in my crotch here…

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Countdown Wraps Season One with Multiple Cliffhangers

Countdown Wraps Season One with Multiple Cliffhangers

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WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE COUNTDOWN SEASON FINALE!

You never know what to hope for with a season finale when you don’t know if you’ll get another season. Do you want the threads left dangling so there could be a possibility of more, or would you rather they get mostly tied up neatly just in case?

There are up sides to either, but there’s a lot I’ll be left wondering about if there’s no season 2. So I guess we cross our fingers?

Will They or Won’t They?

Many fans got invested in Mark Meachum and Amber Oliveras’ relationship, which has been a tease throughout the series. I would be fine with them being partners and friends and demonstrating real care for each other, and that might make the most sense if they’re going to keep being on the same task force together. On the other hand, there are undoubtedly some romantic feelings there between the characters, so I could see it going that way too.

The two do a lot more dancing around each other in this episode, with everyone watching seeing clearly that they both care about each other and are into each other, and possibly yelling at their screens when they are both with someone else. For Oliveras that’s Julio, who seems like a really great guy – but she just doesn’t seem that into him. For Meachum, there’s a new person, a fellow officer he reconnects with.

She was surprised he called; he was surprised she answered. They clearly have some history, but she says she was “between things” and her mom didn’t like the last guy, so why not?

Mark: What does she think about me?

Hannah: She can’t stand you.

He doesn’t seem either surprised or too bothered by this and neither does she, judging by their immediate makeout session in the doorway.

Oliveras texts him to hit her up about the case, but the (understandably) eager woman reminds Meachum “clock’s ticking”.

What an appropriate thing to say for a show called ‘Countdown’! Also, who can blame her?

Oliveras doesn’t look very happy about it the next morning when she sees that Meachum didn’t respond to her at all. She confronts him about it over coffee at HQ and Meachum is studiously casual.

Oliveras: Hey, you didn’t text be back.

Meachum: Oh, I didn’t…what did you want?

He claims he didn’t want to interrupt her and the doc’s romantic dinner by “inserting himself”. When she retorts that she was the one who texted him, he defensively says that maybe HE was having a romantic dinner.

Oliveras: Oh, where’d you take her, Pink’s Hotdogs?

Meachum: Don’t ever denigrate Pink’s.

I mean, he’s right. That was one of the first places we went on our first trip to LA. And they were good!

Oliveras and Meachum continue to snark at each other as they go after Todd. She says Julio is reliable and stable. Mark snarks that’s what every girl wants. (Gotta say, since we’re in a fictional media world, Mark is 100% right. The girl never stays with Mr. Reliable and Stable. Of course, she doesn’t know she’s in a TV show…)

Oliveras: Julio is not boring.

Meachum: Nah, he’s… steady… stable…

Oliveras: You’re exhausting.

Meachum isn’t giving up easily though. He reminds her that opposites don’t really attract, so when they try to be with someone from the ‘normal world’ it’s a disaster because they don’t get it and they never will.

Mark: So we push it down and we fake that we’re normal.

Oliveras: So, what? Break up with Julio and be with you? Because you’ve just been waiting for me, pining, all by your lonesome…

He says maybe he has.

She says he’s full of shit.

Meachum: You helped me through a tough time, okay? That means something to me. Whatever this is, it doesn’t require extra work. This is magic you can’t fake, and you know it. And I know it.

They get soooooooooo close and then…

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‘Countdown’ Season Finale is Next Week – Here’s What We Know About Mark Meachum

‘Countdown’ Season Finale is Next Week – Here’s What We Know About Mark Meachum

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As we head into the season finale of Countdown, I wanted to look back over the evolution of one of the show’s main characters, Mark Meachum (Jensen Ackles). We’ve gotten to know Mark better than any of the other task force members, and to be honest, it’s the fact that Jensen Ackles stars that got me watching in the first place. Like the others he’s brought to life so vividly, Ackles’ acting talent made Meachum an interesting character.

Let’s look back at what we know about Mark and what’s kept him feeling real and human, instead of an unrealistic bigger-than-life superhero. I value that about all the characters Ackles plays, even when he’s literally playing a “supe” (as in Solder Boy). We still see their humanity, and often their vulnerability too.

One of the reasons I hope there’s a Season 2 is that we don’t know very much about Mark Meachum’s past yet. Or even his personal life in the current one. We do get a few glimpses of domestic Mark, in his comfy little house or having a beer on his comfy little front porch.

We also get hints of a difficult and troubled childhood and adolescence, but I’d really like to know more. How have those experiences shaped who he is today?

And who IS he today?

Well, first off…

He’s a Charmer

Mark can come off like a jerk sometimes, and in fact he can sometimes BE a jerk. Especially when he feels rejected, so he needs to let that person know he does NOT care (because of course he does).

But he can also be both charming and adorable.

He turns that charm on Oliveras right from the start, though most of the time she’s not buying it.

As the internet would say, he’s pookie.

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One More Episode to Go for Season One of Countdown!

One More Episode to Go for Season One of Countdown!

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WARNING: SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 12!

Will Meachum Be Climbing the Ladder?

In the penultimate episode of Season 1, Todd gets scarier – and his threats get more personal – and Meachum contemplates his future, now that he has one.

Blythe asks him if he’s thought about moving up the ladder to Lieutenant or Captain, and when Meachum makes a joke of it, calls him on it.

Blythe: Your main problem is you sell yourself short. You make jokes because you’re insecure. You’re a natural leader, don’t have disdain for ambition.

Meachum: I didn’t know we were doing an FBI psych profile…

(Thereby proving Blythe’s point)

It seems like something that Meachum hasn’t really let himself consider, but he does often take the lead and the team follows him almost instinctively, so I think Blythe is onto something. Meachum has a lot of baggage though, and his defense mechanism of knocking himself down before someone else can do it keeps getting in his way.

He admits that to Blythe later that day.

Meachum: I was thinking about what you said this morning… I appreciate it. Sometimes I have a tendency to get in my own way with things, I don’t know why.

Blythe offers to put in a word for him with the LAPD higher ups.

He does start taking charge more, calling more of the shots when the team is out in the field and generally starting to seem like a leader.

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Countdown Episode 11 Gets Disturbing with ‘Run’

Countdown Episode 11 Gets Disturbing with ‘Run’

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Season One, Part 2

The task force’s new mission is, in some ways, more disturbing to me than its first. There’s something less horrifying about the stereotypical ‘bad guy’ plot to blow up a city or take over the weather or something on a grand scale – maybe because that’s what we’re used to from the Marvel type villain. Or maybe because it’s less personal, so somehow less impactful. Volchek was one of those ‘bad guys’ – though I was also fascinated by Volchek as a villain. We saw enough of his backstory to understand some of how he became so bent on revenge, and he was smart and devious and the actor had lots of charisma in spite of the character he was playing. Is it wrong that I kinda miss him?

The villain of this mission is, frankly, just horrifying – in a turn my stomach kind of way. I don’t mind my media dark, so I’m intrigued. What are we going to find out about this guy??

This is the first full episode in what feels like Part 2 of the first season of the show. It’s disconcerting that it’s so different, but I admit it also ups the fascination factor. Even the pace of this episode is much slower, especially in the beginning. We follow the new bad guy in acute detail as he listens to radio propaganda, puts on camo gear, loads his rifle and goes hunting.  The music is even slow, and while I was fairly sure this was going to be a bad guy, it was almost deceptively peaceful. Until the gut punch at the end of his hunt.

We see that a few years earlier, the guy is out of work, presumably for PTSD reasons, and reacts badly when a friend/colleague suggests that he should get back to work or he’ll be called a malingerer. His girlfriend is also pushing that, and you can see the pressure building up – he’s like a powder keg, waiting for a match. I find this guy scarier than Volchek because it’s “everyday” rage and violence, and we’re all surrounded by people like that in real life. As soon as we meet his girlfriend and her adorable beloved little beagle, my stomach was queasy. When she betrays him and he takes the dog with him when he leaves, I was full on nauseous.

The task force needs a name for their killer; Meachum suggests Todd. I’m not sure why that’s funny, but I laughed and so did the rest of the team. Nevertheless, Todd it is.

I don’t like Todd.

Guess Who’s Back?

They know that the Governor of California and the POTUS are the targets, thus the need for the task force – which Oliveras returns to join also.

That’s not a big surprise, though we couldn’t be absolutely certain they’d bring her back. Considering that the sparks between her and Meachum are definitely part of the show’s appeal, though, it would have been an odd decision not to have Jessica Camacho return.

Things are strained between Meachum and her after their almost-hook-up ten months before, especially because Oliveras has been dating the doctor who cured Meachum, Julio. Meachum is clearly threatened by that, posturing by insinuating he’s been doing a lot of sleeping around himself, “doing all the living I can with whoever, more than one whoevers…”

Oliveras: Gross.

Meachum: it’s not gross, it’s human nature.

(Sam and Dean Winchester may have had this same conversation after Dean’s tryst with twins, just saying…)

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Episode 10 of Countdown Sets the Stage for a Season 2!

Episode 10 of Countdown Sets the Stage for a Season 2!

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WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 10 OF COUNTDOWN!

This episode, the tenth in Countdown’s first season, is unusual in that it wraps up a major story line, with three episodes to go in the season. The big confrontation with Volchek that has been the goal of the first ten episodes doesn’t disappoint in terms of suspense, as we pick up right where we left off, Meachum and Volchek staring each other down as panicked people flee the square.

We start with a bang – or actually a not-bang. Volchek hits the detonate button, but Evan can see it on the tablet and yells to Bell to “rip it out”. They both rip out the tablets and it stops the detonation just in time. Volchek realizes and takes off, civilians still running all over too. In the chaos, Finau shoots Andrej before he can shoot his family.

Meachum and Oliveras chase Volchek to the roof. The take down is complicated by Meachum’s brain tumor making him dizzy and in pain at the most inopportune of times. He stumbles, pleading “not now not now” as Oliveras gets knocked down by Volchek as he runs. Mark is barely able to see straight but he stops to help her, with a reassuring “hey hey” that’s familiar to any Supernatural fan from decades of Sam and Dean being in similar life and death situations.

Oliveras: Get Volchek!

Meachum gets to the roof in spite of being in pain and dizzy, banging his head against a wall in desperation to try to focus well enough to aim a shot. Volchek is still trying to carry out his mass murder, shooting at the fuel tanks of the trucks.  Oliveras makes it to the roof and locks eyes with Meachum.

Oliveras: Do it.

It honestly seemed like a better idea to me for her to do it considering Meachum’s impairment, but he takes the shot and Volchek falls to the ground. The two stand over his body as Meachum calls in the report. And, just like that, the tragic story of Volchek is over.

I felt a little sad, oddly. He was a great villain – smart, ruthless, with a backstory that made you cringe for him sometimes. I like my villains (and my heroes, for that matter) complicated!

The Aftermath

Blythe gives one of his motivating speeches about how proud he is of the “badass individuals” on the team. He says it was an honor to have led them, and that the hard part now is to go their separate ways.

Blythe: But if we’re called upon to serve again, we’re going to be better partners and investigators because of the people in this room.

He takes Drew’s plaque down from the wall, bringing it with him.

Meachum speaks for the team.

Meachum: Even when we were cursing your name… mostly me… I think I speak for all of us when I say you are the best damn leader any of us has ever had, ever. We’d follow you anywhere.

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The Clock’s Ticking for Episode 9 of Countdown, “10-33”

The Clock’s Ticking for Episode 9 of Countdown, “10-33”

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SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 9 OF COUNTDOWN!!

This episode is one of my favorites so far. I’m always more drawn in by emotional drama than suspense/adventure, and this episode had plenty of it – plenty of both in fact!

How many times have I said that the beginning and ending of a Countdown episode is always so well done – and usually so impactful. This episode is no different. In fact, the first frames are hard to watch, Blythe trying to crawl back to his car with the knife still stuck in him, blood everywhere. For those of you Supernatural fans, it’s a Red Meat scenario when you’re really not sure the hero can survive, and you’re in awe of his determination.

It makes your stomach turn with how visceral it is. He somehow gets there, pops on the siren, gasping in pain, and calls in a breathless “10-33, corner of…” as he passes out.

Tick tick tick tick

Meachum’s Getting Worse

Meachum isn’t doing much better than Blythe at this point.

We see him once again in his bathroom, staring in the mirror, holding his head. Grimacing, he struggles to open the pill bottle for some relief and they spill all over the floor. He desperately scoops them up and takes some but the pain continues.

Sobbing, he splashes water on his face to try to keep going, then bangs his head against the wall in desperation. (If you’ve ever had a terrible migraine, you can understand that impulse as just trying to make it go away or temporarily replace it with some other pain even).

Once again, Ackles really makes us feel his pain and empathize with his incredible frustration. There is nobody better at conveying the intensity of his character’s pain – there’s a reason there were entire online communities devoted to “Hurt Dean Winchester” after all.

Meachum as the phone rings in the middle of his anguish: What??

He sits down, gasping for breath, struggling to compose himself as the phone keeps ringing, finally managing a somewhat normal sounding “Meachum” as he answers.

If you weren’t clutching your own head at this point, you’re a stronger person than I am!

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Things Get Serious in Countdown Episode 8, ‘The Nail In The Chair’

Things Get Serious in Countdown Episode 8, ‘The Nail In The Chair’

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SPOILERS FOR COUNTDOWN EPISODE 8!

This is a pivotal episode, and one that really amps up the feeling of desperation – on both sides.

Which is a good thing in terms of storytelling….

A Sad Man With Alot of Money

The story so far recap reminds us just how desperate and angry Volchek is – and how tragic his life has been. He is a terrible ruthless villain in this story, but actually seeing the losses and tragedies and betrayals that have shaped him also make him an understandable one. Shout out to Bogdan Yasinski once again for his nuanced portrayal – you are chilled by his ruthlessness but can also see his pain clearly.

We see a flashback to young Volchek and his doomed brother, who was taken advantage of and set up, and paid the price.

“I’m sorry I got you into this, brother…” And then the shot, and his brother dead by his own hand, unable to live with himself.

The title of the episode is explained right away, Volchek drinking at a bar, sharing a story about how Russians and Ukrainians and Belarussians sit on a nail on a chair. Belarussians, he says, would pretend it’s okay, pretend it’s comfortable, ask may I sit here all day?  It’s clear he’s talking about himself, how he’s been trying to handle his life that’s felt like sitting on a nail.

Eventually Volchek passes out and falls off the chair. Once he’s managed to make his way outside he’s approached by a man who knows who he is – “a sad man with a lot of money”. Wow, if that line isn’t relevant… He offers him protection. (That usually doesn’t go well, just saying).

In a flashback to 2021, “Mr. Vuso” meets with his banker, who suggests that he could disappear in America, have the American Dream. Volchek says he just wants to start over.  But the City of LA tells him they’ll requisition some of his parking lots for their vehicles, ruining his profits, so he tries to bribe them – which gets him arrested. He really has been screwed over repeatedly, and now everyone is paying the price.

There’s an eerie foreshadowing at the police station with Meachum and Finau literally crossing paths with their eventual adversary, then Volchek asks to see his lawyer. First he’s roughed up by the cop holding him, then by the other men in the holding cell who now see him as a rich guy. He gets brutally beaten by them and nobody does anything about it for far too long.  Bloodied and furious, Volchek is more dangerous than ever.

He still looks at photos of his wife on his phone as he waits to meet with his lawyer.

Probably not a job anyone should take, just saying.

Volchek: I was living my life. I absorbed the nail. Then they took my brother, they took my wife. I came to this country to see with my own eyes to see what kind of men could do these things. I thought maybe I was wrong, but it’s not the crops, it’s the very soil.  Sometimes the man gets up off the nail and smashes the chair to bits.

Me: Uh oh. Better run, lawyer dude!

He locks the guy in his car and blows it up.

Meachum and Oliveras: Sparks?

Meanwhile, the task force follows the leads they have. Meachum interrupts his domestic moment of cooking eggs on his stove to answer the phone and finds out about the dead Belarussian guys in Volchek’s basement.

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Episode 7 of Countdown – Suspicions, Twists and Unexpected Parallels

Episode 7 of Countdown – Suspicions, Twists and Unexpected Parallels

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SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 7 OF COUNTDOWN!

This show really knows how to start things off in a memorable way – this time it’s Mark Meachum doing pull ups on a beam in a barn, sleeveless tee and sweatpants and bare feet, juxtaposed with his adversary Volcheck working out by pummeling a heavy bag in a warehouse. Both men are sweating, grunting with exertion. The soundtrack is perfect, the lyrics ‘it’s a tick tick ticking time bomb’ foreshadowing their inevitable confrontation while also reminding us of the other time bomb – the one in Mark Meachum’s brain.

We’re clearly seeing them pitted against each other, more personally than we have before, with this intro. We also might be just sitting there kinda open mouthed watching Jensen Ackles do pull ups, not gonna lie.

Before we can recover from that, the scene transitions so quickly it’s disorienting from appreciating Meachum’s strength to watching him clutch his head after, vision blurring as he falls to the floor and curls up in agony.

The bars of the Countdown logo cage him in again, the tick tick tick of the clock counting down, as his phone rings, knowing he’s helpless to answer it.

There’s something about a big strong capable guy curled up in an almost fetal position on the floor that really leaves an impact. Ooof. Poor Mark.

Side note on this episode: As fandom works on a ship name for Oliveras and Meachum (I think Mamber is in the lead?),  I’m loving that Finau calls Mark “Meach”.

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Meachum and Oliveras Get A Little Closer: Countdown Episode 6

Meachum and Oliveras Get A Little Closer: Countdown Episode 6

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WARNING: SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 6 OF COUNTDOWN!

Episode 6 of Countdown (A Needle Or A Bullet) is a realistic look at just how convoluted the pursuit of someone like Volchek really is, which I appreciated. Showrunner and writer Derek Haas has said that he values that realism – enough that he’s been candid about none of the characters being “safe”. It’s realistic, given the task force’s situation, that any of them could be killed at any time, and I like that the show has put that on the table (as much as I might hate seeing any more of them die!) It ups the stakes and increases the suspense, and that’s a major part of what makes ‘Countdown’ compelling.

This episode also deepens the relationship between Meachum and Oliveras in some unexpected ways, which leaves me very curious to see how things unfold going forward.

I also like that the tension doesn’t just come from the will-they-or-won’t-they-survive question. The ‘countdown’ clock in Mark Meachum’s head is also ticking more and more loudly, which gives an underlying urgency to the episode. I find that character-focused personal countdown more compelling than the ‘save LA’ one. It’s usually the characters and their individual dilemmas that draw me into a series, much more than the “big story”. So I appreciate that ‘Countdown’ is taking us a little deeper into the task force members’ personal challenges. There are a lot of them, so I still don’t know much about some of them, but I’ve gotten enough tidbits that I’m curious to know more.

We know Meachum the best at this point; Ackles was my entry point for the show, so that works for me so far. (Side note: We also got an Entertainment Weekly cover story featuring Jensen Ackles and Jessica Camacho this week, so it was a good week for Countdown fans!)

Side note: Dean Winchester homage? That would be just like Ackles.

We do get a tiny bit of backstory for Finau and Bell in this episode too. In Finau’s past, he found a kid with his head stomped in, from a gang initiation, and vowed to “bust up shit like that”. What they’re doing, he says, feels important. He’s so Mothers Milk coded!

Bell confides that there’s never been a black Deputy Director of the FBI – he’s going to be the first. That ambition is part of what’s driving him to throw his all into the mission.

The episode’s beginning and ending are both perfect – it starts with a bang. Literally.

We get Mark Meachum at the target range, protective shades making him look even more badass than usual, taking turns target shooting with Oliveras.

She challenges him and he coolly raises his pistol and hits all five targets one right after the other.

Meachum: Marksman, highest ranking. But I would never say that…

It’s interesting to see the evolution of their partnership in how she responds to his not-bragging-but-bragging. She doesn’t get annoyed; this time there’s grudging admiration and maybe even a bit of fondness. I mean, there’s no question that Meachum is endearing, is there?

(Or that he’s an expert marksman. Good thing his medical condition isn’t impacting his precision, even if that’s a little hard to believe. Procedural memory (aka muscle memory) is pretty resilient, though, so I’ll go with it)

Jensen Ackles Gets His Tom Cruise On

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