Season 1 Wraps Up With an Ending That Will Have You Screaming at Your Television

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for the Countdown Season 1 finale.

It’s been one heck of a ride since Countdown began back in June, and now that we’re already at the season finale, we can only hope that a Season 2 renewal is upon us. As Detective Mark Meachum (Jensen Ackles), Amber Oliveras (Jessica Camacho), and the rest of Task Force Armor are hot on the trail of the new would-be-terrorist “Todd” (Grant Harvey), the stakes continue to rise as the Governor of California and the U.S. President are in danger. But rather than alleviating our fears, the Season 1 finale, “Your People are in Danger,” lives up to that name by concluding with a serious cliffhanger that will have you screaming at your television. Derek Haas seriously loves to torture us, doesn’t he?

‘Countdown’s Season 1 Finale Gets the Task Force Closer to Todd Than Ever

Jensen Ackles as Meachum and Uli Latukefu as Finau sitting at a conference table in Countdown

The finale of Countdown‘s first season begins in Crenshaw, where Todd arrives at a storage unit and locks himself inside. There, he begins cooking up some sort of substance that we can only assume is a bomb. Without the same resources and expertise as Volchek (Bogdan Yasinski), it’s anyone’s guess as to what could happen next. Meanwhile, a knock is heard at Meachum’s door as the detective is greeted by LAPD Officer Hannah Tilly (Lacey Claire Rogers), who comes in while on her shift and begins to undress. It’s no wonder that Meachum ignores Oliveras’ text. Speaking of, the following morning, Oliveras and her boyfriend, Julio Belchrsin (Eddie Aguirre), start their day, with the former reflecting on (and seemingly struggling with) the life she’s now living.

Elsewhere, Evan Shepherd (Violette Beane) confronts her sister Molly (Michelle DeShon) when she brings a strange guy home and appears to be high. This occurs right after their sweet moment together in the previous episode. It understandably throws Shepherd off, but before she can talk with her sister about it further, Heather (Rachel Armstrong) calls her in to the office. As Shepherd leaves, she sees Molly’s strange friend drive off. At headquarters, Meachum and Oliveras talk about the case and are interrupted by Lucas Finau (Uli Latukefu), and a briefing soon follows. Here, Keyonte Bell (Elliot Knight) reveals a video from near the bar where they nearly caught Todd the previous day, which, although grainy, will at least reveal the makes and models of the cars on the scene. Additionally, Shepherd discovers that Todd’s manifesto language matches that of an LA talk radio host named Randy Mankin (Kiff VandenHeuvel), the voice behind Truth to Power Hour, the radio show that we’ve heard in Todd’s truck previously.

On the case, Meachum and Oliveras head to North Hollywood, and on the way, talk about the latter’s relationship with “the doctor.” But all of this is put on the back burner for the sake of the job (what else is new), as Randy Mankin meets them in the lobby of the radio studio. From the moment they meet the radio host, it’s clear that Mankin doesn’t actually buy any of the lines he’s selling across the airwaves. “Right now, anger pays the bills,” he admits, prompting Meachum to inquire about any of Mankin’s obsessive fans. The radio host hands over all the information they have, which they investigate at HQ. Unfortunately, none of the posts sound immediately like Todd. However, Nathan Blythe (Eric Dane) believes that the group assessing these threats for Mankin, an organization called World Shield, should expand their parameters of who might be considered a threat. Blythe tells the group’s newcomer, Fitz (Joe Dinicol), that he needs to acquire the Secret Service’s schedule for POTUS, who will arrive in six days. Right now, ADIC Jay Tostaud (Scot Ruggles) has smoothed things over with Governor George Shelby (Aaron Lazar), but he wonders if the task force is in grave danger.

Meachum and Oliveras Dance Around Each Other in the ‘Countdown’ Season Finale

Jessica Camacho as Oliveras and Jensen Ackles as Meachum looking at each other in Countdown

Pivoting from their search for Todd, Shepherd takes Finau aside and asks him to run the license plate on the guy she saw with Molly through the LAPD database. When he does, the man comes out to be Dougray Rawlston (Matisse Mazur), who has been charged with enough felonies to put him in prison for life. Why is he out on the streets? That’s Shepherd’s question, but before she and Finau can investigate further, the latter gets a call about the sniper rifle model they’ve been searching for (the same one Todd used at the cabins) and, accompanied by Meachum and Oliveras, meets his contacts at ground level. As it turns out, the LAPD found tons of these sniper rifles after a raid a while back, but the guns themselves went to the FBI.

Afterward, Meachum and Oliveras continue their Julio conversation, with Meachum asserting that the doctor will never understand the job. The two get into a verbal jousting match as it becomes painfully clear that Meachum is still holding onto some hope that Oliveras will come around. In his words, he believes that she ultimately won’t settle for the “boring” life that comes with Julio. But Oliveras confronts Meachum about his motives, prompting the detective to note that the chemistry they have between them is “magic you can’t shake.” Although Oliveras shrugs him off, Meachum means every word and still holds a bright torch for his task force partner. Soon after, Julio calls Oliveras, who, after her tussle with Meachum, is now conflicted about her own feelings. But Shepherd interrupts her mental spiral to ask if she would run any information she can about Rawlston.

Meanwhile, in Arcadia, Todd drives around with his chemical concoction in the back of his truck. Arriving at a horse track, he flashes a badge to the guard and enters a gated parking lot. The episode then pivots to Beverly Hills as Blythe and Fitz go to meet with Governor Shelby at the venue for the event with POTUS. Blythe shares his theory that he believes the shooter may be law enforcement, but is soon interrupted by a call with new information. Giving them a moment alone, the governor offers Fitz some potential advice, and it appears that the Secret Service agent has possibly made a friend in California’s highest elected official. But why was Blythe interrupted? It turns out, he was called about Todd’s truck, which was in flames in the horse track parking lot. The task force investigates and finds that the substance on the side of the truck wouldn’t burn: it’s his signature sigil. While there, Meachum embarrassingly encounters Tilly, who, in front of Oliveras, asks if they’ll be seeing each other later.

‘Countown’ Season 1 Concludes With Oliveras in Todd’s Villainous Sights

That night, Blythe speaks with Tostaud about the governor’s event, unsure if they’re going to be able to protect the President there, while Meachum heads back home. Although he gets a text from Tilly, he doesn’t respond. The next morning in Studio City, Oliveras and Julio discuss their relationship and future. She tells him that she’s happy to slow things down when they’re together, and he agrees. Seemingly assured of what she wants, Oliveras gets in her car for work, only to be gassed and abducted by Todd before she can pull out of the driveway.

At headquarters, Heather asks Meachum about Oliveras, but no one has heard from her. Continuing their meeting anyway, Blythe reveals that an FBI agent named Seth Lewis tried to access their task force case files. But despite the revelation, Meachum wonders about Oliveras. Shepherd tries to call, but her phone has been ditched at a café. The task force believes that Lewis may be Todd, cross-checking his name with the rifle, the truck, and everything else tying him to the crime. It seems that he is, without a doubt, their guy. Meanwhile, Oliveras has been kidnapped and is tied up in a closet. In a very Silence of the Lambs-esque sequence, the task force goes after Lewis and breaks into his place. Though we hope that they’re close to saving Oliveras too, it turns out that Lewis is none other than Todd’s former friend, the same one played by Jefferson White, who cheated with Todd’s now ex-wife (Caitlin Carver). Oliveras is nowhere to be found, as she is still with Todd, and the framed Lewis is arrested.

As all of this is happening, “Your People are in Danger” ends on two powerful cliffhangers. The first is that Shepherd, who gets a call from an unknown number about her sister, finds out that Molly has overdosed and is in a coma. She doesn’t participate in the raid because she has left to meet her sister in the hospital, though she can do nothing to help her. The other cliffhanger? Todd takes Oliveras into the wilderness, held hostage in the back of her truck. Todd picks up his phone and is told by his boss at the FBI (revealing that Todd himself is still an agent) that Lewis was arrested, having been deemed the terrorist they’re looking for. With all of that going according to his plan, Todd drives Oliveras out to the middle of nowhere and tells her to run. As she does, he aims at her and readies the trigger.

Countdown is available for streaming on Prime Video.