Picoreview: Countdown – this was clearly not ever going to be very good, but having Jensen Ackles in it doesn’t manage to bring it up as much as I hoped.
Countdown is an Amazon Prime vehicle for Ackles, and I can remember for about five nanoseconds at a time that it’s called Countdown: I keep calling it Crossroads, for obvious reasons (those reasons being “Jensen Ackles is in it”). It’s about a Very Handsome Man Who Is Tired Of Shaving and who is Kind Of An Asshole But Has Reasons For It! and is A Bit Of A Maverick but Gets The Job Done, and…
…it’s just not very good, guys. The writing is shallow, with things that are supposed to be Meaningful Character Development Moments coming up from kind of nowhere and then not being addressed ever again, and obvious through-lines on background plot points that go un-remarked-upon. Generally most of the actors seem pretty good at their jobs, and occasionally they manage to elevate moments above the incredible tread-water-level of the scripts and bring actual charm and appeal to the roles, but mostly…it’s really shallow.
Furthermore, weirdly, it’s like they were expecting a 9 or 10 episode season and got 13 so they wrap up the storyline at the beginning of 10 and then start a new season, which then ends on a cliffhanger made possible by one of the characters, who is not generally stupid or incompetent, having been kinda stupid and incompetent.
Possibly worst of all is that…
…I mean, look, guys. You know Jensen Ackles, right? He could have chemistry with a wet paper bag. But the romantic storyline is just incredibly flat, and it’s got to be the direction, because while the scripts aren’t great, Ackles & Jessica Camacho, who plays the female lead, have plenty of banter that COULD be charged, and just…isn’t. It’s just banter. Surface level banter. There is no electricity in it. They’re just coworkers, and coworkers banter. Even as it reaches the point where they’re Secretly Admitting Maybe They’re Hot For Each Other, they never stop seeming like coworkers. There was a point in the show where I was like “maybe Ackles & Camacho just really don’t like each other,” because it was so flat.
Only then right near the end there’s a moment where Ackles Turns It On, on purpose, and holy shit, the sparks, they flew! But it IS on purpose, it’s made very clear contextually that it’s On Purpose, and they immediately go back to being flat. So it’s got to be the direction, they’ve got to be deliberately not sparking, and wow, what a stupid decision.
I’ve seen a LOT of positive reviews for this, and honestly all I can think is that it’s like Loki and Good Omens and people are going “omg the lead(s) are so charming and compelling and hot all of this MUST be working to make a fun show! ” when in actual fact… it’s just not very good. :p