[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Countdown Season 1 Episode 5 “Blurred Edges.”]
In Countdown‘s present, the task force is trying to stop Volchek (Bogdan Yasinski) and the major threat he poses to Los Angeles. In the Wednesday, July 9, episode, flashbacks to 2018 and 2019 reveal just how dedicated he is to his cause.
First, he figures out how to get another man to withdraw a bid for a partnership he wanted, but then he learns that his embezzlement has been discovered. As a result, he must flee Belarus in 2019 … and he does so by faking his own death. But also on the plane he blows up to do so is his wife, waiting for him.
Below, Bogdan Yasinski unpacks Volchek’s shocking move, shares his impression of the “enigma” that is Meachum (Jensen Ackles) so far, and more.
In faking his own death, Volchek kills his wife. Was she just collateral damage? What went into that decision for him?
Bogdan Yasinski: It’s a complex decision making process. You got to wave some pros and cons, I would say. Yeah, look, I had no idea what this was really going to be, and I remember when I read this script, I’m like, “Oh my God, this is really going for it.” I think this is a person that made a decision, right? “I’m doing this no matter what, no matter what the cost.” And later we kind of reveal the consequences of that. But yeah, that’s a commitment to a cause. That’s a level of commitment. I don’t know if I’ve ever committed to anything like that. So he had to sell it. He had to sell it. That was the only way he was making it out. I think that’s the pivotal moment for him where he really turns bad because it’s like once you do something like that, then doing what comes next and what’s kind of the central theme of this entire show, it’s not too far off. It’s already kind of in the same bucket. So I think that’s a pivotal moment because it really explains how does someone really escalate to the level that the show does? Because me personally, I don’t know, take a breathwork class, maybe do a little meditation, walk on the beach, do that first before you start making all these plans. But yeah, I think that one really sets things off.
Is that something that haunts him or was he able to kind of just move on? Because it seemed like they had at least a decent relationship.
I mean, there’s all this planning and it seemed like they had quite a long history, that she’s kind of been there as he’s been coming up and supportive. And so I don’t know. I mean, part of me thinks — this is just my own theory — that something must have happened to him when he was serving in the Army. Because a part in one of the episodes where it’s revealed that he’s former military and he served in Chechnya, which was just horrendous. That’s up there as just a really brutal situation. What people went through from all sides, regardless who was right or wrong, just the soldiers, the actual people that were there saw some horrific things. And so I think that to me gives away — so it’s like with some of the events in Episode 2 and some of the things that kind of set off that initial fuse, I think to me, it must have unlocked something from his past. That’s how I saw it, because that’s a coldness that’s atypical. But in other times, he seems warm and very reasonable. So there’s almost like a duality to him where he can just shut off his humanity in some ways.
It’s kind of weighing the cause versus anything else against each other, and the cause just keeps coming out on top.
Right. It’s just singular vision and focus. This is what we’re doing, this is how we’re going to execute. There’s nothing else.
So in 2018, Volchek goes up against Matt Woodley for that partnership and gets him to withdraw his bid. But after, he warns him he’s about to find out what it looks like to play dirty. And then Volchek finds out about his embezzlement being discovered. But how does Volchek feel about moves like that and others from his opponents? Does any part of him respect it?
Great question. For me, I feel like yes, right? I mean, it is a complicated thing, right? Growing up, I used to do a lot of martial arts, competed and boxing and Muay Thai stuff like that. And I’ve won and I’ve lost, and losing is hard to swallow, but it’s such a weird blend of emotions because you almost feel — you can easily just hug your opponent afterwards. And most people do. It’s very, very common because you feel this dump of adrenaline, but you also have this like, “Hey, I know what I did to get here. I know what I’ve been ready for, and you did the same. You stood here with me.” It’s like, “You brought this out of me. You facilitated this growth in me.” I think there’s for sure a bit of that. I don’t know how much of that has shown, but for me personally, it’d be like, “Alright, okay, fair enough.” Because he started it, as my son would say, you started it. So there’s a certain level of responsibility there, and I think there’s a little bit of admiration.
Prime Video
Volchek is digging into Meachum’s undercover alias, and so far he knows that there’s no court case for him. Meachum is very much an unknown for him at this point in the season. So what’s his take on him so far?
I mean, for him, it’s this enigma. It’s just completely out of left field. There’s all these factors and contingencies that he’s prepared for. He’s done everything. He’s taking care of the supply side of things. He’s taking care of any open-ended questions on his plan and how things are going to be delivered. And his whole plan, his whole room is kind of contained in this dance hall. Then this random American just is poking around. And I think Volchek is — this is not a naive kind of amateur. This is a seasoned guy. Like we said, he was in ordinance. He was in Chechnya, he ran this company, he became this oligarch. This is a person that’s seen all kinds of things, hardened, and that means his instincts are going to be pretty sharp. And so I think in that first scene where we meet, there’s an instant, something’s going on here. This is not just some random accident. And so it becomes this obsession for him, I believe, because it’s almost offensive to him that somebody could get the jump on him like that. But it’s also kind of exciting because there is this other game I get to play. Let me play this game of cat and mouse with this other guy, too. So I think it’s kind of weirdly satiating for Volchek to meet Meachum.
Is it also kind of like he’s recognizing he’s the other side of the coin of him almost?
I guess it depends on where we look, at which point in the story, but I think it definitely becomes that way. I think there’s some parallels to be drawn like that.
Countdown, Wednesdays, Prime Video
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
