Countdown Episodes 1, 2 & 3 recap: DHS Robert Darden's assassination leads Nathan Blythe's task force to a cartel plot involving a nuclear attack

Amazon Prime's latest crime thriller starring Jensen Ackles, Countdown, was released on June 25, 2025. Created by Derekk Hass, the first three episodes, titled Teeth in the Bone," "Dead Lots of Time," and "Happy Birthday Final," were released on the debut day itself.

The plot follows the LAPD officer Mark Meachum and his team, who are appointed by Nathan Blythne to investigate the death of a DHS agent, shot in a public garden in daylight. As they begin to investigate the case, they unravel a deeper conspiracy that could crumble L.A. within seconds. The star-studded cast for the show includes Jensen Ackles, Eric Dane, Jessica Camacho, Elliot Knight, Violett Beane, and others.

Here's a recap of the first three episodes of Amazon Prime Video's Countdown.

Countdown Episode 1 recap: Nathan Blythe's task force gets to work as they investigate the assassination of DHS agent Robert Darden

The Countdown Episode 1 opens with Robert Darden (Milo Ventiglia), a US Customs and Border Patrol officer of the Department of Homeland Security, visiting the port of LA to investigate a high-risk case. Over the next scenes, Robert's investigation leads him to a park where he makes a call to his wife, Meredith, and informs her that he won't be able to come to their son's performance. Robert meets someone called Gabriel (Alan Silva) in the park, and it breaks into an intense confrontation with Gabriel's men. After a crazy cat-and-mouse chase through a busy market, Robert manages to enter a cafe. However, as he walks away, he gets shot in his chest right in the middle of a busy street.

Next, in Countdown Episode 1, we see Nathan Blythe, Special Agent in Charge, in his helicopter as he goes through the files of what look like the profiles of members of a task force (Heather, Evan Shepherd, Luke Finau, and Keyote Bell). When the helicopter lands, he asks Damon Drew, Officer of Intelligence and Analysis, DHS, whether the team is ready. Damon informs him that Meachum and Oliveras are yet to arrive.

In the next scene of Countdown Episode 1, we meet Mark Meachum, played by Jensen Ackles, in what looks like a prison in Palmdale, and he gets involved in a dusty prison fight. Soon we come to know that Mark is in fact an undercover agent for nine months in the prison. However, LAPD Sergeant Hugh Lambert (Christian Barber) informs him that he is put in a federal task force and asks him to get back to L.A.

The next scene transports us to Koreatown, where we see DEA Special Agent Amber Oliveras tied up; however, she heroically manages to escape from the hostage situation and brutally hits her enemies with a baseball bat (similar to Negan's Lucille minus the barbed wire).

When everyone arrives at the SOD Headquarters, Nathan Blythe introduces himself and addresses the task force team as he says,

"A task force is unique. It's an honor. And it's unlike any unit you've been in before. You are the best in your department, or I would not have selected you."

As Nathan revealed more details about Robert Darden's assassination, he revealed that Darden was red-flagged as he had unusual financial activity in his account. Nathan told

"$200,000 deposit popped in his account 14 days ago. Origin unknown. A bribe that large and a customs official murdered. Something big is going on here, and our mission is to find out what the hell that is. No matter where the leads take us."

As the task force went about their interrogation, they went to Rob's office and his home to carve out his whereabouts in the recent days, and they hardly found any substantial evidence or a suspect. Meanwhile, Evan Sepherd, with her immaculate tech skills, located the suspect on the CCTV footage. As the team tries to locate Cesar Murillo, the cartel's hitman, SSA Ray Kubler reveals to Nathan that Agent Oliveras is a drug addict and she might ruin the mission. Soon, the team found out that Maurice Spellman, Robert Darden's colleague, knew hidden and precise details about his financial fraud, and that made Maurice a prime suspect in the case.

As the task force went near Maurice's house to arrest him, they saw him fleeing the location. In the interrogation room, Mark Meachum and Oliveras were able to make Maurice admit his wrongdoings. However, Nathan knew he was hiding more as he found his work phone and burner phone in his car and asked the FBI agent Keyonte Bell to work with CART to crack Maurice's communication details. Meanwhile, we also came to know that Damon Drew's son, Noah, was killed in a drunk driving case, which left his family emotionally shattered. On the other hand, we also come to know that Mark Meachum has brain cancer and the doctor has few days to live. Mark confronts Nathan that he carefully curated the task force for such a dangerous mission because most of them were outcasts, and their colleagues won't miss them if they are gone. To which Nathan replies,

"Or maybe I think the best investigators are the ones who keep their teeth in the bone no matter who or what tries to shake them off"

Countdown Episode 1 recap: The truth behind Robert Darden's assassination

Robert Darden's assassination kicks off the investigation, but it's not long before Agent Nathan Blynthe begins to suspect a larger cover-up. Despite initial evidence suggesting Darden was on the cartel's payroll, the deeper dig reveals that the man was silenced for uncovering the truth about HSI agent Maurice, who was leaking classified intel to Los Reyas, a violent cartel with international connections.

The setup was surgical. False financial trails, encrypted burner phones, and a staged fall from grace. It became clear that Robert Darden died trying to expose the rot/corruption inside the system.

Countdown Episode 1 & 2 recap: The task force finds a cartel shipment full of weapons-grade fissile material

After cracking Maurice's burner phone, the task force intercepts a cartel meeting at the port, ending in a fierce shootout. What they recover isn't just drugs but weapons-grade fissile material. Suddenly, it's not just cartel business anymore. It's national security.

More specifically, there were gamma tongs that carried exposure to five thousand millisieverts of radiation. As Nathan simplifies it in Countdown Episode 1,

"Enough missing fissile material to fuel a Chernobyl-level event right here in Los Angeles."

Countdown Episode 2 recap: Mark and Oliveras succeed in a deadly undercover mission, and who's Borys Volchek?

Agent Oliveras dives back into her old life, contacting cartel insider Javi Lopez. Her return to the field involves a tense smuggling operation with Meachum, whom she barely tolerates. Despite friction, they succeeded (the team even fakes a false encounter at the US-Mexican border for the truckload of drugs to pass), but not without moral fallout. In Episode 2 of Countdown, Oliveras smuggles a truckload of heroin, keeping one brick as a symbolic regret. However, the possession of the drug brick might land Oliveras in trouble. An explosion kills Javi Lopez; however, he tells Mark that someone called Volchek is responsible for supplying the nuclear weapons/materials for the cartel. Volchek is introduced as a shadowy figure and is connected to the cartel's dealings. He is Belarusian and most definitely tied to the transnational crime syndicate.

Countdown Episode 3 recap: Agent Damon Drew gets shot during Mark Meachum's undercover mission

Mark Meachum, always the one to gamble, uses his Belarusian prison contacts, especially with someone called Timur, to get closer to the cartel's nuclear supplier. But rather than go through a staged prison transfer and engineered escape. The plan works out—until it doesn't. In Episode 3 of Countdown, Meachum ends up alone and surrounded when his cover is blown. However, when Mark reaches the basement of Timur's uncle's restaurant, he discovers what looks like a plan and even sees Volchek in the hallway. That is when his uncle points a gun at him and takes him outside the restaurant. Nathan sends backup, but the rescue mission turns fatal as Agent Damon Drew is caught in the crossfire, shot right in the chest, and presumably killed.

Between the chaos, a doubt still lingers. Is the task force fighting corruption being sacrificed to cover it up? Nathan's operation is dangerous, shadowy, legally dubious, and yet an absolute necessity.

To know what happens next, watch Countdown Episode 4, which will release next Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at 3 am ET/midnight PT on Amazon Prime Video.

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Also read: Countdown release schedule: When do new episodes of the Jensen Ackles show drop?

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