[This story contains spoilers from the fourth episode of Countdown, “Bite ‘Em Down.”]
When Countdown returned after its three-episode premiere week, the task force made up of different law enforcement agencies suffered its first casualty with the shooting death of Department of Homeland Security Officer Damon Drew (Jonathan Togo).
As the group closed down on the sleeper cell terrorist and bomb maker Boris Volchek (Bogdan Yasinski) in the third episode of the new Prime Video series, LAPD Detective Mark Meachum (played by star Jensen Ackles) was led to the hideout where his uncle, Mikhail (Daniel Chernish), was harboring Volchek. Meachum called in reinforcements while snooping around the property and was caught by Volchek, who ordered Mikhail to take Meachum out to the back and shoot him. The rest of the unit arrived just in time, but a shootout occurred at the end of the hour and Damon was hit. Viewers found out in the beginning of the July 2 fourth episode that Damon died in the ambulance, with Meachum on board.
The rest of the episode involved the task force dealing with their grief while searching for Mikhail (he escaped, but his nephew was killed in the shootout). Once Mikhail’s wife was captured by the task force, however, they coerced her into helping them lure in her husband. It worked, and they then forced him to help them find Volchek, with the threat of his closest loved ones being put in danger. Mikhail agreed, but Volchek was two steps ahead and eluded the unit. The episode ended with Volchek sitting in a restaurant while observing various members of the task force from afar, and sending someone else to the rendezvous spot at the airport to meet Mikhail.
The Hollywood Reporter recently caught up with Countdown creator Derek Haas and star Jessica Camacho, who plays tough-as-nails DEA Agent Amber Oliveras, to talk about how the team must now rethink their plans, and how Camacho and Ackles found their chemistry.
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Derek, how did you come up the concept or idea of Countdown?
DEREK HAAS I was talking to Amazon; I worked with Vernon Sanders before he worked there. I was like, “You know what movies I loved growing up? Eighties action movies — Die Hard, Romancing the Stone, Lethal Weapon …” I loved the vibe of those movies, and I felt like there had been a dearth of those kinds of television shows, because almost every show in the crime genre is a little bit dark and cynical these days. I wanted to get back to that more like loose-cannon, rebel show.
I heard about task forces from a Chicago intelligence cop, and I was like, “Oh, what’s the task force?” I started reading books about task forces and realized it’s like an all-star team from various agencies, all brought together on a specific investigation to stop what could affect millions of people. I am down for that. So, take the vibe of an ‘80s show, what I learned about task forces, hire the most talented cast and go make a show. That was the inspiration.
And Jessica, how did you find your way onto to this show with one of the leading roles?
JESSICA CAMACHO I was doing the actors’ circuit of auditions, I was just getting scripts and putting them on tape, sending the self-tape out into the ether and trying to forget about it. I was in that cycle, and here comes Countdown into my inbox. I was perusing it, and I was shook by the first scene in which we meet [my character] Amber Oliveras — are you kidding me! That is a dream of a scene that was so visually stunning, I could already see it in my head. It says so much about the character, about who she is and how capable she is, the dangerous world that she inhabits on a daily basis, and how she executes and manages herself no matter the situation or circumstances. It was so compelling. I was in, all I had to do was book it!
Did you do your own stunts for that adrenalized opening scene? [Note: In Camacho’s first scene, she’s hanging from the rafters of a basement that appears to be somewhere in Chinatown, L.A. She’s clearly been tortured, and she escapes with the help of a nearby water pale while her captors sleep upstairs.]
HAAS Yeah, that was her. She was awesome! And it was a long day.
CAMACHO (Laughs.) That was me, strung up! We did not phone that in! I used those toes. I am (going) to use the tools available. But yeah, I put it on tape and I hoped for the best. And they liked it.
I was going to do a chemistry read with Jensen [Ackles], and that is what solidified it, certainly for me. The minute Jensen opened his mouth, it was a lock. He was just so funny and easy and ridiculous and silly, the dad jokes — I’m a dad jokes appreciator. We just had a natural rapport that came so organically. I guess everybody felt the same way.
You and Jensen have really good comedic timing together.
CAMACHO They wanted us to have a lot of fun, that was a priority. And so Jensen took that to heart. At every opportunity that he could find, he would be really playful and to open and try things; throw different things at it and find those poppy little chemistry moments. There are so many of those.
HAAS I was hoping everyone would see that the chemistry that I saw on the very first day when those two were together. We all had lunch, and then we all had dinner. And then you’re shooting a week after, everybody’s hanging out for the first time as an ensemble. I was like, “I hope this chemistry I’m watching translates,” and that it just turns right over to set. That’s the dream when you’re doing a show. So then to not only watch it every single day, but I get to watch six people who didn’t really know each other hang out off set and then see that chemistry translate onto the show? That was awesome.
So the actor’s personalities in some ways started to mesh easily with the characters?
HAAS I remember Jessica called me and she’s like, “Hey Derek, I read four books about the Drug Enforcement Agency, would you put me in contact with someone that I could …” I was like, “Oh yeah, this is the character! Now I know who she is even more.” Then you start to develop [the show] and, if you are a smart writer, you start to infuse the character with the actors and actresses that you get to work with.
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The first four episodes of Countdown are now streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes releasing Wednesdays.