In the 8th episode of Countdown, we finally got a glimpse of the reason why Volchek was hellbent on turning Los Angeles into a nuclear wasteland. Back in 2021, after running away from Belarus, Volchek came to the United States and bought up a bunch of parking lots, which he’d allow the public to use for a price. But then a representative of the municipality, Ross, arrived out of nowhere with a notice that stated that, as per a recent government directive, municipal vehicles could be parked on private lots for free. Volchek tried to bribe Ross to keep his business from running at a loss, but Ross called the cops on him, and he was sent to jail. When he was being harassed by his inmates, he came to the realization that Lubomir, the man who had assured him that operating parking lots was a hassle-free business, and the municipality were running some kind of a scam. So, he killed Lubomir and began his crusade against the city. In the present day, Nathan and his task force kept tightening the noose around Volchek’s neck. Nathan had gotten the Belarusian Consul General, Astapov, to collaborate with him in their efforts to catch the terrorist. However, when Nathan went to Astapov to get some important documents, Volchek killed Astapov and brutally stabbed Nathan. Did the 9th episode of Countdown reveal if Nathan lived or died? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Nathan Is Alive
Episode 9 of Countdown reveals that Nathan hasn’t died of the stabbing, as he drags himself to his vehicle, fires up the siren, gets on the radio, and calls for help. The following day, Mark, whose own health is on the decline, receives news of what has happened to Nathan, and he rushes to Dignity Medical immediately. Amber, Evan, Luke, and Keyonte are already there, and they have no update on what’s going on with Nathan. Mark tries to flash his badge to the receptionist to try and extract some information from her, but that plan falls flat on its face gloriously. While they are waiting, Amber runs into an old friend of hers, Julio, and she asks if he could learn something about Nathan’s health status, and Julio is quick to oblige. A few moments later, he informs the task force that Nathan is out of danger, but he’ll need surgery, which might take over an hour, to get back on his feet again.
Instead of waiting around, Mark advises that they should investigate what led to the stabbing and if there are any clues at the crime scene. Evan and Keyonte head back to the office, while Mark, Luke, and Amber go to the alleyway where Nathan was attacked. After doing a rough sweep of the place, Mark, Luke, and Amber arrive at the conclusion that the reason why Nathan agreed to meet Astapov in an alley instead of the latter’s office is because the info that Astapov wanted to share with Nathan would be inconvenient to the Belarusian Government, which was welcoming Volchek with open arms, by the way. So, as Mark distracts the police officers at the crime scene, Amber rummages through Astapov’s car, and, lo and behold, she finds a dossier that she pockets. I just want to point out that Volchek not only let Nathan live, but he also didn’t destroy the damning dossier that Astapov had brought with him. That seems kinda idiotic, unless he did it on purpose and that dossier has been planted by him to send the task force on a wild-goose chase. If that’s not the case, then Volchek is an idiot.
Sergei Reveals Volchek’s Aliases
While the verdict on Volchek’s intellect is still out, it’s pretty evident that he is dangerous because he is stabbing people now. Which is why when Luke gets a call from his wife, Amina, he advises her to take their daughters, hit the road, and get as far away as possible from LA. Amina says that she will follow Luke’s advice, but, as proven later in the episode, she doesn’t. But we’ll get back to that in a while. Right now, the task force focuses on one Sergei Belyaev, because that’s the guy that Astapov and his crew were using to keep track of Volchek. Yes, that’s the same guy who makes fake passports who gave Volchek up to Rolf. Sergei operates from Reseda, so that’s where Amber, Mark, Luke, and Keyonte head over to nab the double agent. Sergei tries to make a lame attempt at escaping their clutches, which nearly ends up being a success because of Mark’s sudden bout of dizziness, but Luke catches up to the old-timer and arrests him. Amber and Keyonte take the lead in the interrogation room, and it doesn’t take too long for Sergei to propose a deal: he’ll reveal all the aliases that Volchek is using if the federal charges against him (meaning Sergei) are reduced. Once Sergei gets written confirmation that his proposal has been accepted, he snitches on Volchek like there’s no tomorrow.
The task force decides to look into all the identities that Volchek has been using and all the properties and businesses he is associated with via those aliases and then see what they can do with that. Before they can do so, though, Evan briefly deals with her sister, Mark tackles his ever-increasing headaches, and the whole task force goes to the hospital to check on how Nathan is doing post-surgery. Nathan wants to leave the hospital immediately and go back to the headquarters, but the doctor says that he needs to rest. It’s only after Evan (surprisingly enough) gives him an earful—because while Nathan’s urgency to get back at Volchek for stabbing him is understandable, he’ll be a liability to the task force if he is not at 100 percent—that he agrees to complete (some of) his recovery process before re-entering the battlefield. Since they are all at the hospital anyway, Amber goes up to Julio again and asks if he can help Mark get a second opinion on his tumor. Julio is more than willing to help out Mark, and he gives Amber his card and his personal phone number so that Mark can get in touch with him once Amber has managed to convince him to get that tumor looked at by a fresh pair of eyes. And, yes, I think Julio has an old crush on Amber. I also think that Keyonte has a crush on Evan. Or maybe both of them are just two nice men being nice to two nice women, and I’m just being too sexist.
Volchek Prepares to Set Off an Explosion
Evan, Keyonte, and Mark manage to connect the dots between a company called Kestrel and Volchek, and the task force hits up the film production branch of the firm in Hollywood. There are people employed over there, but no official work is happening, which means that it’s either being used to launder money or it’s an elaborate distraction from the truth. When the task force returns to the office to discuss what they’ve learned so far, they are surprised to see Nathan walking in too, urging his team to give him a recap of everything he has missed. When everyone has finally caught up, Mark has this light-bulb moment where he makes a link between movie (or TV) shoots happening in multiple places in LA, trucks transporting shooting equipment, and Kestrel. What he means to say is that, if Volchek has given those Gallagher trucks a new paint job, and he owns a film production company, it’s possible that the trucks are disguised as film equipment carriers.
Evan does a quick check to see whether or not Kestrel has requested permission from the city authorities regarding parking their trucks anywhere, under the guise of shooting a project, and finds out that they have and it’s in The Vine. And now this is where I re-address Amina. So, when Luke told her to get the kids out of the city, she said that she’ll do so. But when a teacher at the school urged Amina to let Cameron and Kennedy attend the “Poetry in the Park” event, she caved and went there with them. Where’s this “Poetry in the Park” happening? The Vine. What do the Kestrel-labeled trucks have? Explosives. How can they be detonated? Remotely by Volcheck, who is also at The Vine. Volchek has a final chat with Andrej, his right-hand man, as he plans to die in the planned explosion and turn LA into Hiroshima or Chernobyl. At the end of Countdown episode 9, the task force does manage to find the trucks filled with bombs. Luke spots his family near the blast radius and tries to get them to safety. And Mark locks eyes with Volchek, who is seen moving his finger towards the remote detonator before the episode cuts to the credits. I suppose one of two things is going to happen: either Mark is going to magically get to Volchek before he actually causes the bombs to explode, or Keyonte and Evan will successfully defuse the bombs before Volchek sets off the explosion. I mean, this is the 9th episode. Does anyone really think that Volchek is going to cause LA to turn into a nuclear hellscape in the 9th episode, killing off all the central characters? What’s going to happen in the next four episodes then? Are they going to take place in the afterlife, where the spirits of the protagonists and the antagonists will battle each other? That sounds like a good idea, but this isn’t that kind of a show. So, yeah, I think the task force will thwart Volchek, but he’ll get away for now, and the final showdown will happen in the finale. What are your thoughts on the same, though? Let me know in the comments section below.
