Teeth in the Bone

It;s a good start, but....

Overview: Countdown Ep 1 on Prime, a proper adrenaline rush with a few cracks in the pavement.

Jensen Ackles as LAPD copper Mark Meachum is pure class, serving rogue-detective swagger with a cheeky wink. The plot kicks off when a Homeland Security officer gets bumped off in broad daylight, pulling Meachum into a covert task force chasing a city-threatening conspiracy. It's a belter of a hook that grabs you by the collar!

The opening chase through LA's markets is cracking... cinematography so sharp it could cut glass, with a Bourne-esque vibe. Jessica Camacho's fiery DEA agent Amber Oliveras and Eric Dane's stony Nathan Blythe set up a team dynamic with 24 energy, though it's a tad derivative. The pacing is relentless, keeping you glued, but the script stumbles with clunky cop-show clichés and some rushed character intros that feel like they're ticking boxes rather than building depth.

What's got me intrigued? Hints at Meachum's reckless edge and Oliveras' personal demons suggest meatier arcs to come.

Still, the reliance on familiar anti-terrorist tropes and a slightly predictable setup hold it back from greatness. It's not reinventing the wheel, but it's a solid ride worth taking. I'm keen to see where this 13-episode season heads.

If you're after a thrilling night in, Countdown Ep 1 delivers, despite the odd wobble.

7.5/10.

Omg the writing is so so bad. And the acting is so so bad. Unbelievable. And now I have to add in a few more words because my review is too short. So okay, I think Jensen Ackles should have turned down this job. Or he should have read the script before he signed the contract.

And my review is still not long enough. So, to sum up, script writing bad bad bad, just awful. Acting, bad all around. And who really cares about directing or lighting, but, it was broad daylight and the guy was still in shadow because they shot the actors face from two foot from the ground with the sun behind him! Director: Fired!

The music in the opening scene that sets up the show, really out of place. 2/3 of the songs chosen were just odd, not fitting pieces. The Metallica was the compromise for dealing with the other two songs, I'm guessing.

So we have a bunch of like wolf's (not as fun as Brad and George) and they all do things their own way. Yet the main focus is on Dean being Jack; stereotypical get 'er done type cop. I still love 24 and The Shield. That was amazing writing and acting. This feels like it wants to be something like that, but it is so painfully paint by numbers.

I could forgive the obvious writing playing all the notes we've seems hundreds of times before, but when you got such... Questionable talent, it makes it feel like ice skating up hill. Jensen is the real talent, the reason many show. Up to watch. It's unfortunate he keeps ending up in things were the scripts are so lame. I was so excited for him to be Batman and WB wizzed him down their leg like they did with Daniel Craig with Bond. Now we got this show with it's very lame writing, and I'm worried about the jobs he gets next.

Then we got the female cop who nobody likes because she has to prove she's just as rough as the boys. See. Look at her beating in heads and bucking authority. She's a strong female lead and we'll like it. She does what boys do.

You got the nerd suck up who is great for the tech stuff, then there are two other dudes that are, meh. Filling bodies is really their only role. They don't do anything to add to the dynamic.

The final scene, you got a bunch of detectives approaching something that looks like a mini fat boy, complete with radiological symbol, but only one of these toupe detectives is like, hey! And walks away slowly with another lame music choice, so he can take his time getting to a truck, so he can get his sensor to see the rads. You got the 4 other detectives and their 2 commanding officers arguably closer than he was, and yet this one background guy had to prove he is one of the wolf's too.

Woof.

The episode opens with Customs Agent Robert Darden (Milo Ventimiglia) getting killed

His death gives veteran FBI Agent Nathan Blythe (Eric Dane) an excuse to assemble a special task force. There was an indication that Darden was dirty but there could be more to it.

Maverick detective Mark Meachum (Jensen Ackles) has worked with Blyth before. He was undercover in a prison but that assignment has been cut short. He also has a tumour.

DEA Agent Amber Oliveras (Jessica Camacho) is also undercover and she is also a maverick.

They are just two of the members of the task force but Amber really dislikes Mark.

The opener did not have much in the way of a race against clock. The main characters were all stereotypes and it was not that well written.

Blythe tells his newly assembled team to come up with an action plan in an hour. Instead of sitting around and formulating something, Amber tells Mark that she is the friend of the woman he ditched and her sister.

So much for the urgency then!

Everything about the show is is amazing from the actors to the scenery to the music choices to the action scenes to the edge of the seats emotional scenes. My heart broke for Noah through my heart, broke for my heart broke for Mark Meachum that he's going through all that and still out there fighting every day to save people to help people, knowing that he's got a ticking time Bob going off in his head at any moment It's the edge of your seat, thrilling, emotional journey that I can't wait to finish up with countdown everybody in the show is on the countdown. It seems like it's really great writing from Haas.