‘Countdown’ Sneak Peek: Jensen Ackles’ Meachum Makes Dangerous Moves While Chasing Suspect (VIDEO)

Detective Mark Meachum’s (Jensen Ackles) file noted his cowboy behavior, and it looks like we’re getting a taste of that in TV Insider’s exclusive sneak peek at Countdown Season 1 Episode 6, which will begin streaming on Prime Video on Wednesday, July 16.

In the clip, Meachum’s in a trailer attached to the truck that the task force’s suspect is driving, and DEA Agent Amber Oliveras (Jessica Camacho) is following them. He gives her a thumbs up before climbing up on top of the trailer as she watches, worried — especially when their suspect swerves during the chase and Meachum loses his footing. Watch the full sneak peek above for more, including the next risky move Meachum makes and the driver’s reaction.

In “A Needle or a Bullet,” the team follows a new lead out to the California desert, where their suspect isn’t going down without a fight. Meanwhile, Volchek (Bogdan Yasinski) initiates the next phase of his plan.

The Countdown series premiere revealed that Meachum has a brain tumor, and rather than live out what he has left of his life in comfort — the risk of surgery or radiation outweighs the benefits — he’s continuing to work (and keeping it a secret).

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“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,” creator Derek Haas explained to us. “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.”

We certainly can’t forget about that when watching our sneak peek above.

“I think he’s resigned himself to not laying down, not giving up, and effectively he’s got a bit of kamikaze in him,” said 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.”

Countdown, Wednesdays, Prime Video