Warning! Major spoilers for Countdown season 1, episode 4!
Countdownstar Jonathan Togo reacts to his character Damon Drew’s shocking death in episode 4.Countdownis Prime Video’s new action-thriller series that centers on a covert task force that must stop a weapon of mass destruction from going off in Los Angeles after the murder of another agent. Jensen Ackles leads theCountdowncastas Mark Meachum, an LAPD officer who is pulled out of an undercover assignment to join the task force.
In an interview withTV Insider,Togo reveals that creator Derek Haas let him know from the outset that Drew would die in episode 4. TheCSI: Miamiactor praises the decision, as many procedurals do not show any major characters getting killed. He notes that Drew’s demise helped raise the stakes for the series and that he died a noble death.
When Derek [Haas] approached me about the project, he told me that it was only going to be four episodes, and he explained that he wanted to have one of the members of the core team die pretty early on in the series so that he could communicate to the audience that the threats and danger that they were facing was real and to make it very immediate.
I think that a lot of times on procedural cop shows on TV, the main characters face danger but never quite suffer the consequences of that. This was an opportunity for him to bring the sort of urgency and immediacy to the story that maybe we haven’t seen before in this genre.
I think he died a noble death in pursuit of trying to save millions of people. So in that way, I’m grateful for the way it was written. I think that what’s interesting about the way Derek writes it, and what was interesting about how Drew died, was it’s a scene that we’ve seen so many times. It’s a cliche, the good guys showing up at the last second to save the hero, and rarely do we ever see the consequences of that. It upends the prevailing way we watch these shows.
It just shows you that all these characters, despite their peccadillos and their own personal shortcomings at their core, are very selfless and are putting their lives on the line in service of this greater cause.
What This Means For Countdown
The Series Has Established Its Stakes
Countdownis doing a good job early on by setting up high stakes for the characters.Countdownopened with a cameo from Milo Ventimiglia, only for him to be quickly murdered. While this helped set the tone for the series,Drew’s death comes as even more shocking.
Ventimiglia was intentionally left out of promotions and marketing materials, making his cameo a surprise way to kick off the show. However, Drew being shot at theend ofCountdownepisode 3was much more of a stunner. Plenty of shows have killed off a character early in their run to establish stakes, but few have done it with multiple characters in quick succession.
AsCountdownshows the task force in life and death scenarios, Drew’s death stands out as a reminder that they are putting their lives on the line.His death adds immediate tension to the showthat might not have been felt otherwise.
Our Take On Drew’s Death
WithCountdownstill in its early days, character backstories are slowly being unfolded. Even with the series being written knowing that Drew was going to be killed off, he was given arguably the darkest backstory so far. His son, Noah, was killed in a fatal car crash.
To honor his son, Drew decided to stay involved with his Little League team. The team went as far as to have Noah’s number displayed on all of their hats in a heartbreaking scene. He also shared that without his wife, he would not have been able to go on after Noah’s death. With this deep backstory set up, his death inCountdownwas a genuine surprise.
Countdown
Cast
Countdown, released in 2025, follows LAPD detective Mark Meachum as he joins a secret task force composed of undercover agents from various law enforcement branches. Following the murder of a Department of Homeland Security officer, they uncover a deep conspiracy, igniting a time-sensitive mission to protect millions.
