Action fans have been dealt a double blow by 
Prime Video as two big action shows have bitten the dust after just one season each. Jensen Ackles may be returning to The Boys and its prequel spinoff, Vought Rising, but he will not be reprising his role of LAPD detective Mark Meachum, as Countdown seemingly reached zero very quickly. Additionally, Daniel Dae Kim’s time as U.S. intelligence operative David Jung has come to an end, as Butterfly is not about to spread its wings again.
Prime Video has been going through the motions recently, with several renewals and cancellations dropping over the last week. While Bosch spinoff Ballard will be continuing for Season 2, and We Were Liars and Overcompensating are also coming back for more episodes, Motorheads was not as lucky.
Both Butterfly and Countdown seemed to be strong performers, especially Ackles’ show, which is still in the streamer’s U.S. Top 10 over a month after debuting its Season 1 finale. During its weekly release run, Countdown appeared in Nielsen’s original Top 10, peaking at number eight, while Butterfly, which dropped all of its episodes together, hit number six. According to Deadline, the cancellation was based on the global reach of the shows, which was not up to scratch.
What Were ‘Countdown’ and ‘Butterfly’ About?
Countdown seemed like a winner when it debuted. With the ever-popular Ackles in the lead role, the plot of the show went a little like this.
“In it, when an officer with the Department of Homeland Security is murdered in broad daylight, LAPD detective Mark Meachum (Ackles), is recruited to a secret task force, alongside undercover agents from all branches of law enforcement, to investigate. But the hunt for the killer soon uncovers a plot far more sinister than anyone could have imagined, kicking off a race against time to save a city of millions.”
The show did not connect with critics at all, landing a disappointing 35% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While the audience score was much higher at 63%, it was clearly a divisive series, and one that couldn’t sustain its viewership to a level that pleased Prime Video.
Butterfly was another action-centric series, the synopsis of which read, “David Jung is a former U.S. intelligence operative who lives in South Korea; his past soon comes back to haunt him as a sinister spy organization sends a sociopathic agent to kill him.”
Butterfly may not have landed quite as strong a viewership as Countdown, but it was by far the better series. With a 68%/84% critic/audience split, the show made the most of its premise and cast, which, alongside Kim, included Reina Hardesty, Piper Perabo, and Louis Landau, and there is every chance that a second season could have picked up more viewers if it continued to deliver strong reviews.
Many great shows only became so after being given a chance to grow. However, that is not something that many series can do these days. Both shows seemed to have a plan of what would transpire in their second seasons, but we will never get to see them play out on screen. This kind of cancellation makes it increasingly difficult for audiences to consider investing in new shows, and it is really not surprising why so many fail to generate the required viewership to be allowed a second chance to make a first impression.