This post contains spoilers from Countdown season 1 episode 2 from this point forward.
Jumping off from the shocking reveal at the end of the first episode, Countdown season 1 episode 2 doesn't immediately meet back up with the task force. Instead, we flash back to 2008 in Minsk, Belarus, and meet a man named Borys (Bogdan Yasinski). While working on some kind of electric invention, he answers the door to find his brother Anton badly beat up. He's in deep trouble with an American who has threatened to kill him. Suddenly, Borys is mixed up in the drama.
Throughout the episode, the flashbacks continue, revealing that the American wants Borys to procure electronic communication that's been exchanged between the Kremlin and a political leader. Anton's life is on the line. Since it's crunch time, Borys does as he's told to save his brother, but he's too late. Anton dies by a self-inflicted gunshot in the bathtub, leaving Borys both filled with grief and hungry for revenge. He hands over the information, but once it's downloaded, a bomb explodes.
For much of Countdown episode 2, you might be wondering why the flashbacks to Belarus in 2008 are important and what they contribute to the story (if you hadn't already made the connection). But all will be revealed by the end of this recap, so as not to get too far ahead of ourselves. Borys will become an important part of the matter at hand with the task force, who are looking into the origin of a stolen border patrol vehicle that could be a key aspect of the fissile material investigation.
Oliveras has been making moves behind the scenes. Turns out, her meeting at the bar wasn't related to the rumor that she's an addict. Seeing as her cover two years ago was a smuggler across the border, she met with a runner connected to Los Reyes Nuevos lieutenant Javi Lopez to reestablish contact. Oliveras and Meachum pursue meeting with Javi while Blythe assuages LA District Attorney Grayson Valwell (Merrick McCartha), who wants to be keyed into the task force. He's going to be a problem!
Connecting the dots between Borys and Volchek
On the way to meet Javi, Oliveras questions whether Meachum's ready as he struggles with a headache and mixes up their cover story. When they arrive at the car repair garage, Oliveras talks their way in. Immediately, Javi believes Meachum to be a cop and his his men run his background. Thankfully, one of his men recognize's Meachum's tattoo (part of Jensen Ackles' real wrist tattoo!) as "Palmdale ink," and when they check his fingerprint, his alias comes up.
Oliveras weaves a story and negotiates taking a high-risk delivery from Javi for some cash. They're taking a run that involves a truck coming in from Rosarito that will assumedly be stopped at the border. As a test, the task force will do the run to gain Javi's trust. The drives across the border and completes the exchange, but not before Finau slices his hand open on the truck. Next up, it's getting back across the border without being stopped and questioned.
It's easier said than done, even as Oliveras lands a police car for cover. Finau makes the truck through the first checkpoint, but the second checkpoint gets dicey, especially since two cops spot Oliveras behind the wheel of a police car. Meachum makes the call to "blow it up," which includes Blythe calling in Meachum's car as suspicious. Meachum basically plays bumper cars as a distraction to pull focus. Bell uses his badge to get Finau through the border as the cops flock Meachum.
Obviously, Meachum's arrest isn't real and Bell's able to get him out of lockup rather quickly. The team meets back up in a mall parking lot across the border. In the back of the truck, they discover about $15 million worth of heroin. Meachum and Oliveras drive the truck back together, and Meachum eases her frustration by telling her a story from his rookie year on the LAPD. Moral of the story, he's committed to this mission and will follow any order Oliveras gives him.
The DA returns to bug Blythe about bringing him on board the task force, but he still doesn't make inroads. After Meachum and Oliveras return the truck, she suspiciously takes one kilo under the guise she's going to flush it keep it off the streets. Meachum's curious, but he doesn't push back. Is she actually an addict as the rumors suggest? They make the drop with Javi, and Oliveras asks about high-risk jobs. Javi mentions he recently worked with Russians.
As she presses Javi for a name, his partner starts his car, which causes it to blow up. Since he was walking toward the car, Javi caught the brunt of the explosion. Before he dies, Meachum continues to push for a name, insisting the man at the port did this to him. Javi's able to mutter "Volchek" before he dies. And who is Volchek? Borys! His brother's death was his villain origin story and explosions are his calling card. The task force has a name, now all they need is a face and a location.
Countdown releases new episodes Wednesdays on Prime Video.
More recaps from Show Snob: