How Countdown Episode 10 broke a major creative convention (& it looks promising so far)

Nobody would expect a mid-episode ending like the one that Countdown episode 10, "The Muzzle Pie," delivered, especially when the season has three more episodes before it wraps up. The mid-season ending had every bit of the high-stakes tension and drama that one would expect from a season finale of a show with Countdown's caliber.

The episode really threw off the creative conventions that are usually followed in the television format. There's something very interesting about the way it manages this break from convention, so maybe this will turn out promising for the show's future.

Keep reading to find out how exactly Episode 10 broke the conventional storytelling narrative.

Countdown Episode 10 breaks down conventional creative barriers

All nine episodes of Countdown build up the nuclear threat over Los Angeles and the task force that is assembled to catch the terrorists behind the act. You would expect that the season finale would be a thrilling race against time where the members of the task force are stretched to their limits in their attempt to save their lives and their city.

However, it is this exact expectation that Episode 10 bypasses. The season is reported to have 13 episodes, meaning there are three more episodes left for the season finale. So, how did the show manage to break these expectations?

The show has followed one rule throughout most of the episodes that have premiered so far. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, which is resolved quite early in the next episode. Such is the case with Episode 9, where the terrorist Volchek presses the button on the detonator while Jensen Ackles' Mark watches, and the screen goes black just before we witness the nuclear blast.

Episode 10 opens at this point, and in an extremely high-stakes situation, we discover that the rest of the task force had managed to disconnect the detonator's link to the weapons, saving the city. After a chase where Meechum struggles to keep up but finally catches up to Volchek and then shoots him right in the face, eliminating the threat.

We catch up with the members of the task force and what happens after they've successfully completed their mission, in their careers and in their personal lives, making for a nice bow on top of a wrapped present.

But this dramatic sequence is just half the episode and not the season finale for Countdown. The episode then encounters a time jump, and we are thrown headfirst into a new case of an assassination attempt against a presidential candidate and the current POTUS. The rest of the episode follows the task force reassembled under a new title, and the episode ends on a dangerous note, setting up the rest of the season.

This narrative choice positions Countdown away from all the usual high-paced thriller series where a major storyline is explored in a season and the finale delivers a fitting conclusion. Instead, Countdown Episode 10 delivered the conclusion of one case and the premiere of another in one single episode.

It can be considered a great initiative that the case was not dragged on the entire season just to deliver a fitting finale. Instead, a brand-new plotline has been introduced, and instead of predicting what the finale would look like for Countdown, the audience can just sit down and join them on the crazy ride.

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