Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Countdown Episode 7. As we count down to the final plans of the terrorist Volchek (Bogdan Yasinski) being revealed, Countdown is raising the stakes and keeping the Prime Video drama as interesting as ever. As Mark Meachum (Jensen Ackles), Amber Oliveras (Jessica Camacho), Nathan Blythe (Eric Dane), and the task force close in on the villain, “Nothing Else Helps” pushes Meachum to his limits as he struggles to keep himself (and the mission) afloat.
Dots Are Further Connected in ‘Countdown’ Episode 7

“Nothing Else Helps” opens with Volchek and Meachum both working out in their respective locations. We see that these two guys are in their physical prime and are gearing up for a showdown. But while Volchek has no obvious physical limitations, Meachum’s tumor is only getting worse. When the LAPD detective gets a call, he struggles to answer due to his increasingly intense headaches, sending him to the floor. Because of this ordeal, Meachum arrives late to the task force meeting, but assures everyone that there’s nothing wrong. Keyonte Bell (Elliot Knight) wants to take everything back to the beginning, believing that there’s some missing link that they’ve skipped over and thinking that the best way to go about finding Volchek is to retrace their steps. Blythe orders him and Evan Shepherd (Violette Beane) to investigate a local company that specializes in handling fissile material, hoping there may be a connection with their recent orders and Volchek’s schemes. Meanwhile, Oliveras asks Meachum if he’s abusing the new medication, becoming concerned that he’s showing the same junkie signs that she had experienced previously herself. But when she confronts him in the bathroom, knowing that he’s not fine, she doesn’t get very far before Blythe enters. Things get awkward quickly and Oliveras leaves. After this, Lucas Finau (Uli Latukefu) heads to Inglewood to check with an old contact about the previously stolen Boarder Patrol vehicle from the series premiere. Finau thinks there may be something that their team missed when combing over it before, and it turns out that he’s right. According to his contact, the stolen vehicle was actually a standard SUV made to look like a Border Patrol vehicle. Meaning that Volchek was able to infiltrate government agencies with little effort. Over in Pacoima, Shepherd and Bell visit Caluman Specialty Steel, a company that specializes in equipment meant to transport fissile material. On their way in, Bell reveals his doubts about his stance with Blythe, but Shepherd (rightfully) tries to encourage him to get on his good side. Of course, the best way Bell could do this is just by doing his job and remaining focused on the mission while trusting his team… But anyway, the pair speak with the company’s top salesman, who Shepherd smooth-talks into giving them the purchase orders they need. Riding high on that success, Bell is suddenly confronted by DA Grayson Valwell (Merrick McCartha), who adds some extra pressure by asking Bell if they’re friends. Obviously, the DA is eager to get involved with the task force somehow, and now he attempts to appear to Bell’s familial ties in order to do so. Talk about shady.
‘Countdown’ Episode 7 Gets Closer To Stopping the Terrorist Cell

Image via Prime Video

At his lair, Volchek and his men get to work on their new vehicles as the Gallagher trucks have been refurbished and are being prepared for transport — we assume for his nuclear arsenal. But Volchek can’t be bothered to oversee this himself — that’s what Andrej (Jonathan Von Mering) is for — and leaves to run an errand. When he asks his local contact about his passports, it’s revealed that Volchek plans to make his statement in Los Angeles and then leave the country under yet another alias. But he doesn’t make it very far as he’s confronted by Belarusian agents on behalf of Iosif Adtapov (Pasha Lychnikoff), who plans to take the terrorist back to Minsk to answer for his previous crimes. Though Volchek tries to fight back, he loses, and the agents want him to take them to his stash of money before they send him off. Elsewhere, Meachum gets ballistics back on the dead bodies from the dance hall shootout that killed Damon Drew (Jonathan Togo) back in the third episode. As it turns out, the bullets themselves are specialty Russian rounds, which are impossible to find through legal channels. Thankfully, Oliveras has a convenient contact who can connect her with a guy who might sell them. Oliveras sets up a meeting with an arms dealer from Pasadena, and they head to the Rose Bowl flea market to meet him. They meet with Weiss (Craig Mazin), and when she asks about the .21 Gyurza ammunition, he introduces her to another black market dealer named Zabo (John Gatins). It isn’t long, though, before Zabo is scared off by Oliveras (who comes on a little strong), and he runs. After a chase through the flea market, Oliveras and Meachum take him back to headquarters, where they pressure him into telling them who he sold the rounds to.

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As this goes on, Blythe receives an update from Shepherd and Bell, who reveal that a shell corporation called VKN Limited purchased fissile-related materials from Caluman. Tracing the purchases back, their information matches what Oliveras and Meachum learn from Zabo about Andrej, leading them to Culver City to confront a private military contractor unit called the Iskander Group. But upon raiding the building, the team finds the group’s attorney, with the whole thing becoming a dead end. Somehow, Volchek’s men were tipped off, and Blythe is infuriated by the failure. The task force confronts the LAPD SWAT leader, Commander Aynesworth (Sam Daly), about why Volchek’s men were tipped off, and though Blythe defends his team, their loyalties are called into question.
Volchek Shows His Power in ‘Countdown’ Episode 7

Image via Prime Video

At HQ, Shepherd combs through the purchase orders and pulls the team into a meeting. It turns out that VKN Limited had purchased three trucks from Gallagher Freight, and she finally has an address. Believing the LAPD SWAT unit to be compromised, the task force breaks into Volchek’s lair, but just as with the office space before, it’s empty. Volchek and his group have already moved out, but it’s good that they investigated the warehouse anyway, as Finau realizes that Volchek had the trucks re-skinned. Later, Bell meets with Valwell, who had previously offered to boost the FBI agent’s career. While it seems at first as if Bell is willing to take the DA’s offer, serving as a mole within the task force, the agent tells off the DA, noting that Blythe is a great leader. That night, Oliveras stops by Meachum’s place and brings him stronger medication. It’s new and should hopefully help, but instead of blowing her off and hiding the truth, Meachum decides to finally come clean. The detective reveals the truth about his tumor, noting that his death could come at any time, six weeks, six months, but that he’s accepted it. Meachum tells his new partner that if he’s going out, he’s going out saving something. It’s clear that over the last several weeks, Oliveras has come to genuinely care about Meachum, and it becomes heartbreaking when we consider Meachum’s looming fate. But just as “Nothing Else Helps” began with Volchek, so too does it end with the terrorist leader. Taking the Belarusian agents with him to Sherman Oaks, Volchek gives them his cash from the ATM, but this isn’t satisfactory to them. The agents demand that Volchek take them to the rest of what he embezzled from their government, and so he leads them to his home elsewhere. Upon arrival, Volchek leads them downstairs to his safe. But here’s where Volchek proves himself something of an evil genius. Upon opening the safe, he distracts the agents long enough to climb inside, lock himself in, and detonate a series of bombs in the basement, killing the agents instantly as he remains inside. With only a taste of Volchek’s destructive ability, Countdown is inching toward seeing the villain’s plan in full — and Los Angeles isn’t ready. New episodes of Countdown are available every Wednesday on Prime Video.

Countdown

Volchek is as resourceful as ever as the task force continues to close in.

Release Date

June 25, 2025

Network

Prime Video

Showrunner

Derek Haas

Directors

Jonathan Brown, Avi Youabian, Lisa Robinson, Chris Grismer, Eric Stoltz, Tess Malone, Nina Lopez-Corrado

Jensen Ackles

Mark Meachum

Jessica Camacho

Amber Oliveras

Pros & Cons

It’s about time that Meachum reveals the truth to Oliveras.
Volchek’s resourcefulness is terribly impressive ? how can the task force beat him?
Loved seeing Finau’s skills get the spotlight this week.

How did Volchek’s men possibly clean up that warehouse so fast?
Valwell needs to leave now and never come back… but he won’t.