It is a good time to be Jenson Ackles. Not solely has the web been thirsting over his character on “The Boys” for 3 years and counting, however he is now main one other hit present that is climbing the charts over at Amazon’s Prime Video. “Countdown” is against the law drama sequence wherein Ackles performs a reckless cowboy detective working to forestall a lethal terrorist assault. Solely a handful of episodes have been launched up to now, however the present at present ranks firmly amongst Prime Video’s prime 10 most watched reveals of the week throughout the globe (per FlixPatrol).
In fact, being a prime 10 present is not a assure that the sequence shall be a long-term success. (Simply ask “Pulse,” which initially carried out properly on Netflix however was canceled just a few months later anyway.) However one issue “Countdown” has in its favor is that it is being launched on a weekly schedule and never dropped unexpectedly, as Netflix likes to do. This mannequin provides it extra probabilities to achieve reputation by sheer phrase of mouth, like what’s occurred to current hit weekly-released reveals like “The Pitt” or “The White Lotus.”
Admittedly, the evaluations for the sequence haven’t been nearly as good because the viewership numbers. “Regardless of its massive solid and grandiose themes, ‘Countdown’ in the end falters because of its monotonous nature,” as Aramide Tinubi wrote for Selection. Joel Keller wasn’t eager on it both, writing for Decider, “‘Countdown’ just about makes use of each motion procedural cliché to piece collectively a plot and solid of characters which might be neither thrilling or attention-grabbing.” With its 36% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes up to now, many of the different evaluations echo these sentiments.
Why Jenson Ackles thinks you need to watch Countdown
Whereas discussing the present’s premiere episode with The Hollywood Reporter, Ackles defined what drew him to the mission within the first place:
“It was all the things I grew up loving about leisure. There was motion and salty characters — there was the ‘will they or will not they,’ are they going to make it? Are they going to avoid wasting everybody and catch the unhealthy guys? It was a little bit of a throwback, and I gravitated to it.”
For Ackles no less than, it looks like the procedural clichés the present makes use of usually are not a bug however a function. “Countdown” is not reinventing the wheel, but it surely’s an excellent match for anybody who needs some mild and breezy enjoyable. Ackles additionally appears to be completely satisfied to return to a lead function once more; it is now been 5 years since his present “Supernatural” ended, with each COVID and the writers’ strike throwing just a few wrenches into his post-“Supernatural” profession plans. The street to creating “Countdown” was stuffed with delays, one among which was his shock return to the ultimate season of “The Boys.” As Ackles defined:
“I used to be speaking to my pricey buddy Eric Kripke [creator of ‘The Boys’]. He was like, ‘Hey, I perceive you simply took on a brand new present: Congratulations, that is superb! Nevertheless, we’re gonna want you for season 5 developing; what’s your schedule like?’ So, there was a bit little bit of an overlap. We needed to make some magic work, schedule-wise, however we made it occur. I really wrapped up season 5 of ‘The Boys’ final week, and so all of it labored out. I am thrilled as a result of I like each reveals.”
“Countdown” is now streaming on Prime Video.
