In July 2025, Prime Video customers turned obsessive about Jensen Ackles’ crime thriller sequence “Countdown.” But it surely appears the obsession did not take maintain as broadly as Ackles and co. may need hoped, as Amazon cancelled the present simply two months later. That call seemingly got here as considerably of a shock to each solid, crew, and followers, as from the skin, “Countdown” gave the impression to be a strong hit. Alas, it appears the present’s world viewership won’t have met Prime Video’s expectations.
Hailing from creator, govt producer, and showrunner Derek Haas (“Chicago Hearth”), “Countdown” noticed Ackles play LAPD detective and former Military Ranger Mark Meachum, who’s recruited to a secret activity power the place he finds himself working alongside brokers from a number of regulation enforcement businesses. The covert crew is tasked with fixing the homicide of a Division of Homeland Safety officer, however as you would possibly anticipate, they rapidly uncover a a lot wider and extra sinister conspiracy that has them racing to stop a significant terrorist occasion. Previous to the present’s launch, Ackles touted it as a form of homage to motion filmmaking of the previous. “It was every thing I grew up loving about leisure,” he advised The Hollywood Reporter. “There was motion and salty characters — there was the ‘will they or will not they,’ are they going to make it? Are they going to avoid wasting everybody and catch the unhealthy guys? It was a little bit of a throwback, and I gravitated to it.”
Prime Video has definitely seen success catering to the sensibilities of action-starved dads throughout the nation — simply check out “Reacher,” season 3 of which broke rankings information. “Countdown” gave the impression to be one more hit in that vein, however its fast cancellation revealed that it won’t have been fairly the success it appeared on the floor.
Countdown won’t have been the worldwide hit Prime Video hoped for
When “Countdown” debuted, it appeared to be a giant hit, and as time went on, it appeared to take care of its reputation, remaining on Prime Video for greater than a month after the season 1 finale was launched. Certainly, as of October 10, 2025, the present continues to be within the U.S. TV charts (by way of FlixPatrol), the place it sits at quantity 10 and continues to chart in different nations all over the world. On high of that, “Countdown” charted on the Nielsen High 10 for Streaming Originals, which is a way more spectacular feat as a result of the truth that this explicit rating system takes into consideration originals throughout all streaming companies. With all that in thoughts, you have to surprise what on earth prompted Prime Video to place an finish to this sequence so early.
Making issues worse for followers, the present ended on a cliffhanger when Jessica Camacho’s Agent Amber was compelled to run via a area at gunpoint whereas a sniper skilled his rifle on her earlier than the episode lower to black. Followers have been little question wanting to see how that performed out, however on October 10, 2025, Deadline reported that “Countdown” had been cancelled alongside fellow Prime Video sequence “Butterfly.” Because the outlet famous, the choice was considerably stunning given the present’s obvious success, however claimed that the cancellation may need had extra to do with “complete world viewership” than the rest. If correct, that might imply that whereas U.S. viewers have been fairly taken with Jensen Ackles’ motion sequence, the remainder of the world wasn’t so eager. However given the present continues to be charting in a number of markets all over the world on the time of writing, that clarification additionally appears a tad suspect.
Was one thing else at play? Maybe. Whereas critiques by themselves seemingly weren’t the rationale for the cancellation, “Countdown” wasn’t precisely a essential hit. The present was launched on a weekly schedule, which generally provides exhibits an opportunity to construct reputation as phrase of mouth spreads. However that did not assist the essential response. On Rotten Tomatoes, “Countdown” holds a 35% critic rating primarily based on 17 critiques.
What have the solid and crew of Countdown mentioned about its cancellation?
“Countdown” is not the primary, and it definitely will not be the final streaming sequence to be cancelled after initially performing nicely. Netflix’s “Pulse” suffered the same destiny when it was cancelled after one season, although it gave the impression to be successful at launch, and streamers are typically extra prepared to axe exhibits earlier than conventional networks. There are a number of causes that play into this state of affairs, from streamers not having to stick to programming schedules to the financial incentives concerned within the streaming enterprise. Little question a few of that performed into “Countdown” being canned early, which clearly hit Jensen Ackles onerous.
The actor posted a video to Instagram during which he thanked the solid and crew, in addition to Amazon for green-lighting the mission within the first place. Ackles, who appeared visibly upset within the video (as you would possibly anticipate), additionally mentioned the cancellation was a “bummer” and that he had “such an incredible time” making the sequence. “Generally you may got down to do your finest and test all these bins,” he added, “and in the end it is out of your arms. That is the best way it goes on this business.”
The “Supernatural” star, who as soon as misplaced the function of Superman in “Smallville” to Tom Welling earlier than happening to play Dean Winchester for 15 seasons on “Supernatural,” had already showcased his skills on Prime Video by taking part in Ben/Soldier Boy on “The Boys,” which lastly gave Ackles the highlight he deserved. He’ll quickly lead Prime Video’s upcoming “The Boys” spin-off, “Vought Rising,” and has an ongoing first-look take care of the streamer by way of his Chaos Machine manufacturing firm. So, it is not as if he wants to fret an excessive amount of, even whereas it was clearly a giant disappointment to lose “Countdown.”
In the meantime, creator Derek Haas took to Bluesky to offer a fast response to the cancellation and replace followers on one burning query. “Hey, thanks to Amazon Prime and an amazing solid and crew for our season of Countdown!” he wrote, including, “Enjoyable to make throughout! (pssst … Oliveras lived).”
