‘Countdown’: Elliot Knight Talks Bell’s ‘Satisfying’ Takedown & What Happened With Shepherd’s Sister

Countdown surprised viewers with the August 13 episode by closing out one case and opening a new one. And that first case did come to a definitive end for Volchek (Bogdan Yasinski), who had been planning to set off bombs at The Vine. But in stopping him, Meachum (Jensen Ackles), fighting off debilitating symptoms from his brain tumor, took the shot when he needed to and killed him.

Yasinski found out that was coming when he got to Episode 10. When he signed on, he didn’t know anything about his character. When it came to his character’s death, he was a little “sad,” he admits to TV Insider. “He’s a very effective individual. Could have done a lot of things. His résumé — managed a complex team, international team in shipping — would read very well. It was a good move, but I thought maybe there was a chance to flip him. Maybe there was a negotiation there. Has he made some mistakes? Don’t we all, right? Nobody’s perfect. But he didn’t blow up anything yet, right? Yes, he stabbed. Maybe they could have used him kind of like a Hannibal Lecter type of scenario.”

He is quick, however, to tell us he doesn’t think Volchek could have been flipped. “He was pretty set in his ways,” says Yasinski.

But he wasn’t the only bad guy the task force took down. As Bell (Elliot Knight) realized, someone had to tip off Volchek’s organization about an LAPD and S.W.A.T. raid that turned up empty. With S.W.A.T. under the DA’s purview, he knew it had to be Valwell (Merrick McCartha), who kept inserting himself into the investigation and had the transactions in his bank account to prove it. Bell arrested him. Knight agrees that was satisfying, especially given Valwell’s history with his father, which he’d tried to use.

“The storyline with Valwell is really Bell’s, I guess, personal story within the show that is the reflection of his personal drive that we get to see. And so I think it’s not just that he’s getting to do his job and bring about justice and bring down someone who’s corrupt, but it’s also there’s a family tie, there are stakes with his father, and it’s almost something that’s been used against him to try and pin him into a life the other side of the line, and the episodes leading up to that, we see Bell contemplating that offer,” says Knight. “‘Is that something he wants to do if he’s so driven to rise to the top — which is what Bell does want to do — if he wants to be the director of the FBI one day, is this the way that he gets there? Maybe that is the right way to go about it.'”

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Because of that, “I think it’s not just bringing him down but also knowing that he chose the right path for himself is double satisfaction,” he continues. “And I have to say it was a pretty fun scene to shoot as well on the steps of City Hall. It felt pretty epic for him.”

With that case wrapped up, the task force disbanded, and with Shepherd (Violett Beane) going to D.C., she asked Bell to keep an eye on her sister, Molly (Michelle DeShon). After the 10-month time jump, he told her he had something to tell her about Molly. The next case interrupted them before he could say more.

Knight acknowledges there’s quite a bit unknown about what happened in those 10 months, “but I think he cares about Shepherd. Shepherd loves the job that she has and is clearly committed to it and has an enthusiasm for it the same way that Bell does, and that’s the place that they really connect. I think we see them having dinner and they’re having a great time and they’re connecting more socially. I think that Bell sees the way that he can basically step up for his friend and his teammate by helping her out with a family issue.”

He knows how it seems to Shepherd — that something happened between Bell and Molly — but he points out his character is still very much a mystery in many aspects, including the fact that we have yet to go home with him. (“I’m personally pitching for the spinoff, Countdown: Go Home With Bell, and I think it would do great,” Knight laughs.) “There’s room there for some more revelations definitely,” he teases.

As for the possibility of romance between Bell and Shepherd, it’s the aforementioned mystery surrounding his character that has Knight hesitant to speculate. “I don’t know if he has room for something like that. I don’t know if he’s interested in something like that. But they definitely have an energy between them, but not everything is as it appears. And so you never know what might happen there,” he says.

What do you think of Bell and Shepherd’s connection? What do you think happened with Molly? Let us know in the comments section below.

Countdown, Wednesdays, Prime Video

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