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.
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.
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.
The new streaming series ‘Countdown’ premiered in the wee hours of the morning on Prime Video, much to the delight of scores of waiting fans. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, there are no big spoilers in this review, but there is some description of the characters we’re introduced to and the events of the first three episodes. Which I loved!
‘Countdown’ follows an LAPD officer 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. The show is a high energy, suspenseful rollercoaster ride, with all the epic chase scenes and fight scenes and explosive surprises that you might expect from this kind of show. Its characters, however, are unexpectedly complex, badass but also surprisingly vulnerable (as much as they try to hide it). The cast are as interesting a group as the task force itself, all of them talented enough to pull the complexity off.
‘Countdown’ stars Jensen Ackles as Mark Meachum, a rebel of an LAPD officer who isn’t afraid to go undercover (like, seriously undercover) and is a veteran of another task force with a similarly challenging mission. I’ve been a fan of Jensen Ackles for twenty years, ever since Supernatural’s Dean Winchester captured my heart, so I couldn’t wait to meet his new character.
And what a meeting it is!
Meachum is a badass with probably too much courage and bravado for his own good. When we meet him, he doesn’t look on the side of the law in any way, long haired and scruffy in prison scrubs (which totally works for Ackles because of course it does. I mean, Soldier Boy, ahem…)
He’s also holding his own in a brawl in the yard. And let me tell you, there’s nothing Ackles fans love more than watching his character go absolutely feral, kicking and snarling and showing off his fighting prowess.
Fandom: Who’s that actor and how’d he get that job?
Ackles isn’t afraid to get (literally) down and dirty, manhandled and thrown to the ground and athletically kicking anything and everything in range even as he’s held back by some burly guards. (His stunt double of course did some of this, but that was Ackles getting thrown around at some points too – much to his delight!)
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.
I’ve been a fan of Jensen Ackles for a long time, ever since Supernatural’s Dean Winchester appeared on the screen twenty years ago and captured my heart. Ackles has been in quite a few series since then, including his memorable turn as Soldier Boy in ‘The Boys’ (returning in 2026), but I am loving how much buzz there is for the new show he’s starring in, ‘Countdown’. The internet has been so full of Countdown content that it’s been difficult to keep up – which is definitely NOT something I’m complaining about!
Even the TV Guide which still gets delivered to our house old school featured Ackles and company on the cover, much to my great delight.
In fact, it seems like Jensen Ackles and Countdown are everywhere.
If you were in New York City, you were treated to a billboard!
Thanks to Prime Video kindly sending me the advance screeners, I’ve been able to watch the new series (the first four episodes so far) and I am now even MORE excited for everyone to see them too. While we wait for the series to kick off on June 25 so I can post all my thoughts on the first three episodes that I’m absolutely bursting to share, here’s why we are all so full of anticipation. (No spoilers!)
One reason for all the excitement? Derek Haas is not only the showrunner, but wrote ALL the first season episodes.
The first thing Jensen Ackles said to me about ‘Countdown’, back when the show was announced, was how excited he was to be working with Derek Haas. Haas created ‘Chicago Fire’ and wrote over 200 episodes of that show and its various spinoffs, impressing a lot of people along the way – including Ackles.
And Amazon.
And guess who else has been impressing Amazon (and Haas) along the way? That’s right. Ackles. That makes Countdown an absolute love fest, with all three feeling lucky to be working with the other two. And it shows!
Ackles, Haas and Dane on the carpet
During the press day last week, Haas told GiveMeMyRemote.com that after he pitched Countdown to Amazon, one of the execs called him and said “you’ve got to meet this guy, Jensen Ackles.” The two went to lunch, discovered they grew up in the same hometown, and totally hit it off. “From that moment on,” Haas said, “I was thinking about and writing Mark Meachum in Jensen’s cadence. He’s so funny and nice and up for anything, and that kind of infused the character as we went.” In another chat with The Wrap, Haas remembered the genre shows he’d loved growing up, like Raiders, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, and said “Thankfully, I got Jensen Ackles – he could have been in any of those movies.”
Add to that an ensemble cast who are both talented and apparently just plain wonderful to work with, and you’ve got a recipe for success. I confess I didn’t know Haas or his work, but I’ve followed Ackles and his work for twenty years as a passionate Supernatural and The Boys fan. Hearing him talk about the great atmosphere they had on the Countdown set, the cast playing games or playing guitar in between takes, is what makes me most excited about the show. When there’s that genuine chemistry in real life, it translates to the screen – anyone who watched Supernatural knows that!
Ackles has talked many times about how important it was to him to set a tone on the set of Supernatural that made going to work fun, with the cast and the crew joking around until they called Action, including in his chapter in ‘There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done’. He brought that ethos to Countdown. The behind the scenes photos shared during filming and taking a break from press day make that clear.
Ackles admitted to ExtraTV that he tried hard to break everyone and make them laugh, both cast and crew.
Ackles: I think it sets a tone on set that is – you forget we’re making entertainment here sometimes – I like to have fun doing what I do. It should be fun, you should enjoy it. I like that kind of environment to create in.
There’s a reason Supernatural ran for 15 years, after all.
At the premiere party for Countdown last week in LA and in the press day interviews, the mutual love fest that Jensen Ackles and costar Eric Dane have going on was also clear. Dane was recently diagnosed with ALS; Ackles was a steadfast and supportive friend at his side for much of the press day and Dane had nothing but praise for Ackles as both a friend and an actor.
Frazer Harrison via Getty Images
Ackles shared with People that Dane’s command of scenes and his quiet leadership were something that came through onscreen but were also influential on set, calling Dane “a total stud”. Dane, like ‘The Boys’ Antony Starr, was hoping mutual acquaintances would give him some dirt on Ackles, but nope. “I love you,” Dane confided to Ackles in an interview with TooFab. “Shut up,” Ackles retorted fondly.
All the actors complimented each other in the press day interviews. That translates into lots of chemistry between them onscreen, which sets Countdown apart from your standard procedural.
‘Countdown’ follows an LAPD officer (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. That sounds like relatively standard procedural fare, but the show stands out in more ways than one.
First, Ackles and Haas have expressed their excitement for the format of Countdown – like many streaming shows, it will release some episodes simultaneously, in this case the first three. But like more traditional network shows, the rest of the episodes will release weekly, giving fans time to dissect and discuss and hypothesize and do what fans do best. Instead of six or eight episodes, Countdown has thirteen, giving its audience more time with the characters to get to really care about them. As a psychologist who studies fandom, I think that both of those strategies make a difference. Every show dreams about building a fanbase as loyal, long-lasting and passionate as Supernatural’s, but it’s difficult to do with a limited number of episodes that all drop at once, precluding the anticipation that’s an agonizing and pleasurable part of fandom and not providing enough content and backstory to nourish fans’ discussion and creativity in expanding its canon.
Countdown aims to remedy both those problems. Of course, you still have to have a well written and conceived show with compelling characters to capture fans’ attention – but guess what? Countdown has managed to do that too!
Second, the show is as suspenseful as its ticking stopwatch title card suggests. It pulls you in and grabs hold of you and just doesn’t let you go. From its first frames, the series knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat with its well choreographed action scenes and epic chases. The filming angles make you feel like you’re right there in the midst of the action, the music is so good it’s an integral part of telling the story, and the fast pace gets your adrenaline pumping. Do not drink a big cup of caffeine while you’re watching this show!
It’s not just the action and suspense that draws you in, though, it’s the people. Countdown also introduces its ensemble cast of characters slowly enough that you feel like you get to know them a little before the team is assembled – and you even start to care about them. I have A LOT more to say about the characters, but I’ll save most of that for the 25th. I will say that the chemistry Ackles keeps saying was created “in disgusting amounts” is very much in evidence.
Third, the series (at least the four episodes I’ve watched so far) is remarkably consistent. Haas wrote all the episodes of this first season and is also the showrunner, so it’s a tight narrative – something that’s rare in a 13 episode series! Haas is a gifted writer, creating characters who each stand out in their own way. He shows them to us gradually, letting us form a first impression just like their fellow team members do, but then giving us glimpses of what’s underneath – which often contradicts their surface presentation just enough that we’re left going hmmmm…
Sure Mark Meachum is a badass full of bravado and snark – a cowboy who doesn’t fit the mold and doesn’t care. But we find out quickly that he does care about justice, especially when it’s the powerful hurting the less powerful. And he’s not afraid to put his own future on the line to do what he thinks is right. The other characters are similarly complex, all facing challenges they’d rather the rest of the team not see. Nathan Blythe is the team leader, the anchor keeping them in check as well as the calm presence who keeps them grounded, and Eric Dane is the perfect actor to bring him to life. Every character is unique, with a backstory that’s relatable enough that we want to know more.
From Derek Haas on Bluesky
Jensen Ackles fans are split as to whether there should be any parallels drawn to Ackles’ iconic role as Dean Winchester in Supernatural – Ackles himself, who loves Dean as much as any of us do, has been happy to make those comparisons, saying that the Mark Meachum character will be familiar
Any character who says (with great sincerity) like Mark Meachum does “If I’m going out, I’m going out saving something” would have a hard time not reminding me of Dean Winchester! In my book, that is far from a bad thing.
Both Eric Dane and Jensen Ackles know what it’s like to be known for playing a long-running character on a popular show (like Grey’s Anatomy or Supernatural).
Ackles: If you get put into a box in this industry, maybe from a working actor’s perspective it’s debilitating, but I don’t view it as that. I view it as the fact that we actually made it into a box and there is a playground in which we can play. I’m happy to play in that as long as this industry will let me. If it wants to see me in somewhere else and play in a different playground, I’m happy to do that too. I don’t have to do this, I get to do this. As long as I get to keep playing with amazing people like this and telling amazing stories like Derek has created, put me in a box all day.
Eric: I love him.
Interviewer: I love you both.
Me: I love everyone in this video!
And I do really appreciate Jensen’s genuine gratitude and enthusiasm for the profession he loves and the characters he plays. And how he looks in that green shirt.
TV Line gets my award for interview question that most amused Ackles: Would you say that Mark Meachum has BDE – Big Dean (Winchester) Energy?
Ackles: Yeah I think you could definitely say there’s a familiarity there. I don’t know about similarity, but there’s a familiarity in that they’re a little cavalier in the way they attack the dark forces.
And that is very very fun to watch! (Of course, as he pointed out, the dark forces Meachum is going after are mortal, not ghost and vampires. Hence he only needs a pistol instead of a whole trunk full of weapons).
Mark and Dean are not the same in many ways, but the things that are familiar are things that I enjoy in a character – things that make a fictional character human. That make us care about them. Ackles excels at showing us that nuance and reluctant vulnerability in a character, and I am already intrigued by Mark Meachum as a result.
Are you enjoying all the buzz as much as I am? You can catch Jensen Ackles tomorrow on Jimmy Fallon talking Countdown – and then catch the premiere of the first three episodes on June 25 streaming on Prime Video.
