'Countdown' 1.04 Bite 'Em Down Indepth Review
Jensen Ackles Raises the Stakes
Warning: Spoilers for Episode 4 of Countdown!
“Countdown” Episode 4 is the most emotional episode yet, which in my book is a good thing. We needed a few episodes to start caring about the task force team. With an ensemble cast, it takes time to know anyone well enough to care if they live or die, so the show needed the first three episodes to establish who they are – and why we should be rooting for them.
This episode is the payoff for spending some time doing that. It might have been even more effective later, but “Countdown” is nothing if not fast paced. The team is working against the clock, and the narrative needs something more to galvanize them. Something personal, not just ‘save the world’ – because humans actually respond more to threats to someone they know and love than to ‘do it for humanity’. Forgive the “Supernatural” reference, but that show was brilliant in anchoring Sam and Dean’s ‘saving people hunting things’ mantra to their own family from the jump.
This episode kicks off with the aftermath of Drew’s shocking shooting. Nothing raises the tension more than knowing that nobody is safe in a fictional show. It’s a reflection of reality – what they’re doing is dangerous, and that means in real life people get hurt and people get shot and people die. We need to know this early on so we can feel that the danger is real, instead of reassuring ourselves that “oh he’s part of the team, he’ll be okay”.
Who knows? That realism makes the difference between a heart pounding sense of danger and a pass-the-popcorn complacency.
We already know enough about Damon (Jonathan Togo) to be rooting for him to be okay, which amps up the tension. After all, he’s lost a son and we’ve seen some of his struggle to cope with that unimaginable loss. So, another tragic loss? Too much.
We see his emotional importance to the team through Mark Meachum, riding in the ambulance leaning over Damon with his hand pressed over his chest to frantically try to stop the bleeding. I’m a seasoned “Supernatural” fan, so I get a bad feeling when there’s that much blood – and also when a character played by Jensen Ackles keeps reassuring, “I’m right here, we’re gonna fix you up, okay? I’m right here…” Oh yes, we’ve been there before, and it usually ends up breaking my heart.
The episode doesn’t rush it too much, slowing the clock down as it were, the team waiting for news of the emergency surgery. Meachum again is our entry point for their emotions, looking devastated and lost in the hospital corridor, helpless to do something to save his friend.
Ackles has had a lot of experience portraying grief thanks to fifteen years as Dean Winchester, and he can really make you feel the gravity of it. It’s those human touches that keep Countdown from being just another procedural show with lots of car chases and shootouts.
His acute awareness of his own mortality just adds to the gravity of the moment. How long, he must be wondering, before it’s me who’s lying there fighting for my life? I haven’t watched past episode 4, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the task force team become very important to Meachum as he continues to have more symptoms – everyone needs people who care enough to gather in the hospital waiting room and hope for you to make it.
Everyone needs to feel a sense of belonging, especially in those times. Mark has pushed a lot of people away, and I wonder if the task force will fill that gap for him. I hope so.
The title card brilliantly is juxtaposed over a stricken Meachum, the letters appearing first almost like bars caging him in, as we pull out to spell out ‘Countdown’. Ackles can say more with his eyes than most people can say with an entire speech.
If it’s possible, Blythe looks even more devastated when they hear the bad news. He looks stricken, and as every team member looks at him, you can see the sorrow register on their faces too. Watching Blythe have to give the horrible news to Drew’s wife – who we know has already been through unimaginable loss – was stomach turning awful.
Blythe channels the rage and sorrow into motivation and encourages the team to do the same – that’s why he’s the leader.
Blythe: Now is not the time to retreat. Let’s put our noses down and be the elite task force I know we can be.
Meachum spirals out in the wake of Drew’s death, though, admitting to Oliveras that he feels responsible.
Meachum: I was reckless, because…. That’s just how I’ve always been. I blindly went down those stairs when I knew it was risky…and because of that Drew’s dead.
We know, of course, that his recklessness is in part his terminal diagnosis, and it’s having effects on him that are psychological as well as physical.
Meachum: That’s what it’s like partnering with me. I’m so busy not giving a shit about myself that I don’t think about the people backing me up.
Oliveras is, in fact, a great partner for him. She gets it.
Oliveras: You done? This isn’t the first time I lost a member of my team. I questioned everything, and those questions never go away. So what you learn to do is bite ‘em down and focus on the job ahead.
(I do like that every episode’s title is a line from that episode – when it comes, I always clock it and appreciate Haas’ ability to find a meaningful phrase.)
In the aftermath, the task force is not subtle – or play by the book in any way. They come pulling up in their black Ford SUV’s, not exactly stealth, and there’s another big chase scene.
All the chase scenes are well done, the team leaping over subway turnstiles in Chinatown station and careening downstairs yelling “outta the way outta the way” as they go, hapless pedestrians getting knocked down the stairs and great music playing once again.
The culmination of all that sees Meachum roughing the guy up and Oliveras planting a couple grams of heroin in the guy’s pocket to set him up. I have to admit, that gives me pause. A lot of pause considering what the real world is like right now.
Meachum calls Oliveras out on not getting rid of those bricks of heroin she promised to – she insists she did get rid of “most of it”. He accepts that, an indication that the two are working out a partnership and developing a little trust in each other. I like that the show isn’t rushing it too much, because those two don’t strike me as the type to trust easily.
Shepherd gets to do some interrogating in this episode, which she carries off flawlessly by reminding the guy of what will happen to his daughter if he doesn’t cooperate. I always end up feeling a little bad for these “bad guys” who care so much about their kids. The world’s not black and white, is it? At least they’re showing some of those shades of gray. I’m never the perfect audience for law enforcement procedurals because the therapist in me wants to empathize with everyone!
Damon Drew’s wife encourages the task force to keep going, saying he would want them to finish what he started. They hang up a plaque of him to remind them. Yes, it’s a little hokey, but I liked that character and it seems like a very law enforcement thing to do.
I’ve seen some theories that speculate about someone on the task force being compromised, and that perhaps Meachum is being set up. He’s certainly had some very close calls that he barely escaped from with his life – is that just coincidence?
Derek Haas has hinted that not all of the task force will survive (of course, we’re already one down with Drew) – I don’t want to lose any of them, so I’m already wondering, what will be the reason? Is there something shady going on a bit closer to home? Time will tell, but I like having something to wonder about. Part of the fun of a show that’s now being released weekly is having the time to speculate in between episodes.
Next week a new episode drops on Prime Video!
Lynn Zubernis, PhD is an expert on all things “Supernatural,” and has published numerous bestselling books on the subject. You can check them out here.