‘Countdown’ Team Answers Burning Questions About Meachum’s Health, That Warning About Oliveras & More

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Countdown Season 1 Episodes 1 “Teeth in the Bone,” 2 “Dead Lots of Times,” and 3 “Happy Birthday Final.”]

Prime Video’s new series, Countdown, starring Jensen Ackles and Eric Dane, gets off to a shocking start with one of the task force’s own shot at the end of the third episode. (The first three episodes began streaming on premiere day, June 25.)

The unit led by Blythe (Dane) — Meachum (Ackles), Oliveras (Jessica Camacho), Finau (Uli Latukefu), Bell (Elliot Knight), and Shepherd (Violett Beane) — comes together following the murder of a Homeland Security agent, Darden (played by Milo Ventimiglia in a surprise cameo!). And over the first three episodes, we learn that one of the task force has a terminal diagnosis and another might be hiding a major secret, plus there’s that aforementioned shocking ending to Episode 3.

Below, creator Derek Haas and stars Jensen Ackles, Eric Dane, Jessica Camacho, Uli Latukefu, Elliot Knight, and Violett Beane break down the first three episodes’ big moments.

Why give Meachum a brain tumor?

The end of the premiere reveals that Meachum’s terrible, frequent headaches are because he has a glioblastoma multiforme, a brain tumor. The risk of surgery or radiation outweighs the benefits. While his doctor recommends he just find a beach somewhere, take as much relief medication as he can, and live out the time he has left in as much comfort as possible, Meachum says, “Wish I could, doc.”

Haas explains, “I wanted the countdown to be external — we’ve got this threat [to] Los Angeles — but I also wanted it to be internal. There’s a clock going literally on his life. Almost every character actually has some sort of countdown going on in the show. And so to me, it imbued every scene. Now, every action sequence has a second level of danger as it progresses, as the episodes progress and as his deterioration progresses. I just thought that was something that we hadn’t seen before and would be extra exciting.”

With his symptoms worsening and his decision to not live out the time he has left in comfort, has he resigned himself to dying on the job?

“I think he’s resigned himself to not laying down, not giving up, and effectively he’s got a bit of kamikaze in him,” explains Ackles. “He’s like, listen, I’m not just going to sit on a beach and wilt away. He even says, ‘If I’m going to go out, I’m going to go out saving something.’ And I think that it does give him a sense of purpose. It gives him a sense of worth to have that as opposed to just crawling in bed and declining. There’s a fight that exists within him regardless of what his condition is. And he’s going to continue to fight.”

Is Oliveras a drug addict?

In the first episode, the question of whether or not Oliveras, a DEA agent, is a drug addict; Blythe is told of credible reports that she is and she figured out how to beat the random tests. In the second episode, she takes a brick of the drugs they get, and in the third episode, it looks like she’s tempted to use as she stares at it in her home.

“What I will say is that she’s been in the field for a long time, kind of adhering to her own set of moral guidelines, following her own moral compass in order to stay alive and survive in situations in which she has to convince people that she belongs in that world, that she’s of that element. And I think the reality is sometimes you’re going to have to do things that go outside of what you as the person, the being that you are, would want to do in order to keep up the identity that you’re presenting in order to stay alive, truly,” says Camacho. “I think she’s haunted by some of the things that have happened, and I think they have left a lasting mark. And some of the things that happened to law enforcement officers are not easy to shake off. They’re very real. We definitely see her grappling with some of that.”

It doesn’t sound like Blythe is too worried about her. “Oliveras is an absolute professional,” says Dane, but adds, “I question the drug addict part of it. That story element is there.”

Which member of the task force is Blythe most worried about?

There’s Meachum with his cowboy attitude, and that warning Blythe receives about Oliveras, but he’s not worried about either. Rather, he’s most concerned about Bell. “I ride [him] a little bit,” Dane admits.

When it comes to Meachum, “I know he’s just a task master and a bulldog,” Dane says. The two have history, having worked together on a task force before.

“I act as if I’m calling the shots and running the plays, and you’re pretty compliant,” Dane says to Ackles of their characters’ dynamic.

Ackles agrees: “It’s a coach and quarterback kind of thing. And I there is [butting heads], but at the end of the day, the partnership plays out in what they do in a way that I think is of mutual respect for each other. And I think that that in tandem is more effective than any other kind of weapon.”

Why is Drew the one who was shot?

In the third episode, during the course of the investigation — Meachum has gone undercover as an inmate to get intel from someone who might be able to lead them to the person targeting LA — the task force becomes involved in a shootout. And just as Finau thinks he’s about to be shot, instead, it’s Drew (Jonathan Togo) who takes a bullet — and it’s not looking good as the episode ends!

“I wanted to remind the audience who — I feel like people have watched a lot of television at this point in the world, and a lot of times shows just reset. An episode ends, they roll out, there’s danger, and then the danger isn’t real, right? And especially like the third episode, you think, okay, premiere or finale of a season, that’s when the shock is going to come, or they’re going to try to surprise me. I want the audience on the edges of their seats the whole way through, and [to think] that at any moment, this danger could be real,” explains Haas.

“And I do like to surprise the audience. And so that episode was written intentionally where there’s sort of this premonition hanging over a different character [Finau] that, oh, we’ve introduced his family, it’s his birthday, there’s even a message on his cake that might be prophetic,” he continues. “And then you switch it. And to me, surprises are what make for good television.”

How does Finau really feel about Meachum’s undercover actions?

The undercover operation of Episode 3 sees Oliveras and Finau posing as correctional officers transporting Meachum and an inmate — and the task force manufacturing the events to allow for their “escape.” In the process, Meachum fires a shotgun pretty close to Finau’s head.

“Look, Meachum is the kind of guy that will push the limits to sell the gag and that’s where that comes from. It’s something that Finau is very familiar with with Meachum,” says Latukefu. “There’s a certain point where Finau tells Oliveras, ‘Hey, why don’t you check his history?’ Because off the jump, Meachum comes across as a very kind of full of bravado and cavalier and doesn’t really care about anyone, is full of jokes. But deep down inside, he will do whatever it takes to solve the problem. And he’s a very standup character. So they have a really great history of working together, which I think you have a glimpse into throughout the show. But, I mean, that bullet came very, very close.”

Is Bell the most ambitious member of the task force?

While Blythe and the DA (Merrick McCartha) clash from the jump, Bell makes sure to introduce himself to the latter (and mention he knew his father) when he crosses paths. Already in these first episodes, Bell comes across as the most ambitious member of the task force, and Knight agrees. Bell’s also third-generation Fed and refuses to let anyone call him a legacy hire like it’s something to be ashamed of.

“I think he wants to be the most ambitious and he probably has the most to prove potentially and is committed to that,” he adds. “I think he wants to make his own name for himself as well as continue the name that precedes him in the bureau.”

How does Shepherd feel about being in the field?

Shepherd’s expertise is in computers, but she’s the one that Blythe has join him when he goes to see Darden’s widow in the first episode.

“She loves” the other parts of the job, according to Beane. “I think she would love to be out in the field. She’s just such a valuable asset behind a computer. But I think as the show goes on, we’ll see a lot more different sides of Shepherd.”

How torn will Finau be between his job and his family?

The third episode offers a glimpse of Finau at home with his family and struggling with agreeing to a dinner reservation with his work on the case.

We’ll see him torn between his work and his family “quite a bit” this season, previews Latukefu. “There’s a bit of tension there where Finau gets some intel about what’s happening… But the conflict for him is obviously the safety of his family and the impending threat that’s happening in the city and the danger that brings him and his family.”

What did you think of the first three episodes? Let us know in the comments section below.

Countdown, Wednesdays, Prime Video