Countdown EP Derek Haas Welcomes ‘24 Meets Graceland’ Comparison, Teases One Surprise He Has Planned

More than 13 years after co-creating Chicago Fire and thus helping sire the popular #OneChicago Universe, Derek Haas was looking to break free of the broadcast procedural formula, with Prime Video‘s Countdown.

Luke Finau (Uli Latukefu), Mark Meachum (Jensen Ackles), Keyonte Bell (Elliot Knight) and Amber Oliveras (Jessica Camacho) Courtesy of Prime Video

Created by Haas, Countdown is set in motion when an officer with the Department of Homeland Security is murdered in broad daylight. Special Agent in Charge Blythe (played by Euphoria’s Eric Dane) in turn heads up task force “Hurricane,” comprised of LAPD detective Mark Meachum (Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles), DEA badass Amber Oliveras (All Rise‘s Jessica Camacho), LAPD gangs unit officer Lucas Finau (Young Rock‘s Uli Latukefu), and FBI agents Evan Shepherd (The Flash‘s Violett Beane) and Keyonte Bell (The Boys‘ Elliot Knight).

The cast also includes Bogdan Yasinski (Boch: Legacy) and Jonathan von Mering (The Pitt) as the villainous Borys Volchek and his henchman Adrej; Jonatha Togo (The Chosen) as Blythe’s righthand man Damon Drew; and Merrick McCartha (All American) as District Attorney Grayson Valwell.

Mark Meachum (Jensen Ackles) and Amber Oliveras (Jessica Camacho) Courtesy of Elizabeth Morris/Amazon Content Services

As opposed to broadcast dramas (such as FBI: International, which Haas also co-created) that seldom get more than, maybe, a two-hour finale to tackle a major, deadly threat, Countdown as a streaming series has the luxury of spending more time with good guys and bad guys alike.

“I’d written novels before, and I wanted this to be almost like chapters in a book,” Haas shares with TVLine. “That way it could be a story that had an ever-evolving threat — and twists and turns within that threat — but you could spend time with the antagonists, which is something that we rarely did on those other shows, and then also get to know this team over a longer period of time as the case evolves.”

‘I WANTED TO SURPRISE THE AUDIENCE WITH WHEN THIS CASE IS GOING TO END’

Another deviation from the norm that Haas was all too happy to indulge in involves the pacing of this task force’s pursuit of the enigmatic and highly dangerous Volcheck over the span of a 13-episode season.

“What I wanted to do differently than a lot of shows in this genre do is I wanted to surprise the audience with when this case is going to end,” Haas shares. “A lot of times on shows like this, you think the end of the season will be the end of that case, but I don’t want the audience thinking that they can take some time off and then catch up later. No, you’ve got to be along for the ride.”

Amber Oliveras (Jessica Camacho), Luke Finau (Uli Latukefu), Evan Shepherd (Violett Beane), Nathan Blythe (Eric Dane), Keyonte Bell (Elliot Knight), Damon Drew (Jonathan Togo) and Mark Meachum (Jensen Ackles) Courtesy of Prime Video

A mash-up of FBI, LAPD and DEA officers, chipping away at a series of leads in the name of neutralizing a global threat? Season 1 felt very much like “24 meets Graceland,” if you ask me. Haas himself embraces my comparison, but also adds to it.

“I love it. Those are great examples, and definitely were talked about before we started,” he says. “But as much as it was 24 when I was initially talking to Amazon about this show, I was also talking about ’80s movies that I love, like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark — movies that had these upbeat, ‘Can’t wait to get to the next day,’ love-their-jobs, throwback action stars.

“That really was where the inspiration for casting Jensen Ackles came from,” he adds, “and I was lucky that I got him.”

Prime Video’s Countdown premieres Wednesday, June 25, with its first three episodes, followed by weekly drops through Sept