Countdown Season 1 Episode 10 Review: The Muzzle Pile

Countdown Season 1 Episode 10, “The Muzzle Pile,” provides a rather dull and lackluster conclusion to the season’s titular goal.

After spending the entire season chasing after Volchek, learning about his history, and the pain fueling his horrendous actions, Countdown decides to pull a last-moment switch to the show’s overall goals and introduce a new threat with a time jump.

It’s a move that could very well be the defining moment that changes how viewers feel about the series.

A Half-Cocked Climax

There is a certain sense of courage and cockiness for a series to evolve around a singular goal, only for it to flip everything upside down in the final moments. It’s something Countdown contains, and it’s a risky move thematically.

Not only are the final face-to-face interactions between Volchek and the team short and abrupt, but they also provide no sense of closure for viewers.

The series built up the excitement and suspense to a monumental level, only to deliver an uneventful conclusion with no sufficient answers. If the plan all along was for Volchek to be the endgame cop-out, the least the series could provide is a death worthy of the time spent on the character.

Volchek’s last moments, being a bullet from behind in the first ten minutes of the episode, are genuinely upsetting storyline-wise.

After it’s all said and done, the audience is left stumped, wondering where the story could possibly lead next. Yes, Countdown provides the jarring news of District Attorney Valwell’s involvement with Volchek and arrests him, but it doesn’t answer anything else.

At least with Volchek as the primary antagonist, we knew what his goals were. Now, it’s almost as if we’re back at square one with a brand new case and working our way from the ground up.

A Time Jump and a New Face

With only three episodes remaining, Countdown takes the opportunity on “The Muzzle Pile” to set the story ten months in advance and introduce what feels like another key character.

Ryan Fitzgerald is a Secret Service member assigned to tracking low-level threats to the president and other government officials. When his investigation leads to the discovery of a body, a manifesto, and an assassination plan, Blythe and the team are pulled together once again.

However, the threat this time around is more targeted. Rather than focusing on a populated area, the new player is setting his sights on the president of the United States.

It’s not that this new investigation the team is on is boring, because it certainly has intriguing aspects. But the abruptness with which the latest conflict is introduced feels incredibly forced.

Fitzgerald’s investigation with Blythe’s team will likely find a way to loop back around and relate to Volchek in some fashion, but right now it’s unpredictable.

From what we know, Volchek isn’t the type to answer to others, and his goals were to cause mass destruction. So, it’s hard to imagine the bigger picture with the new target being a singular person.

Beating the Odds

With Volchek out of the picture and all the time left in the world, Meachum allows Oliveras to talk him into trying Julio’s experimental trial. Despite his initial apprehension, it’s clear based on the time jump that the medication does what it’s intended to do: heal Meachum.

Ten months later and Meachum is still up and kicking it? That’s something to celebrate! The bad news? It seems transparent that whatever feelings were lingering between him and Oliveras have now dissipated.

Before the time jump, Meachum touched on wanting to wait for him to come out on the other side of his cancer before starting something with Oliveras. Well, here we are ten months later, and he’s completely unaware of her current assignment.

As much as I’m also invested in the potential romance between Bell and Shepherd, I need Meachum and Oliveras to be endgame. It’s the least the series could do for turning everything upside down right before the end.

As the series moves forward with its final episodes of the season, the lingering question now is how they will be able to wrap everything up coherently and in a way that connects back to Volchek enough to make sense.

Stray Thoughts:

• Now that we finally know a hint of Blythe’s home life, I hope we get a chance to visit them once more before the season ends.
• It’s not often a series like Countdown has the chance to tug at those emotional strings, but the team’s appearance for Meachum’s first day of treatment is a genuine moment of delight.
   

---

What did you think of this episode of Countdown? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

Critic Rating:

Audience Rating:

 

Countdown is available to stream on Wednesdays on Prime Video. 

Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!