‘Countdown’ Boss Explains That Major (But Brief) Cameo in Series Premiere

Meredith Jacobs June 25, 2025, 12:00 pm

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Countdown Season 1 Episode 1 “Teeth in the Bone.”]

Countdown opens up with quite the surprise: Milo Ventimiglia! The This Is Us star plays Darden, with the Department of Homeland Security, in the opening scene — and is swiftly killed.

“Let me tell you the great thing about Milo. If you’ve gotten to spend any time with him, within five minutes, you want to be his best friend. And I was hoping that this character that you’re not going to get to spend a lot of time with, you’ve got to like, because it’s going to drive the rest of the case,” Countdown creator Derek Haas tells TV Insider.

“So I just got really lucky and fortuitous that Milo was available and was down for it. And what was cool is that he got to play an action star, too,” he continues. “So it’s both things. You got to have a lot of pathos in your face right from the jump and then get your action chase on. So it was fun.”

Darden does drive the action of the show. The series begins with him at the port of Los Angeles checking shipping containers then heading elsewhere for a meet (before which he calls his wife to say he’ll try to make their son’s performance). But things go awry when the man he’s meeting reveals he knows he’s an agent. Darden flees two men, through streets, a market, and a restaurant, and just as he thinks he’s in the clear, he’s found and shot dead.

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It’s his murder that brings the task force of Countdown together. Blythe (Eric Dane) leads Meachum (Jensen Ackles), Oliveras (Jessica Camacho), Finau (Uli Latukefu), Bell (Elliot Knight), and Shepherd (Violett Beane). Initially, they think that Darden could’ve been dirty, with a large deposit in his account from two weeks prior. His widow, however, refuses to believe that’s the case, and the task force’s investigation proves she’s right. One of his coworkers is dirty, and Darden had been investigating him. He claims he didn’t know the cartel would kill Darden.

What did you think of Milo Ventimiglia’s cameo? Let us know in the comments section below.

Countdown, Wednesdays, Prime Video