SPOILERS FOR COUNTDOWN EPISODE 8!
This is a pivotal episode, and one that really amps up the feeling of desperation – on both sides.
A Sad Man With lot of Money
The story so far recap reminds us just how desperate and angry Volchek is – and how tragic his life has been. He is a terrible ruthless villain in this story, but actually seeing the losses and tragedies and betrayals that have shaped him also make him an understandable one. Shout out to Bogdan Yasinski once again for his nuanced portrayal – you are chilled by his ruthlessness but can also see his pain clearly.
We see a flashback to young Volchek and his doomed brother, who was taken advantage of and set up, and paid the price.
“I’m sorry I got you into this, brother…” And then the shot, and his brother dead by his own hand, unable to live with himself.
The title of the episode is explained right away, Volchek drinking at a bar, sharing a story about how Russians and Ukrainians and Belarussians sit on a nail on a chair. Belarussians, he says, would pretend it’s okay, pretend it’s comfortable, ask may I sit here all day? It’s clear he’s talking about himself, how he’s been trying to handle his life that’s felt like sitting on a nail.
Eventually Volchek passes out and falls off the chair. Once he’s managed to make his way outside he’s approached by a man who knows who he is – “a sad man with a lot of money”. Wow, if that line isn’t relevant… He offers him protection. (That usually doesn’t go well, just saying).
In a flashback to 2021, “Mr. Vuso” meets with his banker, who suggests that he could disappear in America, have the American Dream. Volchek says he just wants to start over. But the City of LA tells him they’ll requisition some of his parking lots for their vehicles, ruining his profits, so he tries to bribe them – which gets him arrested. He really has been screwed over repeatedly, and now everyone is paying the price.
There’s an eerie foreshadowing at the police station that I won’t spoil, then Volchek asks to see his lawyer. First he’s roughed up by the cop holding him, then by the other men in the holding cell who now see him as a rich guy. He gets brutally beaten by them and nobody does anything about it for far too long. Bloodied and furious, Volchek is more dangerous than ever.
He still looks at photos of his wife on his phone as he waits to meet with his lawyer.
Probably not a job anyone should take, just saying.
Volchek: I was living my life. I absorbed the nail. Then they took my brother, they took my wife. I came to this country to see with my own eyes to see what kind of men could do these things. I thought maybe I was wrong, but it’s not the crops, it’s the very soil. Sometimes the man gets up off the nail and smashes the chair to bits.
Me: Uh oh. Better run, lawyer dude!
He locks the guy in his car and blows it up.
Meachum and Oliveras: Sparks?
Meanwhile, the task force follows the leads they have. Meachum interrupts his domestic moment of cooking eggs on his stove to answer the phone and finds out about the dead Belarussian guys in Volchek’s basement. He quickly figures out that someone might have been IN the safe and finds a photo in the dead guy’s pocket – Volchek!
Now Volchek has a photo or Mark and Mark has a photo of Volchek. I’m liking the symmetry.
Tick tick tick, the Countdown logo appears.
Meachum briefs the team. He’s having more and more trouble with word finding, Oliveras jumping in to fill in the blanks for him. Meachum has figured it out though, in spite of the tumor’s interference, including that the Belarussians want Volchek as badly as they do – for all the money he embezzled.
They also realize now that they’re dealing with a lone wolf.
Finau: What the fuck happened to a guy that he wants to eradicate a whole city?
Me: Oh, if you only knew…
When they have a moment alone, Meachum thanks Oliveras for not telling everybody about his tumor.
Oliveras: Not gonna HIPAA you, Meachum. I do think you should say something to Blythe, but do what you want. They deserve to know they have a ticking time bomb standing next to them when their lives are on the line.
Meachum: Fine
Oliveras: Today?
Meachum: Today. I don’t wanna get benched, but if that’s what he decides to do…. I’ll just find a way to work the case from the outside.
We don’t doubt that for a minute. Twice, Meachum tries to grab a moment with Blythe to tell him, but each time they’re interrupted. The first time, Blythe goes to the consulate, asking him to play ball since they have the same problem now – Volchek. He refuses; Blythe says fine, we’ll go around you. He asks the ambassador to put on some pressure.
The second time, Bell spots a fake postal truck outside the Federal Building and its tinted windows make him suspicious. Along with local fire and police, they evacuate the area, but Meachum doesn’t want to go. A cop tries to move him and Meachum pushes him away with a “don’t fucking touch me”, the second time we’ve seen him explode at someone. Blythe confronts him, telling him to fall back, alarmed at his recklessness and of course not understanding what’s behind it.
Blythe: When a bomb tech tells you to fall back, you listen. You’re no good to anybody dead.
Meachum once again tries to tell him the truth, but gets rebuffed with a “this isn’t a two way conversation, Meachum.”
After a bomb tech ensures the truck is empty (with a heart stopping suspenseful sequence as he drills into the truck and then cuts the padlock – who wants that job??), they realize it was just a test run, Volchek watching them and timing their response.
Blythe advises them all to go home to get 6 hours of sleep, advice he doesn’t take himself. Meachum invites Oliveras to just stay at his place when she drops him off, promising to take the couch. She considers it for sure then says no, she has a sound machine, a routine.
Meachum: I can make ocean noises.
Oliveras: I use white noise.
Meachum: I can make white noise.
Oliveras: You are white noise. And I’m not Melinda Bates. Or her sister.
Ouch.
She also reminds him that he hasn’t told Blythe. There were sparks there, though. Obviously.
Beginnings and Endings
We find out a little more about Evan in this episode. She keeps getting calls from someone named Molly and evades her, but seems flustered. She then calls her mom, who tells her that her sister Molly is moving to LA for a ‘fresh start’. A new beginning. Apparently Molly moved back in with their parents and it was “the same mess it always was” so now she’s coming Evan’s way.
Molly isn’t impressed with Evan’s “I’m on a federal task force” speech. She apparently held Evan’s hair when she crashed too many times in the past, and says she used to be fun. Hmmm.
Blythe’s putting pressure on the consul works. He agrees to give Blythe what he has on Volchek and asks to meet him in an alley. When Blythe pulls into the alley, the consul’s car door is open and oh no that cannot be good.
Music starts to play and ditto.
I start yelling at my screen, no no no no, don’t go to the car, no no no!
Blythe does.
I won’t spoil the ending, but suffice it to say that I actually gasped out loud, even though I already had a very bad feeling.
I’ve said it before, but this show really knows how to wrap up its episodes! This one was directed by Nina Lopez Corrado, who directed some episodes of my favorite show of all time, Supernatural. I love that she and Jensen Ackles got to work together again and I love her directing.
I ended this episode with Derek Haas’ warning about nobody being safe ringing in my ears, and you’ll know why when you watch. Looking forward to finding out what will happen in Episode 9 – which says something very good about Season 1 of Countdown!
Jensen did a great interview for Men’s Health with some fun shots.
Stay tuned for a new episode next Wednesday on Prime Video.