Countdown is, without a doubt, one of the best new action shows of the summer. I don’t care that there has only been three episodes released, just trust me when I say this. 

I will admit, the start of the pilot episode titled “Teeth in the Bone” lagged a bit for me. I didn’t see the vision that Nathan Blythe had for this group. It’s like he brought this group of misfits from their respective departments to come together, not even knowing whether or not they could work together. What he does know about them is that they’re the best in their departments. Nathan, with the help of his second in command of this task force, Damon Drew, Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Homeland Security. 

“Teeth in the Bone”- COUNTDOWN, Pictured: Jessica Camacho as Amber Oliveras, Uli Latukefu as Luke Finau, Violett Beane as Evan Shepherd, Eric Dane as Nathan Blythe, Elliot Knight as Keyonte Bell, Jonathan Togo as Damon Drew, and Jensen Ackles as Mark Meachum. Photo: Elizabeth Morris/Prime © 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Now, let’s meet the team: Special Agent Amber Oliveras works for the DEA and mostly does undercover work. Special Agent Keyonte Bell works for the FBI and is well versed in terrorist threats. Special Agent Evan Shepherd also works for the FBI, but her skills are suited for cyber investigation, internet fraud and computer intrusion (which is a fancy way of saying hacker, but don’t call her that). Luke Finau is a Detective with the LAPD whose focus is in the Gang and Narcotics Division. Last, but certainly not least, Mark Meachum, who is also LAPD, is a detective in the Robbery and Homicide Division. 

The reason they’re all there is because of the death of Homeland Security Officer Robert Darden. It is believed that he might’ve been dirty when $200K was deposited into his account. This deposit caused Darden to be red flagged. His job was monitoring border activity of Los Reyes Nuevos (new cartel Kings in Tijuana) and Port activity in Long Beach. The team is tasked with finding the man who shot Darden and to get information as to why Darden was killed and how much involvement he had in whatever was going on. 

“Teeth in the Bone” – COUNTDOWN, Pictured: Milo Ventimiglia as Robert Darden. Photo: Elizabeth Morris/Prime © 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

It turns out, Darden wasn’t the one that was dirty, but it was someone he worked with who had him set up. When Darden was getting too close to what his colleague was doing, Spellman let Los Reyes handle it, but he claims he didn’t know they were going to kill him. Sir? Let’s not play those games – no one is buying that. Spellman had two phones on him when he was detained and when the team, well more like Keyonte, broke into the phone, they found out what the plan was and Spellman’s involvement in the entire thing. He ordered all Customs and Border Patrol clear of a specific pier in order to allow Los Reyes access to bring in fissile material. I beg your pardon? I see why Spellman was trying to make a run for it. 

The episode ends with this information– and man am I now HOOKED! It wasn’t only that though; there’s still the small bits we got about the task team members that’s making me crave more. So far we only know about what Amber and Mark had going on in their lives. Mark is so stubborn and that makes sense because he’s a man, but throughout the episode he’s been having headaches, and then we learn he has a brain tumor. He doesn’t take the doctor’s advice to slow down and instead simply takes a prescription for pain meds. How will this play out given the type of job he does? And Amber– it was brought to Blythe’s attention that while undercover, it was disclosed that Amber might’ve developed a drug addiction. I didn’t believe it until we got to the second episode. 

“Dead Lots of Time” – COUNTDOWN, Pictured: Jessica Camacho as Amber Oliveras. Photo: Elizabeth Morris/Prime © 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

In “Dead Lots of Time” the team had to find a way to get in with Los Reyes in order to get the name of whoever ordered the fissile material. While undercover, Amber and Mark figured how’d they get that in: by getting a truck with contraband back to LA. It gets a little dicey, but the team manages to make this happen. It isn’t until they cross the border back to LA that they learn what was inside – cocaine. They’re given an order to follow through with the delivery and Amber seemingly has reservations about this. Mark makes the delivery with her and says whatever she wants to do, even if it means not making the delivery, he has her back. Now this is where I started to look at Amber sideways – she says that she doesn’t like the idea of the drugs hitting the streets of LA but taking one brick and putting it in her car makes her feel better because “one brick that’s not going to end up in some kid’s arm”. When Mark asked her where it would end up, she said the bottom of the river, or flushed, but she’d take care of it. 

The mission carried on and Mark let it go for the time being. Things go left when the car Javi, Amber’s contact, was about to get into explodes – they still manage to get a name, Volchek. 

I am so thankful this was a three episode premiere because I needed to know what was going on with Amber and what she was about to do with the drugs. Like I said, I didn’t want to believe the rumors, but watching her struggle with the brick of cocaine being in her possession, I’m starting to question what she’s going on. Mark is still getting headaches and they seem to be getting worse yet off to work he goes. I need him to remember he shoots a gun at his place of employment, he needs to take his health a little more seriously. 

“Dead Lots of Time” – COUNTDOWN, Pictured: Jensen Ackles as Mark Meachum. Photo: Elizabeth Morris/Prime © 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

I can’t wait to learn more about these characters – I’m too invested. Mark has gone undercover to get some intel from an inmate he was close with while undercover for another op named Timur. When it looks like the op is going sideways, Amber brings her concerns to Blythe. It’s a good thing she did, Mark was about to be unalived. Backup shows up to take on Timur’s uncle and well now Timur. A shootout erupts and Timur is unalived. In the chaos of it all, Drew is hit (it looks like he was shot in the heart and my heart sank – it’s too early to lose team members). The episode ends on that note and suddenly I’m upset this wasn’t a full season drop because what do you mean I need to wait a week to find out what happens? 

So far, I’m loving what I’m seeing and I can’t wait to see where this series goes. What’d you think of Countdown? Share your thoughts below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs. 

New episodes of Countdown airs every Wednesday on Prime Video.