This week’s episode of Countdown felt like a filler episode. There was movement, but not enough to make me feel like we’re getting the answers we need.
Last week, Mr. Astapov swore he had no idea who Volchek was. To be fair, he technically wasn’t lying, he didn’t know anyone by the name of Volchek, because to him, Borys’ surname is Vusovich. Astapov confronts Volchek after one of his meetings and the shock on his face was hard to ignore. His visit shook Volchek whether he wanted to admit it or not. After this encounter, he ordered his men to find all the information they can on Astapov – everything down to his sleeping schedule. He wasn’t taking any chances.
The team moves in on the search for this “Gallagher” name that Mark discovered. When the name Shawn Gallagher pops up, all signs show that this man had to be involved in some way. Amber and Mark make their way to Shawn’s last known address, but it’s a dead end. Shawn was MIA, and the house was fully trapped. This man is clearly deranged, but still he remained a prime suspect.
“A Needle or a Bullet”- COUNTDOWN, Pictured: Bogdan Yasinski as Borys Volchek. Photo: Elizabeth Morris/Prime © 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Another lead takes the team to another location, a trailer park, where Shawn could possibly be staying. It looked like another dead end when his trailer was empty, but feeling the heat on him, Shawn hops into his truck and makes a run for it. What he doesn’t know is that Mark is still in the trailer. This chase sequence is insane (and in my opinion, saved this episode from absolute boredom). Mark makes his way from the trailer to inside of Shawn’s truck which helped slow him down enough to help the team block him in.
-Shawn is brought in for questioning; Amber and Mark feed into his delusions to get him to give up information. He was genuinely confused and it isn’t until Nathan takes over asking him to give up the information that they finally believe he doesn’t know anything. Did Mark get it wrong? Is the team following the wrong lead? It’s like they’re always a few steps behind Volchek and his plans.
Between all of this happening, Mark is still getting headaches and it’s finally addressed. Amber clock’s Mark’s behavior during a gas station stop, but gets it wrong: she thinks he’s using drugs. Amber keeps it real with Mark and finally her drug use and the struggle to stay clean is discussed. I was wondering how much longer we were going to pretend she was “fixed” for lack of a better term. She says it’s all in the past, but she does struggle from time to time. Mark opens up to her as well, but is only partially honest. He says he gets really bad migraines and nothing he takes helps him so he’s just dealing with the pain until the mission is over. Come on, Mark – it’s a little bit more than a couple of migraines. Baby steps I guess.
“A Needle or a Bullet”- COUNTDOWN, Pictured: Jessica Camacho as Amber Oliveras and Jensen Ackles as Mark Meachum. Photo: Elizabeth Morris/Prime © 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
When things with Shawn don’t pan out the way they hoped, Mark shares his frustrations with Amber. He says what we’re all thinking at this point; “ Drew is dead…and here we are chasing our tails, not one inch closer to Volchek.” I’m still not over Drew dying – there’s no justification for that whatsoever, but I digress. When is this team going to finally be ahead of the game? Amber scores some pain meds for Mark, knowing he’s in pain. She wants him to be completely focused on this mission rather than putting himself in harm’s way like he has a “death wish”. Little does she know that even being on this task force is a death wish for him.
Volchek is pissed. He brings his team in again for another meeting after a seemingly botched attempt at sending Astapov a message. It was really a loyalty test and man, Danill, how could you? “I have no tolerance for disloyalty” Volchek says after he learns that Danill has been feeding information to Astapov. He proved that with no hesitation taking Danill out with a bullet to the head.
-Business continues as Volchek accepts a delivery. As three huge trucks enter the warehouse, we see the name “Gallagher Freight”. Gallagher was never a person…
“Blurred Edges”- COUNTDOWN, Pictured: Bogdan Yasinski as Borys Volchek and Jonathan von Mering as Andrej. Photo: Elizabeth Morris/Prime © 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
If I had to rate this episode, I would give it a 7/10, which isn’t terrible, but it’s not great either for the potential this team has. They need to make a major move in this case or else, they might as well let Volchek do what he came there to do.
What’d you think of this week’s episode of Countdown? Share your comment below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs.
New episodes of Countdown airs every Wednesday on Prime Video.
