| Countdown | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Crime drama |
| Created by | Derek Haas |
| Showrunner | Derek Haas |
| Written by | Derek Haas |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Derek Haas |
| Running time | 45–54 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | June 25 (2025-06-25) – September 3, 2025 (2025-09-03) |
Countdown is an Americancrime drama television series created and written byDerek Haas. It starsJensen Ackles,Jessica Camacho,Violett Beane,Elliot Knight,Uli Latukefu andEric Dane. It was released onAmazon Prime Video on June 25, 2025. In October 2025, the series was canceled after one season.
After aDepartment of Homeland Security officer is killed in plain sight,LAPD detective Mark Meachum is brought onto a covert task force with undercover agents from various law enforcement agencies to track down the murderer. However, the search reveals a much darker conspiracy than anyone expected, sparking a frantic race to protect a city of millions.[1][2]
| No. | Title [4] | Directed by | Written by [5] | Original release date [6] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Teeth in the Bone" | Jonathan Brown | Derek Haas | June 25, 2025 (2025-06-25) | |
ADepartment of Homeland Security agent is assassinated, promptingFBI Special Agent Nathan Blythe to form a special task force consisting ofLAPD detective Mark Meachum (Ackles),DEA agent Amber Oliveras (Camacho), DHSintelligence and analysis officer Damon Drew (Togo), FBIcyber crime specialist Evan Shepherd (Beane), FBI terrorism specialist Keyonte Bell (Knight), and LAPD gangs and narcotics specialist Luke Finau (Latukefu). Meachum is fresh out of a long undercover assignment with theAryan Brotherhood struggles with anger issues, while Oliveras has a documented history of drug abuse. The task force finds a suspicious deposit in the dead DHS agent's bank account, which leads them to the Los Reyes Nuevos cartel inTijuana, and discovers a large deposit offissile material left at thePort of Los Angeles. | |||||
| 2 | "Dead Lots of Times" | Avi Youabian | Derek Haas | June 25, 2025 (2025-06-25) | |
InMinsk, Belarus, in 2008, Borys Volcheck (Yasinski) finds his brother Anton beat up by an American, who ends up blackmailing Borys to commit espionage on theKremlin. When Anton commits suicide, Borys kills the American in revenge. Back in Los Angeles, Oliveras reassumes her cover as a carteldrug runner working with the Los Reyes Nuevos cartel. She talks her way into a task to smuggle a container truck from Tijuana back to Los Angeles to regain cartel lieutenant Javi Lopez's trust. After being stopped at theborder, the task force causes a scene which led to Meachum getting temporarily arrested byMexican police. They return the truck full ofheroin to Lopez, but he and his bodyguard are killed shortly after, leaving the team with only a name of the suspect. Meanwhile, LA District Attorney Grayson Valwell (McCartha) wants to join the task force. | |||||
| 3 | "Happy Birthday Final" | Tess Malone | Derek Haas | June 25, 2025 (2025-06-25) | |
The task force uses Meachum's former alias to befriend Belarusian inmate Timur Novikov, who owes Meachum a favor, attempting to use him to get information about the Belarusian underground in Los Angeles and identify Volchek, who killed Javi Lopez. The warden of Palmdale Prison will not allow Meachum to get back in his prison, so the task force stages a fake jailbreak in order to gain Novikov's trust. Novikov brings Meachum to his uncle Mikhail's dance hall inBurbank, where Meachum discovers plans of an attack on the city of Los Angeles. To preserve the plans, Volchek, posing as Mikhail's guard,burns down the dance hall. In the resulting shootout between the task force and Mikhail, Noikov is shot dead, while a shot that missed Finau hits Drew in the chest. In the background, district attorney Valwell continues to intrude on the task force's operations. | |||||
| 4 | "Bite 'Em Down" | Chris Grismer | Derek Haas | July 2, 2025 (2025-07-02) | |
After an injured Drew dies from his wounds at the hospital, the task force is more determined than ever to catch Volchek. They discover a lead when Meachum remembers a name from the dance hall. While they investigate, Blythe deals with an underlying threat from the LAPD, who wants to reassign their detectives from the task force. The team tracks down Volchek's associate Mikhail and interrogates his wife, who eventually gives up a way to contact him. They arrange a meeting, but Mikhail spots the team and runs. After learning he has a daughter, they used Shepherd's likeness to get him to reveal information about how to contact Volchek. However, they are outsmarted again when Volchek sends a decoy toVan Nuys Airport while he escapes. | |||||
| 5 | "Blurred Edges" | Avi Youabian | Derek Haas | July 9, 2025 (2025-07-09) | |
| 6 | "A Needle or a Bullet" | Jonathan Brown | Derek Haas | July 16, 2025 (2025-07-16) | |
| 7 | "Nothing Else Helps" | Eric Stoltz | Derek Haas | July 23, 2025 (2025-07-23) | |
| 8 | "The Nail in the Chair" | Nina Lopez-Corrado | Derek Haas | July 30, 2025 (2025-07-30) | |
| 9 | "10–33" | Jonathan Brown | Derek Haas | August 6, 2025 (2025-08-06) | |
| 10 | "The Muzzle Pile" | Lisa Robinson | Derek Haas | August 13, 2025 (2025-08-13) | |
| 11 | "Run" | Rashidi Natara Harper | Derek Haas | August 20, 2025 (2025-08-20) | |
| 12 | "This Is His Signature" | Lisa Robinson | Derek Haas | August 27, 2025 (2025-08-27) | |
| 13 | "Your People Are in Danger" | Jonathan Brown | Derek Haas | September 3, 2025 (2025-09-03) | |
The 13-part series fromAmazon MGM Studios was created byDerek Haas, who is also an executive producer and the series showrunner.Jensen Ackles was confirmed as part of the cast in June 2024.[7][8] That month,Eric Dane andJessica Camacho joined the cast.[9][10]Violett Beane,Uli Latukefu andElliot Knight joined the cast in July 2024.[11]
Filming was set to start in Los Angeles in September 2024 and in December 2024, photos from the set appeared in the media.[12][13] In March 2025, members of the cast announced on social media that production had wrapped.[14] On October 10, 2025, Amazon Prime Video canceled the series after one season.[15]
Countdown premiered on June 25, 2025, with the first three episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis until September 3, 2025.[16]
Countdown is expected to air on syndication in 2026, 18 months after its original streaming run.[17]
The review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes reported a 38% approval rating based on 16 critic reviews.[18]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 43 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average".[4]
Reviewing the series' first 3 episodes forScreen Rant, Felipe Rangel gave a rating of 7/10 for the first 3 episodes and said, "It does great work in that regard, starting with a thrilling chase sequence and featuring quite a few creative set pieces."[19] Joshua M. Patton ofComic Book Resources gave the series a 9/10 rating and described it "a setup audiences know very well, but how Countdown unfolds over its first season expertly balances viewer expectations and fresh, surprising storytelling".[20] Jeff Ewing ofCollider gave the series a rating of 8/10 and commented, "Countdown isn't quite original enough in its premise to completely feel like a breath of fresh air. Still, it capably makes use of compelling characters, strong performers, and an evolving situation with dangerous implications".[21]
Aramide Tinubu ofVariety gave a critical review, writing "Unfortunately, though the show has all of the fundamentals needed for an engaging action series,Countdown grows duller by the episode."[22] Dave Nemetz ofTVLine gave the series a C+ and noted, "It doesn't always hit on all cylinders, but it delivers the fireworks we're looking for from a show like this. It's like a battering ram slamming through a screen door: not very subtle, but undeniably effective.[23] Teo Kai Xiang ofThe Straits Times cited viewers' criticism of the 11th episode's inaccurate depiction ofSingaporeans, particularly the portrayal of a Singaporean businessman who spoke onlyMalay and needing an interpreter when speaking with investigators despite the fact thatEnglish is the main working language of the country.[24]
