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 a criminal offense drama collection wherein Ackles performs a reckless cowboy detective working to stop a lethal terrorist assault. Solely a handful of episodes have been launched to this point, however the present at present ranks firmly amongst Prime Video’s prime 10 most watched exhibits of the week throughout the globe (per FlixPatrol).
In fact, being a prime 10 present is not a assure that the collection shall be a long-term success. (Simply ask “Pulse,” which initially carried out nicely on Netflix however was canceled a number of months later anyway.) However one issue “Countdown” has in its favor is that it is being launched on a weekly schedule and never dropped , as Netflix likes to do. This mannequin provides it extra probabilities to achieve recognition via sheer phrase of mouth, like what’s occurred to current hit weekly-released exhibits like “The Pitt” or “The White Lotus.”
Admittedly, the critiques for the collection haven’t been nearly as good because the viewership numbers. “Regardless of its massive solid and grandiose themes, ‘Countdown’ finally falters as a result 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 can be neither thrilling or attention-grabbing.” With its 36% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes to this point, a lot of the different critiques echo these sentiments.
Why Jenson Ackles thinks you must watch Countdown
Whereas discussing the present’s premiere episode with The Hollywood Reporter, Ackles defined what drew him to the challenge within the first place:
“It was the whole lot 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 at the least, it looks like the procedural clichés the present makes use of aren’t a bug however a characteristic. “Countdown” is not reinventing the wheel, nevertheless it’s a very good match for anybody who needs some gentle and breezy enjoyable. Ackles additionally appears to be comfortable 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 a number of wrenches into his post-“Supernatural” profession plans. The highway to creating “Countdown” was full of 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 just a little 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 exhibits.”
“Countdown” is now streaming on Prime Video.