In the 12th episode of Countdown, Hope Miller, Governor Shelby’s press secretary, was assassinated by Todd. The task force began an investigation into the case because this was credible proof of the fact that Todd was working his way up to Shelby and maybe even the POTUS. With the help of CHP Officer Tooks, Luke found a note that pointed the crew in the direction of a bar called Raising Bane. Amber and Keyonte pretended to be drug suppliers so that they could talk to Mike, the establishment’s owner, to see if he had been in touch with Todd, while Luke and Mark entered the pub as patrons. Which was why Mark was able to notice a guy—who was actually Todd—taking pictures of Amber, who was busy trying to do a convincing job of being an employee of the local drug supplier, Tobin. But when Mark tried to go after Todd as he left the building after being spotted, Todd started shooting at him and then escaped as the whole place erupted in chaos. Amber found a note that Todd had given to Mike, which essentially stated that the task force would never catch him. Did the federal officers make any progress in terms of understanding what Todd is up to in the 13th episode? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Mark and Amber’s “Romance”
Todd arrives at his storage unit in Crenshaw, where he has his personal chemistry lab, and starts concocting some kind of nerve agent, which comes in handy later on. Elsewhere, LAPD Officer Hannah arrives at Mark’s doorstep to fornicate with him. He gets a text from Amber, who wants to discuss something work-related with him. But Mark prioritizes Hannah over Amber. The following day, Amber sees that Mark hasn’t responded to her text. She greets Julio, who is on his way out for a run, and she observes the state of the house and sees how organized it is because of him. Going by her expression, she seemingly doesn’t like this lifestyle and instead wants to be messy? She has been sober for quite a while, so maybe some lingering tendencies from that time are motivating her to think this way. However, I have to say that “being organized” is something that’s always mocked by movies and TV shows because that trait is associated with boredom.
This isn’t restricted to a particular gender. I’m sure you all remember Monica Geller from Friends and how she was portrayed as a borderline psychopath for just being particular about daily chores and cleanliness. I bought that propaganda until I myself became an adult. Julio isn’t even as “controlling” as Monica, and even then he is getting these disgruntled expressions behind his back. I don’t know, man. I have had my fair share of disorganized and routine-less roommates, and I’m never going back to that lifestyle ever again, no matter what the mainstream media has to say on that topic. On top of that, as you see later on in the episode, the juvenile way in which Amber treats or talks about Julio, because she is ashamed to flaunt her relationship in front of Mark, who is most definitely in love with Amber, is so embarrassing to watch. If this were a YA rom-com, it would’ve been acceptable; these people are in their 40s. This isn’t “cute.”
Molly’s Problems
Evan is seen waiting for her sister, Molly, at her house, and is shocked to find out that she ditched their dinner plans to hang out with some scruffy-looking guy. After telling the guy to leave, when Evan tries to have a conversation with her, Molly walks into her room and shuts the door in her sister’s face. Even though she clearly wants to continue her argument with Molly, she gets a text from Heather, Nathan’s PA, telling her to get to the office as soon as possible. So, she has no option but to leave Molly alone for the time being. That said, sensing that something is off about the guy her sister has been fraternizing with, Evan takes down the license plate of the dude as he drives away.
Once the task force has assembled, Keyonte shows them the CCTV footage from the cameras installed around Raising Bane and points out that while the license plates of the vehicles are not visible from the angle where the cameras have been placed, their make and model are identifiable. Fitz chimes in to say that they can use that data and tally it with the registration numbers of all the people, within a twenty-mile radius, who have bought those vehicles, and then hope to find their assassin. Nathan asks Evan if she has some new info on the manifesto, and she reveals that some of the translated phrases from that diary actually match with the talking points of a radio show host (that we know Todd listens to) called Randy Mankin, whose program is called Truth To Power Hour. So, Nathan orders Mark and Amber to pay the guy a visit at his North Hollywood office.
Randy Mankin
Mark and Amber assume that Randy is going to be as hostile as he is on his show, but are surprised to see him honestly admit that he presents himself so aggressively because that’s what sells nowadays. He used to be a financial advisor, but when that didn’t work, he pivoted to the realm of “professional entertainment,” where he barks at capitalists and “the rich.” Since that’s working for him now, he is happy; if this flops too, he is willing to pivot again. His fans are called “Powerheads,” a reference to the “power” in Power Hour, and it seems like Randy isn’t totally unaware of his influence. Hence, he has a list of people who post problematic stuff on the message boards, which he is ready to share with the feds so that things don’t get too out of hand. Of course, all this serves as a commentary on every loudmouth with a mic that has built a rabid fanbase through the power of entertainment. But it’s wild that Countdown is so feckless about its political stance. Yes, it’s technically “copaganda,” which means that it’s not anti-establishment. Then they have a villain who listens to a podcast host that’s clearly emulating right-wing nationalist mouthbreathers but is talking against capitalism? What?! Pick a lane, because you’ll never be able to keep up with the ever-changing face of geopolitics, especially when every world leader nowadays acts like a petulant child. Just tell a good story and hope that it’s prescient enough to be rewatched ten years from now and still evoke some sense of relatability.
Anyway, going back to the plot, Fitz says that he has gone through the list of the Powerheads, and there’s nothing in there that sticks out like a sore thumb. Nathan asks who put the list together, and Mark says that it was a threat-monitoring company called World Shield. Nathan tells Mark to advise World Shield to expand their parameters and look into users who employ the same words that have been found in Randy’s speeches and the manifesto. And he orders Fitz to give him an updated version of POTUS’ schedule ahead of the fundraiser that he is supposed to attend with Governor Shelby. While everyone gets to work, Nathan sits down for a conversation with Jay and shares most of the information that the task force has collected so far so that he can judge whether or not California is safe for Shelby and POTUS. That said, when Jay hears that Todd was taking pictures of Amber, he asks if Nathan’s team is safe or not—to which Nathan doesn’t answer. Before getting to the matter at hand, with Luke’s help, Evan takes a little detour and looks up the name of the guy that Molly was with. His name is Dougray Rawlston, and he has a bunch of felonies to his name. Why isn’t he in prison? Nobody knows.
Fire at the San Gabriel Park
Luke gets a call from his friends in the ATF, Hopper and Tanaka, who want to share some info on the sniper rifle that was found in the basement of Hammerhead Cabins. They talk about a raid that they conducted on an arms dealer operating out of San Diego, where the seized arms were handed over to the FBI. During all this, several people were arrested, but there was one guy who gave the authorities the slip and got away; his name is Ragnar. Apparently, this Ragnar fellow is still on the run. Amber wants to know who the FBI agents who were heading this case were—because such slip-ups can’t happen unless the officers are involved—but Hopper and Tanaka draw a blank. But they promise to look into it and give her an update if they find something substantial. In the meantime, Evan approaches Amber with a request: look into Rawlston. Amber is a bit skeptical, but as soon as Evan says that it’s for Molly’s safety, she accepts that task. Nathan and Fitz go over to the house in Beverly Hills where Governor Shelby will be hosting the fundraiser.
Nathan requests a detailed outline of the security measuers that’ll be in place on the day of the event. As Nathan attends a call, Fitz and Shelby have a chat about how every job should be treated with importance and that only with great effort can one hope to achieve great results. While the task force was doing all this, in Arcadia, Todd entered San Gabriel Park (it’s meant for horse racing) and set his truck on fire. That call that Nathan was attending was about that, which prompts him and Fitz to shelve any further discussions with Shelby and rush to the aforementioned location. Why is the task force needed there, though? Because, as per the security guard, Todd used FBI verification to get all the way in there. How do they know it’s Todd who has done all that? Because he has drawn his calling card on the side of the truck, which is the “greater than” symbol with a dot on the top. Other than that, there’s nothing of substance. So, Nathan asks the task force to make sure that they have pictures of everyone present at the crime scene and that the place is safe enough for the horse races to run.
Amber Is Kidnapped
Once the issue at San Gabriel Park has been dealt with, Nathan heads back to the office to read the thick dossier on the USSS’ plans for the fundraiser delivered to him by Fitz. That’s also when he gets a call from Jay and discusses the task force’s hunch that it’s probably someone from the FBI who’s the perpetrator. The following day, after some surface-level research, the task force sets their sights on Seth Lewis. The only one absent during this briefing is Amber because, while coming to work, she was kidnapped by Todd, probably with the help of that chemical that he was synthesizing at the very beginning of the episode. Of course, nobody on the task force figures that out immediately, because they are way too focused on all the seemingly disconnected dots they have gathered so far getting linked to Lewis. At the end of Countdown episode 13, Nathan, Keyonte, Luke, Fitz, and Mark head over to Lewis’ house to nab him because they are sure that he is the guy they have been looking for so far. Where’s Evan? She receives news that Molly has gone into a coma because of an overdose. But that’s not as important as what’s going on in the impromptu raid that the task force is conducting on Seth.
The editing during this scene makes it seem like the house the task force has hit is the same one that Amber is in. That’s not the case at all. The task force arrests Seth, who has apparently married Todd’s ex-wife, and takes him into custody. Mark senses that something is off about all this—because Seth keeps saying that he is a federal officer—but can’t put his finger on it. Meanwhile, somewhere else, Todd incapacitates Amber, takes her to the field where he probably killed his ex-wife’s dog, and tells her to run. When Amber reaches a distance of about hundred yards, he pulls out his sniper rifle and aims it at her. We don’t see him pull the trigger because that’s where Countdown Season 1 comes to an end. In addition to all that, we see Todd talking to Randy, who seems to be unaware of Todd’s “extracurricular” activities and oblivious to the fact that Todd might be the one who has framed Seth. Either way, he requests Todd that he show up at the office and be a part of the routine checks that the FBI is doing to avoid going up on their suspects’ list. At the time of writing this article, creator Derek Haas hasn’t given any confirmation that the show will return for a second season. If it does, we’ll learn about the fates of all the characters. If it doesn’t, you are free to speculate about what happened after the episode cut to black.
