Despite a presumably larger budget and its streaming service home,Jensen Ackles’Countdownis still very much a cop show, sharing many qualities with even those entries in the genre that fill out many channel’s lineups on traditional network TV. The main element separating the Prime Video series from its more procedural cousins is the almost ludicrously high stakesCountdownestablishes. For most of the remainder of the series (or at least this first season), those stakes will presumably continue to stem from the simultaneous threats of an impending nuclear weapons attack on Los Angeles and LAPD Detective Mark Meachum’s (Ackles) seemingly terminal diagnosis with a brain tumor, but before those plot twists are introduced the show’s pilot establishes its high level of danger with a cameo from a popular 2000s TV star. Ackles will always be inextricably tied toJared Padalecki, his onscreen brother fromSupernatural, in the minds of many viewers, butCountdown’s shocking first scene instead features one of the latter’s formerGilmore Girlsco-stars,Milo Ventimiglia.
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Season 1, Episode 1, titled “Teeth in the Bone”, begins with Department of Homeland Security Agent Robert Darden (Ventimiglia) on his way to a meeting with an underworld contact. Before he arrives, Darden speaks with his wife, Meredith (Emily Bridges), over the phone, promising to do his best to finish work in time to attend their young son’s performance. As soon as their meeting starts, the contact and several other criminals attack him, and after an extended chase/fight sequence,Darden is shot dead on a busy LA street. FBI Agent Nathan Blythe (Eric Dane) quickly assembles a task force of elite but unpredictable local law enforcement officers, supposedly to investigate the brazen murder. However, Blythe is obviously unsurprised when the case reveals the existence of a much larger conspiracy, even if he may not have precisely predicted the involvement of fissile materials that could be used in a nuclear strike.
In an interview withGold Derby, Ackles revealed that a different actor had initially been cast as Darden and shot the opening sequence before the series’ producers recast the part with Ventimiglia and had the sequence reshot. Ackles, who had known Ventimiglia personally beforehand, recalled creatorDerek Haasand producing directorJonathan Brownexplaining that, given the Darden murder’s importance in inciting the show’s narrative, they felt that it was important that a more recognizable actor play the character. While the original performer’s work got cut, the final product leaves the viewer with the impression that they made the right decision. Ventimiglia’s work inGilmore Girls,This Is Us, and other projects likeRocky Balboahave made him extremely popular and the fact that most of his famous characters are likable means thatviewers familiar with him will likely be somewhat endeared to the Darden character despite his brief time onscreen, as well as surprised at his fate.
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‘Countdown’ stars Jensen Ackles and Eric Dane.
Ventimiglia’s presence makes the viewer sympathetic to the character and his family, with Bridges’ strong performance as the grieving widow (and now single mother) adding to this effect. This, in turn, ensures that the viewer is invested in seeing the criminal mystery unraveled even before the larger threat of the fissile materials is revealed. Things get particularly tense when evidence begins to suggest that Darden was corrupt, especially with Meredith’s devastatingly adamant refusal to believe this was the case. The subsequent confirmation that Darden was, in fact, an honest, moral agentis a relief that gives the episode’s closing moments some welcome optimismdespite the more complicated problems left for the rest of the show to resolve and Blythe and Special Agent Evan Sheperd (Violett Beane) delivering both the initial, upsetting corruption evidence and then the welcome news of exoneration to the family allows the starring actors to begin to flesh out their characters and performances. Ifearly reviewsare anything to go by,Countdownprobably won’t be winning many awards. Still, it could become a decent comfort or guilty pleasure show, like many police series before it, especially if it continues to balance out the high-stakes intensity with simple but heartwarming doses of humanity like this.
‘Countdown’s Opening Subverts a Cop Show Cliché
And while the series is much more similar to classic cop shows, it does subvert one trope of the genre with Ventimiglia’s cameo. In most police series, especially procedurals likeLaw & OrderandCriminal Minds,characters played by the most famous guest stars often turn out to be the main villainsof a given episode, or at least have an important role in the crime being investigated. This gives the popular actors the strongest possible material to work with, often resulting in entertaining performances, but with the drawback that the central mystery plots can be rendered predictable depending on just how recognizable the guest stars are.
Ventimiglia instead appearing as a murder victim, does upend this expectation, likely making Darden’s death extra surprising for viewers familiar with the actor and/or the genre, while also quickly establishing the high level of danger necessary forCountdown’s heightened story. It’s not yet clear whether the show will continue to feature these less predictable elements throughout. Still, if it does so while also maintaining the aforementioned mix of emotions, it could become a decently entertaining action series, despite some of the show’s flaws.
